It’s amazing to attend an international Bike Show at the beginning of the season, there is no better way of seeing the new trends and getting the ride vibe back after the Winter. We always like to visit the leading shows in Spring, but this was our 1st time to the Copenhagen Bike Show and it was awesome!

Copenhagen is a Cycling city and it seems that a city that cycles is also a city that smiles. The infrastructure and ethos is all geared (excuse the pun) toward cycling and active travel, with beautifully segregated bike lanes and bridges purposefully built for cyclists and pedestrians. A city of 3 speed, Dutch style bikes where the utility bike is king, it’s a lifestyle thing, not just performance cycling. What did Chris Boardman say…”normal people in normal clothes, riding bikes”, whatever that means?…something like that.

This lifestyle choice is reflected in the predominant type of bike used, with little helmet wearing and the infrastructure that is active travel lead, clearly from inception to planning and construction. Cycling is literally embedded in the streets and the Danish mindset.

“Dutch Style” bikes, sit up, step through, 3 speed, 1 brake, 1 coaster brake and front racks. It’s flat in Copenhagen, the island is low lying, with the only height being the buildings. Perhaps that’s why this type of bike is so popular…un-fussy, clean, un-cluttered like the Scandinavian ethos.

Nor many single speeds, surprisingly. I thought there would be more bike messengers, but perhaps the digital age has destroyed them here also? Copenhagen is an interesting mix of the old and new. New on the re-claimed land and old along the canal waterways. Hans Christian Andersen’s Mermaid was quietly beautiful despite the throngs of tourists, she keeps her modesty.

The best way to see the city is on bike, by foot or along the waterways. It’s the best way to see detail, immerse yourself and get perspective, as a moving part of the landscape not sat idling in it.

Back to the Copenhagen Bike Show…

Pastel and accent colours on tonal based colourways seem to be the trend, is that a Scandinavian thing or global, I shall have to watch out at other shows across the season?

Bikes as art statements with motifs and characterful paint jobs seem to be popular…performance and statement for the modern customer. Even with an off the peg bike offering personality and style. The order of dominance among the exhibits seems to be this…E-bike, Gravel, Endurance Road, Cargo and MTB…with a strong showing from Utility bikes in this Cycling Mecca.

Gravel is king with analogue bikes. It was great to see so many children and Women at the show, cycling in Denmark is certainly a family thing!

Are modern bikes too much, too techy and have moved away from the Svelte and clean simplicity of earlier bicycles? “Less is More”, John Ruskin said in the infamously fussy Victorian period.

Perhaps in our search for the lightest components, the latest tech and always a demand for something new, we have moved away from cycling’s roots? In Denmark, much of cycling’s pure message survives and thrives…healthy, green, fun transport and play!

Hyyge ,

“a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)”.

Thank you Copenhagen.