This is a vintage AMF Evel Knievel-style Roadmaster bicycle, it was one of the most desirable bikes of the period, and a number of Evel Knievel models were offered thanks to the AMF sponsorship agreement with Knievel.
For a time, Roadmaster bicycles were among the most desirable in the county, and the company’s history goes all the way back past the Great Depression to just a few years after the turn of the century.
The Roadmaster company can trace its origins all the way back to the Cleveland Welding Company (CWC), a metal fabrication specialist founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1910 – 116 years ago. Image courtesy of AMF Roadmaster.
History Speedrun: Roadmaster Bicycles
The Roadmaster company can trace its origins all the way back to the Cleveland Welding Company (CWC), a metal fabrication specialist founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1910 – 116 years ago. CWC initially specialized in electric welding, rolling, and metal forming techniques, and didn’t enter the bicycle business until September of 1935, when it began producing balloon-tire bicycles as a way to keep its factory busy during the tail end of The Great Depression.
The Roadmaster brandname was introduced in 1936 and quickly became the company’s flagship line, expanding in its second year to include models ranging from deluxe limited-production Supremes to junior bikes. Models like the 1937 Supreme “Bug Eye” and the Luxury Liner became some of the most desirable American bicycles of the prewar era, and CWC also made bikes under dozens of retailer badge names including Hiawatha, Hawthorne, and Fleetwing.
Around the year 1950 the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF) entered the bicycle business with the Roadmaster line, thanks to the formal acquisition of the Cleveland Welding in 1951. AMF also absorbed the Junior Toy Company of Hammond, Indiana, and in 1953 they acquired the Shelby Cycle Company through a hostile takeover.
That same year, following a prolonged labor strike at the UAW-organized Cleveland plant, AMF moved bicycle production to a new facility in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1962, the company relocated its main manufacturing operations to a 122 acre factory in Olney, Illinois. The baby boom drove strong demand through the 1950s and 1960s, and the Olney plant produced everything from children’s tricycles to over 100,000 miniature Mustangs for Ford.
The Evel Knievel Roadmaster Models
By the mid-1970s, AMF entered a sponsorship deal with motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel to produce special-edition Roadmaster bicycles bearing his name and red-white-and-blue riding suit motifs. Knievel was one of the most famous men in the country at this time, and he had lines of toys, clothing, he appeared in movies, and he had his own branded bicycles – thanks to the deal with AMF.
The Roadmaster brandname was introduced in 1936 and quickly became the company’s flagship line, expanding in its second year to include models ranging from deluxe limited-production Supremes to junior bikes. Image courtesy of AMF Roadmaster.
The Evel Knievel model line included several variants, the most collectible being the 1976 “Spirit of ’76,” a BMX-style bike designed to resemble Knievel’s motorcycle. The deluxe version featured a working turn signal and a “Rev Box” that produced engine sounds when the rider twisted the handlebar grip.
AMF also offered a 10-speed road bike version and a standard BMX model based on the Avenger 350 platform with Knievel-specific paint, decals, and seat. These bikes are now highly sought after by collectors spanning the vintage BMX, motorcycle memorabilia, and Evel Knievel communities, and they attract plenty of attention when they come up for sale.
Despite the success of the Knievel-branded bikes this was a period of steep decline for the Roadmaster brand under AMF’s management. Seven division presidents cycled through between 1972 and 1982, product quality deteriorated sharply, and some Midwestern bike shops refused to repair Roadmaster bicycles at all.
AMF sold the division in 1983 to its own general manager George Nebel and colleague Bob Zinnen, and the business became known as Roadmaster Industries, Inc.
A 72% surge in bicycle sales during the 1993 mountain bike boom led to a new plant in Effingham, Illinois, but the revival was short-lived. The bicycle division was sold to Brunswick Corporation in 1997, US production ceased entirely by 1999, and the brand was subsequently acquired by Pacific Cycle, which imports Roadmaster bicycles from Taiwan and China.
The AMF Evel Knievel Roadmaster Bicycle Shown Here
This AMF Roadmaster Evel Knievel bicycle was restored under previous ownership, wearing a white base with red, white, and blue graphics and gold Evel Knievel script. It has a white “banana seat,” a color-matched frame pad, striped plastic fenders, and front and side number plates.
The bike rolls on replacement wire-spoke wheels with matte black rims, shod with CST Pro knobby tires and white dice valve caps. Braking is handled by a rear coaster brake, and the bike is not equipped with a deployable stand – the front wheel chock is not included in the sale.
This is a 1970s-era AMF Evel Knievel Roadmaster bicycle, it was one of the most desirable bikes of the period, and a number of Evel Knievel models were offered thanks to the AMF sponsorship agreement with Knievel.
The black cross-braced handlebar has a multi-colored pad, white grips, and an Evel Knievel-branded number plate. Pedal power reaches the rear wheel through a crank arm, sprocket, and gold-finished drive chain, with a color-matched chain guard with AMF graphics and gold Evel Knievel script.
This bike was acquired by the selling dealer in 2023 and is now offered at no reserve in Miami, Florida. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer + AMF Roadmaster
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
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