Cyclehoop are the award winning London-based designers of cycle parking solutions. You might have heard of them from their world famous Cyclehoops, Car Bike Ports or Public Bike pumps that are on the streets of London. (There is also a public bike pump on the streets of Sydney!)
They have just released a new indoor Bikeshelf in time for Christmas. The Bikeshelf allows you to store your bicycle and cycling gear in one convenient location. Integrated hooks and shelves keep your locks, tools, keys, lights, gloves, helmet and bags tidy. A locking hole allows the bicycle to be locked to the Bikeshelf.
Cyclehoop are taking preorders for the Bikeshelf now and they deliver internationally.
In the 1950s, kids dreamed of finding a shiny new Schwinn under the Christmas tree and the brand was a household name in the USA.
Indulge your nostalgia with the company’s newest offering, The Biking Board Game. Answer bike trivia questions (drafting in a paceline can save up to what percent of your energy?) and learn facts about cycling (in 1972, bicycles outsold cars in the US) to advance your piece along the trail and be first to reach home.
If you’re looking for a fun way to introduce kids to the Le Tour de France then check out Monsieur Albert Rides to Glory.
Monsieur Albert is 60 years old and loves cycling. One day he reads in his morning paper about a cycling race about to start in the centre of Paris and he decides to enter so he can win the prize. He rides the race in his tweed suit, a jaunty red scarf and panniers full of supplies while the other contestants come dressed in lycra on their racing bikes. But…guess who wins the race when they encounter a huge ball of snow up on the col?
The book contains funny whimsical illustrations by Sydney-based illustrator Bob Graham, jolly rhyming text by Bob’s cycling enthusiast brother-in-law Peter Smith and a winning story of the underdog overcoming the uppity champion of France.
The publisher recommends Monsieur Albert Rides to Glory for ages 6-8 but younger kids can still appreciate some aspects of the story and the lovely illustrations. You can even use the book to introduce some French vocabulary to them while they are young!
Next time you go riding on your bike, why not record these journeys with the Bicycle Travel Journal designed by Roger Fawcett-Tang of Struktur Design?
Nigel Peake’s beautiful drawings map out ideas and guide riders through new landscapes, both real and imaginary. The journal comes with 20 illustrations, blank pages to write on and 4 envelopes to store mementoes of your journeys.
We are big fans of Melbourne-based bike rental company The Humble Vintage and the limited edition hand-drawn maps coming out of it called Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists.
Now author and entrepreneur Matt Hurst has written The Casual Cyclist’s Guide Melbourne, a book bringing a fresh perspective to cycle routes in Melbourne interspersed with articles on cycling tips, tricks and thoughts as varied as Taking the Scenic Route and Five Surprising Situations When it’s Better to Take the Bike.
The guide brings together contributions from a range of Melbourne architects, historians, chefs, designers and local identities, including chef Guy Grossi and milliner Richard Nylon.
With hand drawn maps by Matt, design by Studio Pip & Co and illustrations from graphic design duo Tin & Ed, it’s a uniquely Melbourne collaboration. The book is a delightful read and it’s an essential item for the ambling Melbourne cyclist.
Giveaway! Thanks to Hardie Grant, we have one copy of The Casual Cyclist’s Guide Melbourne to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment below by Friday 9 December and the winner will be drawn randomly. The competition is restricted to Australian residents. Good luck!
The winner by random draw was Beth! Congratulations, your prize will be sent to you shortly!
It’s Melbourne Cup day and our thoughts turn to champagne and picnics.
Which is why we’re completely in love with this Cutie Coolbox from Beg Bicycles in England. The cool box fits into your bicycle basket to keep your sandwiches and drinks chilled and fresh. Plus the tan leather and cross stitch details is just so stylish.
Dashing Tweeds is one of our suppliers out of the UK and we like them a lot because they do innovative work with cycling fashion and reflective fabrics.
Their latest ready to wear item is the Dashing Jacket. As you can see, it comes complete with reflective elements, a sloping cut in the back so there’s no gap between the jacket and your bottoms, ventilation where it’s most needed and elasticised wrists to keep out the wind.
Re-Collect is a range of eco-friendly and sustainable accessories made in the UK by Katcha Bilek in her Bristol workshop.
All these materials are collected locally and everything is hand-made without the use of industrial machinery. The bags and purses are made of truck inner tubes. The straps on them are old car seatbelts. The belts are made of bike tyres.
We like her range of large bags, which are highly durable and will keep your precious items safe and dry whilst you cycle.
We are big fans of the cycling products from Brooks England but we have chosen not to stock them because they are quite easy to find at most local bike shops and frankly a bit out of our price range.
That doesn’t mean that we can’t drool over their products – in particular, their latest release of bike bags named after two of our favourite leafy London suburbs – Islington and Hampstead.
We can hardly believe that this time last year we were getting ready to open CycleStyle’s (virtual) doors. That also means that we’ve been blogging 5 days a week for the last 52 weeks! What a fun-filled, cycle chic year it’s been.
As some of you may not have joined us at the blog from the start, this week and next week we’re going to be flicking back through the archives to bring you our favourite posts from 2010.
Skull Bike Bell 
Cat Bike Bell 
Tin Robot Helmet