Greater Manchester

Changing perceptions of who really gets on their bike.

A campaign that handed itself over to the real cyclists of Greater Manchester, the ones who never call themselves that.

Campaign Design Travel Council
Greater Manchester, hero imagery to be added

01 / The challenge

What needed to change.

Cycling has an image problem. For many people, the picture is lycra, performance and personal-best chasers. If you don't recognise yourself in that picture, you don't consider cycling an option for you.

02 / The insight

The reframe that opened the door.

The most persuasive voices weren't athletes or campaigners. They were people who had quietly made cycling part of their everyday lives, often without ever calling themselves cyclists at all. Their stories normalised the choice in a way no aspirational image could.

03 / The approach

What we made, and how.

We addressed the perception head on, handing the campaign over to the people living it. Real cyclists, in their own clothes, going about their lives, telling their own stories in their own words. People who cycle to work, to the shops, to school. People who would never call themselves cyclists, and don't have to.

Campaign imagery to be added

We didn't tell people to become cyclists. We told them the people they already are can cycle.

04 / The outcome

What changed.

Real people

no models, no lycra

Greater Manchester

city-region wide

Insight-led

co-created with riders

Got a similar challenge?

If something here looks close to your brief, we'd love to hear about it. Drop us a line and we'll come back to you with how we'd approach it.

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