The perfect bike bag?

Is this the perfect bike bag?

I was at the British Museum when I finally made up my mind. I’d cycled there, which meant I had my red Ortlieb bag with me – because wherever my bike goes, it goes too. On my bike, it’s incredibly practical. Off the bike, it’s cumbersome and awkward, and oddly far heavier than the sum of its contents. My shoulders ached at the mere thought of carrying it around the museum. What I needed, I told myself as I trotted off to the cloakroom, was a smaller, more portable bike bag. Something that worked both on and off my bike.

Since my last post on the subject, I’ve become obsessed with finding the perfect bag for cycling.

Spin London – 3-5 May 2013

And the award for blingiest bike goes to…

“And you know what’s so amazing? There’s no Lycra anywhere!”

Indeed there wasn’t. If cycling is to be – to quote Boris – ‘de-Lycrafied’ – then the Spin London show was a big step in the right direction.

This three-day show, held over the bank holiday weekend, was billed as the world’s first urban focused bicycle show. Combining bikes, fashion, art, music, film and more bikes, it was about cycling as means of getting around the city – and looking good while doing so.

Even the location of the event spoke volumes: no soulless corporate exhibition halls here. Instead it was held in the Truman Brewery, in the heart of east London’s Brick Lane. Amid hipster crowds out enjoying the area’s buzzing mix of markets stalls, vintage shops, cafes, bars and curry houses, the show blended right into its surroundings (literally – I walked past the entrance twice before I finally spotted it).