Way back when Marc Bolan rode his white swan, and the Goodies pedalled their ‘trandem’, a different band of bearded men, wearing knitted and dark-coloured woolly jerseys, plus fours, and leather shoes, would also ride their own hand-crafted steel bikes with bar and saddle bags around the countryside.
As they sat by the wayside, there was no checking the Strava KOM or posting a selfie on Instagram, and they were likely dreaming of a slice of black pudding and lard spread on a doorstep of white bread, all washed down with a tankard of lukewarm ale on their return home on a Sunday night. Ee bah gum, those were the days.
So, to celebrate the cyclical nature of cycling fashion, we decided to delve into those long-forgotten trends making a comeback in recent years – starting with none other than the new but very old craze of cycle touring. Sorry, I mean ‘bikepacking’…To many of us , the jaded extra-short shorts image of the stereotypical CTC tourer of the 1970s was something to be feared, and sadly, the cycle tourists of the past were somewhat viewed in a less than dazzling light by many.
Job done, oh, and let’s make the gear ultra-expensive to match the new rebrand, and why not strap on an old tin mug and a sew-on badge for effect. Perfect.Those once great oddball beardies of old, known as the Rough-Stuff Fellowship, would be turning in their graves and chuckling if they could see what became of their exceptional but exceptionally under-rated off-road on curly bars riding antics of the 1950s and onwards.
Consequently, the last few generations of young cyclists have largely grown up without ever tasting the delights of good old steel frames. However, things have now very much come full circle, and steel most definitely is real again, and real expensive too.As new cyclists, and older cyclists alike, rediscover this amazing old material, steel frames have come to be considered as artisan. Heck, you can even get exorbitantly priced custom paint jobs too .
Soon enough the merino wool jersey became a thing of desire, and an extortionately priced one at that. That said, merino is much better at doing its job when compared to the wool of the distant past, and in the last couple of years it has become far more widely available and affordable, and it really is plush, posh, and purposeful.You can leave your hat on, and these days many do – by constantly wearing their cycling caps, with the peaks turned up, in public, including off the bike.