Bike: The Duke by Mojo Bike

If you're like me and you've been waiting up till 2:00am to watch the Tour de France every night for the last three weeks, you'll be experiencing what I like to call the 'cycling bug'. After watching Wigins power up the french Alps you can't help but be inspired to jump on a set of wheels yourself and go for the yellow jersey. But before you race out and buy yourself a new bike, first consider what you want your bike to say about you. Like anything else, your bike should reflect your own style. Therefore, over the next couple of weeks I'll be introducing you to some great bikes that wont just get you from A to B but will also look good too.

That brings us to The Duke by Mojo Bike. The Duke embodies noble, gentlemanly style with an air of heritage craftsmanship. The Duke features 4130 Chrome-moly frame with sweeping lugged forks, leather saddle and handgrips, elegant wheel guards and optional rack and saddle bag. The  Dukes' power comes from a Sturmey Archer 8 speed internal rear hub. The duke is perfect for those wanting to ride to work everday whilst still emodying the urban-street style. It's vintage look is timeless and luxurious.

Mojo Bike is all about individualism, offering customers the chance to customise their own bikes, ensuring that no two bikes are exactly alike. Mojo offers a range of shapes and sizes from which customers can chose and apply their own colour scheme. Mojo then builds and ships the bike straight to your front door. Mojos' classic bike designs and huge colour range guarantee you're bound to find the bike for you.

 

To visit the Mojo Bike online store click here.

The Dimitri Satchel by Seventy Eight Percent

The Dimitri Satchel from Seventy Eight Percent is the perfect briefcase for lovers of urban street-style. The mix of leather and canvas give a luxurious yet earthy feel. The Dimitri satchel features an A4 document holder, a 6 pocket organiser compartment and padding to protect your 13” MacBook Pro. Seventy Eight Percent have used Italian top-quality vegetable-tanned leather and Japanese wax coated canvas produced from Egyptian cotton. This satchel is professional and refined without being pretentious. It's versatility makes it the perfect bag to take to work every day.

Seventy Eight Percent create all their bags with the philosophy that they should be ergonomic, functional and stylish. Founded in 2007, Seventy Eight Percent make a wide range of bags and accessories using only premium quality materials. All of Seventy Eight Percent's bags come in a wide range of color combinations. I particularly like the Wood/kahki combination shown above. All of Seventy Eight Percent's bags are hand made, with production taking up to fifty hours to assemble one bag.

To visit the Seventy Eight Percent online store click here.

Altadena Works

Altadena Works is a Californian bag manufacturer that produces high quality goods made solely in the USA (quite rare in today’s outsourced world). This creative partnership employs simple and straightforward design to produce subtly luxurious bags. Altadena’s bags are constructed expertly for functionality and durability, using the highest quality materials including heavyweight Cordura ballistic fabric, military spec nylon webbing and leather custom ordered from Horween (one of America’s oldest tanneries). Altadena’s collaborators have channeled the outdoor equipment of the 1970’s, using a minimal design and slim profile.

These bags are beautifully constructed. Altadena employs seasoned American artisans with over 30 years experience. It is clear that this collaborative team has extremely high standards for their products and state that they don’t make anything they wouldn’t wear themselves.

I’m a massive advocate for small start-up brands, especially ones that produce products of this quality. The bags come in a range of unique styles and color schemes but my personal favorite is the 801 Teardrop Navy Oak pictured above.

To visit Altadena Works’ online store click here.