antonino pasculli is regarded as perhaps the greatest oboe virtuoso of historical memory. he was born in palermo (sicily) on the 13th of october 1842, and began his career at the age of 14, travelling predominantly in italy, germany and austria. in 1860 he obtained the position of professor of oboe and english horn at the royal conservatory of palermo, where he taught until 1913. using a boxwood oboe and english horn with 11 keys, he succeeded in playing with a facility and lightness hitherto unimagined.
in 1879 he became the director of the municipal musical corps of palermo and dedicated all his time and energy to raising its musical level. additionally, he instructed all the wind instrumentalists in the playing of string instruments, thereby creating after a period of time a symphony-band. This ensemble was capable of executing, apart from its usual repertoire works of pasculli's contemporaries, previously seldom heard in italy, such as wagner, debussy, grieg, sibelius, along with some of his own compositions, and also the symphonies of haydn and beethoven. antonino pasculli died in 1924.
scream forward to the next century - take an oboist with a passion for the works of pasculli, a photographer who spends much of his professional life producing cycle photography that makes you go weak at the knees, a man who owns a triathlon/racing bike shop in berlin, and a graphic designer who, until recently, knew nothing about bikes at all. put them all together in the right place at the right time and you have, surprisingly enough, pasculli bikes. i know you know i couldn't possibly make all this up - and your darned right.
the photographer in the above story is timm kolln, well known for his work in the pages of rouleur, most recently through some stunning portraiture of federico bahamontes. i have been in touch with timm occasionally over the past year, but on one of his e-mails recently, he attached a photograph of a pasculli bike, along with a web address. unfortunately, i struggle with the english language, never mind german, so i asked timm if he could give me a brief overview of the site, the people involved, and the bicycles pictured here, because the latter are just too beautiful to stay a secret.
firstly, the people: christoph hartmann, a cycling fanatic and oboist who plays with the berlin philharmonic orchestra and has just released his first cd of pasculli's music on emi. his original partner in bikeline is maik kresse. christoph used to spend his summer holidays in italy where he'd spend some of his time frequenting italian frame manufacturers and became friendly with francesco muraca, the very man now responsible for pasculli carbon, steel and aluminium frames.
when it came time to design the bikes, logos etc. timm called upon the services of andreas topfer, the guy who knew nothing about bikes. combining all their talents has produced not only a superb website and music, but the beautiful examples of the velocipede seen accompanying this article. the frames are pretty much built to order, and hand made by muraca - you can choose from 28 different colour designs and from road, cross, time-trial and track frames. they're currently working on an off-road frame too. at present, the only place you can nab one of these competitively priced frames (the top of the range carbon costs €1,960 - £1500/$3000) is from bikeline in berlin, but plans are afoot to spread the load wider in germany. if carbon is not to your taste, the farini steel model arrives at €829 (£650/$1300) and aluminium frames range from €650 - €1050 (£500 - £800/$1000-$1600).
since the foursome like to ride and test the frames in the appenine mountains, that's where the names for each frame are chosen. if you'd like something slightly out of the ordinary, that's handbuilt in italy (a rapidly deteriorating option these days) and something that shouldn't give the bank manager or significant other too many financial woes, maybe this is the find of the year. and i doubt that the significant other would object to a weekend in berlin.
bikeline.net
pasculli.de
photographs courtesy timm kolln
posted on friday 21st march.
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................you just knew it was going to happen didn't you? - and you probably also knew that very few of us would have the financial wherewithal to go along with it. but that won't stop campagnolo selling all six hundred limited edition red groupsets the minute they reach, or almost reach, the shelves.
campagnolo stated a few months back that their professionally contracted riders had specifically asked for stiffer shifting on the ergopower levers fitted to their team bikes. there was a lot of guffawing at the time, since this appeared to be a sort of inverse logic pr stunt. there's shimano and new people, sram, working away for all they're worth to provide gear changing that works more smoothly than an ipod shuffle, and vicenza have the audacity to tell us that their mighty riders can't be doing with such sissieness, and want to expend more effort. some of the guffaws came in light of the fact that campag (like shimano) are beavering away on an electronic groupset that will remove all trace of effort altogether.
however, if we're realistic about this, it would be rather idiotic of campagnolo to miss the opportunity of selling us a special edition, because i, for one, was trying to think of who i knew in a campag sponsored team to see if i could get hold of a pair of red ergopowers (i know, i know...). and i'm sure it can't be a total coincidence that the new top range sram groupset is also sold under the red moniker.
quite how much stiffer the changes are over the current record system i know not. i'm still running record ergo levers from nearly five years ago (you won't tell, will you?) and the changing on those is a deal 'heavier' than the record/chorus levers currently supplied. meaning, of course, that i could be spending mountains of money just to replace like with like. anyway, fairplay to vicenza - the red record groupsets won't cost any more than the regular ones (the levers are only available with a groupset - not sold separately), but they are only available in professional sizes - by which i mean 39/53 chainsets and an 11-23 or 12-25 sprocket set. which is probably campagnolo's way of telling us that we're all professionals even now.
the pro record sets are available now, though i have no idea who's stocking them. but i'll try to find out.
well, contrary to the information provided by campagnolo, sigma sport in london have managed to acquire 30 sets of the levers only which will be arriving mid april. cost is £199 including cables. so if you fancy being a campag pro without spending the other £700 or so, pre-order your set now. sigmasport.co.uk.
ribblecycles have said that they will have the groupsets in stock early april at a cost of £975. strangely they too are selling levers only but at something of a price premium over the standard offering.
posted on thursday 20th march. updated monday 25th march.
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................with the gracious co-operation of colnago uk, a brand new 2008 colnago arte has been holidaying on islay for the past three weeks. unfortunately for both bicycle and rider, the weather has been less than civil during those three weeks, rendering much of the initial testing rather pointless from certain points of view. however, conversely, it did allow it to prove its metal in other ways. a deliberate shift of spelling, because this is the first aluminium colnago i have had the pleasure of riding, and pleasure turned out to be a highly appropriate word to use.
the arte is second bottom in the colnago complete bicycle food chain, only bettered in price by the all aluminium primavera, and completed at the top end by the clx tested last year. if you don't have the wherewithal to reach for a c50, and you really have to have a colnago, will one at this cost still behave like a proper colnago?
posted on wednesday 19th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................during a modest amount of research for this article (and you thought i just made it all up) i attempted to track down the current availability of cycling world magazine, and i may have done just that. despite their website providing no direct contact details and mentions issues that seem to date from early to mid 2007, apparently all is well and good in their cycling world. in my early days of pretending to be one of the world's cycle tourists, which i really wasn't terribly good at, i must confess, i used to hang on this magazine's every word, and delight in the photographs accompanying each article. i never quite found out, but i'd a notion that there must be something in the small print stating that every photograph published must have a bicycle in it, which should preferably have a cotton duck saddlebag attached to a brooks leather saddle and pretend that carbon fibre had never been invented.
all this was a throwback to the days when it wasn't just cycling that was more civilised, and it seemed that cycling world magazine was stuck in that time warp. judging by the contents of the latest issue, that may well be still the case: citytech mirrors, compass bell, cycling the lochs and glens, south burgundy, great moments in cycling (what's the betting they're not talking about lance's seven tour wins), and further adventures in south america. not a mention of cipollini trying to ride for tinkoff at this weekend's milan san remo.
and, of course, neither there should be; that's why we have cyclingnews, cycling.tv, the comic etc., etc., so that those who wish to fondly remember cycling days gone by, or pedal as if they still existed, can have their regular read too, to help reinforce their cycling expectations. because, believe it or not, this may be cycling's avant garde. my evidence for this is the simultaneous discovery of tweed.cc. i haven't figured out whether this website is having a laugh at the expense of those earnest readers of cycling world, or whether its protagonists just have a healthy and humorous attitude towards their idiosyncratic cycling ideals. and in one or two cases, they might not be too far off the truth. i quote: 'most recognise that bicycle technology reached its pinnacle in the early 1970s and everything since has been marketing.' you can probably tell from the web address itself what you're likely to get when you arrive, but with the ever growing rise in the popularity of merino wool and its contemporary derivatives, these anonymous folks may be more mainstream than they think.
mainstream that is, until you click on the contact link at the top of the page; this is met with directions to send all correspondence with a stamped addressed envelope to a london postal adress - not an e-mail to be seen (or found). i admire their authenticity, but in this age of iphones, i fear their letterbox may not be as full as it could be. of course, purely in the interests of investigative journalism, i shall send them an enquiring missive, and alert you to the reply if such is received.
and you thought i was eccentric.
posted on tuesday 18th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i'm not a great one for parties - it's a cross that the perfctly honed athlete has to bear, and remember this is olympics year, and i need my beauty sleep. however, there are always exceptions to be made, especially when the said party finishes at 8:30pm. well, the official end to the party is at 8:30pm but judging by some of the folks invited, there may well be a bit of a spill over into one or two local hostelries. oh, sorry, didn't i tell you - the party is at mosquito bikes, london, and beauty sleep or not, you will want to be at this one.
stealthily called mosquito at home just to pretend it's not really a party, mosquito's extensive range of rather nifty bicycles means that they have a number of important guests to call upon, the sort of people that you and i would like to rub shoulders with. probably guest of honour is italian framebuilder and eccentric extraordinaire, dario pegoretti, possibly accompanied by pietro, and certainly the main protagonist behind the whole affair becoming a party. joe ingram from independent fabrication (indyfab, to save pixels) and recep from fixie inc. who has been preceded last week by the arrival of the betty leeds road bike from same (weighing in, according to phil, at around 16lbs - nice). but it doesn't stop there (you can see that you'll need to get there early to find a space), also present will be chris hewings from the american bicycle group (litespeed and merlin), someone with a world of knowledge about building with titanium, and caroline goward from scott bikes.
there are more folks likely to drop by, apart from you, of course, but all is under wraps until confirmed. so how could we possibly miss out on this one - the opportunity to mention in conversation 'yes, as i was saying to dario only the other day... is just too good an opportunity to swish on by. thursday april 10 from 3:30pm until 8:30pm (hmmmm). drop phil an e-mail at mail@mosquito-bikes.co.uk just so that he can keep an eye on numbers, and make sure he has enough canapes. and while you're rubbing shoulders with the impoverished and famous, you can make a list of reasons as to why you need to buy one of the exemplary pieces of bicycleness sitting in mosquito's showroom.
if i don't make it, say hello to dario for me.
posted on monday 17th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................towards the end of last year, it was my great good fortune to introduce you to the artwork of dave brintonibrinton, by way of the heros du velo calendar offered by velopress in the usa, and from cordee and thus prendas in the uk. obviously, since we are now almost a quarter the way through 2008 (doesn't time fly?) there would be little point in purchasing a calendar - if you haven't already got one on your wall, you probably don't want or need one.
however, without wishing to labour the point, the illustrations that decorate each month of les heros du velo are exactly that - illustrations, and damn fine ones at that. on the wall of one of the oh, so many corridors in washingmachinepost towers (does anyone actually believe these bits?) i have a framed and signed brintoni print of marco pantani - a joy to look at, while passing on the way to the banquet hall.
and, of course, you too can have the very same print - or perhaps another from the veritable tour de force that is the prodigious output of mr brinton. each print measures 10"x10", is signed and numbered in a limited edition of 100, and printed with archival inks on 100% rag paper. the best way of obtaining such artistic decor of a cycling nature, would be to pop over to brintoni.com, enjoy the range of illustrations before making your selection, then e-mail mr brinton and arrange to part with $65 (£32).
just a small pointer - if you're a colnago aficionado (such as myself) i'd head straight for the illustration of saronni winning the worlds in 82 on the now famous colnago master in that colour scheme. cyclists are, after all, aesthetic people.
posted on sunday 16th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................funny thing weather - one day it's particularly crap, then you wake up the next morning and the sun leaks in round the edge of the blinds. surprisingly, that's exactly what happened today, so aside from taking the colnago arte out for a look at some dry weather, this seemed the ideal day to give the wabi woolens merino jersey a second bite at the cherry (so to speak). you may remember my initial words on the subject several thousand pixels below, at which point the jersey had a brief trip around the block, mostly covered by a stowaway jacket to shelter it from the more than customary precipitation.
as stated at the time, the wabi woolens merino jersey is specifically designed for wearing actively on the bike. admittedly it did look rather cool slouching around the coffee table in debbie's at lunchtime (something that lycra is not particularly good at), but it is easily at its best when hammering into a cold headwind (yes, that's still there), and was surprisingly warm and not just a little windproof.
thewashingmachinepost bikeshed resides at the rear of the country mansion, an area that frequently finds itself quite sheltered; pedal round the front, however, and the strength of the wind and its heat sapping temperature becomes all too apparent. thus, it was colder than i had expected, and for once i had on only a short sleeve merino baselayer - not always cosy for the arms. the wabiwoolens did a remarakble job of keeping the steering limbs cosy and warm throughout the full 70km managed this morning, and had a similar effect to those rapha threequarter bibs - it amost felt as if it wasn't there. the length of the arms, the general fit is quite excellent. just like a second skin.
you may have gathered from previous posts that i am a great believer in the second coming of wool; it would be very easy to put this down to listening to the hype that tends to attach itself to this natural fabric, but the wabi woolens example rises above all that. it just plain works - no bull sh1t.
if you would care to avail yourself of a similarly fine example of portland, oregon cycling apparel, point the browser to wabiwoolens.com, because you're not borrowing mine.
posted on sunday 16th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................it's been a struggle. yes, i know training's supposed to be a struggle, but this has been a struggle of a different kind. you will perhaps excuse the mocking tone here, but those of us privileged to live on the principality couldn't help but smile out loud at the news reports this last week, concerning the inclement weather that hit wales and southern england. according to the reports made by lady reporters with their hair dishevelled and all blown to one side, huge waves splurging over harbour walls, and 110 kph winds were causing disruption and destruction all across south of the bordershire.
actually, our weather tends to be like this every few days during the winter months (a gust of 130mph recorded late last year), but we have yet to see any sign of a gmtv reporter to point this out to the public at large. however, if you experienced any of the above weather last week - welcome to my world. and because of said weather conditions, it has been really difficult to achieve anything like a meaningful mileage record since late december. cycling 50km in 70kph winds is certainly character building, but doesn't quite let you know 'where you are at' so early in my non-existent season.
just as an aside, while we're discussing the weather, for those eagerly awaiting the review of the colnago arte, currently on holiday on islay, it's taken me until today to get anything like meaningful kilometres on the wheels, and it's probably going to take one or two more days to get some decent photographs. a photographer colleague of mine told me never to take photos unless there was enough light to cast a shadow. so far there hasn't been. the poor thing hasn't been out in dry weather since it arrived.
today i managed the first four hour ride of the year - still windy, still wet. for me, 100km in four hours in weather like this, is alright at this time of year. it would be really nice to think that with easter rapidly approaching, sun, perpetual tailwinds and scorching temperatures are just around the corner.
if i could just find that corner.
by the way, the illustration is applicable to one day of weather here - ask laphroaig distillery
posted on saturday 15th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................it seems like quite a while since i droned on about wheels, and in case you're missing such droning as much as i am (now that i've thought about it), a brief mention here would not, i feel, go amiss. this nostalgia, as it were, was brought about my my having been sat on the living room floor lacing up a pair of hoops for the first time in ever such a long time. i think i mentioned that 2008 was the year of the handbuilt wheel, so it seemed only right that i partake of which i speak.
in actual fact, a colleague acquired a rather dashing example of british lugged steel which is currently in place on the washingmachinepost workstand, awaiting the docking of italian components - a rather fun experience, i hope you'll agree. but chrome and steel demand a traditional pair of three cross rather than any of the boutique offerings from the big boys, hence the sitting cross-legged on the floor.
but while i don't wish to come over all philosophical and pretentious, there is still something rather incredible about how sixty four bits of stainless steel wire, two circles of aluminium alloy and a bit of frustration (aci spokes seem rather reticent to fit through the holes on a chorus rear hub - or at least the inner ones do) can eventually build into one of the strongest and most resilient structures known to bicycle-land. and that's even allowing for the fact that it was me that built them. speaking of frustration, that will come with the next step - truing; some rims become round more quickly than others, though i'm more inclined to blame pilot error than the tools or components.
the presage to all this was my ransacking of the house to find my copy of gerd schraner's art of wheelbuilding book. schraner had/has a method of lacing that seems to go against the grain, if the cycling forums are anything to go by. if you have a look at the wheelbuilding pages on the recently departed sheldon's website, whether you build or not, you can see that he advises building by inserting a set of spokes in alternate holes in one side, similarly in the other, before adding the cross-spokes in the remaining holes. this is the same method practiced by barnett's bicycle institute. schraner, however, advocates building all of one side before starting on the second.
as somebody validly pointed out, schraner's method cannot be completed without serious bending of the last set of spokes, in order to direct them towards the appropriate rim hole. carefully done, this has no real adverse effect on the spoke, though negotiating those already in place can result in one or two unintended scratches on the rim surface. i have to admit that sheldon's is the method i started with, but lately i have been building using mr schraner's - except, i can't actually remember all the steps. and i can't find the book. so a rather natty pair of laced wheels are currently sitting in my kitchen awaiting truing, and it is rather fitting that these have been built using dear departed sheldon's preference.
aren't you glad i told you that.
the illustration above was respectfully 'borrowed' from the late sheldon brown's website. it seemed an appropriate tribute.
posted on friday 14th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................thewashingmachinepost is world renowned, throughout bowmore, for its affection towards colnago bicycles. that and wheels. ok, so it's world renowned throughout bowmore for its affection towards colnago and wheels. and espresso coffee. right, it's world renowned throughout bowmore for its affection towards colnago bicycles, wheels, and espresso coffee. and... i'll come in again.
yes, apologies to monty python and the spanish inquisition, but i couldn't resist it, however, it's the coffee that will concern us today, or at least someone else's coffee. let me explain; those fine upstanding fellows at prendas ciclismo have provided the ideal apparel to wear to debbie's on a sunday, once the weather improves somewhat, you understand. made by the same colombian manufacturers of their highly prized cafe de colombia jerseys comes a short sleeve colombian coffee jersey, bearing unmistakeably large coffee beans across front and back (and that includes the three pockets).
i have no idea why coffee should be so linked to cycling, particularly the skinny wheels variety, but i'm not about to argue the point here in the face of such a fine example of jerseyness. the word coffee is even encircled by a pair of very campagnolo styled chainrings. what more could a barista need?
the colombian coffee jersey is available from prendas now, though i'd wait a few weeks before wearing it in anger, since the description includes the words lightweight perforated material. sizes range from xs to 6xl at a cost of £35 (approx $71) whichever size you choose.
i wonder if they're sent out in small white cups?
posted on thursday 13th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i'm about to delve into an area of which i have but little experience (ie i have no idea what i'm talking about) but since that has proved no barrier in previous instances, there's no reason why it should stop me now.
there have been a number of illustrated articles in the monthly magazines regarding wind tunnel testing - which has seemingly developed into sessions in low velocity wind tunnels, since your average carbon time-trial bicycle has little similarity to an f-16 jet fighter - during which manufacturers and riders spend hour after hour, and dollar after dollar, refining human position and component streamlining. because at more than about 30kph, the largest force to be overcome is that of wind resistance. in view of this, it does begin to make sense as to why some would seek the competitive edge by more than just sheer horsepower.
so in the blessed go, along with enough frames, wheels, helmets and time trial bars to fill a small cycle shop, to try combination after combination to ascertain which combination proffers the least path of resistance. this, then, is presumably written in the sponsored notebook and retained until it's time for the next contra la montre at a stage race near you. i'm sure the irony of all this is not lost on graeme obree (should he actually be paying any attention to such proceedings); the uci banned old faithful on the pretext that it wasn't available for lesser countries with negative budget. i wonder how jartazi feel when up against slipstream or csc?
anyway, accepting the fact that wind tunnel testing is unlikely to halt any day soon, perhaps we could look at the presumed benefits of so doing. the bicycle used in such tests is normally in a fixed position, straddled by the cyclist wearing his dimpled skinsuit, darth vader helmet and employing bar extensions of varying length. i hope that it's not too empereror's new clothesish to point out that on the last time trial i witnessed (on cycling.tv), the bicycles did not appear to be fixed in one position. and, come to that, the riders had this irritating habit of moving their heads side to side and up and down, while wearing their carefully drag coefficient rated helmets. doesn't the latter rather extend the gap between wind tunnel testing in carefully controlled conditions, and sliding a carbon frame sideways through a corner in the wet?
it does seem perfectly acceptable that wind tunnel testing can throw up plenty of hitherto unknown details about equipment and, perhaps more importantly, rider position. but when someone of the physical stature of thor hushovd wins the prologue of paris- nice, narrowly beating a rider from euskadi euskatel, while david millar of wind testing fame arrives in twelfth place, you really have to wonder.
told you i had no idea of which i speak.
posted on thursday 13th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................you've already warmed up - no need to risk an injury in the sprint. after all, if you do well this time, you may just get another chance later. so you check that your colnago casquette is on properly; do you go for peak at the back or at the front? and should it be up or down. depending on which way you're pedalling, there might be lights in your eyes, so you settle for peak down - shows the logo off better anyway. there's lots of screaming and shouting going on, excitement seems to have been the watchword since the racing started. head down, legs going like windmills, only stem and bars in field of vision - 500 metres to go. and suddenly it's all over. although the legs and throat are screaming, it doesn't feel as if you've travelled even one of those 500 metres. in fact the guy alongside you hasn't surged ahead or dropped back by even a centimetre, and he's looking just as knackered as you, only you can't even shout congratulations because you don't know which of you has won, nor could it be heard above the noise of the crowd. there are faces everywhere, so you turn round and look at the enormous clock situated between the two bikes.
yes, it's roller racing, or at least it's rollapaluza roller racing, a realtively new phenomenon that, over the past year has grown from next to nothing, to one of the favourite ways to completley knacker yourself on a bike over 500 metres or, if you're really unlucky, 1000 metres. roller racing lets you dress almost any way you want to and still come off best. in 2007 rollapaluza ran over 50 roller-races and featured 3000+ competitors, but now they're looking forward to an even morre amazing 2008. there are currently two sets of fully restored competition rollers and there's another set being refurbished to join them. and, believe it or not, the roller-rigs can even take kids bikes. in view of the comic's rather short lived campaign to get cycling put on the national education curriculum, and some of the negative comments that came from teachers who should know better, i suggested that roller racing might be a rather choice solution to the 'lack of bikes, lack of space argument' - told you nobody listens to me.
however, it doesn't just stop at fitting all sizes of wheels to the rollers - for community and cycling festival work, the roller rigs can now produce electricity to power lights, music etc. rollapaluza are just putting the finishing touches to their roller powered scalextric set. how green, and how cool is that.
this resurgence in roller racing has benefits too for those not affilliated, or close to any registered club. rollapaluza cc is a british cycling registered club for those who wish to compete, and there are already two qualified coaches on board. new beginnings require new logos - rollapaluza is no different in this respect, so a new identity has been created and applied to all manner of clothing, such as race jerseys, caps, t-shirts etc.
great, but how the heck does one go about joining, or just finding out a bit more? well, you have an option; there are two rollapaluza websites at rollapaluza.com and rollapaluza.cc,the latter providing details for members, race results, forum and all the things you expect from a website and a cycle club. of course, finding out about all this, brings me no nearer to having rollapaluza turn up at bowmore village hall in the near future.
though the scalextric might prove popular.
posted on wednesday 12th march
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i had an e-mail conversation recently with peter at colnago uk aout the paint schemes on colnagos clx carbon frames. much as i love colnago, i can't quite reconcile myself to the somewhat half-hearted plastering of paint, on what are particularly nicely honed carbon monocoques. and yes, i can see the hollowness of my argument - what does it matter really? we all buy bicycles to let us splotter around on the sunday ride at varying speeds, pretending that elite athleticism is ours (or is that just me?). if we accept the argument of function over form then colnago can paint their bicycles in any which way they want, but life and style are all about form over function. the company c40 has a particularly fetching paint job, featuring metallic blue paint gently fading away to that familiar carbon weave. art in a bicycle.
this is all enhanced by a healthy bulging of the cycling wardrobe featuring a myriad of style and function, that has its work cut out trying desperately to make me look svelte and streamlined when cleated into those magic vista pedals. now if all this is part and parcel of the male cycling psyche (and don't try to deny it -solo, rapha, wabi and campagnolo didn't get into cycle clothing on a whim) how do the fairer sex cope with all this? cycle-fit had a very fetching pink serotta on display during last week's visit, upon seeing which, my daughter expressed a sudden desire to be a cyclist. i'm not sure if such faffing and fashion affects nicole cooke or jeannie longo, but i wouldn't mind betting that it does - they just hide it better than most.
so in order to cater for the demanding female cyclist, along comes the creatively named cyclodelic in the shape of the just as creatively named amy fleuriot. cyclodelic leapt into the (female) public eye at last year's highly idiosoyncratic and very well received, pret a rouler - effectively a fashion catwalk for cycle related fashion. comfortingly, there is not too much room in cycling for trinketry that has no real practical value - decorative yes, but nobody wants to lug around pretty and glamorous bling that isn't of any real use - think streamers on your ergo levers, so amy has concentrated on rucksacks, belts, and bags in cream, navy and gold waterproof fabrics with matching reflective trim. recognition is its own reward, with cyclodelic being engaged to manage london fashion week's first cycle fashion show - wheels and heels
the colour range has now expanded from those initial delights, and leather has made its way into the designs in the name of luxury and downright practical hard-wearing. of course, it doesn't all stop there; this year's summer range encompasses an increasing variety of styles, none of which have lost sight of the pragmatism that endeared cyclodelic to the female cyclist/commuter in the first place. soon to be seen in a velorution or shop172 near you, will be a laptop bag and even a utility belt allowing somewhere to put that infernal, but necessary d-lock, without looking like you've just pinched the bike.
amy isn't being seduced by all that glitters - the function and performance is under constant assessment as well as regular updates, with many of the new pieces integrating klik fix mechanisms on the commuter ranges. prices don't really give much cause for concern either, starting with reflective cuffs at £19 ($38), reflective belts with a mobile phone pouch at £29 ($58) and a reflective and waterproof bra bag at £85 ($170).
while those of us of the male persuasion may ultimately desire a custom carbon frame, our female counterparts may be more concerned with a bespoke fashionable cycling accessory (i know, i'm typecasting - please don't e-mail and tell me i'm wrong. what do us blokes know?). and if cyclodelic custom is what you really, really want, it shall be done. broadcaster and journalist dawn porter, who commissioned amy's creativity, said of her cyclodelic custom bag (see top photo)
"when you do something like buy a baby pink brompton, you cant just leave it there. accessories have to be as special as the bike. and that is why i got amy to design me a totally exclusive bag. i love it, people pass comment continuously. it makes cycling even more fun.". prices start from £200 ($400)
unfortunately for those up north or across the pond, there are currently only two stockists of cyclodelic goodies - the previously mentioned velorution (great titchfield street) and shop172 in brick lane, but you can have a look at cyclodelic on the website. much like a huge proportion of cycling websites, there's precious little for the ladies in our lives, or even the ladies without us in their lives featured on thewashingmachinepost. some of that is down to pragmatism - i can't realistically road test female specific clothing or bicycles.
but it doesn't mean i don't care. after all, i have a daughter who loves pink.
photo credits: dawn porter/london cycle chic; cyclodelic backpack/csl design; wheels&heels image/guy hills - reproduced with permission.
posted on tuesday 11th march
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