Wright Cycle Company

The Wright brothers' first business venture was a print shop, opened in 1889 with a printing press designed and built by Orville. They published their own newspaper, and then focused on commercial printing. The brothers entered the bicycle business in the midst of a nationwide bike boom — a fad rooted in technological developments throughout the 19th century.

German inventor Karl Drais created a direct ancestor to the modern bicycle in 1817. There were no pedals, and it had no mechanical propulsion system. Riders simply sat astride the wooden rail and pushed off with their feet. Drais called his vehicle a draisine, but others called it a velocipede — from the Latin "velox pedis," meaning "swift of foot."

The safety bicycle, developed in the mid-1880s, introduced the design we still know today. Both wheels were the same modest size, which eased mounting and dismounting and made falls less dangerous. Instead of the high-wheel's direct-drive pedal crank, the safety bike used two gears connected by a chain — achieving the high-wheel's efficiency through the gears' mechanical advantage.

The safety bike made cycling more accessible than ever, and it kicked off a bicycle craze in the United States. Women and men alike enjoyed the freedom of traveling under their own power on their own schedules. Many riders compared the sensation of cycling to "flying" — a description the Wrights would especially appreciate one day.

The bike boom arrived at the Wright home in the spring of 1892, when Orville purchased a new Columbia bicycle for $160. Wilbur bought his own bike — an $80 used Columbia — soon thereafter. The brothers quickly came to enjoy riding in and around their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Orville competed in races, while Wilbur preferred more tranquil country rides.

The Wrights set up shop at 1005 West Third Street, stocking their store through the winter of 1892-1893 and opening it to the public that spring. They sold bicycles and accessories, but most of their work involved bike repairs. The brothers relocated multiple times before settling at 1127 West Third Street — the building preserved in Greenfield Village — in 1897.

The Wrights believed in quality, and Wright Cycle Company carried high-end bicycle brands like Coventry, Duchess, Fleetwing, and Warwick. Some models were priced over $100 — at a time when the average annual wage in America was less than $450. To offset high prices, the brothers offered time-payment plans, and they accepted customer trade-ins toward the purchase of new bikes.

Initially, the Wrights struggled with the seasonal nature of bicycle sales, and with growing competition from other bike shops. They obtained at least one loan from their father, and Wilbur even considered leaving to become a teacher. But imaginative advertisements and a weekly cycling newsletter — printed in their own shop — improved the brothers' sales.

True to the Wrights' philosophy of quality, Van Cleve bicycles featured high-grade materials and durable enamel finishes. The bikes also employed special oil-retaining wheel hubs and coaster brakes of the brothers' own design. The first Van Cleve cycles were priced from $60 to $65 — though prices later dropped as the bicycle fad waned and sales slumped.

Wright Cycle Company also offered a lower-priced model called St. Clair — honoring Arthur St. Clair, who governed the Northwest Territory from 1788 to 1802. St. Clair bikes sold for a more modest $42.50 when introduced. Apparently less successful than the Van Cleve, the St. Clair was discontinued in 1899. This photo shows a St. Clair modified for aeronautical experiments.

The Wright brothers obtained this metalworking lathe, made by the Putnam Machine Company, in 1901. It was used to remove material from metal workpieces placed onto it. The lathe turned the workpiece as it cut, ensuring consistent and symmetrical results. This machine later served Wright Company — the Wrights' airplane company — until that business was sold in 1915.

The Wright brothers designed and built their first kites, gliders, and airplanes in the Wright Cycle Company building. They had converted the building's back room into a modest machine shop for bicycles. But the equipment — and the skills the brothers had gained using it on bikes — served them well in their aviation work.

The seasonal nature of the bicycle trade — a challenge in their first years — proved advantageous as the Wrights' aviation work continued. When business at Wright Cycle Company slowed down in the fall, the brothers were free to travel to North Carolina to test their aircraft. Their 1900 glider was controlled by a novel method — twisting, or warping, the wings.

Katharine Wright, younger sister to Wilbur and Orville, managed Wright Cycle Company during her brothers' 1900 North Carolina trip. The brothers had arranged for a couple of acquaintances to handle bicycle repairs and day-to-day store operations — but these men did so under Katharine's supervision. Time and again, Katharine provided essential support, feedback, and advice for Wilbur and Orville.

The brothers controlled their 1900 glider by a novel method — twisting its wings to roll the glider to the left or right. Wilbur hit on the idea in July 1899, when he was in the cycle shop absent-mindedly twisting the empty box for a bicycle tire innertube. The Wrights used their wing-warping technique on subsequent aircraft, including their 1903 Flyer airplane.

Undaunted, the Wrights determined to create their own data on wing shape and aerodynamic lift. They started by testing model wing foils mounted on a bicycle's handlebars (illustrated earlier in this set). Then the brothers built a wind tunnel at Wright Cycle Company and made more precise measurements. These tests proved the Wrights' theory — the existing aerodynamic data was faulty.

The Wrights' wind tunnel work was rewarded at Kill Devil Hills in October 1902. Their 1902 glider — designed and built with the new data — performed beautifully. The brothers made more than 700 glides that fall, with some more than 600 feet long. They returned to the Outer Banks in 1903 with a new aircraft equipped with an engine and propellers.

Wright Cycle Company closed in 1908 as the brothers fully committed to their airplane business. It was just as well. The bicycle boom was over, and the automobile was beginning to dominate personal transportation. But bicycles had given the Wrights the skills, the money, and the insight to build the first successful airplane — not a bad legacy.