Civia from Minnesota, USA are a brand I’ve never seen this side of the pond, but have a nice relaxed range of bikes – flip-flop friendly as they say themselves. I know Minnesota has a large Scandinavian influence so perhaps some of the bike culture made its way over there too. In line with other US design led manufacturers such as Apple, they impose a style tax, so start at just under a grand.
The signature design element is their wooden sided branded front carrier, as in their Loring model.
The planned Midtown model due in May 2010 looks very like the Specialized Globe Live. I wonder who inspired who ?
While I have the magnetic Reelights I posted on before, I have also supplemented these with some regular LEDs lights as insurance.
Lovely bicycle has a great post on how to retrofit LED lights to a city bike.
I’ve also gone for Cateye EL530 upfront, but mounted high up on the front bar, since the reelights are already at wheel level. My main problem is actually side visability, as i have driver coming at me from the left on junctions and roundabouts who attack me side on.
I currently have this fantastically bright and cheap flashing red spotlight on the seat stem,
but having seen the shots in the post above, I’ll be adding two vertically mounted Cateye LD-610 lights, which provide drivers with a sense of the bikes width.
Bike stands tend to either be the standard C tube, or a variation on that theme, but as street furniture why can’t they blend in more in the case of these adapted plantdocks
or stand out more and function as public art, in the case of the David Byrne’s bike stands in New York City, whose form reflect the area or street in which they are located. A dollar sign for Wall Street and so on..
What do you prefer, your bike stands to blend into the streetscape or for them to announce themselves to the world ?
Most irish cyclists tend to dress like they have been attacked by a highlighter pen, due to understandable concern over their visibility. So are style and safety mutually exclusive ? I don’t think so, it just takes a little bit of thought. While anything in your closet is grand for everyday cycling, when you do need to wear cycling gear, that doesn’t mean you can’t stay stylish…
Some stylish retro cycling gear for the man in your life at Rapha. If only they did some threads for the girls too, though at those prices, it may be just as well they don’t.
We have minx girl, which has a more sensible price tag and some good urban styles.
When a stylish red ladies bike, complete with basket and book is straddled by an attractive girl, or a fashionista, its cycle chic. When that same item belongs to those who struggle to survive in extreme poverty and hardship, it’s probably what keeps them alive.
Without the bike they can’t make it to water, to medicine or to school. So next time you get a new bike, make sure the old goes to somewhere it is needed most. If not to Africa, perhaps to someone in your local community to whom its value will not be measured by style or chic.
In Ireland, Rothar would be a good place to start.
Its that time of year, with dark mornings and cold nights where we all dream of classic bike rides in sun soaked destinations.
The guys in FlowMTB provide the usual range of Alpine based mountain bike trips in southern Europe, but also do an interesting Morocco adventure. The highlight for me of their 2007 trip, below, is not the desert landscape or MTB descents, but the inventive use of the donkey to carry the bike.
Definitely a step through required for this outfit, featured in Australia Vogue. My usual cycling gear, even when going chic is not usually this glam. I do think they could have found a bike in slightly better nick however – she’s going to ruin that frock.
While we have become accustomed to girls with frocks being used to sell equally pretty bikes, the Johnny Loco campaign has used girls without frocks for their recent campaign. Launched online and in outdoor media in places such as Amsterdam I am sure it would certainty raise the profile of cycling if used here also.
The strangest one is the picture with the lion.
Either she hasn’t noticed him or she is rather confident of her cycling ability.
I do have the feeling that the bikes just about made it into the shot.
