Saddle up with style

YORK prides itself on being a cycle-friendly city. After the success of Le Grand Départ, cycling has become more popular than ever.

It's a great way to get around, beating the traffic and keeping you fit at the same time.

There's just one snag – cycling attire is not exactly fashion friendly.

Luminescent yellow jackets, day-glow slap straps and helmets that look like you are wearing a giant cockroach on your head are enough to put any fashionista off pedal power. But the good news is that there is a growing market in stylish cycle wear, particularly designed for urban women to wear as they cycle about town.

To prove this point, we made tracks for Bicis Y Mas, a new bike shop on Walmgate, bang in York's city centre.

Bicis Y Mas (Spanish for 'bikes and more') lives up to its name – selling a range of beautifully made European-style city bikes as well as cycle wear with more than a nod to style and also a homely, vegetarian café too boot.

Many of the bikes come from the Continent, where cycling in town is widely established. Anyone visiting Amsterdam, Berlin or Copenhagen can't fail but notice the beautiful bikes on the street – often in an array of bright colours. Moreover, the cyclists are stylishly dressed with no Lycra leggings or banana-yellow zip-ups in sight .

Jane Thackray owns Bicis Y Mas with her husband Ellis. "We want to recreate a European feel, like the Dutch or Belgians. We are gearing up towards that side of things," she said.

True to her word, the shop is a haven for tasteful bikes and accessories. There are frames in a palette of colours you are more used to seeing in a Farrow & Ball paint chart, with helmets to match.

The helmets (£89), made by Sahn, are smooth and come in matte or glossy finishes. Instead of holes on the outside to keep the head cool, there are ridges inside that direct the flow of air through the helmet and so stop everything from overheating (and your hair going limp on the way to work – or worse, a date).

A tricky problem for female cyclists is what to do with their bags. Bicis Y Mas has the solution in a range of multi-purpose designs from Goodordering. The collection comes in a selection of muted colours, from green and brown to burgundy and red, and in a choice of sizes.

There is a handbag which also attaches to the handlebars (£32), a shopper that doubles as a pannier (£59) and a backpack design (£60), which proves that fashion and function can live together happily ever after.

Keeping dry while on two wheels is a perennial challenge, and Bicis Y Mas has some chic, and quirky, solutions. They stock a range of rain-wear by small British retailer, Water Off A Duck's Back.

For our photo-shoot, model Emma stepped out in the Cassandra Cycle Coat (£130), a waterproof, belted mac, with a detachable hood and reflective strips on the collar, cuffs and belt.

She also tried the company's Cycle Cape (£69), again with reflective material in the hood and piping. She wore these with some red galoshes, called Leggitts, by Georgia In Dublin (£45). Slip them on over shoes, boots and trousers to keep dry through those puddles.

Another chic and cycle-friendly label is Chapeau. We particularly liked its fitted Mistral jacket in rust (£184.99), which Emma wore with a grey buff (£19.99) also by Chapeau.

Mistral jacket (£184.99), grey buff (£19.99)

Emma tried two bikes for size, the Tokyo in peacock blue (£490) and the Achielle in salmon pink (£780).

Adam McLean is general manager at Bicis Y Mas and said both bikes were ideal for women who wanted to cycle about town.

He said the advantage of city bikes like these were that they were sturdy, hardy and relatively easy and cheap to maintain. "The Tokyo might cost you about £100 a year, the Achielle about £20 to £30."

And if you have any problems, Bicis Y Mas has a workshop too.

Thanks

Bicis Y Mas, 59-63 Walmgate, York.

Model: Emma Carr

Photography: Frank Dwyer

 Handbag for handlebars, £32