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Style
on the move
Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 3, 2004
By Claude Peck
Araby Williams, 26, favors black outfits, to match her fingernail
polish
and punkish affect. Ebullient Tim Hayes, 23, is more colorful, in camo
shorts,
a flaming red helmet and blue-tinted wraparound Spy shades. Soft-spoken
Matt
Allen, 23, boasts vintage bike shoes and a prized shoulder bag he won
in
the annual Twin Cities bike-race-bar-hop called the Stupor Bowl.
Bike messengers in Minneapolis, those fixed-gear phantoms who tear down
Marquette
Avenue and disappear into skyscraper lobbies, are fast-moving
fashionistas
whose runways are city streets. Their style draws from punk, bike
culture,
thrift stores, practical necessity and tribal flair.
"Most of the way we look is for utility, but it definitely comes across
as
a certain look," Williams said. "We get a laugh when we see
non-messengers
emulating our style."
tim hayes speeds down nicollet mall
Williams was sitting in the front window of the Dunn Bros. coffee shop
on
Nicollet Mall, a popular hangout for many of the downtown messengers.
Their
stripped-down, fixed-gear bikes, or "fixies," lean against trees and
posts
out front, locked only to themselves. Though employed by different
courier
companies, the messengers usually sit together, a few goldfinches in a
flock
of sparrows. They swap stories, rib each other and work crossword
puzzles
while awaiting their next call.
"The messenger community is pretty tight," Hayes said. "You can go
around
the country and always have a couch to sleep on."
Despite differences ranging from preppy to punk, the messengers share a
look
that identifies them just as surely as the Target executives,
instrument-toting
Minnesota Orchestra players and WCCO-TV camera crew members who also
frequent
the cafe, which often fills with the burnt-coffee smell of an on-site
bean
roaster.
Allen, who rides for Blazing Saddles, said that messengers elsewhere in
the
country tend to wear more bike-specific clothing. "The Minneapolis
messengers
look a little less 'technical' than in other cities, and a little more
thrift
store-y," he said.
tim hayes sports a favorite cap
Messenger style is born of necessity. Stiff-soled biking shoes are
popular,
though some messengers wear sneakers. The bike shoes, with or without
pedal
clips, distribute leg power more evenly to the pedal.
The spandex bikewear of the weekend warrior is worn by some of the
messengers,
but they favor black over bright, and hide their spandex under long,
baggy
shorts or pants with cuffs rolled high to avoid chain grease. On the
upper
body, layers help control body temperatures between cool outdoors and
heated
buildings, while bright colors help riders to be seen by motorists and
pedestrians
stupid enough to get in their way.
Bike-lock keys often are worn singly on telephone-cord bracelets or
slung
from carabiners to speed the repetitive locking and unlocking of
bicycles.
Common to all messengers -- and widely adopted by the rest of us -- is
the
cargo bag. The big waterproof bags (popular brands include Timbuk2,
Dank,
Reload and Baileyworks) are worn high on the back, with a wide padded
strap
across the chest that has a ring or buckle for quick release. Most of
the
messengers have their phone or walkie-talkie clipped to the strap, and
a
smaller strap under the armpit to hold the bag and its contents (legal
documents,
architectural renderings, contracts, burritos) tight against them.
Hayes is proud of the blaze-orange Dank bag -- handmade in Seattle,
with
an appliquéd Grim Reaper on the flap -- that he won in a Chicago
bike
race.
Headgear includes wraparound shades, baseball caps and the smaller
bicyclists'
caps (Hayes prizes his orange one with the insignia of a Spanish Tour
de
France racing team), knit caps, tighter-fitting helmet liners in black
polypropylene,
earrings. A few messengers wear bike helmets, though just one messenger
company
requires them of its riders.
Damien Tank, 22, has ridden for Benco since May, and also plays in a
band,
the Skinnys, with another bike messenger. His look is "all about
practicality."
He resembles a university student, in baggy cords, wool socks, sneakers
and
a ball cap. But even his low-key look shows glimpses of messenger
style:
new high-tech biking gloves and a Crumpler
shoulder bag. In an adaptation
worthy of the cult movie "Grey Gardens," Tank fashioned a no-flap scarf
by
ripping the top off a maroon knit cap and pulling what was left down
over
his head as a neck warmer. By all means, do try this at home.
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