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BIKE TO WORK BOOK
GORE BIKE WEAR Lightweight, breathable commute jackets from W.L. Gore, maker of Gore-Tex. Gore Bike Wear also has a full range of roadie and MTB clothing, including women’s shorts with a ‘comfort flap’. www.gorebikewear.com HOWIES Born in London, now living in the tranquility of Cardigan Bay, Wales, Howies is famed for its Merino wool base layers and tops. It has also popularised the use of Ventile, the tightly-woven cotton fabric that’s clams up when wet so is waterproof but breathable. www.howies.co.uk IBEX Outdoor clothing, mostly made from wool. Bike-specific wear includes arm-warmers, jerseys and the Commuter Knicker. www.ibexwear.com KNOG What’s not to love about a company that has products such as Strangler Gloves? “Your hands a made for lovin’, not fussin’. Keep them happy through the ‘riding all night, just to be with you’ times.” Also makes t-shirts and, of course, the ‘Hipster Cyst’ LED lights, made famous by BikeSnobNYC. www.knog.com.au
Outlier pants
MINX GIRL “Like to ride into town, but hate making cafe stops in Lycra? Don’t see why your bum has to look big just because you’re dressed to ride a bike? Then you’re probably a Minx.” Online apparel shop based in UK with brands like Zoic, Terry, Sugoi and Pearl Izumi. “Of course you can wear anything to commute, but Minx particularly likes things that move from bike to street and back again without missing a beat.” www.minx-girl.com NAU Nau (pronounced “now”) is an outdoor clothing company based in bike-mad Portland, Oregon. “We make sustainable urban+outdoor apparel - integrated designs for the modern mobile life.” Nau’s cargo pants are “a great choice for the bike or trail, while the clean-faced cotton twill dresses up well for the after-party.” www.nau.com OSLOH BICYCLE JEANS This New York firm was created to “provide the everyday cyclist, the commuter cyclist, the utility and transportation cyclist with a clothing alternative that works just as well on the road as off.” As well as jeans and chinos, Osloh makes shirts and shorts. www.osloh.com OUTLIER Tight jeans, with a u-lock sticking out of the back pocket, is one iconic item from what could be called ‘messenger style’ and it influences the bike commuter clothes produced by Tyler Clements and Abe Burmeister, who founded Outlier Tailored of New York. www.outlier.cc QUOC PHAM Quoc Pham is a graduate in fashion from London’s Central St. Martins. His leather ‘Fixed’ shoes are “made for the urban enthusiast and weekend tourist, hopping on and off, in and out of places. They feel like bicycle shoes but don’t necessarily look like them: no chunky soles, no Velcro straps, no inability to walk in them, no extra bright colour combinations. They are perfect to wear at din-