These 1880's antique bicycle catalog reprints are no longer available. This page remains for educational purposes only.

These extraordinary historical catalogs serve as chronicles of the dawn of bicycle construction in the United States. Each catalog contains over 50 complex line drawings and explanations of the clothing, tools, parts, and costs of each bicycle for each of the eleven featured manufacturers. If you would like any of these unusual bicycles built, Rideable Bicycle Replicas can probably build something similar to the pictured item, just call us for details.

If you want to find out what cycling was like about 100 years ago, you'll find these reprinted catalogs a worthwhile purchase. These are not originals, but good replicas. We had them printed from the original negatives bought from Clyde Nitz of Baltimore. He was very active in cycling in the 1930's, 40's, and 50's in the local and National Wheelmen Club, and helped get political recognition for bicycles long before the cause became popular. The catalogs are in pretty good shape, but the printing on the originals left a little to be desired.

The catalogs include beautiful line drawings of the unusual bicycles and illustrations of clothing and special tools. One amazing revelation you will discover in these catalogs is just how expensive the bicycles back then were.

Please note that time has weathered the catalogs a bit, but they are still in good condition. Some of the individual catalogs are in short supply and we may soon be out of them. The catalogs also vary in length from 6 to 48 pages long.

 

 

 

In the listing below we have highlighted a few of these catalogs with links to more details. Each catalog link gives you a brief sampling of the bicycles and text you will find displayed in each catalog.

Catalog Title:	Pages:
American Star 1886	38
Eagle 1891	42
Victor Bicycles 1892 >	42
Rudge Bicycles 1887 >	42
Columbia 1884 >	36
W.W. Stall 1886 >	50
St. Nicholas Toy Co.	16
Columbia 1891 >	34
New Rapid and Quadrant Cycles	40