{"id":392,"date":"2011-03-07T21:37:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T21:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ssgc.co\/2011\/03\/fixie-fashion-and-clothing\/"},"modified":"2011-03-07T21:37:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-07T21:37:00","slug":"fixie-gear-not-fixed-gear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singlespeedgoldcoast.com\/2011\/03\/07\/fixie-gear-not-fixed-gear\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixie Fashion and Clothing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you’re not of the lycra set then cycle clothing can be hard to find. Most fixie riders need nothing more than a t-shirt and their girlfriend’s jeans for riding in, but what if you actually want to be comfortable?<\/div>\n
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In my youth, when I commuted 20-40kms a day, I opted for baggy pants. It didn’t hurt that I was a massive fan of Madness<\/a> also. But the main thing was, the skinny tight jeans of my school years weren’t appropriate for the longer distances I was now traveling.<\/div>\n
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Now 20-odd years have passed (youch!) and I can’t help wondering if there isn’t something better than your grandfather’s pants to recommend to you. To wit I present you:<\/div>\n
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Fixie Gear (not Fixed Gear)<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Last year I bought a belt made from re-cycled bike tyres for a mate of mine. I thought at the time that it was extremely clever and unique. Thinking I’d give the makers a big up I got onto the Google machine and went searching for them. Turns out there are loads of people doing it and I couldn’t actually locate the one’s I bought from.<\/div>\n
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I’ve chosen Innovative Fashions<\/a> as my belt provider of choice. (And doesn’t everyone have one of those?). They’re local and dedicated to recycled fashion. Some examples of their belts below:<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Innovative Fashions City Slick Belt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Innovative Designs City Slick Belt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Prices range from $40-50.<\/p>\n

On a similar theme (okay, it’s\u00a0Zachary\u00a0bloody same) is this belt from Rodwell Travelled<\/a>\u00a0(as their page name says, but you can call them The Road Well Travelled:<\/p>\n

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There’s more where that came from on their website<\/a>. You can match you mutt with the same collar too.<\/div>\n
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Now that you’ve got your belt you need a holster attached to it. U-bolt holsters are the fixie gear of choice by our overseas brethren. Nothing says I’m tough and trendy like having a u-bolt hanging off your hips. What’s more, it’s strikingly convenient. (Not quite as convenient as actually attaching the u-bolt to your bike using the attachment the u-bolt came with, but hey, we’re fixed and we’re stylish and we’re not sullying our work of art with a little bit of security.)<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Fabric Horse Holster for U-bolt locks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
I seem to be one of the few people on the Gold Coast who actually uses a u-bolt. Maybe it’s my bitter memories of the bikes I’ve lost in the past, some of them\u00a0securely\u00a0locked (with lessor locks). To me u-bolts are essential. They’re difficult and heavy to carry but the Fabric Horse holster<\/a>\u00a0makes it possible to look stylish in a bad-arse kinda way while hauling around a couple kilo of lock. By Frabric Horse u-bolt holsters direct from their website for $10. They’re made from recycled seat belts.<\/div>\n
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Also from the same site are these somewhat naff spats. We got a good laugh out of them when I first laid eyes on them but then the more I looked at them the more I really want them. I want to be that guy you laugh at when he cycles by in his lovely spats.<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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OMG they’re spats!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Spats are probably more appropriate to Melbourne fixie riding, where the weather is shitty and the array of weird sub-cultures makes it hard to look strange wearing anything short of an urban kilt<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Inappropriate cycle attire<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Cycle related t-shirts abound. Do any googling for cycle clothing and you’re going to find a truckload of t-shirts. I’m not going to feature many here because cycling t-shirts are\u00a0really\u00a0just normal t-shirts with a cycle related motif. Apre Velo<\/a> get a mention because they’re Australian (I think…) and they seem to have their hearts in the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Apres Velo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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The other thing that proliferates are cycling caps. These little fellas were worn by any and every cyclist who was half-serious when I was a kid. This was back in the day when you could ride the Tour de France without a helmet and nearly every rider donned a cap with team colours. For try-hard wannabe clubs racers like myself you had to have a cap in your favorite team colours, just to separate yourself as a “cyclist” from those who merely cycled.<\/p>\n

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Even after the morons who legislate for us made helmets mandatory I still wore my cap. Perhaps I was unwilling to let go of the thing that said I’m a real cyclist and you’re not. But it also had a purpose. The brim could be folded out the way when not needed. Then it could be folded down when the sun shone or, more likely this being the Melbourne of my youth, the rain fell. For those who wear glasses and ride it was nice to have something to keep a little rain off. Of course, helmets have peaks now so the cap is a little superfluous, but dammit they’re stylish, so here goes:<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Cotton four panel my Walz Caps<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Ec-friendly hemp, wool, cotton by Walz Caps<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Wool honeycomb by Cognition Caps<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Blue and grey plaid by Cognition Caps<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
A special mention must go to Rocket Fuel<\/a> for their locally made and very stylish cycling caps. Buy direct from their website from $25.<\/div>\n
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My wife, who tries not to yawn (in my face) when I talk bikes, loved the Rocket Fuel caps.<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Rocket Fuel<\/a> cotton cycling cap.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Rocket Fuel<\/a> cotton cycling cap.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Rocket Fuel<\/a> wool and leather cycling cap<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Now that you’ve got a cap on your head and a belt you’re just about ready to go riding. Or you could wear some pants. Outlier make cycling specific pants for…well…cyclists…<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Outlier Keiren Cut Dungarees<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Importantly for us who live on the Gold Coast Outlier also have some summer weight pants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Outlier Summerlight Pants<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Okay, they look the same in the picture but Outlier assure us that “they actually weigh a hair less then our Summer Shorts, despite the full leg”.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Right about now you’re saying, that’s great. But where do I buy them. The answer is, we have a shop right her in Brisbane. Gear Brisbane<\/a> stock Outlier pants as well as some very nice fixie finery. Unfortunately they have one of those new-fangled websites that dont allow me to link directly to their products. You’ll have to visit the store and find your own way about. Try not to get seasick with the navigation. And oh yeah, get yourself a decent screen size. Ipads and netbooks might just work but only just.<\/span><\/span>
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Gear Brisbane used to have Chrome<\/a> shoes. They might still have them. I can’t see their entire website on my netbook.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Chrome Kursk<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Chrome make a range of cool shoes made for riding, made tougher and with stiffer soles. Check out the black suede:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Chrome Arnhem<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Hopefully Gear Brisbane<\/a> still has them. I could get up and go downstairs, boot up a PC and check it out on a full size computer but…no…I kinda like website’s to meet me on my terms.<\/p>\n

Getting a good pair of shoes for riding, whether fixed or not, has always been a problem. Those skate shoes from Vans<\/a> and Airwalk<\/a> and co are okay to a point. They have good grip but the sole isn’t stiff enough and if you ride them over any kind of distance you’ll eventually be wanting more shoe. The next stop in shoeland was SPD compatible shoes, which are great if you’re getting clipped in but no good if you’re not. (And often they look pretty ugly.) The Chrome shoes are the first I’ve seen making a shoe that is cycling specific but without the hang-ups of pedal systems and so forth.<\/p>\n

And what’s more they come in lots of cool styles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Chrome Midway<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The should work great when strapped in.<\/p>\n

If you’re feeling that\u00a0<\/span><\/span>pr\u00eat-\u00e0-porter<\/a>\u00a0is a little too common for you then you might want to go for some\u00a0bespoke<\/a>\u00a0cycle clothing from B. Spoke<\/a>. You might look as funky as this guy:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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B. Spoke<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Go to B.Spoke<\/a> to find out how to be the absolute hippest guy on a fixie on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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B. Spoke<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

This is either the tailor or some kinda circus act:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Grace from B. Spoke going all Edward Scissor Hands on us.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
For something that looks like you might actually cycle in it try Road Holland<\/a>. They have cycle jerseys that look the goods. The Arnhem below is 39% merino and the rest is synthetic.<\/p>\n
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You can buy direct from the Road Holland website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Road Holland Arnhem vest.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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They have women’s jerseys too:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Same Road Holland vest, this one with places for boobs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Another US company making gear for cyclists who don’t want to look like they’ve just dropped out of the peloton is Swrve<\/a>. Knickers are a good in-between shorts\/trousers combo. Swrce knickers are 100% synthetic but they have a good looking cut:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Knickers by B. Spoke<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Swrve say this about their knickers:<\/p>\n

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