Bicycle

Children's bicycle with iron frame and handlebars with wooden grips. The saddle is of leather. The pedals and spoked wheels are made of iron. Instead of tyres they have a solid rubber rim. The chain is made up of links. There is only one chainring in the frame and a single sprocket wheel on the back wheel. The size and the two small additional wheels at the back for those who had not yet learnt to ride suggest that this was meant more as a toy than an actual means of transport.

The town of Eibar (Gipuzkoa) was a major centre of bicycle manufacturing from the 1920s on. It was one of the alternatives to the arms industry which dominated the town from its foundation in the Middle Ages.

This bicycle comes from the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa's J. Etxeberria collection.

Bibliography:

Urdangarín, Carmelo ; Izaga, José Mª. Montadores eibarreses de bicicletas. In: Oficios tradicionales. [Donostia = San Sebastián] : Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa, Departamento de Economía y Turismo = Gipuzkoako Foru Aldundia, Ekonomia eta Turismo Departamentua,[1997]. VI, 99-109.

http://www.oficiostradicionales.net/es/industriales/bicicleta/

Inventory number: GFA-027502-001