All We Want For Christmas...

Oh goodness. We just found what we want on our christmas wish list.
Check out these bicycles from Ascari Bicycles.

Gant Rugger City Bike - Cycle Chic Testdrive

What with all the clothing brands that have launched bicycles over the past couple of years I figured it was time to try one. And there was one, in particular, that I really, really wanted to try out.

Iconic American clothing company Gant have been doing East Coast prep since 1949 and when they decided to launch a bicycle, they did so in style. To roll in harmony with their Rugger clothing line, they chose to launch the Gant Rugger City Bike and went for a walk down memory lane to choose the style and form. The result is a retro dream that looks like almost every gentlemens' bicycle back in the 1920's and 1930's. Just have a look at the bicycles in this newspaper cartoon from Copenhagen, 1938 to see how mainstream this design used to be.


In order to get a real sense of the bicycle I did what I like to do. Ride it for a couple of weeks. I quickly dubbed it my café bicycle. Perfect for summer in Copenhagen and heading off to meetings at Bang & Jensen café or locations in the city centre. I took off the fenders because I like the look of it with those big balloon tires as bookends to the black, mat frame. They'll come on again when autumn arrives.

The bike is a real headturner - a Cycle Chic prerequisite of course - and as recently as this morning when heading out of a supermarket a chap nodded approvingly and said, "that's a fine bicycle!". Such is life riding this bike around Copenhagen. People comment on it all over the city. Young hipsters, elderly ladies and everyone inbetween.

One fine little detail is that the bike is numbered, like any other piece of artwork. I acquired number 593 out of 648. Sure, number 001 would be cooler, but it's still a cool gimmick having a numbered bicycle.


Just parking it on the sidewalk to take photos of it draws glances from people cycling past.


Riding it about the city gives me a retro rush. A direct, aesthetic connection to a pre-war Copenhagen when the bicycle reigned supreme. Like in this travelogue from 1937 in Copenhagen. It's a cool, easy ride and the balloon tires are brilliant for city life. It's a one-speed perfectly adjusted for every urban speed. Not too fast, not too slow. Just right.


The Gant Rugger is perfect for modern urban living and compliments any shopfront - whether tragically hip or refreshingly rundown.

The little bag that accompanies the bicycle contains an extra pair of Brooks handlebar grips should you fancy another style, a bottle of paint for fixing scratches, black tools to match the bicycle, a white reflector ready to mount, care instructions for the Brooks saddle and grips as well as an 'instruction manual' for the bike. Don't see the latter when you buy a bicycle in Copenhagen so that was... um... interesting.

All in all, The Gant Rugger is wicked cool. Here in Denmark they retail for 7000 kroner at the Gant flagship shop on Østergade. That's $1250 USD. Although prices will certainly vary depending on where you buy the machine.

Cycle Chic approves.

Shoppy Bike - Italian Bicycle Style and Design

At Cycle Chic we're loving this a) advert and b) cool new Italian bicycle.

It's called Shoppy Bike, a revolutionary and exclusive unisex city bike that combines innovation, functionality and style. It's on the market shortly.

Manufactured in the heart of Tuscany by Officine Meccaniche Sereni, Shoppy Bike is a high-tech bicycle made entirely in aluminium and with toothed belt drive. With its sleek design and avant-guarde mechanism, Shoppy Bike is a comfortable and elegant means of transport, the perfect way to tackle the daily hectic city traffic in style and to enjoy slow-paced moments of relaxation.

Shoppy Bike offers a colour range that goes from classic red and black to the more trendy shades of lilac and green.

Concept: Michele Lazzaro/Design: Rudy Hoffmann.

Cycle Chic Approves: Orco Cicli Bicycles

Oh dear. Yet another bicycle that makes us weak in the knees here at Cycle Chic. And goodness me, another Italian make. This affair has got to stop. Meet the much too fine bicycles from Orco Cicli, out of Milano. Above is the Preta Donna, that cheeky vixen.

From Orco Cicli's website:
We don’t make bikes in series, we make them by hand one at a time: the measurements, the colour, the accessories and components can all be changed. What remains the same, is the geometry of the frames, the passion and care with which they are made and our trademark discreetly placed on the stem and on the rear case that holds the bike’s worksheet: you can remove it and use the case as a cigarette paper or business card holder.

How cool is that?! A little case holding the bike's worksheet but that can be used to hold rolling paper or business cards!

Anyway, back to business. If The Preta Donna is a cheeky vixen, then god knows what the Nilde Donna gets up to after dark. I shudder excitedly just thinking about it.

The boys are just as precocious, it would appear. The Amadeo Uomo, for example. Thank goodnes Orco Cicli only have five base models to choose from otherwise I'd go quite mad.

Oh, and lovely bicycle bell. Well, I thought it was a bell, but it's a gear shifter thingy.

Here's a film about the three chaps who started the company. It's in Italian, which is lovely to listen to even if you don't parlo.


Orco Cicli are based in Milano.
www.orcociclia.com
Their bicycles start at €1300.

Read the Cycle Chic post about their hand-painted bicycles here.

Cycle Chic Approves: Bellaciao Bicycles

My friend Hans put me onto this smashing new German brand called Bellaciao. With their classic, hand-built frames, Bellaciao strides firmly onto the market in style.


Here's one of their Corva Citta' models for ladies. The way the top bar curves upwards to meet the rest of the frame is oh so Italian and Bellaciao makes no secret of their romantic love affair with Italian bicycle design and aesthetics.

Here's another Corva Citta' for ladies, looking lovely in the sunlight. (I see spring everywhere I look at the moment...) The name Bellaciao is undoubtably inspired by the Italian partisan song popular during the Second World War, which makes us even fonder of them. A friend of our Jason McNiff sings a version of the song which we used on our Cycle Chic Goes to Paris video.

And their gentleman's models are also quite smashing. Here's the Corvo Citta' Uomo. Sleek and gorgeous. If there was one parked outside my flat with my name on it, I'd raise the handlebars to sit up a bit straighter (like my mother taught me) but otherwise I'd thoroughly enjoy this sweet ride.

Prices start at €649 and Bellaciao is launching this spring. Keep your eyes peeled. Until then, the bicycles get a nod of approval from Cycle Chic.
http://www.bellaciao.de/