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National Cycle Manufacturing Co. (1892-1916)
Woodside Ave., Bay City, MI.

Added June 2008.

Bay City Illustrated, by The Board of Trade,
Published 1898, Gregory Printing Company.

NATIONAL CYCLE MANUFACTURING CO.
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There is no institution in its corporate limits of which Bay Cityans are prouder than the National Cycle factory. Nearly every city of any consequences in the country has its cycle factory, but few equal the Bay City plant in the quality of work turned out. When the wheel craze swept over the country, several years ago, Bay City was affected. Realizing that the wheel had come to stay, Henry B. Smith, of the Michigan Pipe Company, consult with several other gentlemen about the matter, and they reached the conclusion that a bicycle factory would be a good source of revenue. Accordingly the National Cycle Manufacturing Company was formed, with Mr. Smith as president. A large factory was constructed and equipped with machinery for turning out up-to-date wheels. It was the determination of the projectors to make a wheel that should win for itself a reputation from the start, and that they succeeded is demonstrated by the rapid rise in popular favor the National. The factory has been kept abreast of the times in the matter of machinery, and every device calculated to improve the wheels is added as soon as its utility is established.

To-day the National is a standard wheel, recognized by the crack riders as one of the very best in the market. Many world’s records have been broken by National riders, and its fame has not only spread all over the United States, but to other countries, and the National is now known wherever wheels are used. It is the proud boast of the company that a National rider never changes his mount, and this is borne out by the steady volumes of praise that are poured in from those who have the good fortune to take a spin on one of these silent steeds.

Added June 2008.

The Bay County Story, from Footpaths to Freeways, 1982, Leslie E. Arndt.

The National Cycle Manufacturing Co.
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(Excerpt Page 246 - 247)

It was the National bicycle that put Bay City "on the map." In the firms heyday, shipments were made to every state and riders even in foriegn countries asked for the bicyle with the winning slogan: "A National Rider Never Changes His Mount."

Tierney's "Big Bicycle Store" at Fifth and Saginaw at the turn of the century advertised it was "doing business until midnight every day during the wheeling months." About 100 "wheels" were kept for rentals. Biking was very popular then.

Wilbert H. Gustin, as managing editor of The Bay City Times, had special permission from the railroad to ride his bicycle on the tracts to and from Bay City, while he and his family spent the summer at Linwood Beach.

History of bicycle works here goes back to a two-story red frame building with a one-story sales room and office at Crotty and Madison in 1892. The plant produced several hundred bicycles a year starting out. By 1896 ample sprockets and tires were ordered to assemble 5,000 "wheels." Business boomed and in 1909 a second line, parts for Packard and Studebaker automobiles, was added, necessitating an expansion program. Down came the old plant and a three-story building replaced it. The next year an office building was added.

By 1909 the bicycle output climbed to more than 1,000 per year. The payroll jumped to almost 500. A portion of each year's compensation for workers was given in a new mount. Considering that prices averaged $125 (the cheapest was $50) while wages were 30 to 35 cents per hour, it was a welcome gift. Bay Cityans William A. Storrs, Otto Toeppner, Jud Freeman and Frank Hagaman proved endurance of the "National mount" by pedaling to Niagara Falls (through Canada) and back (via Cleveland) in 1898 with total time 11 days. Clubs of National riders sprang up across the country. A historian said "many world's records were broken by National riders in bicycle races across the nation as well as around the world."