In conjunction with the recent Milan Design Week 2010, Italian bike manufacturers ABICI have released four new Pantone colours for their handmade bikes. We think Pantone 14-0848 would be a cheerful ride for summer or winter.
Please fly us to Milano, as it seems ABICI are sadly not available in Australia. *UPDATE it seems that Seletti in Sydney have started importing ABICI bikes! We’re not sure they’ll have the Pantone colours, but might be worth a look!
When I tell people that I used to cycle to work in London for an hour every day (and sometimes cycling even further to get to a West End show after work), many people are really surprised.
But London isn’t really a cycling city, they say, what with those mouthy black cab drivers and big red double-decker buses that look like they could squash you in a second. And what about the wind and rain and cold?
Well, whether or not you have enough bike bravery to navigate four lanes of traffic at Shepherds Bush Green and can ride with numb fingers, Transport for London is certainly trying its best to turn London into a cycle friendly city. And so it’s been publicising a cycling clothing collection designed by Bspoke. Waterproof, windproof and breathable – it’s all there.
However, the range has received mixed reviews. The Guardian gives menswear a tick with ‘carefully designed and well made‘ while womenswear is described as ‘hideous and unflattering‘ (we also had a giggle at some of the comments about the female reviewer looking like a firewoman minus the helmet and the hatchet).
A shame really as we quite liked the look of the bspoke Angel women’s 3/4 cycling jacket. What do you think?
We can’t wait for winter. Not because it’s the best time for cycling in the city (more room on the roads), but so we can break out our new Freehands gloves.
Freehands gloves are designed with thumb and forefinger tips that flip away and are held back by magnets.
The Freehands Tech tip liners , which can be used alone or in conjunction with the gloves, have tips made of silver conductive thread when means you can use your iPhone/iTouch screen without taking your gloves off. (For a chance to win a pair of Freehands Tech Tip liners, help us get to 100 fans on our Facebook page.)
We think these gloves are seriously cool. You don’t even need to be a cyclist to use them! Basically, if you like to keep your mitts warm but still want to be able to answer your mobile phone, use your iPod or take a picture, Freehands are the answer.
The gloves come out of Noo Yawk which experienced the snowmaggedon earlier this year. You can imagine how popular they were with freezing New Yorkers and their gadgets!
At CycleStyle we’re the exclusive Australian stockists for a range of Freehands mens and womens gloves and liners, from functional fleece to luxurious cashmere.
We’ve been told to ‘go where your customers are’ and millions of you are on Facebook. So we’ve come to you!
On our Facebook page you’ll be able to keep track of all things CycleStyle. We’ll put up photos of new products, let you know about events and run competitions for our fans.
Our first goal is to hit 100 friends as quickly as possible, so that we can we can have CycleStyle in our Facebook URL and not have a random jumble of letters and characters (that won’t fit nicely on a business card).
So we’d really appreciate your help – please become our friend by ‘liking’ us and tell your Facebook friends about us too!
As an added incentive, our 100th follower will receive a gift from us – a pair of unisex Freehands tech tip liners for the winter ahead. These waterproof, triple-layer gloves have silver conductive thread on the thumb and forefinger, which means you can use a touch screen like an iphone/ipod touch without taking your gloves off. No more answering your phone with your nose or dropping your glove in the gutter while you scramble around for that ringtone!
In the words of Janet Jackson ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’.
While she might have been singing about her lost love, or extinct animals, I’m thinking I wish I’d bought more stuff at Urban Outfitters while I lived 10 minutes away from their store.
Love these bike Ts (by the way, the US store delivers to Australia now!)
Fast Rider is one of the inspirations for me starting up CycleStyle.
When I was in Amsterdam I spotted a pony-tailed girl on a bike with a stylish shopper bag that I really liked – but when I got back to Australia I was really surprised to find that no one in Australia stocked Fast Rider products.
Hailing from the spiritual home of urban cyclists, the Dutch company make excellent quality panniers and bags (as well as clothing and other accessories) and they’re stylish to boot.
I’m happy to report that the first shipment of Fast Rider products has arrived and Christmas has come early CycleStyle HQ. Our stockroom is full of panniers and shopper bags (including the original one I spotted in Amsterdam, yay!), from luxurious to retro-styled, and I can’t wait to see them let loose on Australian bikes.
CycleStyle will be stocking a selected range of Fast Rider products exclusively in Australia. If at any time you spot another Fast Rider product that you’d like, send an email to info@cyclestyle.com.au and we’ll help you out.
We’re not usually advocates for silly or costume-y cycle wear, but we do love the aesthetic of a Tweed Ride.
While we think full Edwardian garb is just about crossing the line, we love these tweed knee socks with optional garters which were produced by Rapha for the recent Tweed Run in London.
We even contemplated getting our own pair – but just stopped our mouse from clicking on ‘Buy’ when we realised we were going to be paying around $70 for a pair of socks, luxury merino or not.
Please let us know if you spot a pair of tweed/argyle knee socks which are reasonably priced!
If you’re really into tweed rides, you can buy more Tweed Run products like silk scarves and hip flasks in their online store.
We spotted a flash of red legs riding up Brunswick Street, Fitzroy and literally chased them down all the way to Parliament before waylaying Karen for a photo.
How can you not love this look??
Thigh-high red ribbed wool socks, a little peekaboo of skin, a brown mini skirt and all topped with a glorious purple coat (it’s turned out blue in the quick snap we took, but we assure you it was a regal purple). Finished with simple black ballet flats, a brown leather schoolyard satchel and a funky decorated bike frame.
The best thing – Karen was riding to work. Yes, that’s right, apparently in government departments you can get away with wearing sexy long socks to the office!
On the weekend I met up with Emily Taylor, one of the designers of the Po Campo handlebar and rack bags.
Emily happened to be in Melbourne for her honeymoon and was kind enough to chat me through the Po Campo product range over a beer at Federation Square.
The products are cheerful and fun – the handlebar bag straps onto any handlebar when you’re on the bike and transforms into a cute clutch when you’re off the bike. It’s their bestselling item.
The rack bag is a larger bag which straps on top of a back rack. I have the duck blue rack bag and have found it to be surprisingly roomy – I’ve even managed to fit my yoga gear inside. It has reflective strips on both ends, which was handy for the night where I had to ride home without lights in Richmond as I’d misjudged sundown (darn non-daylight saving time!).
Both bags use a clip lock system which makes it easy to adjust to any handlebar or rack. For the upcoming Spring/Summer 2010 season Po Campo are also releasing a new ‘Bungee Bag’ which uses an elastic bungee cord to strap the bag onto a handlebar or rack – so it’s kind of a hybrid of the handlebar bag and rack bag and Emily was carrying it as her handbag for her travels around Australia.
Po Campo rack bags and handlebar bags will be selling exclusively in Australia through CycleStyle at launch, with the Bungee Bags probably coming later in the year.
One chic lady with a very small bike. Is it hers? Never mind, she looks good.
Via Get Your Plane Right on Time
