Own That Scarf

Yes, scarf in Copenhagen is a MUST HAVE piece. It is pretty windy here. There are no vertical mountains, but there are plenty of horizontal ones. Here is a post about ladies, riding their bicycles while keeping their scarf game strong.

Hide in your scarf, when the wind is against you.

Deep blue. As a protector, as an accessory. Scarf is your everything these days.

Keep your neck warm and match it with your gloves! Why not?

Bring the colours in the house.

Or keep it all black.

The bigger, the better!!!

Happy cycling and don't forget your scarf!

The Bicycle Flower Pot

Flowers and bicycles go hand in hand. One of the loveliest events we've seen anywhere in the world is the Bicycle and Flowers Festival in Riga, Latvia. But what about if you want some permanent plant growth adding some green to your machine? And the Bicycle Vase just isn't big enough for your green thumb needs?

Two Danish designers, Mads Busk Larsen and Jacob Bang Korsholm have been thinking about this and they have developed a design for a bicycle flower pot. They were kind enough to let us test it out, above. The first thing we noticed is how many people smiled at us at red lights. Above, the flower pot looks lovely on the handlebar of my Bullitt cargo bike, together with the little wooden bike bell.


The flower pot is designed so that the small plants and flower pots you can buy at supermarkets will fit. With the earth and roots in a small fabric bag, the plant is stable in the pot. You can attach it to your handlebars, but there's no reason you can't attach it elsewhere on your bike, like on your back rack, for example.

While many Copenhageners park in bike sheds in their back yard, bikes are often parked out in the open, so the plant will grow under the same conditions as if it were in your garden.

Mads and Jacob are looking at a series of colours to suit different tastes. Colour coordination is always important.

We love the Bicycle Flower Pot. Nothing wrong with some more green in any city.


Of, course, if one lovely plant isn't enough, you need to go BIGGER.

Cycle Chic Christmas Wish List 2010

It's beginning to look at lot like christmas, as the song goes. We got asked the question not long ago... "What would Cycle Chic like to see under the tree?" Which made us think. After a lot of thinking, we've whipped together this Cycle Chic™ Wish List for Christmas 2010. Or CCCWL10 for short. Here's a selection of stuff we like.

1. A Bicycle Basket from David Hembrow

It's cool when you buy a new basket and someone says, "Hey! Cool new basket!" It's just a bit cooler to say, "Yeah, thanks! It's a custom-made basket from a fourth generation basket weaver living in the Netherlands." That's Cycle Chic™/Cheek.
LINK: Custom bicycle baskets from Hembrow.eu
LINK: Read a review of the baskets and Hembrow at Copenhagenize.com

2. Bicycle Bells from Dring Dring

There are loads of bells out there. Any old webshop can grab bells from Taiwan [nice bells, pretty bells, sure] but really... Cycle Chic approves of hand-painted, old school bells from the hand of a talented artist in Montreal. Can't beat it.
LINK: Bicycle Bells from DringDring.ca

3. A Bicycle Vase for Your Handlebars

Let's be honest. This idea is one of the purest Cycle Chic ideas in history. Pure loveliness. A vase attached to your handlebars. Nuff said.
LINK: Bicycle Vase [website is in German, but that's what Google Translate is for]
LINK: Original post about the Bicycle Vase.

4. The Last Bag

What a cool name. The Last Bag [you'll ever own/need]. Danish designer Piet Breinholm took the classic satchel that every Danish kid ran around with well into the 1950's and made a modern version. Classic Danish Design. Style, form, simplicity and function. Makes us weak at the knees just looking at it.
LINK: The Last Bag

5. Bicycle Wine from Cycle Gladiator

There are many wines that feature bicycles on their logo but our favourite is Cycles Gladiator, produced by Hahn Family Wines in the US. It features an iconic bicycle poster from the history of bicycles as the label. The added bonus is that this wine was banned in Alabama, USA, because the label featured... um... breasts.
LINK: Bicycle Wine from Cycles Gladiator. Find out where you can get it on their website.

6. The Bike Porter from Copenhagen Parts

It's tough designing new and interesting angles on bicycles. After 125 years, most of it has been tried and tested. But the integrated basket/handlebars from Copenhagen Parts are a fresh, new solution and we love the innovation.
LINK: Bike Porter from Copenhagen Parts

7. Bicycle Bag from Ortigiano

We blogged about these hand-made bags from Ortigiano in Italy earlier this year. And we still love them something rotten. Hand-dyed, with a bicycle tube for a strap and with buttons carved from the lava of Mt. Etna. As well as hooks for hanging the bag on your back rack. Wicked.
LINK: Bicycle Bag from Ortigiano
LINK: Earlier post about the bags from Cycle Chic

8. Animal Seat Covers

These animal seat covers from Swiss designer Tilo Ahmels are lovely Cycle Chic accessories and a great gift idea. There are a number of animals to choose from and they all come in a cool round tin.
LINK: Bicycle Seat Covers [website in German but you'll figure it out]
LINK: Earlier post about the seat covers, with loads of photos.

9. Dutch Delft Blue Bags and Skirtguards

Delft Blue is a famous trademark in the Netherlands and the unique patterns usually found on porcelain are now found on pannier bags and skirtguards. Beautiful stuff!
LINK: Dutch Delft Blue Bag/Skirtguard

10. Knog Bike Lights

There is an ocean of bike lights on the market but Knog seem to capture design and functionality all at once. They're available all over the planet. If you're in the UK, you can buy them online at either The Bike Chain or Tredz.co.uk. And we noticed they're on sale both places, too. In the US, LL Bean sells them, too. There are different models to choose from. At Cycle Chic we use the Skink model. And we like it.
LINK: Knog Bike Lights (and stuff)

11. Bicycle Skirtguards from Simeli.nl

Once again, this product is one we blogged about previously, simply because we love it. It's retro - crocheted skirtguards are as old as the bicycle itself - but Simeli brings the idea into the new millenium. Cycle Chic in a nutshell, baby.
LINK: Crocheted bicycle skirtguards from Simeli.nl
LINK: Earlier post about Simeli skirtguards from here on Cycle Chic.

12. Spoke Beads from Ebay

This just may be the perfect stocking stuffer. Colourful spoke beads for a bit of retro bling on your bicycle. There are loads of them on eBay, so shop around for the best price.
LINK: Bicycle Spoke Beads [the link is from British eBay - maybe you could search your local version]

13. Cheeky Cycle Chic T-shirts from Cycle Chic™

Allow us to chuck our t-shirts into the fray. These "Hold My Bicycle While I Kiss Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend" have proved to be popular on our little online shop at Cafe Press. Make your Cycle Chic statement with one of these, or wrap it up nice for someone you like.
LINK: Cycle Chic™ t-shirts for ladies
LINK: Cycle Chic™ t-shirts for men

14. The Cycle Chic™ Calendar for 2011

And last but not least, the Cycle Chic Calendar for 2011. Nuff said. We blogged about it here, with more photos. We're not shy in saying that we'd love it if you had one hanging on your wall.
LINK: The Cycle Chic™ Calendar for 2011.

Rome Cycle Chic - Bicycles

It was most encouraging and pleasing to see so many cool bicycles in Rome. Loads of vintage rides that are still going strong. Seeing flowers on baskets was more common than I would have thought, and it's so lovely every time.

This one isn't vintage but that backrack and basket add to the mainstream bicycle culture flavour.

This is old school parking. For decades this is how people parked their bicycles. Leaning them against the curb with the pedal. Probably not a good idea in cities that are getting used to the return of the bicycle, but the bike, above, stayed standing.

Cool Dutch Bicycle Accessories

Marleen from Pays-Bas Cycle Chic and I did some shopping. I was looking for some gifts for my kids and we ended up in the Dutch department store HEMA. What a splendid array of bicycle accessories they have on display. Loads of funky bling for your bicycle, including fun stuff for your spokes, as above.


Handlebar tassles and a flower for your handlebars.

Or even better, a long string of flowers for your bicycle frame and/or handlebars, as well as a wealth of other stuff.

To my delight I discovered that HEMA has an online shop where all these accessories are available for purchase. The site is in Dutch, but Google Translate is your friend in this exciting global/digital age.

Here are some items we thought to be quite cool:


In this row you have a chain of flowers for your handlebars/frame for €3.95, a lovely front rack in pink for €28 and handlebar tassles for €3.95.


In this row we have a cool little bicycle horn for €5.95, a bike seat cover featuring the famous (in the Netherlands) characters Jip & Janneke for €3.95 and a single, elegant flower for your handlebars for €1.95.


Here are a number of classic Dutch pannier bags. From left to right, classic Dutch double pannier bags for €33, funky pannier bags for €35 and Jip and Janneke pannier bags for €19.95.

In this row, HEMA has pannier bags onto which you can add your own photo for £55, blingy beads for your spokes for €2.50 and some funky, retro spoke fun for €2.75.

On their website, HEMA also sells bicycles that you can customise yourself, although it would probably be best if you lived in the Netherlands if you buy them. We can't attest for their quality, either.

But here's their main page for bicycles and bicycle gear.

And no, we don't make any money off of blogging about these HEMA things. We just chuck them up out of the goodness of our hearts so that you can make your bicycle pretty/funky/cool/whatever.

Cycle Chic Guide #9 Personalising Your Bicycle

Springtime is upon us. Freed from winter clothes, accessories get to shine. Here in Copenhagen, our bicycles are just tools that we use to get around. We don't give them names or fetishize about them, we just use them. However, if you going to spend half your life on your bicycle, you may as well personalise it a bit. We see the bicycle, above, quite often around Copenhagen and it is the ultimate personalised example. Simply gorgeous.

I suppose this isn't really a How To Guide but more of a source of inspiration from the cyclists of Copenhagen to you. With love.

There are different reasons to personalise your bike. To make it look a bit nicer, to make it match your personal style, to hide the rust, to make it less attractive to thieves. Whatever the case, the sky is the limit and only you can make it your own. In Cycle Chic Guide #8 we covered funky bike seats, so we'll leave them out here.

Off we go then. We'll start with a timeless classic:

Flowers on Baskets and Other Bits of Bicycle

Flowers on baskets are almost as old as the bicycle. After the invention around the 1880's of the Safety Bicycle - the design we know today that liberated women and the working classes and provided homo sapiens with the fastest and most effective urban mobility boom in history - baskets were among the first bicycle accessories to appear. Women carried baskets already and it wasn't a quantum leap to start putting them onto the handlebars. Later came back racks and pannier bags but baskets were first.

It's difficult to pin down when women started decorating their baskets with flowers but by all accounts we're still in the late 1800's. I adore the fact that this most simple and elegant personalising detail lives on even today. Many flowers are plastic but here in the spring I've seen several examples of real flowers or pussy willows branches adorning baskets.


You're not restricted to the baskets, of course. The back rack is just as suitable, as well as the steering rod and the rest of the bike. And flora on baskets is not a seasonal issue. In the autumn, why not decorate the basket with leaves like our friend, Klara, with her lovely pink bicycle?


Painting The Frame or Stickering It

The whole damn bicycle is personalisable. Is that a word? Who cares. Armed with stickers, paint or even tinsel, you can go crazy.


A classic Christiania bike stickered ad libitum and a hand-painted bicycle belonging to a girl named Susanne, apparently.

Paint zebra stripes on your fenders, let the world know that it's your bicycle (in the middle photo Tilda has written "Tilda's Bicycle" on the frame) or get creative with stickers, like in the last photo on Marie's bicycle. She used kitchen labels and some other stickers on her frame.

Bicycle Bells and Horns

Bells are another way to leave your mark on your bicycle. Bells are required by law in Denmark, so you have every reason to get one. Like this teapot bike bell, above.


Coffee, tea or me, baby?




There are loads of bells out there but there are also squeaky toys and horns. These are all adult bicycles, by the way. You can also go old school with a vintage bell like the old Husqvarna one at bottom left or the lovely, rusty one on the bottom right.

Decorating Your Skirtguard


Decorating your skirtguard is an obvious choice. It's like a canvas waiting for an artist. In the Cycle Chic #4 we covered Do It Yourself Skirtguards, but here are a couple of amusing examples from the streets of Copenhagen. On the skirtguard to the left the owner has highlighted the hi-tech features on the bicycle; Fingerprint reader, Theftproof, GPS Monitoring, Neighbourhood Watch.
On the bicycle to the right it reads, "Next time, don't touch my bike. If you do, do it nicely. Thank you."

Decorating Your Chainguard

Chainguard decoration is one area of bicycle personalisation that it often overlooked. Putting funky fabric on is one way to do it, but you could also paint it wild. Chainguards used to be gorgeous back in the day, like the vintage Hermes bicycle and brand chainguard to the right. Sweet.

Baskets for Animal Transport

You need a basket for your dog. Nick a shopping basket from a supermarket or dig up a cool, old wooden crate.

Trashing Your Bicycle - Quite Literally

Of course, if you don't personalise your bicycle, and leave it too long without using it, your fellow citizens will personalise it for you. At no extra cost. Rolling bicycles gather no trash, as the old saying goes.


Here's a unique way to personalise your bike for a practical purpose. This bike basket is covered with plastic-covered sheets advertising various pieces of furniture for sale.

Go Hard or Go Home

We started this post with a timeless elegant classic and we'll wrap up with a funkalicious example of personalising your bicycle. Spotted in Malmø, Sweden, just across the bridge from Copenhagen. Plastic grass beneath your ass, funky painted bell, colourful tape on the handlebars, you name it. Go hard or go home.


Alternatively, you're always welcome to visit the Cycle Chic Online Boutique at CafePress.com where various items, including our ever-popular bicycle frame stickers are on offer.