With the success of Team GB in the velodrome and high profile celebrities frequently spotted out and about on their bikes, our passion for cycling is stronger than ever.
And as the Giro D'Italia sets off on 4 May and the Tour de France gears up for its 100th edition in June, Vintage Seekers, a source for original collectibles, celebrates the sport with a range of nostalgic cycling posters.
Produced in small numbers and preserved in excellent condition, the posters celebrate the beginning of a golden age of cycling.
1925 Cycles Omega original poster. This circa 1925 poster is in very good condition. The poster was printed at Imprimeries Réunies, Lyon and is stone lithograph. £1,000
The bright colours and the evocative designs of these retro pieces are an art and bike lover's dream.
The combination of endurance, grace, grit and exceptional fitness in the sport of cycling capture the imagination, and is celebrated in these hundred-year old posters.
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The late 1800s saw an explosion of cycling as a pastime combined with the rising popularity of poster advertising.
As such, many bicycle manufacturers created beautiful artworks that evoked the joy of jumping on a bike and hitting the road, whether for sport or more genteel pleasure.
1905 original advertising poster for White Cycles. Featuring a woman on a bicycle and a white dog on a leash. Titled "The White Cycles. White Sewing Machine. London et Paris." Printed by Hill, Siffken & Co. in London. £700
1925 original cycling poster titled "Vèlodrome de Lausanne." A stone lithograph printed by Lithos A. Marsens, art by Jacques Favarger. £1,300
1950 Velosolex original cycling poster. This poster depicts an famous bike with a motor mounted on the dront wheel. This Swiss poster is stone lithograph printed by Roger Marsens, Lausanne and is in excellent condition. £1,200
Great poster artists such as Leonetto Cappiello, the Italian-born Paris-based illustrator considered the father of modern advertising, Jean de Paleologue, Jules Chéret, Henri Gray and Adolphe Mouron Cassandre all produced iconic and visually arresting posters for races, cycle shops and bike companies such as Peugeot, Liberator, Cycles Sirius, Alcyon and Omega.
While the early posters embodied the glorious, evocative style of the Belle Époque, with women shown in goddess-like poses riding or pushing bicycles, later posters became more graphic, enhancing the simple geometric shapes of the bike itself.
Cycling has become something of an unofficial national sport embraced East London hipsters and Westminster politicians alike
As many of these posters were created cheaply on thin paper stock and were not intended to last more than a few weeks, let alone years, they have become increasingly rare and many now fetch considerable sums of money at auction.
In 2009, a deceptively simple poster created in 1925 by AM Cassandre for Cycles Brilliant sold at auction in New York for $31,200 (£20,145) - well over the $15,000 - $20,000 estimate.
1962 original Swiss vintage poster for the Swiss National Circus, titled "Knie. Lili Yokoi." Depicting the famous 60s bicycle acrobat Lili Yokoi. Printed by Rentsch, Trimbach. £600
1952 original cyclocross World Championship poster titled "Championnat du Monde de cross cyclo-pèdestre. Genève 1952." Art by Noël Fontanet. £1,500
1899 Liberator, Cycles & Motorcycles original poster. This vintage poster is by Pal, and depicts the phrase 'The valkyries are preferring the 'Liberator' bicycles. This is a large poster, signed in the stone "D'après Pal". £3,400
1926 Bicyclette Lucifer original poster. "Schilles on an Lucifer bicycle" winner of the Grand-Prix de Paris 1925 and the French speed championship 1926. Stone lithograph printed by Affiches Kossuth. This piece is in very good condition. £600