Jan 17th, 2016: Forged Bicycle

Not forged as in imitation, forged as in hot iron hammered on an anvil.
It all started innocently enough, minding my business, surfing the net, when onto my screen saunters this forged bicycle.
It caught my eye, like a big pizza pie, hammered in all the right places, and a beauty begging to be mounted and ridden hard.



I found out what I could but couldn't get a date, which made me crazy. So I surfed to the Technical Museum in Prague.
That didn't help as their bicycles are pros, and unlike the Mustang Ranch, only show the goods for cash. Bowed but not broken,
I slipped my pal Google a few bucks and learned of a private Czech joint called Sterba. Sterba's website knows how to please a guy.
They're pros and actually did all the work putting the Technical Museum collection together. They show some of their own beauties
up front, not everything, but enough to make a guy check his wallet.



They also have pages of bikes for sale or have sold.



As a full service pimp, they list places you can get the fire down below quenched in other countries, with a 5 star rating system.

Marin Museum of Bicycling, Fairfax, CA - USA
CYCLE SMITHY - Chicago, IL - USA
"Motorcyclepedia" Ted’s motorcycle collection - Newburgh, NY - USA ++++
College Park Bicycles & Mt. Airy Bicycles – Coll. Park, Maryland – USA +++
Old Spokes Home – Burlington, Vermont - USA ++++
Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD – USA +++
The Bicycle Museum of America, New Bremen, OH - USA ++++
Rydjor Bike Shop, Austin, MN – USA ++
Washington County Rural Heritage Museum, Boonsboro, MD - USA ++
Martins Bike Shop Inc. - Ephrata, PA - USA ++++
"American Wheels to the Front" Baltimore, MD - USA +++++
Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI – USA +++
Metz Bicycle Museum, Freehold, NJ - USA +++++
Bicycle Pedaling History museum, Buffalo, NY – USA +++++

The Lakeland Motor Museum, Cumbria – England
British Cycling Museum, Camelford in Cornwall – England ++++
National Cycle Museum - Lincoln 1984 - 1996/97, England ++++
Dover Transport Museum - Dover, England ++
Brooklands Museum, Surrey - England +++
The Science museum - London, England +++
NASH collection, Brooklands – England +++
Mark Hall Cycle Museum - England +
National Motor Museum, Beaulieu – England +++
Transport Museum, Coventry – England +++
Snowhill Manor - England ++
Penny – Farthing museum - England ++++
Tabley House, Knutsford - England +

The Scottish Cycle Museum, Thornhill - Scotland +++
The National Cycle Collection - Wales ++++

Now excuse me I need a cigarette and a washcloth.

A few shots from yours truly:

London Science Mueseum (2014)
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... and some in use down in Devon (2015)
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Sweet rides! I can imagine a leaf spring design being pretty decent compared to the tech of the day. Modern tube frames are pretty compliant but those old timers were probably pretty darn stiff.

"Pretty darn stiff" and pretty darn heavy.

That was my thought Jim, people are spending small fortunes trying to save another few ounces on their bike, probably don't appreciate how far industry has come from the hand forged pioneers. They were almost as good as a horse for soldiers to hide behind, and when those babies wore out, they made great boat anchors.