I find myself in a quandary. I've had this dilemma for a few years now. It's a thorny one, with which I've found myself wrestling on the bike, on foot, in cafes and bars, or anywhere else bike traffic is visible. This dilemma bears on a sensitive idea; one we frequently debate at the shop but have barely touched in the blog: style.

I will not be pretending an ability to render any sort of objective judgment on bicycle or sartorial elegance in this post, nor will I project my own values onto the simpler question I'll address here. You won't hear me tell you to wear “fashionable-three-quarter-length-pants” and certainly nothing so tired as to stop wearing neon helmet covers (even if I try to avoid them). I won't be debating the stylistic merits – or demerits, depending on your point of view – of colored tires, matching fenders, or ground effect lighting, or telling you to wear jeans on your training ride. Use equipment that works well for what you're doing, and wear what you want to wear.

The basic intersection of style and bicycles has little to do with whether you prefer denim or tweed or linen, and even less to do with what you choose to ride. The crux lies in how your riding influences your style. However you choose to express yourself through your appearance – be it clothing, accessories, hair, or makeup – that expression must necessarily extend to the hours you spend on your bicycle, and if you're reading this blog those hours are likely not few. How do you let your chosen appearance change when you ride? If you commute, do you change your clothes to do so, or do you wear your normal clothing? By extension, do you feel that you look like yourself while you ride, or do you feel like a bike person? How do you feel about that? The answers to these questions can come in many forms, and will be dictated by everything from meteorology and physiology to geography and demography. In fact, what you actually wear matters much less than how you feel about it. Comfort and aesthetics are different for everyone, but the more it rains the more important it becomes to like your raingear.

Back out on the street it's easy to see who's comfortable and who's not. Not the cyclist passing by who wore the clothes most appropriate for the weather, but the one that knows they look good. Whatever “good” may actually mean for that particular rider, it's pretty obvious when someone hasn't compromised their style to ride their bike, or at least feels at home in what they've chosen to wear. Conversely, it's quite painful to see someone living on their bike who obviously doesn't enjoy what they've ended up wearing. There seems to be an industry-wide assumption that when we swing a leg over a top tube we don't get to look like anybody except “bike guy.” Whether you're dressing like a Boeing supercommuter, a couture model, or a (hardcourt bike polo) Guardian, I'm a fan of choices. Anyone that has been able to see past an industry that tells them to wear a uniform is being a vitally important kind of cycling advocate- they're showing everyone one less sacrifice that must be made to ride a bike. When you roll out happy about how you look, you show each person standing on the sidewalk next to their car that they can do the same.

At last this brings me back to my quandary. I feel quite strongly about this subject, to the point that I would love to dispense heartfelt praise and excited high-fives to more than a few strangers on the street. Despite my utter sincerity, our culture isn't very comfortable – especially in Seattle – with that sort of behavior, and honestly there have been awkward moments. I'd love to be able to tell someone that I think they're doing a great job making cycling look stylistically accessible, but I haven't found a way to express it quickly and clearly enough to avoid uncomfortable misunderstandings. Since I really don't want to be “that guy,” can we come up with a nice shorthand for “Hey-I-think-you're-doing-a-great-job-making-cycling-look-good-and-no-I'm-not-being-sarcastic-or-hitting-on-you”? Or maybe a hand signal?  A little help here would be greatly appreciated.

We've carried bikes from Linus for more than six months now, and in that time we've sent a surprising number of the little guys and gals out into the world in both Chicago and Seattle. It's been a pleasure to see them locked to bike racks downtown in the Loop , rolling down the Burke Gilman, and hanging from the chain link outside bars on Capitol Hill in Seattle. I've seen them used for commuters, bar bikes, kid haulers, and “couples' cycling incentives.” Just as Linus riders seem to have discovered the versatility of the design, we've had a great time expanding the capabilities of the bikes themselves. Here are a pair of the projects Alex and I have set up with some of the bikes. We've had a huge amount of fun thinking up ways to keep the Linus style undiluted while adding function and some new ways to ride!  If you cold winter riders are  looking to set up your Linus, Chicago Schwinn or  Raleigh with a similar light set-up ask us about the Schwalbe studded tires for winter riding.  

Classic headlight, classic tire generator, classic Roadster 3, and a nice warm yellow halogen beam.

Live on the top of a monster hill? The SRAM i-Motion 9 hub nearly triples the gear range of this Dutchi.

Dream it up and your Linus can probably do it.

Dutch Bike Co. is sponsoring an Alleycat! The race is this Saturday, October 2^nd, organized by the UW student food cooperative.  Registration begins at 1:00 at Recycled Cycles, with racing to start at 2:00.  There is a $10 registration fee, and all proceeds from the race will benefit the UW Student Food Cooperative, a student run organization dedicated to bringing organic, affordable and healthy food to the UW campus, currently working to set up a food cart in red square.

 If you’re not familiar with Alleycat racing, it’s an informal style of bike race, originating within the bicycle messenger community in the late 1980’s.  Designed to test a racer’s geographic knowledge and traffic handling skills as much as their speed, the race is organized around a series of checkpoints rather than a set course, leaving it up to the rider to determine the fastest route.  The checkpoints are traditionally unknown until the start of the race, when the riders are given a “manifest” with the checkpoint addresses and any other pertinent information.  First person to make it through all the checkpoints and to the finishing destination wins!

 This particular Alleycat is set up “point to point” style, where at each checkpoint the subsequent checkpoint is revealed until the finish.  All in all, the course should be around 15 miles, depending on how polished your navigational skills are.  Prizes include $175 worth of gift certificates to bike shops around town, sweet swag from Chrome, and an afternoon on our very own Conference Bike.

So come out! All cyclists are more than welcome. Support a good cause and have a great time!