House of Bicycles

The House of Bicycles is a private collection at Supot Tengtrirat’s home on Chao Fa Road in Wiang Sa — not a staffed museum, so turning up unannounced is a gamble. His family used to run the local Raleigh and Humber bicycle distributorship, selling hundreds of imported bikes over the years, and what began as leftover stock and family history has grown into a collection of more than 150 bicycles spanning roughly a century and a half.

The bikes are grouped loosely into zones: European-made frames, rare and unusual designs, bicycles and accessories sourced within Thailand, and a run of children’s two-wheelers that makes a sharp visual contrast against the collection’s oldest piece. That standout is a Hochrad high-wheeler from around 1880, a penny-farthing-era bike built before chain-driven designs took over — it towers over everything else on display, especially the child-sized bikes parked nearby. Elsewhere in the collection are shaft-driven bikes that skip the chain entirely, a folding bicycle built for paratroopers to carry on their backs, and even one built in the shape of a fire truck, alongside recognizable names like Phillips, Robin Hood, and Gazelle from the family’s old distribution days.

Because this is someone’s home rather than a commercial operation, the experience depends on when the owner is free to walk you through it. Reports point to two windows — 9-11 AM and 2-4 PM — as the times he’s generally around, though phoning ahead rather than assuming those hours is the safer move given there’s no ticket desk or fixed schedule to rely on. Watch out: don’t treat this as a drop-in stop between other Wiang Sa sights; without a call ahead, you risk finding nobody home.

Entry costs nothing, though a bicycle collection built from one family’s own business history feels like the kind of place where a small thank-you — buying a coffee, leaving a donation — is the right instinct if the owner gives you his time. Wiang Sa itself is a quiet district south of Nan town, so this pairs naturally with a half-day loop rather than standing as a destination on its own.

Insider Tip: Mention you’re interested in the Raleigh and Humber history specifically — the owner’s personal connection to that distributorship is more interesting than the general bike-history framing, and he’ll often go deeper into it if asked directly.

The House of Bicycles sits in Wiang Sa district, part of Nan province’s quieter southern loop. Pair a visit with the National Museum of Nan in Nan town for a broader look at the province’s history, or Wat Phumin, the murals-and-architecture temple that’s usually the first stop on any Nan itinerary.