Last Updated on June 24, 2025 by Matt Staff
From cobblestone streets to railroad tracks, these images reflect a time when pedals powered dreams, and the simple act of riding a bike felt like the future unfolding. Whether it was for leisure, sport, or necessity, cycling in the 1910s was more than a fad; it was a defining part of everyday life. Here are 20 vintage photos from the early 1910s bicycle craze.
1. These bikes used to run on railroad tracks, 1910
2. “My great-grandfather and his new bike, 1910”
3. “My great-granduncle and his singlespeed bike in the early 1910s”
4. Young couples biking through Denver, 1910
5. “My great-grandfather posing with style, Switzerland, ca. 1910”
6. These kids are about to bomb this hill above the Latin Quarter in San Francisco, 1910
7. Inventor Howard Hughes posing with his motorized bike at age 12
8. This is what bike shops looked like in 1912
9. At a bike race in Stockholm, 1912
10. My great-grandfather in 1915
11. BSA Brand bicycle shop, England, 1910
12. Riding their bikes to a picnic, Maine, early 1910s
13. A young girl learning to ride on a tricycle, 1915
14. He built this wooden bicycle, Estonia, 1912
15. This is a cycling club in New South Wales from the early 1910s
16. A young women walking her new bike across a bridge in Poland
17. Riding exercise bikes onboard the RMS Franconia, 1911
18. Bicycle snipers in the Romanian Army, 1915
19. Using the electric horse in the Titanic’s Gym, 1912
20. Riding the rails, late 1910s
Want to see more content from the early 1900s?
Check out 20 Colorized Photos from the First Decade of the 20th Century (1900-1910), or take a look at 18 Colorized Photos of the Early to the Mid 1920s. Finally, if you want to see photos from the First World War, check out 25 Vintage Photos From The First World War
