John Deere bikes are back

Aug. 26, 2004: - Nirve Sports, Ltd., is offering the "John Deere by Nirve" single-speed coaster brake bicycle, marking at least the third time bicycles have been sold under the John Deere name since the 1890s.

Mike Porter, Brand Licensing Specialist, says John Deere bicycles can be purchased at participating John Deere dealers and at Nirve dealer locations in the U.S. and Canada, as well as on the Nirve Web site.

Nirve, of Fountain Valley, Calif., also sells "Paul Frank" model bicycles, named after the designer who happens to be doing a collection of John Deere-licensed clothing.

Nirve's "John Deere Collectible Edition Cruiser" has a double-spring John Deere saddle, aluminum rims painted yellow, and a John Deere green frame.

The bicycles are meant to capitalize on the current demand for John Deere branded items, but the company is no stranger to bicycling: The Minneapolis branch house, Deere & Webber Company, began selling bicycles in 1894. Bicycling had just become a fad, thanks to the development of the "modern safety" style, which had equal-size tires front and back and could be easily ridden by almost anyone.

"By 1894," wrote historian Wayne Broehl in his history of Deere & Company, John Deere's Company, "Farm Implement News reported that Deere & Webber had ordered 1,000 bicycles for the season." By 1895, Broehl wrote, the company was selling outside makes and having manufactured under the Deere name three of its own bicycles, the Deere Leader, the Deere Roadster, and the Moline Special.

When another bicycle craze struck in the 1970s, John Deere sold about 200,000 bicycles in various models before the market went flat in 1976.

You can see what one John Deere bicycle brought at the 2003 John Deere Collectors Center Auction in GreenCollectors Auction Watch.

Nirve designs and develops branded bicycles, parts, components, clothing, and accessories. The company's brands include Nirve (bicycles) and Voxom (components).