Cycle Chic Guide to Bike Commuting - #1 Choosing a Bike

We figured a quick guide to bike commuting Copenhagen style might be interesting. We may be wrong, but we're doing it anyway.

In a previous post about Terminology Folly we tried to highlight how, in some countries, the bike industry love it when you buy into their tech-lingo. In Copenhagen it is a much simpler process.

Most of the features shown below are standard issue in Copenhagen and come with every new bike. You may have to piece together your own accessories, but here's the highlights.


In no particular order of importance:

1. Personalise Your Bike
Copenhageners, mostly ladies, have been putting flowers on their baskets for the better part of a century. There are many ways of personalising your bicycle and only the fantasy sets the limit. Stickers, funky bells or horns, colourful baskets. It's up to you.

Flowers you can do yourself and stickers can be bought cheap, but for funky bike bells in North America you have to google kids+bike+accessories to enter the realm of cool bells.
LINKS:
- Bike Bells
[Know other cool links? Leave a comment.]


2. A Bicycle Basket [Cykelkurv]
The all important bicycle accessory, the basket. I'd be interested to see a statistic about the net weight of everything transported in Denmark by bike basket on a daily basis. Handbags, groceries, dogs, oh my.

Many bike baskets are hang on the handlebars and can easily be lifted off and carried into a shop or on a picnic. See the first thumbnail below. This detachable design is sturdy and good for heavy groceries. Copenhageners choose traditional wicker baskets as a rule but there are many cool designs out there. As Wifealiciousness says, she couldn't live without her basket.

LINKS:
- Bespoke, hand-crafted baskets by David Hembrow, shipped worldwide.
- Carrie Bicycle Basket from Sweden.
- Henandhammock.co.uk - Basket made from recycled plastic


3. Back Rack [Bagagebærer]
A handy addition to any bike. You have all that free space right behind your bum, why not use it?

4. Kickstand [Støtteben]
You simply cannot exist in Copenhagen without a kickstand. There are many bike racks, of course, but sometimes you either can't find a parking space or you just need to stand it up, lock the wheel lock and off you go.

5. Gears [Gearer]
This is one issue that gets discussed quite often. Most bikes in Copenhagen have 3 gears. The most irritating sound I know is someone accelerating off the light in one gear and then clickclickclickclickclick, they hop past 78 gears to get to the one they want. Why not just buy a bike with the gears you need?

We often hear that three gears don't fly in hilly cities. Then get five gears. The vast majority of cities in the world can be cycled daily in 3-5 gears. Whenever anybody says, "Yeah, but my city is REALLY hilly", we just politely refer to European cities like Berne, Switzerland, where 25% of the population ride each day through a Alpen landscape. Or hilly Aarhus, Denmark's second city, or Gothenburg, or Trondheim, Norway. 3-5 gears and off you go.

6. The Weight of Your Bicycle
To be honest... who cares. This strange North American fascination with a bicycle's weight has got to be the most irrelevant tech-spec in urban cycling history. It's a hangover from decades of the bicycle being a product of the the sports/hobby industry. Those times are changing now. They can start putting kickstands, fenders, back racks and baskets back on now. We're not out to win the Tour de France. We just want to ride with style over speed to work or down the supermarket, thank you very much.

Just choose a bike that you like. If you have to carry your bike up stairs to your flat, is 5 kilograms REALLY going to make a difference? When you've seen petite Copenhageners lifting their bikes up onto the upper rack of a double-decker bike rack at a train station, you realise that weight is unimportant.

7. Bicycle Bell [cykelklokke]
See #1 for some links. We've included it here because you should check your local traffic code to see if bells are legally required. They are in Copenhagen. Lack of one results in a fine.

8. Bicycle Seat [cykelsaddel]
If you're going to ride your European style bike 100 km a day, go to a sports shop for a sporty saddle. If you're going to pedal around town, get one that is comfy and cool. Brooks England saddles are becoming standard on new bikes in Copenhagen. They're lovely.

LINKS:
- Brooks England.
- Selle Royal.


9. Bike Lights [cykellygter]
#9 is on the wheel near the front fork because so many people in Copenhagen now use Reelights. They're always on and you never have to take them with you. Once again, check your local traffic laws regarding bike lights and reflectors.

In Copenhagen they must be on one hour before sunset until one hour after sunrise. Newspapers have Bicycle Weather for cyclists so you can check the times. See photo below. Here are the Danish bike light laws for your perusal - over at copenhagenize.com.

LINKS:
- Reelight


10. Fenders [skærme]
Once again, a must have in a rainy, windy city. Who on earth wants water or slush sprayed up onto their lovely shoes and trousers/skirt? Front and back fenders, please.

11. Skirt Guard [frakkeskåner]
Standard issue on new bikes. There is no reason to get your skirt oily or dirty. Handy for men who cycle in long coats or trenchcoats - the word for skirtguard in Danish is translated as "Coat Protector".. As an added bonus, if you put a child's seat on the back, the skirt guard protects their footsies from the spokes.

LINKS:
- Make your own skirt guard
- Cambridge Cycle Company UK


12. Chain Guard [kædeskærm]
Another 'can't live without it' accessory in Copenhagen. Why on earth would you pay good money for trousers only to roll them up? And a slash of oil doesn't look good on an ankle in high heels. Cover that chain up.
Hard to get in North America, unfortunately.

LINKS:
- Beautiful antique chain guards
- US - Bike Front
- Canada - The Urbane Cyclist
[Thanks for the links!]


13. Did We Forget Anything You Might Want to Know?
Let us know.
Trouser Clips! This was mentioned in the comments. Sögreni Bikes has a cool design.

The Modern Way to Ride

Casual Copenhagen

A cyclist completely at ease with herself and her role in the life of this city.

I've noticed a few funny groups on Facebook regarding bike culture:
From Sweden - My Bike Was Stolen In Uppsala / I Stole A Bike In Uppsala.
"Let's all just work this mess out." Thieves and the thieved. Together at last.
From Denmark: [translates as:]Hey! Is there a sign on my bike reading 'Trash Can'?
For people who get tired of their baskets getting filled with trash.


Just your average Copenhagener.
Here's a great historical quote on cycling in the Take Back the Bike Culture category:
The whole nervous system is highly benefited by bicycling. The rider must constantly use the senses of hearing, seeing, and feeling in order to avoid collisions, direct his machine, and keep his equilibrium. This exercise, therefore, is in a high degree apt to draw the mind away from its usual pursuits and cares of daily life. It is highly exhilirating and promotes sociability, since it is both pleasanter and safer to ride in company than alone. In women it is apt to overcome the impulsivenness and whimsicality which render so many of them unhappy. ...Bicycling is no longer a mere fashion that may fall into disuse and give way to a new one. It is a wholesome and inspiring exercise, and has provided of practical value as a means of rapid locomotion.
--Dr. Henry J. Garrigus, in the January Forum, from Public Opinion, 30 January 1896

I whipped up another poster. For those who love bike frames. Available at our Online Boutique, as always.

More History Repeating Itself

My Cycling Heritage - 2, originally uploaded by westfieldwanderer.

This wonderful photo was scanned in by a mate, WestfieldWanderer, from his family album. Anno 1947.

There are often articles in newspapers and magazines about how cycling is 'hot', cycling is 'trendy', cycling has finally become 'mainstream'.

Bollocks. Urban cycling in everday clothes is not a new phenomenon. At some point in the not so distant past members of your family - yes, you and you and you - rode their bikes each day.

Devoid of cycling gear and fancy equipment. Just good sturdy bikes and their regular clothes. Skirts and suits. To the shops. To work. To visit friends.

Daily cycling isn't 'mainstream' all of a sudden. It has been for more than a century. Perhaps it has faded out a bit in some countries, but it's not new.

Which makes it incredibly easy to merely start doing it again.

”In the late 19th century, large numbers of women were already using bicycles to get to work, women office workers and shop assistants wending their way each weekday morning from the suburbs to the town. They found the bicycle a convenient form of transport for distances up to, say, ten miles”.

Plucked from John Woodeforde's book ”The Story of the Bicycle”, 1970

And that was on machines that would seem monstrous to us now. Not to mention the fact that they were wearing frightfully heavy dresses. If they could do it on those bikes, in those clothes, there are little excuses for not cycling chic today.

Style Over Speed

The guy on the left is my hero.
Wearing his regular clothes, sitting up and enjoying the ride, not trying to break any records. Just getting on with it. A true role model for The New Age of Urban Cycling.


Two Copenhageners cross Knippels Bridge, as Copenhageners have done since this 'new' bridge was opened in 1937.


Yet another Copenhagen Supermum.

History Repeating Itself

My friend Marie used this in her thesis about bike culture. This cartoon was used in America back in the 1930's, showing how the bicycle was seen as a way of kickstarting the American economy after the Depression. "Back to Prosperity!" "That Buy-cycle you're hearing so much about." "Circulating dollars."

While America isn't currently in a Depression, the dollar continues to fall and oil dependency is a big issue, not to mention environmental concerns. So it seems quite appropriate that this cartoon gets a revival.

And while we're on the History Repeating Itself subject:

Mrs Harcourt Williamson wrote this in The Complete Cyclist in 1897:
"The whole secret of a woman looking well on her bicycle lies in the cut and hang of her skirt." The best skirt of all, in her opinion, was made on the same lines as a habit, fitting the figure perfectly and cunningly stretched and shrunk. Once the skirt was successfully negotiated, the rest of the attire was simple:
"After all, however, the skirt is the thing, and once having this perfect, there is no reason why one should not wear an elaborate blouse and really smart hat on a fine day".

Indeed, Mrs Harcourt Williamson. Mr Colville-Andersen agrees with you. If only you knew how visionary your words were and how appropriate they are to this new generation of cycle chicsters.
Plucked from "The History of the Bicycle", by John Woodeforde, 1970.

Take Back the Bike Culture!

Carrying on the theme from the previous post, wherein I displayed a fragment of displeasure at the folly of modern bike terminology - a travesty has come to my attention. I have now learned that something as simple as a skirtguard or a chainguard is hard to come by in many areas of North America.

Where on earth have they gone? Three or four generations ago they were standard issue on North American bikes. In Denmark and the Netherlands to this day, they are featured on every decent bike bought, like the lovely new bike in the photo above.

I dare say the "sport cycling" and "hobby cycling" industries have done their utmost to discard these very basic elements of a bike over the past half century. Away with these frivilous contraptions! We need to get the weight down! [but we don't know why... just believe us] and besides, lycra won't get caught in a chain! Ha!

Fret not, North American owners of stylish skirts and handsome longcoats. Until we raid the bike junkyards of Denmark and gather up a shipload of old chainguards and skirtguards to send across the ocean for free distribution among the cycle chic community, we have found this website for you - Quick & Easy Bicycle Skirt Guards. Or for inspiration, visit this chap, who appreciates that chainguards are to be considered art.

Indeed, a bike without a chainguard is like a Danish sausage without strong mustard. In the name of Odin... trousers were not invented to be rolled up and a pair of Louboutins are certainly not made better with a strip of oil splashed across a toned calf:

Terminology Folly

Waltzing around the cycle blogosphere it seems odd that so much terminology has spawned regarding what is, in fact, a simple pursuit.

Is it a result of the decades-old tendency in North America and other non-bike culture countries to nerdify cycling because it has primarily been viewed as a sport or a hobby for closed groups of "enthusiasts" - and not a reasonable and basic form of transport? Perhaps.

Let's straighten things out, shall we? What you see in the photo above, taken in Copenhagen, is something we call a "cyclist".

Not a "bicycle commuter", nor a "utility cyclist". Certainly not a "lightweight, open air, self-powered traffic vehicle user". It's a cyclist. Actually, to be honest, it's just a "bicycle user"

The Copenhagener above is not "commuting" - or at least she doesn't call it that. She's not going for a "bike ride" or "making a bold statement about her personal convictions regarding reduction of Co2 levels and sustainable transport methods in urban centers".

She's just going to work. On her bike.

And that's what she's riding. A bike. A "cykel" in Danish.

She doesn't call it "my city bike" or "my Alternative Transport Vehicle" or "my Dutch bike" [whatever THAT is...] - it's just her bike.

When she bought her bike at her local bike shop she didn't have a "fitting" at the "full service workshop and showroom". She probably walked into the shop and said, "I need a bike". The chap working there probably shrugged, glanced her up and down and said, "you'll be needing a 52cm".

"I like the black one, over there..."

"That's a 52cm"

"Is that basket included?"

"Yep"

"Great. How much?"

And off she went with her new bike. He didn't offer her any fancy, expensive "bike gear" or "accessories" and he didn't try to dazzle and confuse her with inaccessible, nerdy tech-nerd babble in order to make more money. He doesn't even have "cycle clothes" in his shop. He assumes she has clothes in her closet at home. A wooly hat for winter. A summer dress for... well... summer. She needed a bike. He owned a bike shop. It was over in 20 minutes. Although he probably adjusted her seat for her.

The bike she chose was a black one. Probably a good, reliable Danish brand. It certainly wasn't a "TerraTurbo Urban Warrior X9000". It was just a bike. What it is called isn't important to her. Just the fact that it works.

She doesn't know how much it weighs. Nobody she knows or has ever met could tell you how much their bike weighs. Likewise, she doesn't know how far she rides each day. It isn't interesting. She rides at a good pace, not too fast to cause a sweat, and the ride is nice enough. She likes the fresh air and she often sees friends on the bike lanes. She loves crossing The Lakes and seeing the transformation from season to season. That will suffice.

She doesn't wake up and make a decision to "commute by bike to work today". It's just a part of her day. She just walks out of her flat and gets on her bike. If it has a puncture, she'll walk it down to the local bike shop to get it repaired and then take the bus or train to work. Picking it up in the afternoon.

She isn't an activist, doesn't belong to a cycling organisation with a long acronym and she doesn't even think about the fact that she lives in something called a "bike culture".

She's just a bicycle user. Riding her bike to work.

She'll be doing the same tomorrow.

If other cities had more bicycle users and had advocates who worked to encourage more bicycle users, instead of bike geeks, they'd find that a "bike culture" would be achieved a lot more quickly.