From bike to boardroom

Biking might be a more popular commute choice if it didn’t ruthlessly conflict with professional wardrobe standards.

Starting a work day drenched in sweat isn’t particularly appealing for anyone in the office.

Conducting business in Lycra bike tights might raise a few eyebrows.

And baldness is the only known remedy for helmet hair.

“I just don’t always want to wear it,” one cyclist said about his helmet habits.  “But don’t print that. I don’t want my mom to find out.”

It seems our safety, aesthetic and lifestyle standards are at odds.   But changes in company policy and fashion are allowing for more people to participate in active transport.

American Specialty Health, a local health improvement company, encourages employees to bike to work by providing showers, bike racks, lockers and keeping a casual dress code.  While working there, Cynde Durnford-Branecki, a graphic designer, started incorporating cycling into her commute and lost 25 pounds in less than four weeks.

“I think a lot of people bike to work because our company is so into wellness,” Durnford-Branecki said.

Chad Waldorf, a talent buyer at Belly Up who commutes by bike, is lucky enough to be allowed to wear flip-flops and shorts (his bike wear of choice) to work.   Still, there’s the question of the helmet, an obligation he finds annoying.

“I don’t like wearing it, but it’s stupid not to wear it,” Waldorf said. “I’m beyond the way it looks, but it’d be cool if someone could come up with a helmet that doesn’t look so space age.”

It turns out someone has. Yakkay, a Denmark helmet company, is one of the growing number of design efforts attempting to stitch together both fashion and active lifestyle needs.  Their helmets mimic trendy hat styles.  While they don’t solve helmet hair, they might encourage head-safety for the fashion-conscious cyclists who aren’t eager to don neon, aerodynamic headgear.

Shelly Schroeder, a cyclist who works at a high-tech start up in Santa Cruz, has taken on a similar mission.  Recently, a friend of hers was involved in a biking accident.  The helmet saved her friend’s life, instantly converting Schroeder into a helmet advocate.   But not being keen on compromising fashion, Schroeder realized she had a challenge on her hands.

“At this point in my life I was a bit of a vintage loving clothes horse,” Schroeder said, who blogs about biking and biking fashion at www.RidingPretty.blogspot.com.  ”I knew I had to wear a helmet. I knew I hated the way helmets looked. I knew I wanted to do something to make my helmet look better.”

So she came up with helmet covers, colorful, homemade cloth slips that she sells online.  The fabric is made out of plastic bottles.

So then how does one deal with sweat?

“If you’re not pedaling like a mad woman you have a far greater likelihood of arriving at your destination fresh and sweat free in your stylish outfit,” Schroeder said. “I’d rather leave extra early just to enjoy my ride at a  nice, comfortable pace … more time to enjoy the moment and what I was seeing instead of being super focused on pedaling as fast as I could.”

And shoes?

“Heels (contrary to what some might think) are actually easier to bike in than walk around in,” she said.  ”You can fit your heel in such a way on the bicycle pedal as to get a really good, firm grip, often times a far superior grip to that of a slick bottomed, flat shoe.”

Companies like Cordarounds, swrv and Outlier are designing clothing that functions aesthetically and physically both on and off the bike.  The San Francisco-based Cordarounds came up with the “Bike to Work” pants that feature reflective pockets and pant cuffs that are easily hidden during working hours.  In New York, the recently-launched Outlier makes clothing “you can wear from your bike to the boardroom.”

Their crisp, smooth-looking pants are made with Merino wool, a longtime champion in the performance industry that’s washable, breathable and stain-resistant.   And because of its natural anti-microbial quality, it doesn’t absorb odors the way a cotton T-shirt would.

In Los Angeles, swrv has an entire line of men and women’s pants, tops and caps all cleverly designed for the bike without visually giving away their athletic intentions.  Seamless crotches and articulated knees allow for ease of movement, high waists in back keep cyclists “respectable” and stretch cuffs on the jackets protect knuckles from the wind.

Muriel Bartol, president of swrv, looks to maintain a simple, clean aesthetic while solving the practical challenge of cycling clothing.  Cycling clothing needs to allow for movement without using excess fabric that might get caught in a chain or cause wind resistance.

“It makes sense why Lycra is so ubiquitous in cycling apparel, because it solves both problems, but not very elegantly,” Bartol said.  ”It’s kind of like a PC, the practical challenges are resolved, yet no consideration has been given to the aesthetics.”

Still, some cycling enthusiasts are unsympathetic to any special consideration for cycling clothes.  Copehangen Cycle Chic, a blog that documents the cycle-savvy city’s velocouture in photos and observations, has special advice for those seeking special cycling clothes.

“Buy your clothes at Walmart for all we care,” one post states, though they do recommend a chain and skirt guard on another post to protect clothing.  “We’re just saying that you already own cycling clothing. Just open your closet.  It’s not difficult.”

Tags: bikes, cycling, SDNN

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 3:29 pm and is filed under Health, Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.