Dennis - “I bought this bike on the first day I settled down in Copenhagen”

“I'm from Sweden. I live in Copenhagen since I'm studying architecture here. I love the city. I cycle everyday to get around. I bought this bike on the first day I settled down in Copenhagen.

A few weeks after my bike disappeared. One day, I was getting off the bus when I saw it parked just around the corner. So, I took it back.”

“Do you have a favorite route to cycle through the city?”

“By the water! When the weather is sunny it can happen that I do a quick detour to follow the canals in Christianshavn. Sometimes, I also jump off the bike and walk.

The cyclists are the best thing about this city and being a cyclist make me definitely a part of it.”

“How do you think cycling in the streets of Copenhagen will influence the architect you'll become?”

“It's the best way to go from A to B. So, I'll pay attention to integrate bikes in my projects. I'd say to other cities: look at Copenhagen, how well it works. Just put white stripes on the streets and let the cyclists come.”







More pictures of Copenhagen on Byliv in CPH.

Portraits of cyclists: «When I cycle, I appreciate more the city »

 « I'm from Copenhagen and I cycle every day. I don't own a car. This bicycle is my dad's bike. It's a Raleigh (from their Danish collection). He always talks about this brand. »

« I own a bike and not a car because it's easier to get around. Wherever you want to go to,  you can pretty much get there in 20 or 25 minutes. It's more convenient and you get some exercise. It's almost a meditative moment.»

« What do you like the most about cycling? »
« Compare to a car, I fell that I'm much more aware of my surroundings. I notice more details around me and I appreciate more the city.»




Have you noticed the shoes matching perfectly the scarf? ;-)



More pictures of Copenhagen every day on Byliv in CPH.

Red Raleigh Chopper in Three Cities

Just spotted a theme, after perusing the recent red bicycle photos from the bloggers of the Cycle Chic Republic. The red Chopper from Raleigh, like this one spotted in Barcelona last summer.

Raleigh produced them in the 1970's and then stopped for whatever reason. Back then there was a gear shift on the crossbar which was potentially unlucky for male cyclists. When they relaunched the design in the early 2000s, the gear shift was moved up to the handlebar, but the bicycle was largely the same. Most bikes when I was a kid looked like this. Banana seat, back rest. Cool.

Then when our friends at Cardiff Cycle Chic posted this photo of the same bike, I realised that I had a tri-city theme goin' down.

'Cause my main man, Felix, has one, too here in Copenhagen.

The Bikes of Copenhagen #5 - Update

Many moons ago here on Cycle Chic we highlighted some of the bicycles that populate the bicycle lanes of the city. Looking back at our Bikes of Copenhagen post and the subsequent Danish Delight post we can see that things remain the same. Well, almost. The style - timeless, practical upright bicycles - continues unabated as it has for 125 years but there are some new brands that are making inroads on the market. So here is a quick and lazy Saturday morning update. Most of these bicycles are not available outside of Denmark or Scandinavia, but all the more reason to make a trip to Copenhagen. :-)

Having a healthy market featuring many different styles of bicycles for Citizen Cyclists is a key to promoting urban cycling to a mainstream audience.

Above is a bicycle from Danish brand Ebsen, whose bicycles are easily spotted on the streets because of their bold colours.
Ebsen - website is in Danish, but scroll down for more models.


Here is one of the models from Von Backhaus. Originally specialising in mountain bikes, we have noticed more and more upright models around town.
Von Backhaus - check out their online catalogue.


It was tough finding info about the Dresco bicycle. You see quite a few out there, but they are hard to google for some reason.We love the colours.
Dresco - here's a link to a bike shop in Copenhagen that sells them. They come in various colours.


Now Raleigh is not a Danish brand, of course, but here's an interesting story: When Raleigh stopped producing their classic designs from the 1920's, a Danish distributor wasn't at all pleased. These bikes were still popular in Denmark. As we understand it, he was allowed to licence the retro design and produce the classic Raleigh models solely for the Danish market and has done so ever since.

It's still a hoot to compare Raleigh's Danish website with Raleigh's US website or even Raleigh's UK Website. A textbook example of how bicycles are mainstream in Denmark and (still) relegated to being sport or recreation in other countries.


Raleigh in Denmark also sell their Tourist Deluxe model for gentleman.


A bike shop in Copenhagen imports various models of the Italian Bici Victoria brand. Above is the Inglese model.
Bici Victoria - Link to a Lucas Cykler, a local bike shop who drive down to Italy to pick up these bicycles from the factory.


You don't see many bicycles from the Dutch brand Gazelle in Denmark - new or vintage - but rest assured they are available on the market here.
Gazelle - Link to their Dutch website.


Another Dutch brand - Van de Falk - is popular among students.
Van de Falk - Danish site that sells them.