About Ebykr
Ebykr celebrates classic and vintage lightweight bicycles through provocative imagery and opinion. Ride along with us.
All About the Francs, and Palmarès Very few marques from classic cycling’s golden years are as simultaneously transparent and opaque as Cycles Mercier. Wonderful examples of the company’s craftmanship abound in their namesake bicycles, spanning the pre-War 1920s through the…
The story of Cycles Mercier is inextricably linked to its master strategy of brand management and horizontal integration, a philosophy that ensured its longevity even as smaller rivals struggled to survive. Over its 66-year reign, Mercier established no fewer than…
The storied history of Cycles Mercier spans well over a century now, marked by rapid industrialization, a long-running racing dynasty, pioneering technical innovations (like the Méca Dural frame), and dramatic corporate collapses and revivals (note the use of plurals here).…
Cycles Automoto’s posters run from 1899 to 1950, very nearly the marque’s whole poster life, and 16 originals are gathered here — from the art nouveau years in Saint-Étienne to the Champs-Élysées after the war. Automoto built in an industrial…
Legnano stands firmly among the tallest names in all of Italian cycling racing history. Founder Emilio Bozzi and his namesake bicycle and component manufacturer and distributor tapped into a collective competitive spirit to usher in modern transportation solutions starting back…
Legnano secured its rightful place in the great tradition of Italian cycling many epochs ago. This is largely because Legnano was and remains among the winningest brands in all of cycling racing history, with professional road greats like Alfredo Binda,…
The job of a bicycle designer parallels that of a surgeon in many senses: triage what’s wrong, decide what no longer functions, find a way to solve the problem and repair or replace whatever needs fixing. And like any good…
Joseph “Jo” Routens was one of the greatest makers of randonneur, cyclotouring and cyclosportif bicycles in all of cycling history. The only other name regularly considered alongside his more aged contemporaries, Rene Herse and Alex Singer, Routens was distinct from these…
Bicycle companies faced a historical deletion around the time World War II hit as the prevalence of automobiles and weight of war became overwhelming. Manufacturers, racers and race organizers found their livelihoods interrupted – and in some unfortunate cases, even…
Road bike racing likely comes to most people’s minds when they think about sports in Italy. Given this strong association, it’s no wonder the country is birthplace to so many of cycling’s most legendary figures. Mario Confente – in a…
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