Not only can you hop on a beautiful bicycle, you can look fantastic too!

Looking Great On a Bike

Girls, wear whatever clothes you want. Heels, skirts, slacks, a lovely jacket, cape or scarf. Even helmet design is becoming a little more classy. For the guys it’s the same, wear whatever you like as long as you are comfortable and have the freedom of movement required for cycling.

A Word About Helmets They are a legal requirement in Australia. The pictures are from Europe, where helmets are optional. Personally I would not consider riding without a helmet, but I can see a case for cyclists that ride only off road on cycle paths at a sedate pace, not to use them. Unfortunately it would be very difficult to police, as there are always times when you need to be on a road.  My attitude is “Your head is precious, look after it”.
Check out the nutcase helmets, they are great fun. Also a standard helmet can always be disguised with a scarf.

Patrick Mcnee & Diana Rigg Avenging Style

There are many websites that display and sell clothes and accessories that are designed to make you look and feel fantastic on a bike. These are but a few:

• CycleStyle Beautiful clothing and accessories suitable for the urban cyclist.
• Sydney Cycle Chic
• Delightful Cycles A Sydney based blog about Cool bikes and cool people.
• SheSpoke More for the sporting cyclist Good looking lycra.
• Sarah Wilson article “How Do You Dress For Riding A Bike”
• Sarah Wilson article What to Wear on a Bike (part 2)
• The best one of all! Rides A Bike A blog showing movie stars riding their bikes.
  Now That’s STYLE!

 The Bicycles

Cycling with Style - No Lycra & NO advertising!

For me, this is the exciting part. Bicycles from backyard sheds and garages all around the country are being restored to their former glory. Old step-throughs that haven’t seen the light of day for many years are being lovingly cleaned up and proudly ridden. The addition of a wicker basket and/or a rear rack makes them useful as well as imbuing them with a little old-world charm and style.
In fact these old bicycles have become so sought-after that they are fetching quite high prices on eBay, especially if they have been restored.
Several companies are importing or building brand new ladies and gents bikes with a style that harks back to the mid 1900s, as in the photo above. The cyclists are riding Creme Bicycles

I have My Lovely Old Speedwell, which has been in pieces for a couple of years. I only need to source some mud-guards and I’ll be ready to put it together. Then Tweed Rides and bike paths, here I come!

Where to buy a beautiful bike?

There are many stores in australia that supply urban bicycles both new and pre-loved. Some are listed below:

• Dutch style bikes Gazelle Bikes Australia
• Vintage Bicycle Rebuilds
•  Wheels & Dames Melbourne Vintage Bikes
• Sydney Vintage Bikes
• MC Cyclery Suppliers for Sydney Tweed Ride
• The Classic Bicycle Shop
• Reid Bicycles
• Papillionaire
• Stallion Bikes

 The Infrastructure

Sydney Bourke ST Cycle-way

For this new bicycle culture to be successful  in Australia, decent cycling infrastructure needs to exist. This is particularly the case in the city, where traffic is heavy and the peak hour car-park makes it a very viable option for those living in inner city suburbs, to commute by bike.  Often cyclists can use shared pathways that exist in parks as well as quiet back streets to keep them away from major roads, however there are some spots where the cyclists and traffic must share the road. It is these areas that need dedicated cycle-ways that keep cyclists safe and allow optimum traffic flow.

Once there is sufficient cycle infrastructure in the city and suburbs bike usage will increase many-fold. We only have to look at Copenhagen and London to see what is possible.

In Australia, our affluent western culture, large distances and poor public transport has allowed us to become so car-centric that many people give no thought at  all to public or active transport. Improved public transport, shared pathways and cycle ways, although costly to implement, will in the long-term, prove beneficial to our environment and public health.

Lobby your local council for improved cycling facilities, hop on a bike, encourage your friends to ride too. Enjoy the great outdoors,  and prove that better bicycle infrastructure is required.

It looks similar to a 1930′s Ladies Healing in the “Bicycle Frame Timeline” on the Australian Bicycle History Centre Website

The frame is in excellent condition with the number 43247 imprinted near a dropout. I can find no other number on it.

The chrome has only minor rust. (A little bit of pitting), I’ve cleaned it up quite well using aluminium foil, although it is still a little rough in places.

It has back-pedal Sachs Komet Super brakes that are very heavy and slow to use, and I am told that is quite normal for the brake type.

I don’t know if the wheels are contemporary with the frame.

If anyone can tell me more about it, I would be grateful.

I’d like to get mudguards and a chain guard for it. I can make a skirt guard.

My Ladies Speedwell

Frame

Speedwell Logo

Headring

Seatpost

Dropouts

Sachs Komet Super

Back Cog

Brake Drum