The titanium Speedwell bike ridden by Florian Schneider in Kraftwerk’s 1984 video for the band’s Tour de France remix has been sold at auction, fetching $57,600, a price that would net you three modern top-tier road bikes.
The lot was one of several possessions previously belonging to Schneider, who died in 2020, recently sold by Julien’s Auctions.
The bike was listed with an estimate of $4,000 to $6,000, so the $57,600 sold price (plus 28 per cent buyer’s premium) is a huge sum. A bike stand and three Polaroid photos of Schneider riding the bike were part of the lot.
While the original 1983 video for Tour de France featured shots of the race, Kraftwerk’s remix video shows the group’s four members in cycling on the flat around their native Düsseldorf.
The all-silver titanium bike has had the Drillium treatment, with its triple chainrings and rear derailleur cage riddled with holes to reduce their weight.
While most of the groupset looks to be original, including the slightly perished lever hoods, the handlebars have been retaped and the intact-looking Panaracer tyres, new cables and Crane bell suggest that the bike may have been ridden more recently than 1984.
Kraftwerk's Tour de France continues to be an inspiration for cyclists, with a Kraftwerk themed Canyon time trial bike designed by the band's Ralf Hütter ridden by Tony Martin at the Tour's Grand Départ from Düsseldorf in 2017.
