Cambridge Bags and Baskets

Wicker baskets and lovely bicycle bags abound in Cambridge, where we were not long ago for the CycleLogistics meeting.

The Citizen Cyclists of Cambridge.

Wicker baskets on all corners, including the corner of this unintentional photo...

Cycle Chic Bags - OMG! That's FUNIA!

Hopping to another side of the world, Tel Aviv is one of the new booming bicycle cultures with plenty of Cycle Chic citizens getting from one shop to the next via bicycle. Complementing this movement, our friend Liat has designed her own growing urban brand, Funia. Sunflower yellow and totally retromodern, it playfully grabbed our attention.  Like a gust of wind carrying you along, this bag makes it look easy and slaps a wide smile on our comic-strip-loving faces at the same time.

Most common use: carrying bags full of pastries to the Cycle Chic headquarters.

For more from Funia, here's a link to her fashion and culture blog, in Hebrew.

Cycle Chic Legends - Montreal

We have a lot of people who have been following this blog for a long while. When we travel about the world we get to meet many of our readers but meeting the 'veteran readers' is always an added bonus. Like Maria, in Montreal, at the launch of Montreal Cycle Chic last summer. A blog is many things but it is nothing without our readers. Hooking up with Maria in Montreal was a pleasure. Bike love to you, Maria!

Another Country

Cycling about in the snow/snowstorm has proved to have unexpected pleasures. Cyclists braving the snowstorm enjoyed a certain sense of camaradie. I rolled to a stop at the light, above, and exchanged a smile and words with this fellow Copenhagener.

"This is wild, today!"
"It's like living in another country..."
"Like Greenland..."
"Yeah..."
"Happy Christmas!"
"You, too..."

And off we went.

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.

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.