Overman Wheel Company
The Overman factory
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| Industry | Bicycle manufacture |
|---|---|
| Fate | Sold in 1900 |
| Founded | 1882 |
| Founder | Albert H. Overman |
| Headquarters | Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts |
| Products | Bicycles; later, sporting goods |
| Brands | Victor Flyer |
Overman Wheel Company was an early bicycle manufacturing company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts from 1882 to 1900. It was known for bicycles of higher quality and lower weight than other bicycles of its time. Despite a nationwide bicycle craze in the late 1800s, the company was undercut by lower-priced competition, nearly went bankrupt in 1897, and never recovered from an 1899 fire. The company was sold in 1900.
Albert Overman started the Overman Wheel Company in 1882 in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts with an investment of $62,000.
Overman were the first American manufacturers of the safety bicycle. In 1888 the company began making its own bicycles, with a staff of about thirty men. At its height, the factory employed about 1,400 men in five buildings. The factory produced 80,000 bicycles per year, the only bicycle factory at the time which made the entire bicycle.
The flagship product of the Overman Company was the Victor Bicycle. The Victor Bicycle made extensive use of interchangeable parts, an innovation which allowed the owner to make minor repairs, without bringing the bicycle to a professional mechanic. The metal parts of the Victor bicycle were all steel; it was the first bicycle to use no cast metal parts. The It was also one of the first bicycles to use a hollow pneumatic tire.
The first Victor bicycle, introduced in 1893, was a three-wheeled bicycle produced in Chicopee Falls. It was the first American-made three-wheeler. Three-wheelers were at the time considered a safer alternative to the high wheeler bicycle and started to gain in popularity. Overman also manufactured some high-wheelers in the 1880s.
By 1886-1887, new safety bicycles, introduced by John Kemp Starley, were becoming popular in England. While most American manufacturers stuck with the traditional high-wheel bicycles, Overman rushed a safety bicycle to production before the end of 1887. Despite its higher price, Overman's safety bicycle quickly became a sensation. Overman soon followed up with innovations such as a hollow core "cushion tire."
By 1893, Overman's Victor bicycle was considered an elegant, premium machine, the "highest grade bicycle of 1893". It was correspondingly priced at the high end of the market. The Overman factory made the complete bicycle, including tires, saddles, rims, etc.
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