Good Things

Nothing like a bit of Nordic backlightaciousness gracing a Copenhagener on a bike in killer heels.


And then you have the Copenhagen version of The French Lieutenant's Woman. Classic style.


And then there is Lululicious. She took a break at the playground to sit in the box of my Velorbis Long John. I haven't personalised it that much just yet. There are stickers for our Danish bike helmet website Cykelhjelm.org and a Slow Bicycle Movement sticker. And the shopping bag for the Slow Bike Movement, too, from the online store.

I had made a box for it but Harry at Larry vs Harry offered to have a bigger one made for me, so I took him up on it. It's great. The kids love riding in it, too:

I only really use the Long John for transporting the kids, but it is brilliant and practical. Old school charm, brand new bike.

Voting in Style in Minneapolis

What a way to ride to the voting booth. Thanks to Todd in Minneapolis for sending us the link to the blog run by his and his wife [pictured] - RedBlackBrown.com. Heading down to vote in Saint Paul, Minnesota on a lovely fall day on a brand new Velorbis Victoria.

Handheld Cycling

They rode the whole way along the street like that. Only letting go if a bike came up behind and wanted to pass.


Talk to the basket... the face is busy right now. :-)


A spot of Cycle Chic in the China Times Weekly in an article about the Velorbis Long John cargo bike. Felix and I and a couple of friends in motion.

Copenhagen Cycle Chic Goes Global Again

A few times a year there are posh Style Lounges held in the States in conjunction with major events. In this case it was the "Kari Feinstein Emmy Style Lounge" that the Beautiful People attended in the run-up to the Emmy Awards. Velorbis had their classic Victoria and Churchill present and were pleased to have been invited. The Dutch Bicycle Company attended, as the American distributor for the Danish brand. Danish Design always seems to travel well and mix with the right crowd.


We are well chuffed about being invited to take part in this year's EuroBike industry fair in Germany, as a part of Velorbis' stand, pictured above. Thanks to Velorbis for letting me design the back wall - on the right. 4 x 2.5 metres of pure Cycle Chic, printed on gorgeous fabric. It should have made the trip over the Atlantic to hang at the above Style Lounge, but logistics were against us.


"People are Handsome, We make their Bicycles." That is the slogan of "Handsome Cycles" in Minneapolis, USA. Splendid slogan. Splendid photo.


And the Dutch, bless their cotton socks, are at it again. Trying desparately to play catch up in the Cycle Chic Sweepstakes. Like other thieves and beggars whom we love madly. I think this might be a inflight magazine, but I'm not sure.

Then there is this article from the Canadian National Post, rounding up the whole Cycle Chic movement. Nice to see that normal people in normal clothes is slowly, surely becoming the norm.

Velorbis Scrap Deluxe - A Bicycle For Feminine Urban Living

Velorbis asked Wifealiciousness and I to review the new Scrap Deluxe for Ladies, which they have recently launched. We're always up for a World Premiere, so we took the bike out for a ride last week.

I know the Scrap Deluxe well, since I have the Gentleman's model. As I've mentioned before, riding this bike around Copenhagen is a treat. In a city that has seen it all regarding bikes, the Scrap Deluxe is a real head turner. Men and women alike.

We whipped up a little film about our test drive:


Wifealiciousness blogged about it on her styling blog Modler Style - in Danish - so I'm going to let her take it away - after a quick translation into English:

"I enjoyed riding for the sake of riding and not having to go anywhere. My husband already has a Gents Scrap Deluxe and we really caused a stir as we rode around on our 'headturner' Velorbis'.

The bike is in a league all its own - the super cool grey, steel frame combined with the creme-coloured wheels, the gorgeous brown leather on the hand grips and saddle and the perfectly formed fenders and lights were an elixir for the eye. Not to mention the little 'number plate' with the Velorbis logo. The bicycle is simple, classic and completely unique.

The frame's form gives you a feeling of sitting up high, straight-backed and with a complete overview of your surroundings. The wheels seem, somehow, smaller than on other bikes and it gave me the feeling of riding a mini-bike - in the funkiest way.

It was an all-round, wonderful experience and a bike that begs to be tried - not least for the aesthetic kick!"


The most important thing from the photographer's perspective is that MAN, Wifealiciousness looks good on the Scrap Deluxe! Riding high and looking beautiful.

It's the perfect bicycle for feminine urban living. Smooth, gorgeous and downtownalicious.

No, we don't know what it weighs, so don't ask. Check Velorbis' website for more info if strange weight or tech spec questions persist in your head. :-)

Moody Weather

The weather has been moody and indecisive for a week or so. Cooler than normal, cloudy/sunny/showers. It just can't make up it's mind. This might be considered a nightmare from a cycle chic point of view, but Copenhageners seem to adapt well. A stylish rain coat does the trick and if your toes are prone to getting chilly, stockings in boots.

This is a classic example of Ready For Anything Cycle Chic. Elegant up top, water resistant pants for the drizzle and toasty warm boots. Who's to say that some stylish shoes aren't hidden in her basket for when she arrives at her destination.

With all that said, we're so very pleased that summer is returning tomorrow and we're looking forward to the beach.

Here's yours truly trying out my new Long John from Velorbis - the grandaddy of all cargo bikes in a shiny new version. My boy on the back and two friends on a cushion in the cargo rack. What a lovely ride. I'm heading out today to buy wood so I can build a box for my kids to sit in and lean against. I'll let you know how it goes.

Global Cycle Chic Guest Photos

Time for some guest photos sent to us from around the world or posted in our Flickr group. Copenhagen Cycle Chic goes global. Thanks for thinking of us and keep the guest photos coming!

Constantin sent in this photo of his wife, Verena returning from her 10 km [each way] daily ride to work. She rides a 1998 replica of the first mountain-bike, "THE
KLUNKER" by Gary Fisher. With style, selbstverständlich.

Putting the Oh! back into Ottawa. Thanks to Chris. The lady is riding a fine Skeppshult bicycle from Sweden.

And here's some Global Cycle Chic photos from our Flickr friends:

The 10 Cent Designer in Calgary, Canada. Calgary seems to be doing just fine in the Cycle Chic department. Note: guest photos with cowboy hats will NOT be blogged. :-)

Montrealcykler in, quelle surprise, Montréal. Proprietor of the Montreal Cykler blog.

Michael from NYC and the Drunk and in Charge of a Bicycle blog. It's not Michael in the photo, it's one of his roommates on her new Velorbis Victoria.

La Meow in the States. Vintage Queen of the Internet! :-)

Elinor Zach in NYC.

JanneM in Osaka.

Queen. Victoria.

This is my Queen. She rides a Victoria.


I like. My bike.

Style over Speed. Every day of the week.

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?

The Bikes of Copenhagen #01

Wifealiciousness rummages through the basket on her Velorbis Victoria Classic for her keys.

We get alot of lovely emails and comments from readers about what bikes feature on the streets of Copenhagen, what bikes are cool and what bikes we can recommend. It's a tough subject. Mostly because the vast majority of bikes in Copenhagen aren't available abroad and are made by companies most of you have never heard of. Which is a shame, really. We're spoiled for choice in this bike-saturated market but in regions like North America only a few brands of European bikes are on the market.

Only a few Danish and Dutch brands are geared for export. The majority of the well-established companies are content with producing their bikes for the Northern European market. The brands that are exported to North America are generally very fine bikes and this is reflected in the price. They tend to market themselves for the upscale crowd. Fair enough, we say, but still a shame that so many cool bikes are inaccessible to bike culture lovers abroad.

We'll try to highlight some of the brands seen in Copenhagen in some upcoming posts, as well as cool brands from elsewhere in Europe.

GENERIC BIKE PLEASURE AND OLD SCHOOL RETRO-LOVING
There is a bike boom happening in Copenhagen, which seems to have started within the past five years. There are lot of new bikes on the bike lanes with new, bright colours and forms available after a century of black frames. We'll focus on bikes for ladies - the classic 'Bedstemor cykler', or 'Grandma bikes' as they're called in Danish.

By and large, however, most of the bikes are classic workhorses and many are of a rather generic nature.

I don't know what brand the bike above is but I see them, and others like them, all day long. They do the job. There are hundreds of bike shops in Copenhagen and many of them sell these basic "bedstemor cykler" - or Grandma bikes

Raleigh of China [formally of Nottingham] enjoy a strong prescence on the Copenhagen bike lanes. Vintage bike lovers will wet themselves standing on a busy street corner. Old Raleighs roll past in their scores and new Raleighs accompany them.

The bike above is a newish Raleigh. One of the travesties of the bike marketing world is that Raleigh produces classic models only for the Danish, German and Dutch market, leaving the rest of you out in the cold. You can see the contrast when looking at:
Raleigh's Danish website - elegant girl in heels on the front page - and then looking at
Raleigh's US website - agressive sports orientated image, or even
Raleigh's UK Website - outdoorsy weekend cyclists and loads of 'gear'.

On the Danish website there are 8 Ladies models under 'Shopping' and a classic retro model under Tourist De Luxe. On the US website there are four 'women's bikes', with only one resembling a normal everyday bike.

Old Raleighs are, in many ways, much lovelier. A bit of rust adds so much character. Many young women choose these trashed bikes as an image statement. They are coolest with heels and elegant clothes, for some reason. We have spotted a tendency to wear shoes by Louboutin while riding an old Raleigh.


It's not just old Raleighs, there are so many old brands that still do service on the bike lanes. In most cases, it's not about the bike, it's about the person riding it.

A fancy, expensive and wonderfully designed bike is cool, but you don't want people noticing the bike when they should be noticing you.