Rover Safety Bicycle, 1888
Franceso Moser's Hour Record Bike, 1984
Bradley Wiggins' Hour Record Bike, 2015
Raleigh Chopper, 1970
Tools from the Bike Makers Workshop
Hartley Cycles
Apparel & Accessories inc. Brooks saddle bags
Jon Day's 1970's Fixed Gear Track Bike from his London Courier days
Ben Wilson's Donky Bike & Stairwell sculpture commission
Peckham BMX Club
Sir Paul Smith's testimonial & jumper collection
I’ve been looking forward to this exhibition since I first heard about it via their
social media campaign to find the ultimate “Urban Rider” for one of the show’s
case studies. The opening today unveiled
that tribe alongside competitive “High Performers”, off-road “Thrill Seekers”
and freight / messenger “Cargo Bikers”.
Whatever category you might fall into; every cyclist is catered for in this
cross section of over 77 frames on display from the earliest 1880’s original to
Wiggins’ recent 1-hour record breaker.
Whether you are a die-hard geek into the design detailing, eco-freak
into Bamboo builds or a Brompton city boy, each wall is hanging with the finest
specimens in the development of the sport.
As the
final show to be held at the Shad Thames site, it’s fulfilled the wish of
founder Sir Terence Conran to hold a retrospective on the classic. Just like the simple chair or cork screw, it’s
one of the most desirable mechanical shapes for designers to have a go at
re-formatting. Apparently the hi-spec of
the Olympic winning bikes on show are top secret, sitting alongside their
earlier counterparts still looking glorious from the ingenuity of the time. A show-stopper for the display will definitely
be the 1984 Franceso Moser’s Hour Record Bike with its silver steel frame and
disc wheels. It is exquisitely
beautiful, irrespective of its original pioneering aerodynamic performance. I think this is referred to as #bikeporn in the industry.
One section
of the story is dedicated to six contemporary craftsmen with a “Bike Makers
Workshop” consisting of tools from a cross range of Britain’s current game
changers. Emerging world class names
represent the nation’s newest talent with HartleyCycles flying the flag for the female force in the frame building
industry. Caren’s initial training in
metalwork for jewellery at the RCA has crossed over into soldering the stems of
cycles and a new outlet for her fine art flourish.
Women’s
cycling has a great presence across each aspect of the narrative with Joanna
Rowsell’s daily track schedule as part of Team GB’s training thru to BMX
breakthrough star Shanaze Reade. Here
lies the highlight of the whole thing for me, a film clip following the story
of Peckham’s BMX Club which started as a Southwark Council initiative. A derelict space was turned into a track with
coach DJ CK Flash recruited to rally the community. Now with a 2nd larger home at
Burgess Park, he has gone on to discover and nurture the nation’s new competing
professionals. An incredible inspiring
story in perfect timing as antidote to the city’s endemic preoccupation with
the negative effects of the unrelenting redevelopment.
And on that
note, as the bricks and mortar of London’s landscape is chopping and changing
on a daily basis – one other noticeable shift is the amount of commuter
footfall now revolving over to peddling.
Numbers of journeys by bike are on the increase and sure to be making a bee
line for this new show, not least for the shop brimming with gadgets and cycling
theme gifts!
