Thursday 22 December 2011

Wrap up in style

From amazing blog The Sartorialist. I am so in love with her Camel coat.
Just because the temperature is dropping doesn't mean you have to drop your style standards on your bike. Having a mooch around some of my favourite blogs, here's some inspirational seasonal style...

Spotted on the fabulous San Fran blog Velo Vogue. The tartan boots and bags are to die for teamed with angelic cream sweater and Beret... the perfect outfit for the festive season.

Chunky knit cardy, retro Nikes and a lovely classic bike. This chap spotted on from Calgary Cycle Chic has got it right!
And from Copehagen Cycle Chic. This lady's green/grey beret is a perfect match for her eyes.

Thursday 15 December 2011

Free Delivery on Everything for 24 hrs!



We'll pay the stamps baby... when ordering little stocking fillers online the postage can sometimes be as much if not more than the item and the whole things seems pointless. But until midday tomorrow you can order products from £2.99 to £200 and pay absolutely no postage, yay!








Friday 9 December 2011

Shine on... Reflective gifts from £5

TwonFro Ankle Claqs come in Yellow, Pink, Silver and Neon yellow. Snap, shine and go, only £5 each.

Ding Dong indeed...SpotMe Reflective badges, £9.99 for a set.

TwonFro Reflective Sash for the Beauty Queen in your life, only £19.99

 Dashing Tweeds Reflective woolen legwarmers £40. Quite simply the most stylish way to reflect.

TieCycle £22.50. It's not often that vintage and reflective come together but they do with these fabulous customised reflective tie sashes.

Georgia in Dublin Basket cover, £ 19.99. Keep both you and your belongings safe on the road. A great pressie for the beloved basket-case in your life.

 TwonFro Reflective Vest £44.99. Our best selling Reflective item is sure be hit under the tree.

Reflective Spokies. Reflective tubes that slot onto your spokes. Your whizzing wheels will glow like a Catherine Wheel. £5 for a pack of 5. (great for the kids)




Po Campo spare pocket with Swallow reflective detail £23.99. It attaches to your ankle with a lovely leather strap and is the perfect size, for your cash, cards and keys.

Thursday 1 December 2011

Listen up ladies.. the Bern Lenox has arrived!


We always get excited when Bern launch a new helmet but the fact that the Bern Lenox is a women specific cycle helmet has us quite frankly beside ourselves. We are also the first retailer in the UK to have the summer Lenox available before it launches officially in the spring.
Finding the perfect cycle helmet is, I admit, an obsession of mine and I have a strict set of criteria. The Lenox is currently my top runner, here's why:
You can either go for the subtle Grey Lenox, a great colours for Autumn/Winter or try one of the bright  two-tones colours. I am loving the Purple with White Brim Lenox and am planning to brighten up my winter wardrobe with matching purple skinny jeans. Loving this pair at only £16.99 from New Look



Or for my annual 'New Year get fit' look I am thinking the White and Turquoise Lenox with these matching joggers from ASOS will give me that extra motivation to get out on the bike and burn the calories in style.

Christmas pressie idea 
Buying a Bern Lenox Helmet for your loved one this Christmas not only shows how much you love their precious head but also shows you know they are highly stylish and deserve nothing less than the coolest most ladylike helmet around. (Seriously chaps you'll score enough Brownie points to see you through to next Christmas).

Thursday 24 November 2011

Free Delivery On All Orders Over £60!


Whoopee, its FREE SHIPPING WEEK! Place an order over £60 and the delivery will cost you absolutely nowt! Get in there for helmets, panniers and accessories for yourself and your cycling nearest and dearest. Offer last until 1st Dec. Happy Shopping!

Thursday 10 November 2011

New in! SpotMe Badges


In our ongoing battle against ugly and offensive Hi Viz gear we are pleased to announce a new reflective product that is as cute as a button, quite literally.
The SpotMe Badges £9.99 are made of reflective fabric and have beautifully embrioded designs on them. They come in sets of 2 or 3 our faves are the Hearts, Stripes and the 'Ding Dongs'. They can be pinned onto your bag, coat, shoe to give you a sublte but effective reflective element when cycling at night.

These lovely little buttons are made by designer Kate Barton who when cycling to her central London studio soon felt the need to be noticed and began to make reflective accessories for her and her friends.
I have pinned 3 of the lovely heart shaped badges on my Bensimon Rucksack, they look totally sweet and they really do reflect well.



Gift Idea - The SpotMe Badges are an ideal Christmas gift and affordable too at £9.99 for a set. A perfect stocking filler.

Thursday 3 November 2011

The Bicycle Library comes to Hackney


The Bicycle Library, a mobile library advocating bicycles in the city, has migrated to London Fields for the Winter. The Bicycle Library is a decommissioned London double decker bus, stocked with bicycles, books and much more.
On the first floor visitors can enjoy a cup of tea whilst perusing through a host of sustainably sourced bicycle wear and accessories from the TWOnFRO range. Ascending to the second floor, visitors will find a well-stocked literary archive as well as a range of bikes that can be borrowed as you would a book. The Bicycle Library also doubles as an art gallery and cinema. Artwork is displayed on both floors and cinema screenings are set to take place on the second floor in the coming months.
Librarians are there to assist you with any questions, which are answered via their expertise, as well as the books and magazines in the reference library, which is a complete selection of all the best books on bicycle design, culture and history. There is also a set of IPads to browse all of our bookmarked cycling websites, which are organized according to the 7 sub categories of bikes we advocate for the city.

Thursday 20 October 2011

Cold Hands This Morning?


There is nothing worse than setting off on your bike on a crisp winters morning only to find 2 mins in that your hands are freezing, turning the rest of the journey into a battle against frost-bite. Even when wearing gloves the cold wind can blast through them and you find yourself trying to breath life into your hands at every traffic light stop. If this is a familiar scenario for you please read on...
This has long since been a problem of mine so this year I was determined to find some gloves to nip this in the bud.  After much searching we have found a solution in these stupidly warm Sheepskin Gloves £24.99, handmade in Glastonbury .
They arrived at our office this morning and I have hardly taken them off since (except to type of course). They are not only ridiculously cosy but are soft and flexible making them easy to handle the breaks and gears when cycling.
They are also made of REAL sheepskin so are durable, breathable and did I mention warm??!

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Heads up Mum


This poster was designed by  husband and wife team Britt and Wayne Hanson who together write the blog Fantastic Family Fun. Wayne was knocked off his bike by a van and wearing a helmet saved his life so the couple are understandably passionate and spreading the pro helmet word. The couple have noticed they often see adults carrying children on their bike and whilst the wee ones are safely helmeted up, the adult is not.
So why is this? I think sometime as parents we are so consumed with our child's well-being and all the associated bits and bobs that we spend less time thinking of our own. But of course the safety of our own heads is just as important to our little ones....

Thursday 13 October 2011

Free Delivery on all Bike Lights!

 
If your bicycle lights seem to have grown legs and done a runner over the summer do not fear, we have some cracking light options to suit all bikes and budgets. And to top it all off we're offering FREE DELIVERY on all Bike Lights from Today, 13th October until end of the day Sunday, 16th October. Simply enter the discount code: therewillbelight when you check out online.

New in: Boom Boom, Boom shake the room with Knog's new BOOMERS. You'll hardly notice its dark with the Boomer front light (above), £19.99. lighting up your path ahead.

The Boomer wearable £19.99 rear light is not only ridiculously bright but has a magnetic clip that allows you to attach it to your clothes. Woo hoo!

Budget: The Classic Knog Strobe is only £9.99, comes in array of delightful colours and is plenty bright enough to get an 80's disco going on your bike.



Pretty and Practical: The Bicygnal twin lights (£32.99 for set) not only look sleek and sophisticated but they magnetically clip together make rather nifty hand held torch.

Thursday 6 October 2011

Spot the trend


Every so often we get a product that gets people super excited and flies out of our warehouse at a rate of knots. This season it's Sawako Furuno's Leopard Skin Helmet £84.  Leopard skin prints are never far from the catwalk or the high street shelves and with a trend for Leopard skin accessories this year, we can see why this helmet is causing a stir.

Fashion heavy-weights from Victoria Beckham to SJP and Kate Moss have been seen with Leopard skin bags and there are some fabulous Leopard skin shoes around. We love these flats, River Island at ASOS, they would look great with skinny black jeans and Sawako Leopard helmet for a chic A/W cycling look.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Uni Cycle


It's that time of year again when thousands of school leavers, pack their bedrooms into the back of their parents cars and head off to a random city for 3 years studying and partying.
But what the best way to get round once your parents have driven away? Cycling of course, it's a no brainer... Not only is it free but you will soon become the interesting, quirky one amongst your peers for turning up to lectures like a young Iris Murdoch...

A prime example is the wonderful Lilly Cole who does interesting and quirky exceptionally well. Throughout her 3 years at Cambridge she was often spotted cycling from lecture to lecture by bike. From her attire it's clear that she was a year round cyclist too... go Lily

Three rules for cycling at Uni:
1. A wicker basket is essential.
2. Don't cycle when you're wasted. Leave the bike at home on pound a pint night.
3.Get a second hand bike locally. Instead of trying to cram a nice shiny new bike in your parents boot, Look around when you get to uni and grab a local bargain.

Our wicker basket recommendations to perfect the Lily Cole/Uni Chic look:

On a budget try our Classic Wicker only £19.99

Or our new Picnic basket £49.99 with hamper style lid, ideal for keeping your books and sandwiches dry!

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Dawn Porter hauls her cookies from London to Paris by Bike!


TV Presenter and old uni chum of mine, Dawn Porter, took on the huge challenge of cycling from London to Paris last week. Despite severe saddle sore, she made it and we were only too happy to kit her out with a helmet and panniers to help her complete the mammoth ride in style.





Dawn was not just doing the ride to tone her thighs, she was raising money for a charity dear to her heart, Breast Cancer Care. So in keeping with the pink theme we sent her Sawako Furuno Ribbon Helmet in Rose and two Pink Maripopas Panniers.

Well done Dawn!

Tuesday 6 September 2011

My ASOS Autumn Essentials


Well there's no doubt about it, Autumn is well and truly here so time to start dressing accordingly on the bike. I have to admit to having a helping hand with my new autumn cycling attire from the lovely people as ASOS who gave me a £150 voucher to spend at my leisure, thanks ASOS. So what did I pick out?

I decided to go for an autumnal heritage look with Midi length Rain Mac, Pussybow shift dress and Cloche hat. The rainmac is ideal for cycling as its lightweight and the midi length keeps my legs dry. The chic shift dress also works well on the bike as it's a breathable fabric that doesnt cling and the cloche hat gives dash of vintage flair as well as keeping my locks protected from the blustery weather.
But it's not just about weathering the storms, it's important your autumn  look works both on and off the bike which is where this outfit comes into it's own. The Chic 1940's look is perfect for jumping off the bike and heading into a London pub for an after work drink with friends.

Friday 2 September 2011

Pedaling Picnic Perfection

 

Why not squeeze out the last bit of summer and set off for a bicycle picnic this weekend. Here's our Cyclechic picnic survival kit.

Our new Nantucket Picnic Bicycle Basket. The Hamper style lid is not only totally adorable but is highly practical, avoiding the common wicker basket problem of your bits and bobs flying out of the basket when you hit a bump on the road. It connects on to the bike with a plastic bracket that's easy to attach and can be whipped off in a second to be the centre piece of your picnic party.

Accessory no. 2 The Bicycle Wine Rack. What picnic would be complete without a bottle and this has got to be the coolest way to to carry booze on your bike.

And lastly you'll need a blanket to park your bicycling bottoms on. We love this delightful fringed plaid picnic rug from Beg with tanned leather straps that attach to your Brooks saddle to keep in place. What a a jolly good idea!

Now all you need is some culinary treats and a spot of sunshine and it's picnic perfection.



Friday 26 August 2011

Floral fun this weekend!


Fancy doing something different this bank holiday weekend, why not pop down to the Southbank and join the Floral bike parade.

The floral bicycle parade is part of Southbank Centre’s Weekend 51 (26th-28th August), a weekend looking back at the 1951 Festival of Britain. Sunday’s events are in partnership with the Mayor’s Story of London festival, which has been curated by the Museum of London, and pay homage to community involvement in 1951 when many outer London boroughs took part with a wide variety of celebratory events. Local museums in five of the original participating boroughs – Dagenham, Brent, Haringey, Redbridge and Wandsworth – are hosting displays in their boroughs and recreating some of the activities that took place.
Cyclists are invited to recreate the floral bicycle parade of the Festival of Britain by decorating their bikes, helmets and clothes for a grand parade around Southbank Centre.

 The original parade took place in Haringey, and so Haringey cyclists will be leading the parade on the 28th.  Decorating stations will be open on site from 2pm for any last minute touches, and the parade begins at 4pm at Southbank Centre Square Doors.

The perfect accessories have to be the Yakkay Flower helmet and a lovley floral Kitsch Kitchen Pannier.





Monday 15 August 2011

Vintage Velo Advice

Pic of Sandra Dee with vintage bike from wonderful blog Rides A Bike

As a big fan of second hand bikes I am delighted to have Going Going Bike write a guest post for us imparting their knowledge on buying a vintage ladies bicycle.

Buying a second hand bicycle is really satisfying. Such a bicycle gives so much better value than a new bike. A new bicycle can lose as much as 50% of their value the moment they leave the shop.
Buying a used bike also appeals because it is sustainable and, if you choose a vintage bike, results in you getting a bike with some classic, retro appeal. It is worth noting that buying a vintage bicycle is also often a better idea than buying a new low-cost modern bicycle.
Golden age of bikes
The golden era for vintage women’s bikes is from the late 1950s onwards. Such bikes are still very rideable and still provide much of the basic design elements used in modern versions of women’s bikes. As a rule any bike that was built from the late-1950s to mid-1980s is considered as being very collectable. With most bikes from that period you are still able to find suitable components if you need to make repairs or restore them.
Bike types
Women’s bikes on the vintage scene are split into two types. More commonly seen is the Mixtie frame bike. The Mixtie is essentially a light utility road bike for women with some even coming with dropdown handlebars. Mixtie frames can be easily converted to single speeds making them very sought after particularly with the single speed/fixed gear craze. 70s and 80s Raleigh and Peugeot bikes are good brands to look out for if you purchase a Mixtie due to the ease of finding suitable component replacements or adding newer more modern components.
Town/Dutch/utility vintage bikes are much the modern vogue and there is a clutch of manufacturers offering new bikes in this market. Sadly many of the old UK brands such as BSA no long exist as do bikes from this period. Pashley still operates in this market with its modern interpretations of its classic bikes of the past but finding a classic vintage model is hard to find. More prevalent are brands from the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.
Where to buy
The women’s second hand market is seeing a bit of a renaissance with more women now cycling. Apart from sources such as Going Going Bike (click here for our vintage category), there are the usual places such as eBay and Gumtree. Markets are also a good idea. A new business, The Bike Spoke, which specialises in Vintage bikes, recently sold all its vintage ladies bikes stock at the Hackney Homemade market. In each case, given the nature of it being an old bike, it is actually going to inspect the bike before you buy. Pricing can be very difficult to determine but you generally get a feel for what a bike is worth by looking online or going to bike markets.
Once you had decided on a bike, we have some basic guidelines on buying a second hand bike.
Check the bike’s condition
Second-hand bikes come in all sorts of conditions and it is worth noting specific things to look out for when it comes to vintage bikes.
Always inspect the state of the brakes, derailleur system, headset, wheel spokes, hubs and whether the frame itself is structurally sound. Superficial marks or scratches on a frame shouldn’t be a problem, but avoid a frame or fork that is bent, dented or cracked. Similarly if there is rust on the frame, scratch with a finger nail to see how deep it is. Also look out for rusty worn chains and cogs.
Be prepared to pay for certain repairs or updates to a vintage bike. It is important to factor this into the purchasing price when buying.

Size is key
When it comes to a vintage bike, the actual size of the bike is of less of an importance given the step through nature of the bike frame. What is important to note though is that the feel rider has a comfortable upright riding position, whereby they can reach the handlebars without stretching unduly. Best fit should therefore be determined by arm reach Women have shorter arms but longer legs relative to men so bear this in mind when choosing the right sizes bike. Typically vintage frames are measured in inches as opposed to centimetres with sizes going up from 17.5 inches to 22 inches typically.  For a good fit, measure your inside leg measurement and as a general guide compare this against the following measurements:
A 17.5 inches frame will fit a lady with a 24,5"-28,5" inside leg measurement
A 20 inch frame will fit a lady with a 27"-31,5" inside leg measurement
A 22 inch frame will fit a lady with a 30,5"-38 inside leg measurement
Ask questions of the seller
Find out how long the seller owned the bike or if the bike has any problems in the past. Has the bike been stored indoors in the dry, or outside in the damp? If you’re buying the bike from a second-hand bike store you may be able to get a warranty for any problems the bike may develop in the first few months.
  Going Going Bike, is the UK's leading online marketplace for buying and selling bikes. However it's not just about trading.  They also keep their rapidly growing community of cyclists amused with blogs, news and useful features.