Rex Bicycle, 1898
Object Details
- Rex Cycle Co.
- Description
- The Rex Cycle Company of Chicago, Illinois manufactured this three-wheel bicycle in 1898. The bicycle was designed by Bohn C. Hicks, who obtained three patents on this type of machine
- (patents, 557,387, 557388 and 561710) in 1896. While it might seem inconsistent to apply the term "bicycle" to a 3-wheel machine, this is not a tricycle in the usual sense of the word. The unusual construction of the Rex cycle resulted from Hicks' efforts to produce a machine "particularly adapted to absorb or minimize the shocks incident to riding over obstructions." The seat was mounted on a tube attached to pivot points on the front wheel and the rear third wheel, a design to allow the wheels to undulate over bumps with minimal jostling to the rider.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Anne, Margaret, Katherine, and Nicholas Schmidt
- 1898
- ID Number
- TR.333681
- catalog number
- 333681
- accession number
- 304752
- Object Name
- Bicycle, 3-Wheel
- bicycle, 3-wheeler
- Other Terms
- Bicycle, 3-Wheel; Road
- place made
- United States: Illinois, Chicago
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
- America on the Move
- Transportation
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Bicycling
- Record ID
- nmah_843317
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-77a5-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Related Content
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.