13 April, 2006

Bike Candy?

We each have ideas about customizing our bikes. My wife, is an avid and very skilled knitter. She makes fisherman's sweaters, felted handbags and such. She found this doily seat cover pattern in a knitting magazine and made it last night. This morning it was on her Gitane mixte city bike.

I think this is a joke. Or is this a new Velo Orange product? Feedback is always welcome.

On another note, the Velo Orange flashlight holders will be made next week by an old and respected manufacturer of sailing and yachting hardware. They will be available for C-cell, and AA-cell sizes. The material is 304 electro-polished stainless steel with a soft leather lining. $12.

9 comments:

Drogon Saurischian said...

Chris, over on the boblist you mentioned the outrageous price that Brooks is charging for their leather mudflaps. I also notice that you seem adept at making bicycle-related parts. Combine those two facts, and your answer is clear: make your own leather mudflaps! I've got a nice pattern that I designed, and there's a leather shop in Maine that sells THICK, oiled leather scraps for cheap, cheap, cheap. You could probably make some great flaps for yourself and sell a few if you had the desire. Email me and I can send you my pattern.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Oh my! Your poor wife must not have much of a life to actually devote time to this monstrosity. Surely she was egged on by you to produce it....

Velo Orange said...

You're not anonymous ;<)

Anonymous said...

That's pretty bad. Is it designed to keep the seat warm, or your arse warm, or your tea pot warm when you get to a cafe?

Anonymous said...

Well I think knitted seat covers are cute. Who woudda thunk it? They look good on a mixte or women's frame bike. I wish I had one in blue for my wife's Raleigh Sport but that got stolen.:(
One question, though. Are they all wool or just nylon/polyester?

Anonymous said...

The seat cover as shown is 100% acrylic. The "doilettes" are 100% cotton. Therefore you could never wash it without destroying it.

However awful I truly think it is, I keep toying in my head with a felted version, which would be 100% wool and sans doilettes (thereby being perfect for the tea pot warmer mentioned above by Anonymous #2, who really said it best..) I should just do it and get it out of my system once and for all.

Chris's Wife

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous work. I'm an avid crocheter myself and this is lovely stuff. Only practical for show bikes and in the dry season, which in Portland is less than half the year.
Beth

Anonymous said...

Chris - I have one of your mudflaps on order off ebay, and I'm looking forward to getting it. I'm wondering if you've considered making a leather strap to attach a frame pump to the top tube. It looks like all the available options are nylon/velcro and I would definitely buy something in a more organic material (unless there's velcro trees) to attach my slightly shifty Silca pump to my Kogswell.

Best,
Clay

orodwen said...

i'm diggin' those seat covers. i keep wanting to snag some fun looking oilcloth & stitch a "slipcover" for my pure white seat. seeing something knitted is a great idea, imo. 8^)