Just as there are 10 or more popular Danish bicycle brands that people outside of Denmark have never heard of, there are bicycle brands out there that exist below the bicycle fashion radar.
Perfectly splendid bicycles that are only available in their home countries and a few neighbouring lands. Bicycles that should be seen on bike lanes all over the world.
Over at Copenhagenize.com we've had a category called Bikes We Like for over a year now, wherein we blog about such hidden pearls of fashionable and cool bikes.
The Cicli Adriatica bicycles, above, were recently discovered in a foreign fashion magazine by Wifealiciousness, so I dutifully sought them out. Merely because they're beautiful, normal bikes for everyday use in all urban landscapes. Mostly because they're beautiful. I scoured the website but couldn't find any idea of what they cost, only a list of shops in Italy that sell them. So I'm content to just regard them for now. Let me know if you find a price.
Some other Secret Bicycles of the World that deserve a wider audience:
Japan
- Frackers
- Arrow
Italy
- Umberto Dei
Sweden
- Skeppshult
3 comments:
The bottom left one with the skirt guard is LOVELY.
I clicked on your link for the Umberto Dei bike and that took me to your 15 January 2008 Copenhagenize posting. The photo I saw there gave me one of those "Hey!" moments. The model's whole pose on the bike HAS to be inspired by a wonderful old Italian bike poster titled "Notte Città bicicletta", the essence of chic. I had a devil of a time locating an illustration on the web but here is a link:
http://nonsololingua.blogspot.com/2007/11/la-bici-in-conferenza.html
Add another for the Italian Column: Taurus. I had the flabbergasted surprise of seeing a pair in a recent car-free event. Surprisingly enough Bianchi has a secret cycle chic model in the form of their Viaggio. I found examples of these and others here: http://www.lordgunbicycles.com/shop/bici-citt%C3%83%C2%A0-c-46_48.html
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