Cycling streetwear comes of age

By Ethan Benton

Casual cycling clothing has pretty much always sucked. You end up with a company logo, a sponsored ride or some hippie junk from Arizona. What crap! I, for one, want to show the bikey love without looking like a herb Math teacher on a recumbent. Don’t get me wrong, technical wear is great, tuned, purposeful, totally focused on the riding experience. Padded shorts are sweet and have the added bonus of giving you the same feeling as having a HUGE ASS MAXI PAD in your tights. No wonder we shave our legs! Ah, to show the ‘bike’ love in casual clothing instead of your ‘03 Maipei jersey.

Thankfully, in the past two years, new shops like NYC VELO, TrackStar and King Kog have started promoting style where style was never seen. New NYC companies like Laek House, Gage & DeSoto, Peripheral Media Projects, and 49/16 are pushing out tight articles of bike clothing for the cognoscenti.

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Laek House!
Laek House Track Sweat: A full zipper hooded sweatshirt featuring the Laek House name on the front and some sweet bike graphics on the back. Available in Black and Brown. Available at NYC VELO or on the Laek House website aptly named www.laekhouse.com

Laek House’s signature Boy Vs. Door shirt. It’s a testament to one of the many evils of road riding that never fails to leave a mark. The shirt is available at NYC VELO in the color shown and at www.laekhouse.com in whatever you’d like.
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Gage & DeSoto’s ‘Merckx’ tribute shirt. A bit of the Belgian on the front. Available at NYC VELO and at the Gage & DeSoto site, http://gagedesoto.com. Laek House is NYC based. Their wares are available either on the internet or exclusively at NYC VELO in the East Village. Gage & DeSoto is an East Village design house with an eye towards cycling’s European heritage.

PMP!
Peripheral Media Product’s “Stop Driving” long-sleeve shirt. The front features autos being trounced by a monkey holding a “stop driving” banner on a vintage tri-cycle. The back showcases a quotation from Jane Holtz Kay’s “Asphalt Nation” about the destructive nature of @##=#<7,C>@##=#automobile production and three vintage bikes. Peripheral Media Projects, formed in 2004, is committed to promoting awareness and social transformation through the creation of art and clothing. Their line of apparel, Plan D Clothing, is printed on high quality, sweatshop-free American Apparel clothes. They donate 10% of their profits to humanitarian, environmental, independent media and anti-globalization causes. Their clothing can be found at www.peripheralmediaprojects.com in Bushwick at the Anti-Mart shop, www.antimart.net or sometimes at NYC VELO in Manhattan.

49:16!
The crest t-shirt features the 49:16 family crest on the front and the battle axe on the rear of the right sleeve. It is available as a track
jacket in black, brown, navy, or red. 49:16’s anchor and wheel logo on a girl’s hooded sweatshirt. A stripped kangaroo pocket in front, anchor and wheel logo on the hood and the 49:16 script on left cuff. Also available in black. 49:16 cycling jersey/hooded sweatshirt. With creative and innovative features like three back pockets, and a cycling cap inspired ribbon sewn into the hood. Italian, German, French, and Jamaican color ribbons are available.
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King Kog is located at 38 Marcy Street in Williamsburg. Available online at www.kingkog.com and http://www.4916.com/.
You can contact them for printing at http://www.teamscreennyc.com/.

Thanks to Pam and SaraRaw!