Ode to Pittsburgh: Bicycle Heaven

Editors Note: Seriously, we are not being paid by the Pittsburgh Tourist Bureau for this post ...

A few years ago Marg and I took a road trip by car to Philadelphia, and on the way spent a couple days in Pittsburgh. It's a neat town, and has many offbeat spots to visit. Our hands-down favorite, though, was "Bicycle Heaven," a combo museum and vintage/collectable bicycle parts store. I cannot rave long or hard enough to describe what a jaw-dropping place this is for anyone who has even the slightest reverence for all things bicycle.

If you are interested in restoring a vintage bike, or even building it from the wheels up with period-specific and factory original parts this is the place for you. That is especially so if you are a Schwinn fanatic. This shop has period correct and factory produced parts, including bearings, nuts, bolts, head badges, mirrors and paint. It has a massive bike museum on the top floors that include everything from Immaculate Schwinn Paramount racing bikes to "ten speeds" produced under the John Deere brand name, back when Deere strayed awfully far from their "core competency" of building farming machinery.

Here is a smattering of pictures of our trip through Bicycle Heaven four years ago to entice you to spend a few hours there. It will take that long to do justice to it. It has a vast amount of "stuff" to gape at, and the building is an absolute rabbit warren .... rooms opening into rooms opening into hallways which are filled with closets. It's Hogwarts for bicycle fans. Sadly, we won't be able to visit again because of our schedule, but if you are ever in Pittsburgh, you can see it at:

RJ Casey Industrial Park

1800 Preble & Columbus Ave

Pittsburgh, PA 15233

The Entry to Bicycle Heaven. St. Peter should be there to greet you, really.

The Mind-Boggling entry to the museum section. OMG.

I should have kept my Schwinn Sting-Ray with the banana seat.

A Hallway filled with Schwinn chain guards

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Jacquie GaudetInteresting! As a Canadian who's lived all my life in British Columbia (except for those first 3 years in Alberta), I never heard of Schwinn bikes until well into adulthood. Yet they seem to hold a large place in the hearts of many Americans. We had CCM.
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2 years ago