Butterfly Trek Madone
artwork
The Butterfly Trek Madone, an artwork utilizing a bicycle by Damien Hirst, became the world's most expensive bicycle when it was bought at auction for $500,000. It was designed by Hirst, who used real butterfly wings that were placed onto the actual frame and wheels of the bicycle. The bike had been ridden by Lance Armstrong in the 2009 Tour de France.
About
The Butterfly Trek Madone currently holds the title of the most expensive bike sold in the world. The second most expensive bike ever sold was the Trek Yoshitomo Nara Speed Concept that was sold for $200,000. Since the Butterfly Trek Madone utilized the beauty of natural wings taken from butterflies, it was predicted that PETA was highly opposed to this art piece. There were also animal rights activists that called Hirst's bike art "barbaric." The original release of the bike was in July 2009 before the actual auction. The original concept was in honor of Lance Armstrong's return to cycling.
Auction
Butterfly Trek Madone was auctioned at Sotheby's for the Livestrong Foundation. Armstrong's excitement was evident on Twitter when he tweeted during the auction that the bike had gone "for 500,000.00!!!
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Butterfly Trek Madone” is artwork. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Butterfly, Trek and Madone, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “artwork” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5002956. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2009.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Butterfly Trek Madone” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.