Miele Bicycle History

German manufacturer Miele & Company produced Miele brand bicycles for the first 60 years of the 20th century. Miele bikes, built for basic transportation and freight as well as touring and sport, represented only a part of the company's diverse interests. Production ceased when the facility responsible for bike production was needed for an expansion of the home appliances division in 1960.

  1. Bielefeld Bicycles

    • Carl Miele and Rienhart Zinkann founded Meile & Company in 1899, building cream separators for the dairy industry. Butter churns and washing machines soon followed. In the early 1900's Miele produced a wide range of home appliances and even branched out into the auto industry.
      In 1924 the Miele manufacturing plant at Bielefeld, Germany, began producing bicycles built for transport. First production included two models--one for men and one for women. Smoothly operating bikes designed for hard everyday use were the first company goal. Within three years, the bicycle line expanded to touring and sporting bikes with a wide choice of handlebar styles and colors.

    WWII

    • Both company founders died shortly before WWII, but the flourishing business had a network of warehouses and showrooms across Europe--and a distant branch in Argentina. Before WWII, the company employed 2,700 people and 2,000 different products were produced in Miele's facilities. During the war production shifted to military machinery, but bicycles remained a small part of the company's output. In the post-ware reconstruction years, Miele bikes played an important role as reliable and cheap transportation.

    Post-war period

    • During the post-war years, Miele held to its standards. The company built bikes for freight transport as well as personal use and refused to lower quality and costs to compete with cheaper competition. Tubular steel frames were standard. Handlebars of steel tubing were nickel plated for corrosion resistance. Bikes received four layers of baked enamel paint and saddles were cut from the finest leather available.

    Closing Production

    • In 1960 the Bielefeld plant produced its last bicycle. Between 1924 and 1960, Miele built 1.2 million bicycles at its Bielefeld facility. To meet the changing needs in society, the bicycle production line was retooled for the production of dishwashers. No more Mieles were built until Procycle, a Canadian bicycle manufacturer, purchased the Miele brand name in 2001.

    Procycle Miele

    • Since 2001, Procycle has built Miele bicycles in Canada. Procycle promotes the current Miele line as inspired by the Italian sport cycling tradition rather than the German transport philosophy. Procycle's Miele brand offers bikes for children as well as men and women. Choices include BMX bikes, mountain bicycles, touring models and even low riders.