Caption from LIFE: "Gangbusters Bike mounts 13 shotguns, two revolvers, six bayonets, flare gun." Photo: Wallace Kirkland—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Caption from LIFE: "Four-man bicycle is powered by five chains and has brakes on both its wheels. The bike was built by Art Rothschild (top position) who broke three ribs while learning how to ride it." Photo: Wallace Kirkland—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Caption from LIFE: "Bedstead Bike was dreamed up by Joe Steinlauf, who got the idea while lying around in bed one morning." Photo: George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Bicycle, Chicago, 1948. Photo: Wallace Kirkland—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Caption from LIFE: "Square-wheeled bike held by Bernard Steinlauf was built by son Dave after seeing a bicycle wreck." Photo: Wallace Kirkland—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Wired is celebrating Bike to Work Week by reviewing the hottest bikes and gear out there today, but in order to appreciate how far we've come, it's also time to take a look back.

That's why we love the old bike photos that Life.com has pulled from their LIFE magazine archive. The photos originally ran in the December 27, 1948 issue and they show members of the Chicago chapter of the National Bicycle Dealers' Association riding, or at least trying to ride, a series of outlandish bicycles they designed and built.

There's the bike made out of a bed, the double-decker bike for four people and our personal favorite, the "Gangbusters Bike," which had 13 shotguns, two revolvers, six bayonets and a flare gun mounted to it – perfect for Bike to Work Day if you're a '40s mobster.

Ben Cosgrove, the editor at Life.com, says the website often tries to dig up fun photos from the magazine's archive to help celebrate certain holidays. While LIFE, which ceased publishing as a weekly magazine in 1972, is most well known for the iconic photos it published – like Capa's photo of the Spanish Civil War soldier, or Eppridge's photo from the Robert Kennedy assassination – Cosgrove says there is a wealth of quitter, or sillier photos, that also ran in the pages.

"What we're trying to do is bring back the lighthearted and forgotten stories as well the signature moments that LIFE covered throughout the 20th century," he says.

Check out the rest of the photos over at Life.com.