Bicycle Heaven

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Bicycle Heaven
Pee-wee Herman's Bicycle.jpg
One of the prop bicycles used in Pee-wee's Big Adventure on display
Pittsburgh locator map 2018.png
Red pog.svg
Location in Pittsburgh
EstablishedJuly 2, 2011 (2011-07-02) [1]
LocationCasey Industrial Park
1800 Preble Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Coordinates 40°27′22″N80°01′56″W / 40.456139°N 80.032190°W / 40.456139; -80.032190
Type Transportation museum
FounderCraig Morrow
DirectorHenry Morrow
Nearest parkingOn site (no charge)
Website bicycleheaven.org

Bicycle Heaven is the largest transportation museum in the world dedicated to bicycles. [2] [3] [4] The museum was founded by Craig Morrow and comprises his personal collection gathered over decades. It is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Contents

The museum is an active collection. The 650 m2 show room contains over 3,500 bicycles with an additional 27,000 in storage. [5] There are over 100,000 parts to keep the collection in repair. [6]

Bicycle Heaven also serves as a bike shop, and consults as prop agents for film, television and theatrical productions. After filming, the bicycles are returned and become part of the permanent collection. [7] [8]

History

Bicycle Heaven was founded in 2011.

Exhibits

Bowden Spacelanders

Four of the last Bowden Spacelanders Bowden Spacelanders.jpg
Four of the last Bowden Spacelanders

Benjamin Bowden, a British industrial designer, designed a space-age fiberglass bicycle in 1946. Bowden named the design the Spacelander; it entered production in 1960 and sold for $89.50. [9] Only 522 Spacelander bicycles were made in the original run. [10] By the 1990s only a few dozen were estimated to have survived. Morrow collected 17 of the proposed 38 left in the world. [11] The Bowden Spacelanders are some rarest bicycles in the museum. Given their scarcity and good condition, they are valued over $50,000 each. [12] [13]

Pee-Wee Herman's Bicycle

One of the jewels of the museum is one of the prop bikes used as Pee-wee Herman's bicycle, the MacGuffin of the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure . [5] [12] [14]

Other Movie Bicycles

The museum displays bicycles used in the films A Beautiful Mind , [7] Fences , Super 8 , [13] and others.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle</span> Pedal-driven two-wheel vehicle

A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Reubens</span> American actor and comedian (1952–2023)

Paul Reubens was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rube Goldberg machine</span> Deliberately complex contraption

A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction–type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. Usually, these machines consist of a series of simple unrelated devices; the action of each triggers the initiation of the next, eventually resulting in achieving a stated goal.

<i>Pee-wees Playhouse</i> 1986 American television series

Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American comedy children's television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's popular stage show and the TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more adult humor.

<i>Pee-wees Big Adventure</i> 1985 film by Tim Burton

Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his feature-film directing debut. The film stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman, along with E.G. Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger and Judd Omen. The screenplay, written by Reubens with Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol, tells the story of Pee-wee's search for his stolen bicycle and has been compared to the 1948 Italian film Bicycle Thieves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pee-wee Herman</span> American comedy character

Pee-wee Herman is a comedy character created and portrayed by the American comedian Paul Reubens. He starred in films and television series during the 1980s. The childlike Pee-wee Herman character developed as a stage act that quickly led to an HBO special in 1981. As the stage performance gained further popularity, Reubens took the character to motion picture with Pee-wee's Big Adventure in 1985, toning down the adult innuendo for the appeal of children. This paved the way for Pee-wee's Playhouse, an Emmy Award-winning children's series that ran on CBS from 1986 to 1991. Another film, Big Top Pee-wee, was released in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volo Auto Museum</span> Museum in Volo, Illinois

Established in 1960 by the Grams family, the Volo Auto Museum is an automobile museum and collector car dealer in the Chicago suburb of Volo, Illinois, US. The museum contains an exhibit of collectors' autos from vintage to modern classics, with the main focus being American cars of the 1950–1980 period, over 50 famous TV and movie cars, cars previously owned by the rich and famous, and a large, one-of-a-kind, Disney and Looney Tunes characters display. Unique to this museum is that many of the vehicles on display are for sale. One of 50 exhibits on the 75-acre museum campus is a military-oriented "Armed Forces Exhibit," added in the late 2000s. Of the 4 antique malls on the museum grounds, one is reported to be haunted and has become a magnet for ghost hunters and sightings and an episode of the TV show Ghost Lab. The museum has its own TV series on History called Volo, House of Cars beginning in 2017.

The Bicycle Museum of America is a museum in New Bremen, Ohio, USA. The museum is one of the largest private collections of bicycles in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruiser bicycle</span> Bicycle type

A cruiser bicycle, also known as a beach cruiser or (formerly) motobike, is a bicycle that usually combines balloon tires, an upright seating posture, a single-speed drivetrain, and straightforward steel construction with expressive styling. Cruisers are popular among casual bicyclists and vacationers because they are very stable and easy to ride, but their heavy weight and balloon tires tend to make them rather slow. Another common feature is their ability to be customized with accessories including fenders, lights and saddle bags. They are designed for use primarily on paved roads, low speeds/distances, and are included in the non-racing/non-touring class and heavyweight or middleweight styles of the road bicycle type.

Russ Mahon is an American cyclist and founder of a cycling group of about 10 riders known as The Morrow Dirt Club, named after a model of coaster brakes produced by Bendix Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bike shop</span>

A bike shop or bicycle shop is a business specializing in bicycle sale, maintenance and parts.

"Stanley's Cup" is the fourteenth and final episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 153rd episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 15, 2006. In the episode, Stan is forced to become the coach of a pee-wee hockey team. Written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, the episode parodies the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks and BASEketball.

Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc., colloquially known as and stylized as SPECIALIZED, is an American company that designs, manufactures and markets bicycles, bicycle components and related products under the brand name "Specialized", as well as the premium and professional oriented "S-works".

The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a British bicycle manufacturer based in Nottingham, England and founded by Woodhead and Angois in 1885. Using Raleigh as their brand name, it is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. After being acquired by Frank Bowden in December 1888, it became The Raleigh Cycle Company, which was registered as a limited liability company in January 1889. By 1913, it was the largest bicycle manufacturing company in the world. From 1921 to 1935, Raleigh also produced motorcycles and three-wheel cars, leading to the formation of Reliant Motors. Raleigh bicycle is now a division of the Dutch corporation Accell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kent International</span> American bicycle manufacturer

Kent International Inc is an American bicycle manufacturer based in Parsippany, New Jersey. It imports and distributes bicycles and bicycle accessories worldwide. As of 2014, it was considered the 2nd largest manufacturer of bicycles in the United States.

Benjamin George Bowden was a British industrial designer, who is known mostly for his work on automobiles and bicycles. Bowden designed the coachwork of Healey's Elliott, an influential British sports car. He was also the designer of the Spacelander, a space-age bicycle which was commercially unsuccessful when in production, but has since become a collector's item.

<i>Pee-wees Big Holiday</i> 2016 American film

Pee-wee's Big Holiday is a 2016 American adventure comedy film directed by John Lee and written by Paul Reubens and Paul Rust. The film stars Reubens as Pee-wee Herman and Joe Manganiello as himself. It is the second standalone sequel to Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), following Big Top Pee-wee (1988), and Reubens' final feature film role before his death in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament</span> Canadian minor ice hockey tournament

The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to players less than 12 years old. The tournament raises funds for the local Patro Roc-Amadour foundation, and is operated mostly by volunteers, with a few staff. The event takes place each year in February at Videotron Centre, and previously spent 56 seasons at Quebec Coliseum. As of 2018, the event has showcased the talent of over 1,200 future professionals in the National Hockey League or the World Hockey Association.

References

  1. Levine, Marty (June 29, 2011). "Full cycle: Bike museum ready to roll on Saturday". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2019. His place boasts 90,000 bikes and accessories.
  2. Smith, Andrea (October 13, 2016). "On your bike, mate! This very cool bicycle museum is attracting tourists to Pittsburgh". Lonely Planet. Retrieved March 12, 2019. Tourists are flocking to see the largest and most colourful bicycle museum in the world.
  3. Conner, Foo (August 12, 2015). "Bicycle Heaven: Ride the Nostalgia". Jekko. Retrieved March 12, 2019. Bicycle Heaven is the world's largest bicycle museum and shop.
  4. Crawley, Dave (May 16, 2016). "North Side Bike Shop Listed As 1 of the Things 'To Do in Pittsburgh Before You Die'". CBS Pittsburgh. Retrieved March 12, 2019. Largest Bike Museum and Shop Found on North Side
  5. 1 2 Certo, Tracy (October 11, 2016). "How the wonderfully wacky Bicycle Heaven became a big tourist attraction in Pittsburgh". NEXTPittsburgh. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  6. Walsh, Larry (September 12, 2012). "Walsh: Nostalgia has home at Bicycle Heaven". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Machosky, Michael (August 31, 2011). "All Bikes go to Heaven in Pittsburgh Museum". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 13, 2019. Some of his bikes were used in the film, 'A Beautiful Mind'
  8. Spiegel, Brendan (July 15, 2015). "36 Hours in Pittsburgh". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  9. Brooky, Mark (July 21, 2015). "GH-made bicycle worth $42K?". Grand Haven Tribune. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  10. Truett, Richard (August 12, 1993). "The Spacelander's Long, Strange Trip". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 12, 2019. 522 Spacelanders were shipped before production stopped
  11. Orr, Vanessa (May 31, 2018). "Bicycle Heaven: Largest Bike Museum In The World For More Than Just Collectors". North Hills Monthly. Retrieved March 12, 2019. 17 Bowden Spacelanders—some of the most sought-after bikes in the world
  12. 1 2 Mir, Shaun (April 11, 2017). "No one owns more bicycles than this guy. Here's how he got the world's largest collection". Circa. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  13. 1 2 McCabe, John (January 15, 2017). "Pittsburgh Museum is Bicycle Heaven". The Times Leader. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  14. Kindervater, David (February 2, 2018). "Pittsburgh, PA, Is Home to the World's Largest Bicycle Museum". Culture Trip. Retrieved March 13, 2019.