From humble beginnings.

Peter was raised in West Heidelberg and at the age of 14 was introduced to racing at the Preston Cycling Club. As his interest grew in the sport he began working on bicycles at the Bates factory in Coburg at the age of 15, his first job was lacing the wheels ready for truing. His goal was to save up enough money so that Ron, owner of Bates would build him a track bike to race at the Preston velodrome.

Fast forward 11 years, after 4 years of racing on the European scene, living between London & Ghent, Peter had a serious crash at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque and called it a day on his dream of becoming a professional cyclist. After the incident Peter moved back to London and began working with Chas Roberts, owner and legendary frame builder of Roberts Cycles. Shortly after, Peter soon realised he possessed all the abilities to open a bicycle store himself and in 1976 De Ver was founded. The name is a play on Peter’s surname of Verleysdonk, De (The) Ver (First 3 letters of the surname). During his time in London Peter etched out a niche frame building workshop in which he would produce custom bicycles to a very high level emphasising his attention to detail. The store was sold to Maurice Burton in 1987 and is still operating today in South London. After a few years away from the bicycle industry, living in sun-drenched Queensland lost its appeal which made Peter move back to his roots in Melbourne.