John Deere Bicycles: What Years Were They Made & How Much Is One Worth Today?

You almost certainly know the name John Deere, if not for the legacy of the tractors and agriculture equipment sold over the better part of the last two centuries, then for the recent spate of "Proudly Worn" commercials reminding you about that legacy.

In 1837, John Deere (who has quite the backstory) built a plow out of a broken steel saw blade and launched a mighty farm-equipment empire that would sport the legendary leaping deer logo and trademarked green and gold colors and morph into construction, forestry, power systems, and — soon – autonomous robot lawn mowers. But did you know it also built bicycles, too? Not just once, but twice.

It's not uncommon for a company focused on one industry to build something completely different. BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, Jeep, and Chevrolet have all sold boutique bikes bearing their logo. In fact, many well-known brands made two-wheelers before creating something bigger and better. The Peugeot brothers went from metallurgy to building bicycles in 1882, and wouldn't get around to automobiles until 1891. Some eight years before Triumph built motorcycles (in 1902), it produced bikes. And much like those companies, John Deere dabbled in bikes, too. 

As the bicycling craze swept across the country in 1894, the company ordered 1,000 two-wheelers and raked in over $150,000 (equivalent to $5.5 millino today). Location had a lot to do with its success, as it sold the bikes through its farm equipment stores, becoming the primary supplier to people who lived in rural areas.

In 1896, Deere sold three models made exclusively for it — the Deere Roadster, the Deere Leader, and the Moline Special. That same year, Charles Velie — one of John Deere's grandsons and the company's bike guru — created a trademark featuring an antlered deer riding a bicycle, and Deere exhibited at several bicycle shows. Alas, the fad started fading in 1897, and by 1900, Deere was out of the bike biz.

Fast forward to the 1970s, when personal recreational vehicles (think ATVs, snowmobiles, etc.) started blowing up, and the company wanted to expand into that segment. Its now-iconic "Nothing Runs Like A Deere" slogan only came about after an advertising copywriter literally dug it out of a trashcan full of bad ideas and used it for Deere's line of snowmobiles (1971-1984). This coincided with yet another three-year bike renaissance. 

Between 1973 and 1975, Deere offered 10 models for men, women, and children: three-speed, five-speed, and 10-speed, in sizes ranging from 20-inch boys' and girls' banana-seat models (with a suggested of $49.95) to 27-inch adult racers ($109.95). 

The bikes were actually built by other companies, then branded with a John Deere logo. The adult bikes came from Steel Master Enterprise Corporation. The kids' 20-inch banana bikes were made by Terra-Products of Crawfordsville, Indiana. Both were U.S.-based companies that had manufacturing sites in Taiwan, where the bikes were assembled. A little over 200,000 bikes were made.

Allen Bohman of Osgood, Ohio is an avid collector of John Deere bicycles and has a complete set of all 10 made during the 70s. Bohman says the 20-inch boys' and girls' bicycles are the hardest to find today because they were often neglected and rotted away. That, and any of the blue bikes, since that color wasn't made available until the final 1975 production year, so far fewer were made.

These 1970s-vintage bikes can be found on sites around the internet, with some sellers listing them as both rare and antique for far more then they're ever going to be worth, especially given the condition some of them appear to be in (think true barn finds). An unrestored green men's three-speed is currently listed on eBay at $400, while an unrestored 26-inch 10-speed is listed at $700. 

But a restored green 1973 men's three-speed sold on eBay in November 2024 for $199. Meanwhile, an unrestored version of that same model sold the month before for just $75.

Still, an incredibly clean ladies blue 1975 3-speed sold in November for $459, proving that the rare blue bikes command higher values. Similarly, a very used (unrestored) yellow "banana seat" bike recently sold for $249.99.

As for the old, truly antique bikes from the 1890s ... well, that's where the real money appears to be, because they're impossible to find. In fact, we could only find one archived instance of an 1890s-era John Deere bike — well, parts of the bike, anyway (a frame with crank, fork, and handlebars) — that reportedly sold for $2,500. The thing with collectibles, though, is that they're only worth what someone else is willing to pay, so the old adage "Buyer beware" springs to mind. 

And just in case you're wondering, John Deere sells numerous items you probably didn't know existed on its website. These include five kids' bicycles, ranging from a $44.99 10-inch balance bike for toddlers to three bikes with training wheels for $149.99, $159.99, and $164.99, and a $174.99 20-inch Dirt Rush BMX-style dirt bike.