The Science Museum Group cares for one of the most extensive collections of objects related to science, technology, engineering and medicine in the world.
We have more than 200 bicycles and motorcycles in the collection, stretching from early examples in the 19th century, through shifting 20th century innovations to today. In 2024 we reviewed every bicycle and motorcycle as part of our work to periodically review the collection, which involved researching each object and identifying any gaps in the collection or duplicated items.
Inspired by National Cycle Week, here are my favourite interesting bicycles and motorcycles uncovered through our research that we wanted to bring into the spotlight.
1959-142 Replica of Early Fischer Bicycle

The question of who invented the first front-drive ‘bicycle’ is a controversial one. Popular answers generally state that the first bicycle was invented in France in the 1860s by either Pierre Michaux, Ernest Michaux or Pierre Lallement who built the first front-driven velocipedes and established their own cycle companies.
A less well-known answer is that the first front pedal drive bicycle was possibly built as early as 1853 by German technical teacher and Oberndorf local, Phillip Moritz Fischer.
Unlike Michaux or Lallement, Phillip Fischer only ever built the one machine for his own use to ride to nearby Schweinfurt for his job. As the story goes, Phillip Fischer did not publicly advertise his invention until after Michaux’s introduction of his velocipedes, leading to his obscurity in history of bicycle development.
His son, Friedrich Fischer, would go on to establish ball bearing manufacturer Friedrich Fischer A.G in Schweinfurt (now FAG Kugelfischer Georg Schäfer & Company), which he also used to build a few faithful reproductions of his father’s pioneering bicycle design, this example being one of them.
2013-168 Ordinary Bicycle
By the late 1860s bicycles had started to become lightweight, speedy and relatively stable. It is no surprise then that on May 31, 1868, cycling ‘officially’ became a competitive sport with the first sprint across Saint-Cloud Park, Paris.
Cycling quickly became a popular competitive sport, especially in Europe, and cyclists became some of the first sporting celebrities of the modern era.
Among the first of these stars to emerge in the UK was Norfolk native James Moore (1849-1935), who became one of the first cycling world champions. He won many of the early cycling events in the UK and Europe, including the 1869 Paris-Rouen race, the first long format road race in the world. Starting at the Arc de Triomphe, Moore completed the 81-mile route in 10 hours and 45 minutes.
James Moore continued his career of racing excellence until his retirement in 1877. This ordinary bicycle, built in 1872, is believed to be the machine he used to win some of the five international championships and set short-distance records during the final years of his career from 1873 to 1877.
1919-233 Shergold Safety Bicycle by Thomas Shergold

A ‘safety bicycle’ is a broad term used to distinguish designs of bicycles from the ‘ordinary’ (commonly called penny farthings in the UK) which they began to supersede during the 1880s.
Ordinary bicycles had a front wheel peddle design which required people to sit over the tall front wheel, creating an unstable riding position which often led to dangerous accidents and injuries. The invention of the rear wheel chain drive allowed new designs of bicycles with central saddle positions between the smaller wheels and a lowered frame. This change in design made bicycles easier to mount and dismount, and more stable to ride, creating the first ‘safety’ bicycles.
One of the early experimenters and innovators of the safety bicycle was Thomas Shergold, a bootmaker from Gloucestershire, UK. Between 1872 and 1878, he developed what was likely the world’s first safety bicycle with rear-wheel chain drive.
This marked an important milestone in not only the development of the modern bicycle, but also in the development of motorcycles in the early 20th century. Rear-wheel chain drives remained the dominant mode of transmission for both bicycles and motorcycles throughout the 20th century, all the way to today’s models.
1927-435 ‘Humber’ Safety Bicycle

In 1890, American graduates Thomas Gaskell Allen Jr and William Sachtleben visited the UK where they bought two simple Humber safety bicycles which only had hard tyres, single speed gear, with no suspension to speak of and only a sprung and cushioned saddle for comfort.
They enjoyed riding these machines and decided to keep riding them…across the entire world. This example is one of the machines used by Thomas Gaskell Allen Jr on their ground-breaking adventure of over 15,000 miles (29,000 km), not bad for a bicycle starting in Coventry.
Their journey took them through southern Europe before entering eastern Turkey where they also chose to cross Mount Ararat. They scaled to its 16,854 feet peak in July 1891, becoming the seventh group to ever do so. They then made their way through Persia before entering China and cycling through part of the Gobi Desert, which can be one of the hottest and coldest deserts in the world, to reach Peking (modern-day Beijing).
At this time safety bicycles had only existed for a few decades and were contained mostly to Europe and the US. In deciding to travel the world, Thomas Gaskell Allen Jr and William Sachtleben were among the first to introduce bicycles to the places they visited, sometimes resulting in crowds.
After taking a boat to San Fransisco, the pair made their final journey across North America back to New York. Returning in 1893 they became the first people to circumnavigate the globe on bicycles, and they became American heroes, with their journey immortalised in various books newspaper articles. Fantastically, Thomas and William recorded their epic journey using a box Kodak camera with which they took over 1200 photographs which are now accessible digitally via the University of California.
1940-4 Steam motor cycle

One of the oldest mysteries in the collection is this very early steam motor cycle. It was acquired in 1940 from a depot in Newhaven, the only clue to its origins was a label describing it as ‘possibly the world’s oldest motorcycle’.
In 1956, after a decade of research, the museum received a letter from Heinrich Hildebrand Junior identifying this machine as being built by his father and uncle, Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand, in 1889. This prototype inspired them to work with inventor Alois Wolfmüller to build the world’s first production petrol motorcycle in 1894, the legendary ‘Hildebrand and Wolfmüller’.
Simply named the ‘Dampfmotorrad’, or ‘steam motorcycle’, prototype, this motorcycle may be quite different to the models we are used to seeing on the roads today, but if Heinrich Hildebrand Junior’s testament is true, it represents a pivotal example of motorcycle design.
These are just some of the fascinating bicycles and motorcycles in the collection. While some bicycles and motorcycles are on display in our museums, most are stored in the Hawking Building at the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire, which is open for public tours and research visits.