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Pro Motion
In this Archive piece from Grafik 181, Max Leonard takes a tour through the surprisingly rich world of bicycle logo design, from marques invented by artisan frame-builders to branding and corporate race sponsorship. Illustrations by Andrew Edwards.
Words by Max Leonard

Logo for Eddie Merckx, circa 1980

Logo for Ugo de Rosa, one of the most revered framebuilders. One of several Italian logos that use playing-card imagery.

‘Run With the Hunted’ Kinfolk logo, contemporary take on traditional head badges by Marco Hernandez of LitFuse Tattoo for new Japanese-American company that hand-builds steel frames

BSA logo

Logo for Olmo

Logo for Motobécane

Logo for 3Rensho

Logo for Level

Logo for Simplex (a now-defunct French maker of derailleurs) with an intricate Art Deco derailleur forming the ‘S’

Japanese bike frame builder 3RENSHO – one of very few builders licensed to make frames for the Keirin races in Japan

Logo for Hill Bros, with coat of arms of Padiham in Lancashire, and Latin inscription ‘Fortune, the companion of valour’

Head badge for Mash SF Cinelli bike, designed by Benny Gold

Logo for Cinelli

Logo for Hetchins, 1934

Logo for Cinelli

Logo for Columbus

Logo for Bianchi, 1885

The Kalavinka head badge, depiciting a kalavinka (Buddhist heavenly spirit), is hand-painted by the framebuilder’s wife in his Tokyo workshop

Dubonnet Tour de France advertisement

Logo for Rollapaluza, a race club where riders compete on static bikes bolted to a stand, with no front wheel. The logo, designed by Wayne Peach, shows two bicycles locked in head-to-head combat

Logo for Molteni, the pro team sponsored by a sausage company

La Vie Claire health food stores introduced Piet Mondrian’s Composition A to its team jerseys during the 1980s