How the collection came together
A passion for
cycling, history
and mechanics
The Evolution of Bikes · Decades on two wheels
The collection
The Evolution of Bikes — Decades on two wheels — grew from my interest in cycling, the history of cycle racing and the mechanics of the racing bicycle.
The basis of the website
The collection is at the centre
This website is built around the physical collection. The bicycles are its fixed centre, and each one opens stories about the riders, races, marques, components and technical solutions of its time.
The stories, periods and technical explanations therefore do not stand alone. They grow from the collection and offer a closer look at the bicycles — both as hand-built objects and as evidence of the development of cycle racing.
For many years I have been fascinated by the racing bicycle’s development from early, simple steel bicycles with reversible rear wheels to modern, light and aerodynamic racing machines. Every period has its own solutions, materials and ideas, and every bicycle says something about the time in which it was made.
The bicycles have been found and collected over many years. Several came home from trips to France and Italy, where cycling history can still be found in small workshops, old barns, cellars and with families who have kept bicycles for generations.
Every bicycle says something about the time in which it was made.
Some bicycles were found nearly complete. Others were assembled little by little. Frames, gears, wheels, handlebars, saddles, brakes and other components came from many different countries.
Finding all the right parts for one bicycle could take several years — especially when the aim was to build it as correctly and faithfully to its period as possible.
Beyond the collection
The work has also been a journey through the history of the bicycle industry and the stories of inventors, frame builders, mechanics and riders who kept trying to make the bicycle lighter, faster and more reliable.
The collection shows the development from heavy steel frames and simple gear systems to aluminium, carbon fibre, aerodynamic wheels and modern groupsets. The exhibition is concerned with precisely this connection between mechanics, craft and cycle racing.
I hope many people will enjoy it, and that it can prompt recognition, curiosity and interest in cycling history. Each display text therefore connects the bicycle with a central story from its time.
Facts
- Period
- c. 1919–2013
- Bicycles displayed
- 12
- Countries
- France, Italy and Denmark
- Materials
- Steel, aluminium and carbon fibre
- Theme
- Mechanics, craft and cycle racing
- Development
- From reversible rear wheel to modern racing technology
Exhibition
Would you like to
exhibit the collection?
The collection can be displayed in shops, cultural centres, museums, businesses, at bicycle races or other events.
Henning Renita Ydehyde@hyde.dk+45 20 19 26 95