When two Scots cyclists got together in the hope of making their cities more cycle friendly, they had no idea that two years later their concept would become a global movement.

Rather than just complaining about the problems, Sarah Drummond from Glasgow and Johanna Holtan from Edinburgh wanted to create a space where people could come up with DIY methods to overcome the challenges faced by cyclists on Scotland's roads.

Adding a third design mind to the mix with Matthew Lowell, the concept of CycleHack was born in 2014 and they launched the first 48-hour event where cyclists could come together, pitch ideas and spend the weekend building them.

For Sarah and the team, it didn't matter if the results were physical products or ideas for campaigns, it was more about finding solutions to the problems that can prevent people from getting on their bikes.

"We had both been spending a lot of time out of self-interest at cycling events and it was often people who were complaining to one person in the council or one councillor and we didn't really feel that was the right way to do it," Sarah explains.

"If you go to design a chair, you are going to build the thing before you take it to a manufacture and test the model out multiple times.

"The core message of the hack is about bringing those prototyping methods to audiences who maybe haven't used them before. The second part is about bringing multiple perspectives together so you have a shared insight into what the problem is.

"You are talking to people who are not just cyclists but pedestrians, drivers, bus drivers, taxi drivers, councillors and planners."

Going "accidentally global" in their first year after finding like-minded people in Melbourne and Beirut who wanted to run simultaneous events, the first CycleHack sessions launched in Glasgow in the summer of 2014, generating 30 different hack ideas.

One of the most popular designs from the first hack was Penny in Yo Pants, a simple solution to make it easier to cycle in a skirt which went viral, with the video attracting more than 3.6million hits.

"The guys got together to talk about barriers for women cycling," Sarah says.

"I think they took it quite literally. They looked quite explicitly at a barrier which was a skirt and wind and was linked to still being able to cycle in the attire you want to wear.

"It was basically a penny and an elastic band. We just tried something out and it went totally viral."

She adds: "I think we knew it was a bit of a risk to put our heart and souls out there and say we are running this thing called CycleHack.

"We were exhausted by the end but totally bowled over."

Their proactive approach quickly captured the imaginations of other cyclists, designers and developers around the world, with more than 600 people taking part in one of the 25 events across five continents the following year.

The popularity shows no signs of slowing down with around 38 CycleHacks confirmed in 2016 from São Paulo to Tokyo as well as Scottish hacks organised in Glasgow and Dundee.

To date, more than 150 hack ideas have been uploaded to the public CycleHack catalogue, with Sarah saying it has been great seeing so many ideas spin out of the same model.

"If you take Amsterdam or any of the Dutch cities, it is fascinating because the problem out there is parking bikes because they have too many," she says.

"So a lot of their solutions were around providing bike parking on the street whereas if you look at Beirut, they were doing stuff around how to encourage more people to cycle.

"In India, they were looking at more utility-based products like how to attach more bags to a bike. And in Sydney, there were looking at safety because this a big priority for them.

She adds: "It has been fascinating to watch the whole world take part. They completely take their own spin on it.

"You've got that amazing sharing so the model keeps getting better and better based on a big global army of designers."

The hacks: Have a look at some of the best ideas created around the world

Back chat

A waterproof bag cover with statements intended to encourage road uses to see cyclists as people.

The human light

A light designed illuminate the person riding it. By shining down on the rider's moving legs, it creates a pulsing light that's visible even without direct light or reflectors.

Mia rack

A diamond-shaped device attached to big diameter poles allows cyclists to easily lock their bike with a U-lock. It was created in response to the problem of few bike racks being available for locking bikes in Greece.

Penny in Yo Pants

A penny and an elastic band are used to make a skirt "bikeable".

Pothole bell

A brass bell that automatically rings when a cyclist hits a bump or pothole, meaning they can alert cyclists behind them to watch out for the hazard.

Stack rack

Using old bike handlebars and a two-tiered lamp post system, the stack rack was created at the London CycleHack to help create more places to lock a bike without taking up space on the pavement.

CycleHack takes place between June 24 and June 26, with the Scottish events in Glasgow and Dundee.