The Art of the Bicycle

​There is an exhibit currently at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago called The Art of the Bicycle.   Bicycles were first invented 200 years ago, so over the years there is plenty of material for any bicycle exhibit.  It is always interesting to see what the curators select as a focus, i.e. would it be a specific type of bike (road, mountain), classic races (Tour de France) , training (speed, ascending, descending), racing (winning, losing), types of cyclists (kids, women), equipment, style, learning to ride, or legends and champions? 

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​The Art of the Bicycle is basically about the history and evolution of bicycle equipment, with a detour (more on that later).  The earliest bicycle in the exhibit is from 1818, the Draisiene Walking Machine and they have several originals and reproductions from the 19th century plus streamlined models from the 1950s and 1960s.  The rest of the exhibit displays variations of contemporary bikes, i.e. tandem, racing, mountain, and track.  They also have a section called “radical bikes” where they include examples of bamboo, cardboard, standing, chainless, folding, and electric.  A notable miss was a modern urban bike share such as a Divvy.  These sturdy urban vehicles have a unique design and one should have been included.  Otherwise, all the specimens are restored and mounted on a wall for easy viewing. 

​Getting back to the exhibit “detour”—there was a surprising wall of bicycle saddles.  It was a colorful, diverse collection but not sure how to justify this relating to the evolution of bicycle design since all the items were contemporary. 
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But the overall exhibit is a tribute to ingenuity and vision resulting in the continuous reinvention of the bicycle and it’s role in transportation and recreation. In spite of their physical differences, each bicycle in the exhibit has one characteristic—it appears to be fun to ride.

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