We are cuckoo for our latest baskets.  They come to us directly from the Peterbro Company in the US of A. The Peterboro company has been around since 1854 so they sure know how to make a basket.

For years, American bicyclists have immediately recognize the exceptional quality and durability of Peterboro Bicycle Baskets. Papillionaire Bicycles is now proud to be the only Australian Stockist of this “one-of-a-kind” basket.  Each basket is hand-crafted in America from ash hardwood – the same wood used to make baseball bats. So the basket can handle a heavy load and take bumps on the road in stride. The two adjustable straps for attaching the basket to the handlebars are made from hefty 8-ounce shoulder leather, and the buckles are zinc coated to resist corrosion.

The basket also comes with an ash hardwood post pieces to help stabilize your basket.  This post piece comes with a leather strip to tie onto the stem. No ugly black brackets needed! We love good design!

BUY THE  WHITEWASH PETERBORO BASKET HERE.

BUY THE CHERRY WOOD PETERBORO BASKET HERE.

BUY THE HONEY WOOD PETERBORO BASKET HERE.

Those of you who only read things on screens may have missed us in some print media of late. Here’s a few places you can find Papillionaire Bicycles on paper.  Thanks to The Age Newspaper, In Style Magazine and Complete Wedding.

Thanks to the good people at Sydney Electric Bikes, the Papillionaire Sommer has gone electric. You can now be lightening fast with zero emissions. And the best bit is, if you buy the bike and conversion kit from Sydney Electric they will install it for free!

Why do we love these guys? They sum it up best, “Electric bicycles from conventional Ebike companies are not always designed with beauty in mind. Made as more of a utility bike, Ebikes don’t usually elicit the kind of lip smacking desire that other classically designed bicycles do. The Retro look and feel is rapidly gaining in popularity and we can see why. A bike should be as much about function as form. It should be a reflection of ones aesthetic taste and be adored by the owner.”

To get your own electrified Papillionaire contact Jake at Sydney Electric Bikes on 0411 897 760.

Guest blogger, Anthony Aisenberg, is a Sustainable Transport Consultant, studies a Master of Urban Planning at Melbourne University and heads up the More Bike Lanes Please Facebook page.  Follow Anthony on twitter @aaisenberg. Here’s what he has to say on whether or not cyclists should be registered.

“Shane Warne. I’m not sure whether to thank him or loath him. While his ignorant attitudes to road behaviour last week may have been filtered down to his 600,000 + twitter followers, he’s also managed to thrust some key Motorist Vs Cyclist issues into the mainstream media.

Rather than attack the cricketing legend over his narrow-minded call to register all cyclists, I thought it’d be a better opportunity to equip you with the facts…

While I understand that Warnie wants to identify law-breaking riders if they do the wrong thing, the reality is that registering cyclists just doesn’t stack up, especially when you consider that cyclists aren’t the red light road rule breaking menace to society they are made out to be. In reality, only 6.9% of riders don’t stop at red lights and 87% of the time drivers are at fault in Motorist vs Cyclist incidents.

Here are more reasons why cyclists shouldn’t be registered:

Registration doesn’t go toward construction and maintenance of roads; it goes toward third-party insurance and administration. Bicycle riders don’t required third-party insurance, so why should they pay for a registration administration system?

The majority of cyclists own at least one car and already pay registration

The administrative cost and bureaucracy generated to register every bicycle would be massive, especially when you consider that more bikes are sold each year than cars. We’d all be better off with the money spent on an education campaign or more separated bike lanes.

It would cost the state far more than it would to collect in revenue

Register children’s bikes? Really? That seems effective use of time and money.

The majority of bikes are gathering dust in the garage. These are a particular menace on society.

Registration is a disincentive for people to ride. That’s a good thing if you want more congestion, pollution and traffic incidents.

While Shane Warne may have generated discussion at dinner tables last week, it seems that talk of the crazed cycling menace will re-surface again soon. Only this time, you’ll be equipped with an arsenal of responses to educate the uniformed.”

That's not a helmet!

We are often asked if our bikes are stocked in bikes stores around Australia. As of 2012, the answer is… (insert drum roll)… yes!   Papillionaire has started to stock a few select stores Around Australia. You can find a list of these outlets in the Authorized Dealers section of our website.   We are continually adding new dealers, so keep an eye out for a dealer near you.   In the meantime, you can of course continue to purchase Papillionaire Classic Bicycles directly from the Buy Online Page.    If you are an Australian or New Zealand bike store who would like to retail our bicycles, please contact us at shop@papillionaire.com.

Here are some pics from our latest stockist Sable & Argent in Wolloomoolo0, Sydney.

Papillionaire Holiday Opening Hours

Melbourne Store
Saturday, December 24th: 10am – 4pm
Sunday, December 25th: Closed
Monday, December 26th: Closed
Tuesday, December 27th: Closed
Wednesday, December 28th: 11am – 5pm
Thursday, December 29th: 11am – 5pm
Friday, December 30th: 11am – 5pm
Saturday, December 31st: Closed
Sunday, January 1st: Closed
Monday, January 2nd: Closed
Tuesday, January 3rd: 11am – 5pm. Normal hours recommence.

Sydney Store
Saturday, December 24th: 10am – 3pm
Sunday, December 25th: Closed
Monday, December 26th: Closed
Tuesday, December 27th: Closed
Wednesday, December 28th: 12pm – 6pm
Thursday, December 29th: 12pm – 6pm
Friday, December 30th: 12pm – 6pm
Saturday, December 31st: Closed
Sunday, January 1st: Closed
Monday, January 2nd: Closed
Tuesday, January 3rd: 12pm – 6pm. Normal hours recommence.

Happy Holidays Everyone! Enjoy bikes and champagne!

We are chuffed to make it into the H&G style awards along with some other super cool Aussie products.   Check out the range of products here and get inspired by some awesome Aussie design.  We think the Sabine table from The Brown Dog Furniture Co would look pretty sweet in our up and coming Sydney Store….yep, you heard it here first…. we can’t confirm anything yet but a Sydney store just might be on the cards, so keep your ears to the ground and your eyes on the website…

Many will agree that there’s nothing nicer than riding your bike down to your favourite local cafe on a weekend morning.  We have also noticed that the array of vintage and classic style bikes outside many of our favourite Melbourne eateries is increasing weekly.  We would love to hear about the cafes you’re frequenting in your city – in the meantime here’s a bit on one of the Melbourne cafes we like to take a leisurely Sunday ride to…

Little Captain in St Kilda East is too little for a website, but that’s what we like about it!  Its shabby chic decor can only be described as ‘super cute’.  Of course, they have the essential shabby chic cuisine of cupcakes and other dainty baked goods.  The passionfruit icing cupcake is a winner and we have sampled it many times to ensure the accuracy of this blog post.  The savoury stuff is pretty good too – but don’t go there expecting to order eggs cooked to your liking – as well as a website, this place is also too little for a kitchen. Limited sides dishes (like avocado), toast and sandwiches are available, but they don’t do eggs…

So, we know what you’re thinking – if this place isn’t on the internet does it even exist?  Well, yes!  You can take your bicycle to visit the captain at 353 Inkerman Street, St Kilda East, Victoria.  Here is picture proof of its existence.

Customers sometimes ask for a comparison between the thicker tyres generally used on vintage style and classic bikes, and the very thin tyres used on road bikes. The difference is simple, it’s a tradeoff between speed and comfort. A very narrow tyre typically has less rolling resistance, and is slightly lighter.  This means you can go faster. Thicker tyres are not as sleek, however they cushion the bike over every bump so you get to your destination unshaken and it is a smoother ride. Another benefit of the tyres used on Papillionaire Bicycles is that the tread is designed specifically for excellent performance in wet weather – so you are less likely to lose traction. Finally, though you must always take care when crossing tram/train tracks, when inflated, our tyres provide suitable coverage to safely ferry you across tracks. Remember though – tracks can be extremely slippery when wet!

Here at Papillionaire, we have designed our bikes to be as practical as possible for getting around town. You may not be able to compete with road bikes down Beach Road, but you’ll get around in much more comfort and style.

Perhaps the most critical element of a bicycle is its wheels. Though their primary purpose is to….. roll, there are different aspects that contribute to how well they perform. A wheel consists of hub, spokes, spoke nipples and a rim. This is then fitted with a tyre and an inner tube.

We’ll (pun intended) discuss the rim in Part 1 of this series.

The rim provides the form of the wheel. A ‘good’ rim is very light and very strong. Rims can be made from a range of materials including steel, carbon fibre, titanium, and most commonly – aluminium. At Papillionaire, we use aluminum as it provides an excellent strength to weight balance. Extra strength is added to our rims by making them ‘double wall’. This means that, instead of the cross section of the rim being ‘U’ shaped, it is closed, more like a box.  This added strength, allows the rim to maintain its perfect circle shape.

Our rims have been proven to withstand long rides over cobbles and drops off curbs. Although you should always take care of your wheels (and entire bike), there’s no need to be afraid of rough roads on Papillionaire bikes!

Welcome to the first edition of our Guest Blogger series here at the Papillionaire blog.  We’ll be featuring some of our favourite bicycle bloggers from around the world.   And we’re very proud to kick things off with a stunning series from Elin Bandmann, creator of PUT THE FUN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS from Stockholm, Sweden.

Elin is an inspired photographer and designer, and a cycling enthusiast and advocate.   So much so, that she cycled across Europe, from Stockholm to Lisbon, as part of a project to promote cycling in Swedish cities (that’s a 4500km trip – and she’d never cycled further than 30 km prior)!   Together with her project partner, she held seminars, blogged about the trip, and interviewed cycling enthusiasts throughout Europe.

Inspired by the trip, Elin started PUT THE FUN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS soon after.  It’s an incredible documentation of cycling in Sweden and around the world, promoting the bicycle as a clean, simple, and most efficient mode of transport for healthy, modern and culturally-rich cities.  Thanks from everyone here at Papillionaire for her wonderful post to kick off the series.  Here it is:

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Dear Readers!

My name is Elin and I’m going to start guest blogging every Friday here at the Papillionaire blog.  Very exciting to hear Aussie cycling culture is starting to bloom, and I hope my photos will make you even more keen to PUT THE FUN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS.

I plan to show you my photos, mostly taken in my home, Sweden.  But I might sneak in some pics from other parts of Europe and around the world too, as I’m a passionate traveler!  Who knows, anything I find inspiring might end up here.

Enough talking.  Here goes, with a little preview of what I’ve captured in the past year:

See you next Friday!

Elin xx

All photos by: Elin Bandmann © 2011