New Year's Resolution 2017

No need to resolve to cycle more, be more chic or both. Let it come naturally to you. But do promise yourself to have more fun - every day!


Happy Cycling!

Spitzel - The Handlebar iPhone Holder

The SPITZEL is really truly one of the products we've been waiting to see pop up on the market. An attachable iPhone holder- we were told it adapts brilliantly for nearly any activity and its equipment- shopping cart, baby carriage, golf bag, you name it. We, of course, promptly attached it to bicycle handlebars to give it the Cycle Chic test.

Just as promised, it is super quick and easy to install. Less than 30 seconds quick and easy. With the flexible holder, my phone was readily and snuggly perched on top of the handlebars, and we were heading toward our meeting in no time. This model was designed for an iPhone 4, but my 3G fit neatly in anyways.


One of the selling points is that it's better for safe cycling. While we are safe riding these streets as is, the SPITZEL certainly proved that it's better for social cycling. It held up to our expectations while sipping coffee and texting on the ride to work. In addition to texting, navigation ended up being the perfect use for the phone holder- and my favorite use.

No more taking gloves on and off, digging in my coat pocket for my phone to check the unpronounceable - and therefore impossible to remember - road name we'd be turning on. The phone was there, the map was there, and my fingers could be warm in their mittens (had I actually remembered them).


Oh and while we're at it, their cycling handbag is pretty cool too. It attaches to nearly any part of the frame and is big enough for your netbook or tablet.


As an added bonus the SPITZEL, and all other Fahrer products, are made out of recycled materials and in cooperation with sheltered workshops in Berlin. You can check out their online shop here.

Lovely Things We Love

Here at Cycle Chic we have an affinity for lovely things. Bicycle-related and not. And when the things are particularly lovely, we just have to share them.

Above is an exquisite sticker that appeared in the postbox last week, sent to me by a friend in San Francisco, Yumi, who runs the wonderful neo bohemia blog. The kanji characters mean "self-moving vehicle". The sticker looks brilliant on my Velorbis.


It typical Japanese fashion, the way the sticker arrived was elegant and perfect. Look at that attention to detail. Stunning stuff.


Another treat from another friend of ours, Musji. Hand-crafted hair elastics stamped out of fine leather.


My daughter, Lulu-Sophia, was thrilled with this one and it's a battle to get her to take it out.


Although this bird was a close second.

Check out Musji's website for more gorgeous, hand-crafted lovely things.

The Bikes of Copenhagen #5 - Update

Many moons ago here on Cycle Chic we highlighted some of the bicycles that populate the bicycle lanes of the city. Looking back at our Bikes of Copenhagen post and the subsequent Danish Delight post we can see that things remain the same. Well, almost. The style - timeless, practical upright bicycles - continues unabated as it has for 125 years but there are some new brands that are making inroads on the market. So here is a quick and lazy Saturday morning update. Most of these bicycles are not available outside of Denmark or Scandinavia, but all the more reason to make a trip to Copenhagen. :-)

Having a healthy market featuring many different styles of bicycles for Citizen Cyclists is a key to promoting urban cycling to a mainstream audience.

Above is a bicycle from Danish brand Ebsen, whose bicycles are easily spotted on the streets because of their bold colours.
Ebsen - website is in Danish, but scroll down for more models.


Here is one of the models from Von Backhaus. Originally specialising in mountain bikes, we have noticed more and more upright models around town.
Von Backhaus - check out their online catalogue.


It was tough finding info about the Dresco bicycle. You see quite a few out there, but they are hard to google for some reason.We love the colours.
Dresco - here's a link to a bike shop in Copenhagen that sells them. They come in various colours.


Now Raleigh is not a Danish brand, of course, but here's an interesting story: When Raleigh stopped producing their classic designs from the 1920's, a Danish distributor wasn't at all pleased. These bikes were still popular in Denmark. As we understand it, he was allowed to licence the retro design and produce the classic Raleigh models solely for the Danish market and has done so ever since.

It's still a hoot to compare Raleigh's Danish website with Raleigh's US website or even Raleigh's UK Website. A textbook example of how bicycles are mainstream in Denmark and (still) relegated to being sport or recreation in other countries.


Raleigh in Denmark also sell their Tourist Deluxe model for gentleman.


A bike shop in Copenhagen imports various models of the Italian Bici Victoria brand. Above is the Inglese model.
Bici Victoria - Link to a Lucas Cykler, a local bike shop who drive down to Italy to pick up these bicycles from the factory.


You don't see many bicycles from the Dutch brand Gazelle in Denmark - new or vintage - but rest assured they are available on the market here.
Gazelle - Link to their Dutch website.


Another Dutch brand - Van de Falk - is popular among students.
Van de Falk - Danish site that sells them.

The Bicycle Collection by Knapp

What a brilliant way to start the week. A brilliant collection from young, hot Bulgarian brand Knapp featuring their Bicycle Collection - Knapp Light 2011.

This is Cycle Chic. This is fabulous. We're all weak in the knees here at Cycle Chic this Monday morning. Sigh.

Rachid from Restaurant Nass

We met Rachid during the Cycle Chic Bloggers Conference in Barcelona. We needed a place to eat and our friend Juan, president of the Catalan Bicycle Club - BACC - took us to a cool little place in Barceloneta. Rachid is the chef at Nass. After a number of years at a fancy schmancy restaurant he started his own place.

We all sat in a private room and enjoyed spectacular food and drink. Rachid took care of us well, constantly popping in to make sure everything was alright and instructing the waiters. He is charming and a brilliant chef. He used to drive a car but Juan, and others, finally convinced him to switch to a bicycle, which is did. Picture above. Fantastic.

Thanks to Rachid for a wonderful meal at Nass.

Nass Restaurant - c/ Judici 5
08003 Barcelona.

Couvreselle Bicycle Seat Covers

The heart and soul of bicycle culture thrives in the creations of passionate individuals. This post is about one of them.

There I was, riding through Montreal and heading for the Tour la Nuit - the annual evening bike ride in the city. Down the separated bike lane on rue Brébeuf. I saw someone on the sidewalk and just had to turn around. That's when I met Viviane.

Outside her flat she was selling bicycle seat covers to the many cyclists heading for the Tour la Nuit, an event by Vélo Québec, with 17,000 people on bicycles! And not just any bicycle seat covers. Covers she crafts herself in a wild variety of fabrics and styles. I mean wild.


We started chatting and she had heard of Cycle Chic. She invited me inside to show me the fantastic selection of seat covers that she had made. This is really Cycle Chic con amore. As it should be. Gorgeous personalised accessories. Perfect for adding a splash of style and colour to you bicycle and even keeping your bottom warm in the winter.

Each seat cover takes her three hours to create. There is incredible attention to detail and quality. A one-woman Cycle Chic extravaganza.

Viviane has a website, in French, called www.couvreselle.ca.

After a great deal of deliberation, I settled on the one at the top. :-)

The Bicycle Crate by Maik

We're loving this beautiful bicycle box called The Bike Crate. It's from Danish design company Maik, located in the heart of the Vesterbro neighbourhood of Copenhagen.

Simple, elegant and oh so urban. We approve.

NOOC - French Rainwear for Cyclists

A good friend of ours was in Copenhagen recently. Sophie is from Bordeaux and she is a designer who owns a cool, French brand of rain clothes called NOOC. In the photo, above, by a Copenhagen canal Sophie is wearing one of her rain ponchos.

While we here at Cycle Chic are rather sceptical about all these "urban cycling clothes" we're seeing cluttering up the market, rain gear is a universal need and, often, in desperate need of an injection of style. Sophie and NOOC have succeeded in bringing some panache to the often geeky world of rain gear for cyclists and pedestrians.

Here's Sophie in NOOC's Perfecto jacket.


Here are some shots from NOOC's catalogue, taken in Bordeaux where the brand is based.

NOOC's products are a classic European mix. A French company acquires recycled material from Belgium and gets the clothes produced in Portugal. Which we find to be very cool. China often gets a bad rap. There are quality factories, not just crappy ones that exploit workers. But an all-European product is definately something that gets our attention and respect.

NOOC's website is currently only in http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifFrench, but the brand is growing faster than fast and an English version will hit the internet tout suite.

It's not all girly clothes, either. Dapper gentleman have great rainwear options in the NOOC range.

All in all, Cycle Chic is fond of NOOC. And we're looking forward to handing out some cool NOOC products to the chic'est cyclists in Barcelona on June 17th, when we'll be photographing the most fashionable cyclists in the city during the Cycle Chic Bloggers Conference, in assocation with BAAC.

Everyone Needs a Hero

We spotted this bicycle parked in the racks outside the Royal Library here in Copenhagen. It caught our eye in a flash. Largely because we'd never really seen anything like it before. Black and shiny. Tall and proud. A little piece of India on Copenhagen's harbour.

Flags on the front wheel?! Fantastic!

Chainguard? Of course. Dynamo lights? Yeah, duh.

Extra durable and shining?! Yes, please!

Fantastic kitsch graphics and texts all over the bicycle. In our enthusiasm to photograph the bits and pieces we... uh... forget to get a shot of the whole bicycle. We had to google the brand, too. So here's a link to the bicycle on the Hero Cycles website.

Cycle Chic Loves Dring Dring

There are some things that Cycle Chic love just a little bit more. The brilliant bicycle bells made by Dring Dring, out of Montreal, are no exception. We've been chatting back and forth with Annie, who owns Dring Dring, for ages. About collaborating, sure, but generally just big, wet, mutual kisses of affection back and forth across the internet.

Annie's Dring Dring take large and sturdy metal bicycle bells and hand-paint them in her studio in Montreal. A team of artists create an ocean of cool designs on the bells. Indeed, one look at Annie's website and you'll see that fantasy really has no limits. There are some products that just sing Cycle Chic and these bells are doing so at the top of their voice.


I love not just the bells but some of the creative ways they package them. Like the cupcake [below left] and the turtle [below right]. The bells sound like bells should sound. A bold and yet dreamy 'dring dring' ring. The kids here at Cycle Chic headquarters seem to love the sound because they keep ringing them at all hours.


Here are a couple more bells that we have here at CCHQ. So simple. So elegant.


Check out DringDring's online shop to see what's on offer. The bells are coming to this side of the Atlantic and will soon be available - if not already - at our friends in London - Velorution.


We've also acquired a few bells through our collaboration with Dring Dring. Limited Edition Cycle Chic bells. We're flogging them over at this online site. If you're interested. No trouble if you're not. There are only 10 bells. One of each of the above. Get 'em while they're hot. :-)