We roadtest the Cafe du Cycliste range and like what we see Photo: SportFolio

Ok we don’t need the Columbian women’s cycling team to tell us that cycling fashion really has been dragging the chain when it comes to looking good on two wheels.

Admittedly lycra really isn’t the easiest of materials to look good in, unless, of course, you’re Jane Fonda or Elle MacPherson.

But in the face of a fashion crisis, who better to turn to than the French.

But in the face of a fashion crisis, who better to turn to than the French.

While I’m not here to tell you that the top fashion houses of Chanel, Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier have cottoned onto the cycling boom, I am here to tell you about Café du Cycliste.

Fancy name, yes and fancy packaging too as it arrives at my door in its cute recyclable plastic ziplock bag, looking all French and très chic.

The products inside are just as exciting.

The cycling top (Fleurette superlight jersey tested) is shaped perfectly to fit the female body, tapered at the sides and longer at the back. The material feels great on and has pockets and seams in all the right places.

Cafe du Cycliste Antoinette bib shorts & Fleurette superlight jersey. Photo: SportFolio

Its design is very French – simple, yet elegant.

It’s a relief to finally see a kit, free of large ugly branding and weird multicoloured shapes and designs on kits. Imagine if all your casual clothes in your wardrobe consisted of bright, fluro shirts with strange stripes and weird geometric patterns coupled with logos EVERYWHERE. Unless you were auditioning for the cast of Bondi Hipsters, you just wouldn’t go there, so why is ok for our kits?

That’s what I love about the Café du Cycliste designs, if they were shirts you’d wear them around all the time, out to coffee, to the shops – how many of you can truly say that about what you wear riding?

The bib shorts don’t disappoint either. They’re not over-elasticised on the thigh, a mistake some manufacturers often make and unless you are twiggy on a bike, it serves only to cause bulges of skin and cellulite to avalanche out of the side like homemade sausage meat struggling to find consistency in the skin

The shorts sit comfortably and flatter the leg but it’s the bib component I absolutely love.

Now to see this next part, please refer to Sportette’s take on the Cycling Dress Rules.

Sportette loves the Antoinette bib shorts Photo: SportFolio

One shall not wear short sleeves. Now this may be ok if you’re cycling in the European winter but in warmer climates this just doesn’t work. Not only is it hotter to ride in sleeves, with this hole in the ozone layer means it gives you the most unattractive tan lines! When men get hot they can easily unzip their tops all the way down and let the cool air as they ride hit their skin, for girls, well, even if what’s under that shirt is frightening or flattering, it’s bound to cause some sort of traffic accident.

This is what’s so great about this range, the Antoinette bib shorts are a cyclist’s onesie, like a racesuit but suitable for your casual rides. You can wear it short sleeved (again only recommended for those lucky few that have Jane Fonda like rigs) or have it underneath your shirt, meaning you can unzip your shirt when it gets too hot.

Cafe du Cycliste clothing was born, you guessed it, in a French café – a perfect mid-ride coffee stop – nestled in the hills above the Côte d’Azur on France’s Mediterranean coast.

It was founded by two friends who shared a love of cycling and wanted high-quality, technically excellent cycling clothing with a twist of classic French style. Now, Café du Cycliste is based in Nice, basking in the sun of the Baie des Anges, the Bay of Angels. They ship to Australia and all over the world.

 www.cafeducycliste.com

Sportette Loves:

Heidi Jacket

Fleurette Superlight Jersey

Antoinette Bib Shorts