Irish Cycle Chic

What do you think of when you think of Colombia?

Well put aside your Holywood fuelled perceptions for a moment and ask yourself why a city like Bogotá, Colombia can host a weekly Ciclovia event involving the closing of 70 miles of streets while Irish cities can only manage a yearly ‘car free day’ that usually involves closing Merrion Square for a few hours if we’re lucky.

Further details of Ciclovia and its non-cycling sister Recreovia are over on the Streetfilms site here

Cyclocross ain’t my thing, but I can still admire the superb shots from the Portland PDXCROSS team.

Buy their book, it will inspire you to get back on the bike. Our browse the portfolios on their site here

Tulli Campagnolo, using pieces from his fathers hardware store invented the quick-release lever (1930) and an early form of the bicycle derailleur (1933). As with all good inventions these were developed in response to Tulli’s own struggles during a race to change a wheel in the snow of the Dolomites. The firm that bears his name, (but know to gearheads as Campy) still sells components, but has also lended its name to clothing.

Italians have a passion for both cycling and fashion, but can they successfully merge the two ? And while my regular wardrobe does just fine for round town, can I still look good when on the slick wheels ?

Have you seen my bobsleigh ?

While this just looks wrong – whats with the heels ?

and these two get it just right

So next time you slip down a gear as you ease up a hill, give a thought to Tulli, a legend of cycling.

When I saw the Yike bike promo video a few months back I thought it’s biggest flaw was the stability. Fine for smooth roads with little traffic if you don’t mind everyone looking at you, but completely impractical for the normal challenges of city cycling.

The video below seeks to challenge this, demonstrating its decent handling capabilities.

I still think the dropped hand position is unnatural and combined with the 3,500 € price tag may deter many.

So will cyclists defect to electric vehicles, will this encourage more people to leave their cars at home or will it go the way of the segway, providing a niche personal transport solution. Thoughts?

While Ireland is in the grip of the longest cold spell we’ve seen for a generation there are only the bravest out on their bikes. When living in Scandinavia, we routinely cycled round town in temperatures well below -20, but the difference was that it was compacted snow, not thawing and freezing ice we cycled on.

So while we wait for the big thaw, I thought I’d point you towards one of the best bike blogs, the NY bike snob, who reminds us all not to take the whole bike love affair too seriously. His favourite targets are the NYC fixie fashionistas, pro cycle teams, Liz Hatch’s ‘talents’ (below) and of course the righteous cycle advocacy groups.

This post on cycling advocacy and the cycle chic movement will give you a taster..

The NY Times interviewed him back in July.