The brothers purchased bicycles in the spring of 1892. Wilbur preferred long country rides, while Orville enjoyed racing and considered himself a “scorcher” on the track. Surprisingly, no photographs exist of Wilbur or Orville on or with a bicycle.

The Wrights’ growing local reputation as skillful cyclists and mechanics led to many requests from friends to fix their bicycles. In 1893 they capitalized on the situation and opened a small rental and repair shop. With their newspapers defunct and Ed Sines handling most of the day-to-day tasks of the printing shop, the brothers were in search of a new challenge. Bicycles furnished it. Knowledge and experience with bicycles proved valuable to the Wrights’ development of a successful airplane.