Sleek and Chic

She flew along with her baskets, chatting amicably on her hands-free mobile, turning heads the whole way. Elegant heels, short skirt, flowing locks.
Classic Copenhagen.

In Praise of Red Bicycles

I was down at Velorbis to have a coffee with my mate Kenneth yesterday and I saw a limited editions of the Victoria and the Churchill in 'post box red' - which is 'fire engine red' in other countries.

Beautiful. They are a special order for Hillerød County Council who have ordered them for their staff. Corporate bikes are big here in Denmark, with many county council and companies providing bikes for their employees.

The girl who owns the shop next door was sitting in the sun so we got her to test drive the Victoria.


Kenneth showed me a colour catalogue with the most amazing array of colours that bikes can come in. Chocolate brown, screaming orange, lime green, you name it. Black has been the primary bike colour for the better part of a century but now the bike lanes are rainbows with all sorts of new colours to be seen.

Tyres are the next on the list. Any colour is possible but tyre manufacturers are rather conservative. Their craziness extends to white, creme or brown. It would be great to see some more untraditional colours on the bike lanes.

I figured I'd check my archives for Red Bikes and a selection of photos follow. Some have been published here before so you might recognise some. Among the brands that make red bikes are Kronan, Old Dutch and Van de Falk.

But here's a question:

What colour would you choose for your bike if you could choose any colour at all?

Los Angeles Cycle Chic

Photo: Gina Ferrazi / Los Angeles Times
You HAVE to love this article and photo from the Los Angeles Times about a guerilla gardener movement taking root in L.A.

They make seed bombs and toss them onto neglected lots and such, causing plant life to grow. What a groovy idea! And the photo is brilliant - Copenhagen Cycle Chic goes to Los Angeles.

The caption for the photo: "With the seed bombs stowed in her red bag, the stiletto-wearing Caroline takes off on her bike in search of vacant patches of public space. To plant the seed bombs, she digs holes with a trusty tool — the heel of her shoe. “Stilettos work really well,” she says, grinning."

There is a cool photo series about how to make seed bombs, from whence the above photo comes.

Thanks to David for keeping us in the loop by emailing this story. A propos the comments on the previous post about Choosing a Bicycle, he signed his mail: "David (who only owns one bike with a chainguard AND fenders)".
:-)

Art Borne From Art

This time is was Aaron's turn to have one of his fine photographs immortalised for all all by the talented and prolific hand of Janet Karam.
Check out her website Funky Town Art. And be sure to check the latest on Aaron's cool blog about his life in Copenhagen - Something Rotten.

Fantastic, as always.

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.

Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime

Smiling to herself.

Their eyes met across the bike lane.

Copenfamily.
Here's an article about 12 Bikes For Girls.

Copenhagen Rainy Day

The rain fell all day but the bikes rolled on. This stretch of bike lane is 'medium-sized' - it gets about 10,000 bikes a day - and is located about 4 km from the heart of the city.

Here's a previous post about Biking With Umbrellas.

Two of my biking with umbrellas photographs have been immortalised for all time as postcards available at our online boutique: