New exhibition explores contemporary cycling, from the Raleigh Chopper to Bradley Wiggin’s Hour Record breaking bike
News – Design Museum’s Cycle Revolution
Press Release
Bikes ridden by Chris Froome, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy, Chris Boardman MBE and Eddy Merckx are on display alongside thoughtfully designed accessories, from folding helmets to reflective tweed jackets
The Design Museum’s Cycle Revolution showcases famous bikes, the latest cycling innovations, and the voices of celebrated cyclists, both professional and amateur, to tell the powerful, personal and sometimes remarkable stories of cycling today.
The exhibition looks at contemporary cycling culture through four ‘tribes’, each of which has an advocate chosen by the museum. High Performers reach Olympic speeds, taking in track and road racing, and are led by Olympic and World Champion, Sir Chris Hoy.
Thrill Seekers take on all terrains on mountain bike and BMX, and are led by three-time winner of the UCI BMX World Championships Shanaze Reade.
Urban Riders pedal the city and are led by Lucy Granville, winner of the Design Museum’s global search to find the ultimate urban rider. Entries came in from Bangalore, Sao Paulo and Gothenburg, but Lucy is a Londoner who has been traversing the capital since birth, and says ‘My bike is my freedom pass. Riding is liberation, and sanity.’
Cargo Bikers work on two wheels and are represented by the designer of ‘the Bringley’, Lawrence Brand, who road-tested his prototype cargo bike by riding it alone and unsupported for 5,000km through Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and on to the Chinese border, before setting up Porterlight Bicycles.
Highlights of the bikes on display include: Sir Bradley Wiggins’s 2015 Hour Record bike and 2014 World Championship Time Trial bike; a number of Team Sky’s Pinarellos from the 2015 Tour de France, as well as kit and equipment from the team’s 2015 Tour de France win; Sir Chris Hoy’s Great Britain Cycling Team London 2012 Olympic Track bike; the Lotus Type 108 ridden by Chris Boardman at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games; Eddy Merckx’s 1972 1984 Hour Record bike; Francesco Moser’s 1984 Hour Record bike, loaned for the exhibition from the personal collection of Sir Bradley Wiggins; the earliest prototype Brompton in existence; a 1978 Breezer Series 1; and, of course, a 1969 Raleigh Chopper.
The exhibition recreates a bike builder’s workshop – showing the tools, materials and skills that combine to create a bespoke machine. Six independent British bike builders – Donhou Bicycles, Toad Custom Cycles, Hartley Cycles, Robin Mather Cycles, Mercian Cycles and Shand Cycles – are profiled through specially commissioned films, as well as bikes – some of which are being created specifically for the exhibition.
The final section of the exhibition, devoted to the future of cycling, looks at how designers, architects and urban planners in cities across the world have responded to the popularity of cycling and the demands it makes on the urban environment – from the Bjarke Ingels’ residential complex where you can cycle right to your front door to the Kolelinia Halfbike II, a compact vehicle which the user pedals standing upright.
The exhibition closes with a film of newly recorded interviews with high profile cyclists including Lord Norman Foster, Sir Paul Smith and Dame Vivienne Westwood, discussing their passion for cycling and hopes for its future.
Cycle Revolution breaks out of the gallery to take over the Design Museum. ‘Donky’ bike designer Ben Wilson has been commissioned to create a bike frame sculpture for the museum’s atrium, and public events are running throughout the exhibition.
Paying tribute to the many varied bicycles and riders that have gone before, the Design Museum is partnering with the Veteran-Cycle Club to launch the exhibition with a period cavalcade of bicycles that will be ridden from the historic Herne Hill Velodrome to the museum on Saturday 24 October 2015. The ride will feature over fifty riders in the appropriate period dress riding in historical order on bikes ranging from the earliest nineteenth-century Dandy Charger up to the very latest in lightweight machines.
Cycle Revolution is the final show at the Design Museum in Bermondsey. After the exhibition closes on 30 June the museum will move across London to Kensington, where it is set to open in its new home, the former Commonwealth Institute building, in late 2016.
DESIGN MUSEUM, SHAD THAMES, LONDON SE1 2YD
Open: 10.00 -17.45 daily. Last admission: 17.15
Admission prices, inclusive of donations:
Adult £13.00
Student/Unemployed £9.75
Child, 6-15 yrs £6.60
Child, under 6 yrs free
Public information T: 020 7940 8790 W: designmuseum.org
Send your results as well as club, team & event news here
Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)
- Features, Reports, Results
- Crit Result: Crystal Palace Crits 4
- News: British UCI Teams in Women’s Tour of Britain
- Youth Result: East & Central Youth Circuit Series (Scotland)
- TT Result: Mid Devon CC 10m TT
- Crit Result: Portsmouth Evening Circuits 6
- TT Result: Ferryhill Wheelers 20m TT
- Youth Result: IOM RL360 Youth League 6
- British Road Championships 2024 – The Courses
- Crit Result: Full Gas Summer Series #6
- Youth Result: White Rose Youth League
- TLI Cycling Result: Cheshire Series Week 2
- Crit Result: Lotus Cars Cycle Race League 2
- RR Result: Bec CC Road Race
- Crit Result: Crystal Palace Crits 3
- TT Result: VC Venta 10m TT
- Youth Result: Spring in the Park #2 (Cyclopark)
- TT Result: VC Bristol 10m TT
- TT Result: Leo 30 mile TT
- TT Result: Velo Club Cumbria 10m TT
- TT Result: Anerley BC 10m TT
- TT Result: WCTTCA 10m TT
- TT Result: Mid Shropshire Wheelers 50m TT
- TT Result: Dukinfield CC 50m TT
- TT Result: Newbury RC 25m TT
- TT Result: Team Milton Keynes 20m TT
- Crit Result: West Thames Circuit Race League 5
- Crit Result: Salt Ayre Tuesday Series 5
- Crit Result: Ride Flux Spring Crit series #6
- Crit Result: Tameside Circuit Races (Rd 5)
- Startlist: Proper Northern RR Series 3 (Aughton)
- Crit Result: Some Enchanted Evenings 4
- Crit Result: Castle Combe Summer Series 2
- Crit Result: Hull Thursday RC Circuit Races
- Crit Result: King&Queen of the Bowl Series #3
- Crit Result: Spatzwear Friday Night Crit Series #1 | YBC
- Crit Result: West Lothian Grand Prix
- Entry List: BUCS Road Race Championships 2024
- Crit Result: Full Gas Spring Cup Series 4
- RR Result: Halesowen A&CC Road Race
- RR Result: Sloan Trophy Road Race
Other News on VeloUK
- News: British UCI Teams in Women’s Tour of Britain
- British Road Championships 2024 – The Courses
- Startlist: Proper Northern RR Series 3 (Aughton)
- Entry List: BUCS Road Race Championships 2024
- News: Stage 4 Route for Womens Tour of Britain
- Women’s Tour of Britain: Stage 3 Route
- STARTLIST: BEC CC National B (May 12)
- TT Result: New Forest CC 33m TT
- Events: BikeStow 3-day returns in 2024
- News: Tour of Britain (Women)
- News: Luke Rowe to Retire end of season
- STARTLIST: Sloan Trophy Road Race 2024
- Startlist: Yorkshire Under 23 Classic
- STARTLIST: Timmy James Memorial & Witham Hall Grand Prix RRs
- News: Pedal Club Lunch (April)
- STARTLIST: Youth & Junior Isle of Man Tour
- Startlists: Lincoln Grand Prix
- Startlists: Southend Wheelers Road Races
- Startlist: Tiverton Junior Nat Series Road Races
- Startlist: Harrogate Nova Spring Road Races
- Startlist: PNE National B RR
- STARTLIST: BUCS 10 TT (University Championships)
- Events: 18th Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic Route
- Events: Nigel Harrop Memorial Road Race
- This weekend: 18th CiCLE Classic UCI 1.2
- Events: SSSCCRRL Road Race League
- Ribble Collective: Ride More in ’24
- Startlist: The Drummond Trophy
- EVENTS: Proper Northern Road Races – Round 2 Oakenclough
- Events: Dave Peck Memorial
- News: Women’s Tour of Britain
- Startlist: PB Performance Espoirs Road Race
- East Cleveland Classic: Saint Piran Team
- News: New kit for Ribble Rebellion Riders
- Events: Halesowen Friday Track Nights
- Team News: Ribble Rebellion off to the USA
- News: Pedal Club Lunch (March)
- Rider News: Winning start for Billy Ladle
- News: CiCLE Classic 2024
- Startlist: Stars of the SW Men’s U23 RR