in 1997, the museum was founded by jim dicke of crown equipment corporation, the international manufacturer of electric lift trucks and a native to new bremen, who was looking for an attraction for the town. dicke was able to acquire the former schwinn collection previously located at the navy pier in chicago and from the original 100 pieces the collection has grown to over 1,000 bicycles, with about 300 display at any one time. the museum houses antique bicycles from the 19th century, balloon tire classics of the 1940s and 1950s and even the banana seat high-rise handle bar bikes of the 1960s.