I chose the King of the Alpes design as it matches the most striking jersey in the peloton. Could it be a slight contradiction that I, a 92 kg ‘sprinter’, find it hard enough climbing up the banks of the velodrome, I think not.

The Set-Up
The first challenge came after removing my current Selle Italia Flyte and trying to fit the Throne seat. It wasn’t a direct fit and we got feedback from Troy McKinna of Thrones; "Sometimes companies create seats with thicker rails at different widths, but they are then designed to go with specific seat posts. The Thrones follow the industry standard with 7mm rails and 50mm wide. That being said, the rails are designed to allow for some flex and can be stretched into place"

Using a little muscle, I was able to flex the rails of the Thrones bike seat to fit into the seatpost. Although Selle Italia is an exception, fitting will not be an issue with standard seat posts.

The Feel
The Throne bike seat is noticeably taller than my Selle Italia Flyte which kind of mimics an Italian super car. I noticed the extra length but it didn’t affect my riding, though I did consider whether I needed to check my cycling positioning and lower the seat to compensate for the height. The slightly higher seat caused the nose of the seat to hooked the back of the chamois in my nicks.

The fit of the bike seat is hard to gauge, a bike seat is a very personal piece of equipment. For me however, I found it much nicer than my Selle Italia Flyte.

This seat fitted me well from the first ride while my Selle Italia Flyte in comparison split me in half for ages. I found that after very long rides, the throne sometimes gave me sit-bone pain. At this point I want to emphasis that everyone has a different bum print and it is really down to trial and error to get a good fit.

Eyeing it up
Lets move onto the highlight. Visual Performance.
In two words: Theseatlooks freakingawesome.

It matches my Pinarello well, it stands out and hey, the colours are spot on! I liked that this bike seat is not just a carbon brick – it is half retro, half modern. On the Pinny it looks rather dashing, on my mates steel bike, it again, looked rather dashing with a touch of retro.

Blazened across the saddle is "Meilleur Grimpeur". Most hipsters wouldn’t understand this (French is way too mainstream… right) so they would go for straight for those crazy dots! If red polka dots however mean a bit more to you, and if you have even put yourself through a bit of pain on some tough uphills, you will appreciate the dots numbered one through to 21. One for each of the hairpins on the Alpe d’heuz.

This bike seat appeals to me and I have created a guide so you know how it will look good on various types of bikes:

Fixie? Suh-weet.
Track bike? anabolic’ool!
Roadie? Espressawesomeo`!
Time Trial? Aeradynamic!

Regardless of your style of cycling, the King of the Mountains inspired bike seat can really help you lift your game. While it looks good, you have to do it justice, you have to harden up, you need to get the head down and conquer that challenge. Look the part, play the part.

In all seriousness, what’s cooler than a seat covered in polka dots? Nothing!

The King of the Alpes bike seat weighs in at 215 grams and has a carbon injected Nylon base and ‘Hollow Ti’ rails.

Thrones is a new Aussie brand and their range of six bike seats were released this year and retail for $159 each. You will find them at various bike stores in Victoria and they are slowly making their way over the state borders – though you can contact Thrones directly.

More info from www.bikethrones.com

Aprés Vèlo have come out with a bit of kit to parade your love for cycling, appropriately named “True Religion”. It comes as either long or short sleeve shirt and is made from cotton and elastine. Now this feels incredibly soft to the touch and has a real vintage vibe to it. The shirt has a ‘worn’ and ‘old’ feel which makes wearing it give off a ‘favourite shirt’ feel, though not to be mistaken with the ‘favourite shirt’ odour. It’s safe to say the guys at Aprés Vèlo DO NOT wear the shirts, weeks on end, before shipping.

As with all Religions, rules and customs are necessary. The ‘True Religion’ T of cycling is no exception; on the upper back is a patch with “The 10 commandments of spin” which are favourably leanient. On the right sleeve wrist is a patch with a motto which arguably all people who truly love the sport should follow, ‘Live to Ride, Ride to Live’.

On the left wrist is a rather schmick looking Celtic styled cross with tribal wings and a scroll “Bicycle Brethren”. Depending on how it is interpreted, the scroll under the cross could be a tube, and the base of the cross could be a sharp piece of glass or a thorn… deep. Real deep.

If you live and breathe cycling, this is the shirt to proove it.

The Aussie company, Aprés Vèlo, has a range of mens and womens casual wear. Check out the range online: www.apresvelo.com

Staying fashionable or being a nonconformist doesn’t mean that safety has to be overlooked, the Nutcase helmet covers most of the head and extends down the back of the head protecting the softer areas? areas which are usually left more exposed by most helmets.

In the world of urban BMX riding where all obstacles seem to be irregularly shaped, the chance of an object pertruding through a vent in an accident is more likely the lack of vents is a safety feature. In this case, receding hairline protection comes at the cost of less ventilation.

On the ride to the photoshoot, hipster-clad with approximately 20 odd degrees Celsius on the scale,  the lack of ventilation was noticeable. Whether or not this would be an issue depends upon your style of riding.

The chin straps are bolted to the sides of the helmet in between the plastic shell and the protective foam. This leaves a gap between the strap and the side of the head so you have heaps of room for your favourite Ray-Ban aviators or full face Bono sunnies. Cause we all love Bono… and flat tyres.

Getting the right length of chin-hugging-goodness is a bit fiddly because of the way the strap is tensioned. If you want to wear your favourite hat/beanie to protect your liberty spikes, a bit of fiddling with strap length is necessary as there isn’t a simple ‘sliding’ tensioning system (due to the mechanics how the straps are fixed onto the Nutcase helmet).

Aside from ensuring that a helmet is Australian Standards certified, which the Nutcase is, the fit is crucial. Making this helmet fit is simple and it can be tailored to suit your personal preference. When you buy it, included are eight sets of foam pads in varying thicknesses. Changing a foam pad is as simple as pulling off the old pads in the helmet, one front and one back, then lining up the new pads inside. You can use different thicknesses front and back to get an ideal fit. Sure a roadie/mtb styled ‘tension band’ around the back of the head is easier… but it’s just not cool.

All in all, this helmet is great. It’s a definite fashion statement as Nutcase helmets inparticular really stand out from the crowd. If you are a hipster who disagrees with wearing helmets thinking your hair spray and bangs will save you in a crash, just consider that it is YOUR BRAIN that decided wearing your mums jeans is fashionable.

The initial set up of the Nutcase helmet takes a fraction longer than a roadie orientated helmet, though baldness protection, as well as a touch of pure awesome simply outweighs the cons. If you’re not too fussed about function and would rather look like the El Presidante` of the entire hipster community than a weight weenie cafe racer on the way to the first cappuccino – then nutcase, BMX styled helmets are for you… Who CAN’T like a watermelon noggin bucket?

Nutcase Helmets are available from cool bike shops throughout Australia. If your local bike shop is struggling with their coolness factor, get the distributer, Eureka Brands to have a word with them.