The Cycling Gentleman Signing Off

UPDATE: Okay, I’ll keep The Cycling Gentleman up for a little while longer as a resource, but no more new posts and the comments on all posts are closed.

Two things have prompted me to shut down this blog after five months on the Interwebs:

1) I’m way to busy to maintain it, and,

2) I realized that I don’t really care what people wear when they ride.

So, update your links and feed readers, download any images you like from the gallery, and on *January 14,* this little corner of webspace will revert to its natural wild, uncultivated state. Thanks to everyone who linked here, left comments, submitted images and recommendations, and enjoyed the many Cycling Gentlemen featured here. I’m still running my main blog, the Old Bike Blog, and many readers here will probably find something of interest over there.

But anyway, keep riding, and best wishes for the New Year.

 

Happy Holidays!

The Cycling Gentleman will be on hiatus until the new year. Whatever holiday you celebrate, and wherever it takes you, safe travels and best wishes!

Spotted in Feuille’s Flickr photostream.

 

Update to the Gallery

Regular readers are aware that I have been extremely bad about updating the image gallery. To facilitate the process of updating, I have moved the gallery to a Picasa album. You can still click on the “Gallery” tab at the top of the page, and there you’ll find a link to the updated gallery.

FYI, if you type “gallery” enough times, it starts to look wrong.

 

Chic, Schtick, or Just People Riding Bikes?

Update: Charlotte of Chic Cyclist has now also weighed-in, and some others as well. It’s a good discussion, go check it out.

I wanted to fill you good folks in on a little exchange that just took place on Zach Vanderkooy’s blog, Elasticity: Adventures in Urbanism. Zach posts a reflection on “a new movement afoot in the world of urban bike culture…bicycle chic, which treats the bicycle as a fashion accessory.” While Zach concludes that he ultimately applauds the movement, his characterization of “image conscious” cyclists and the very broad strokes with which he paints this “movement” just slightly raised the gentlemanly hackles of Yours Truly, as well as Marc of Amsterdamize. I think our responses provide a nice summary of what the “chic cyclist movement” (or whatever you would like to call it) is really all about. I’ve posted my comment below in its entirety, but go to Zach’s post to read Marc’s more extensive and more eloquent reply.

I’m glad to see this movement getting some coverage, but I think you might be mischaracterizing it a bit by emphasizing the fashion aspect of it. I think the real motivation comes from a conviction to normalize the idea of bicycles as transportation. Rather than make a fashion show out of cycling, with bikes as little more than accessories, the real heart of this movement is making bicycling more accessible and ultimately more democratic. Everyone can participate in “bicycle culture” because anyone can climb on a bike and ride it anytime, no special clothing or equipment required. That the bikes are frequently old or old-fashioned looking is simply due to the comfort of the old-style designs, the product of an era when bicycles were taken more seriously as transportation and made with comfort in mind. And, as a closing thought, I think that novice glitzy-glam cycle chics are just as dangerous as novice fixed-gear hipsters, and I doubt if you’ll see any of the cycle chic sites or blogs advocating a lack of safety or education. My two cents, thanks for the opportunity.

Ultimately, despite our quibbles with some of Zach’s points, I am left applauding his conclusion that, “any cultural shift that recognizes bicycles as a respectable and dignified piece of the urban landscape is most welcome by me.” Hear, hear.

 

Welcome to The Cycling Gentleman

Or, a long-winded explanation of who we are and what we do.

It seems like every week now we see a story in the news about how high fuel prices are motivating folks to take to their bicycles instead of their cars for their daily commute, errands, and recreation. Many of these new cyclists are buying “comfort bikes” that seat them upright, have fenders and chainguards, and usually no more than three to eight speeds.  Sometimes these are “hybrid” style cycles, so-called “city” bikes, or the increasingly popular Dutch cycles. All of these bikes have one thing in common: they are designed for utility and transportation purposes over speed.

It doesn’t make much sense for the transportation cyclist or casual recreationist to get all gussied up in racing spandex, bug-eye sunglasses, and clip-on shoes, but for many years, Americans have believed that this constituted “proper” cycling attire. Bicycle culture in the United States has long been held captive by a cadre of enthusiasts who believe that a person is not a serious or “hard-core” cyclist if they don’t ride an expensive race bike or top-of-the-line mountain bike. This has been the result of successful marketing on the part of the bicycle industry, going back to the 10-speed boom of the 1970s.

Today, as bicycle culture becomes more diversified and accessible to folks who eschew the $2,000 racing models, we are left wondering what actually constitutes “correct” cycling attire? The answer is simple: whatever you feel comfortable in. Naturally, however, we would all prefer it if folks would forego the stretched-out sweatpants with the hole you-know-where in favor of more stylish alternatives. To that end, The Cycling Gentleman proposes to present a panoply of such alternatives and examples for your viewing pleasure.  The goal is to inspire, inform, and to help create a new sense of modern everyday cycling style. We will also be presenting material from the first Golden Age of cycling, the 1890s-1920s, when style actually meant something, and few climbed aboard their machines without looking dapper. We will surely evolve as the endeavor advances, but these, at least, are the initial goals.  Enjoy!

Image: The Worcester and & St. John’s Cycling Club near Bransford Bridge, Worcestershire, England, ca. 1890, from the Worcestershire County Council Record Office.