Portraits of cyclists : A story of bike and happiness

“I have been living in Copenhagen for many years. I cycle here every day with my purple bike. Actually, I live a little bit outside the city, 7 km from here (the city-center). I work at the Royal Theatre.”

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

“Of course! I like to bike in the center. The atmosphere is so cosy and the streets are full of people.”

“Have you noticed that here we're in a bicycle street? Cars must follow the pace of the cyclists.”

“No. But it's really interesting.”

“Your bike and your earrings are the same color.”

“It's not a coincidence. I like pink and purple. I receive lots of compliments about my bike. People don't hesitate to tell me that seeing a purple bike makes them happy. It happened to me a couple of time. I didn't know these people, they just came to me - quite often when it was a grey day - and they said “I'm sorry... but I would like to say... your bike... it makes me so happy”. So, I replied that I'm really happy too. It gives me lots of good energy.”

More pictures of Copenhagen on Byliv in CPH

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.