Just when I think I'm going to dry up on the subject of cycling style something comes out of the blue. Today a colleague and fellow cyclist (though we haven't talked about bikes much) told me of some "winged bike clips" he'd seen in a magazine. As every fashionista knows - the secret to looking hip is to accessorise.
Like a geography teacher's leather elbow patches, bicycle clips fall into the "practical but dull" category, along with rain capes and most cycle maintenance equipment. As a general rule there is a lack of embellishment to most people's personal property these days - what's happened to customised car windscreen visors with "Kev" and "Shaz" on them, sew on patches for your jeans and the like? The next evolution for cycling will allow people to express themselves more through their bikes and their cycling attire.
So back to the clips - they have a Mercury Messenger of the Gods (or Hermes if your prefer your Gods Greek) reflective wing on the outside and probably do a good job of preventing your right trouserleg from getting an inprint of your chainring too. They're designed by Dutchman (who else) Gijs Bakker - who was a teacher at Eindhoven Academy, though not a geography teacher. The styling reminded me of Alessi's early to mid-90's stuff, especially the collaborations with Phillipe Stark. Our daughter used to love the toothpaste end that opened to wave hello - in fact it never made it onto a toothpaste tube and is probably now at the bottom of a toybox.
If Asterix wore bike clips, this is what he'd wear.
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