“It’s yellow, it’s ugly, it doesn’t match anything, but it can save lives.”
That’s according to Karl Lagerfeld in road safety adverts after yellow safety vests were made obligatory for cyclists in France riding after dark in urban areas.
Well, we’re not entirely convinced that yellow tabards are life savers, but we do wholeheartedly believe that cyclists need to make themselves seen at night through a combination of stellar bike lights and reflective detailing. Riding on dark roads at night, in dark clothes, without lights, is a recipe for disaster. All road users need to make themselves visible to others at night.
When the safety vest became mandatory for cyclists at night in France, Parisian cyclists and entrepreneurs Quentin and Henri decided they had to reinvent hi-vis to keep people cycling in the face of this legislation.
The pair united under the name of Urban Circus. From an engineering and fashion design background, they are able to combine fashion and technology to offer a ‘fashiontech’ alternative to traditional hi-vis incorporating slick design, stylish fit and respected safety standards (EN 20471). The safety vest is no longer ugly and boring: Urban Circus have transformed it into covetable apparel. Desirable streetwear, with a vital purpose.
The Urban Circus moodboard is an anthem to the street and to street art, with exciting artistic collaborations from artists such as Rafael Sliks, Moyoshi, Kosla.
Following a successful crowdfunding campaign on Ulule in 2015, Urban Circus wants to spread the word globally through a new campaign on Kickstarter which will launch on Friday 11th November. After a year of R&D and user feedback, Urban Circus is gearing up to reach the international cycling market. We’ll be bringing you further details of the crowdfunding campaign when it launches.
Hmm, my cycling highlight in 2016 must be the day I invited some of my old cycling friends to a Figata Ciclismo photoshoot. I needed some models for our apparel riding our bikes. It was just like when we were 10 years old again, even though we haven’t been speaking to each other for years. It was great!
If either of us at Vamper.cc are going to support a brand, it has to be a brand that we believe in. It has to be a brand with integrity, that cares deeply about quality, and that makes really good looking products. The nicest thing about writing an independent blog – for love rather than money – is that there is no trade off between integrity and the need to earn a living.
LUMO’s latest range of city cycling apparel offers urban cyclists the perfect mix of style, visibility and comfort – on and off the bike.
The difficulty with buying cycling shoes is that there are not many bricks-and-mortar retailers with a good range of interesting shoes. Too many retailers are tied to too few brands and stick to the safe shades of black and white (with the odd dash of fluoro yellow). So, how on earth do you know what size to order? Because we all know that manufacturers of cycling shoes are a law unto themselves who pay no heed to sizing conventions. One could reasonably expect a European cycling shoe brand would adhere to standard European shoe sizing. Alas, no. And while I would have happily consulted a review, sadly, reviews of the Bont Blitz cycling shoes are few and far between.
My feet are size 40. UK 6.5. But most places don’t do half sizes, so a 40 is my thing. A size 40 in cycling shoes will not fit, however.
