Our History

In 2000, Leicester Spokes members Roger Lovell and Simon Thomas organised Spokesfest, an event to celebrate all kinds of  bikes and pedal powered machine. The festival proved to be hugely successful with machines as diverse as a Penny-Farthing and a human power aeroplane taking part and enthusiasts from as far away  as America, Canada and Malaysia attending.

Shortly afterwards is was agreed that Spokesfest should become an annual event and subsequent years featured cycling for people with special needs, human powered boats, the European Pedal Car Championship and, as the finale to the final event in 2003, a Guinness world Record with 131 Penny-Farthings.

In 2001 the pair launched a special needs cycling project and began to manufacture specialist and adapted machines, often using recycled bike parts. It soon became apparent that the growing demand for their work required proper business premises and in late 2002 Cyclemagic was formed as a not-for-profit community cycling group with a small factory unit being rented on Friday Street in the heart of Leicester.

After four years of steady growth, developing new projects and delivering consultancy and cycling roadshows for councils across the country, the time came for a move to much larger premises. Fortunately the ideal location was found just a few yards away       on Friday Street and the organisation opened Leicester’s first community cycling centre in March 2007. It was later found to be the site of the Leicester Cycle Co works during the 1890’s.

 Soon after the move was complete a busy year of events began, the highlight of which was opening the Tour de France live on stage in London’s Trafalgar Square and before world-wide media. The same weekend also saw Cyclemagic hosting the UK’s largest ever cycling try-out roadshow on Hyde Park when almost 3,000 tried cycling on a wide range of different bikes.

2008 began with a request to supply fifteen 1930’s tandem bikes on set in Majorca for filming a new Stella Artois advert and a contiuned growth in demand for our services, resulting in us having to turn down a two day roadshow in Paris due to other commitments!

Cyclemagic has recently begun an exciting three years development programme supported by local, regional and national agencies, authorities and community organisations. We aim to further expand our capicity in order to meet demand and deliver both new and existing projects and events across  the country.