Well… Christin did it months ago… and i meant to follow suit, but it took me ages to get around to it! So finally, here is my introduction:

I’m Mikey and I take photos/write for theCommonElite because of a long standing interest in/love for clothing (like clothing in its physical form, but also the act of clothing: as in “clothing oneself”). I can’t help but see the way we dress as a public dialogue with our own personal ideas of self. I work in the bicycle industry at Fourth Floor Distribution, where I distilled my love for the two wheeled ride and this blog is a mixture of these two loves.

The photos that I post are either taken by me or my wonderful friend Christopher, and are generally from the streets of Toronto. I hope one day to find and archive every stylish/amazing cyclist this city has to offer!

I also hope that this archive of cycling design and style can serve to glorify the bicycle and its lovers. If you want to hear more about why we started this blog head here.

These photos showcase my two current material obessions: my new jacket (Oliver Spencer) and my new Rucksack (Makr, from Lost and Found).

Designboom directs our attention to a helmet conceived by Patrick Jouffret of French design studio Agency 360. The slick Bladerunner looking lid collapses into a compact unit for simple storage. It is set to enter production this year. Next level.

This is just wonderful.

By Katy Beveridge who says, “So in response to quite a few requests about the artwork I’ve put up a limited edition of 100 signed numbered laser cuts of this design on etsy.  www.etsy.com/shop/katybeveridge1“.  Lovely.

Rizzoli – our favourite publisher of beautiful books, has just announced the release of ‘The Competition Bicycle.’ This photo heavy history of gorgeous De Rosa and Merckx frames will have design heads and cycle geeks gawking for hours. Coming in February.

For the “what makes true love Campaign” a shot by Scott and Garance that highlights the tender gestures we do to show love.

Without a doubt, I count doubling as a gesture of pure affection.

Take tweed, metallics, canvas, leather, cotton, stretchy ribbing, chrome, steel and rubber, and put them into one outfit + bike.  This delightful woman has done just that, and I think the result is fantastic. Interesting, classy and surprising.

The metallic docs!

The rings!

The full wine coloured lip! That bag!

The clothing friendly chain guard on the Italian Abici bicycle means flares can flare without needing an ankle strap to reign them in.  I love this.

At least we’ve been blessed with beautiful weather this fall/winter.

Makes it easy to keep riding despite it being December.

Some serious design elevation in the world of bike polo. Having been inspired by a previous bike polo shoot in Intersection Magazine, the team at Louis Vuitton developed a refined selection of bike polo accessories (mallet, straps, chainwheel, leather wheel cover, bar wrap+ends).

And in thanks for said inspiration, LV let Intersection be the first to see and shoot these spectacular sporting goods.

In true form, they chose French Bike Polo Champion Louis David Najar as the perfect compliment to these French wares.

Ai Wei Wei has an incredible new installation in Taiwan entitled Forever Bicycles. The thousands of welded frames look absolutely amazing and represent Wei Wei’s commentary on China’s rapid social change.  Thanks Gizmodo.

Neither the rain nor the brisk fall wind could stop the Toronto Tweed Ride from traipsing across the city in distinguished style. Cycling folk both young and old came out in their best Harris tweed and Woolrich plaid to make this inaugural ride a smashing success.

As the fall evenings grow cooler and coloured leaves crunch beneath weary tires – it’s time to start layering up. This weekend Toronto will host its first English inspired Tweed Ride, where gentlemen and lasses don tweed and plaid for a stylish bicycle ride through the city. For those in New York the ride has been unfortunately delayed.

In perfect timing Paul Stuart unveils a series of window displays directed by a few respected menswear folk, featuring A Continuous Lean, Esquire, Men of Habit and Sartorially Inclined. Hope to see you on Saturday!

Love this woman!  Not only did she pose like a champ, but there were so many interesting details, I couldn’t capture them all. Reviewing the pictures, I realized I forgot her great backpack – a testament to the sheer quantity of excellent stuff going on here. The backpack that got away. Let’s go through the amazingness I did manage to snap:

1. The POKA chaincase.  This laser cut chain case is made by local Toronto company, POKA (we’ve mentioned her beautiful work before).

2. The weaved casual oxford. Love this shoe.

3. Cuffed seersucker shorts under the sheer floral tunic!  I love the surprise of this – which you would catch peeks of when she was riding, and remain almost completely hidden when off the bike. Delightful and freeing. I love secret shorts.

4, 5 & 6.  Brooks saddle (B17 Special S in honey if I am not mistaken), brass vintage-style bell, excellent seat bag (looks like the Velo Orange version, but it isn’t!).  Need I say more? These all look wonderful.

7. Attitude.  What a great sport! Excellent smile and not too cool to stand on the street and let me take obnoxious pictures with an obnoxious phone camera.  A delight.

8.  The whole gestalt. The whole thing put together is just lovely.  See first image, and repeat.

Behold the “soft ride” by Ron Arad.

These steel wheels were commissioned by the W hotel for guests at their Leicester Sq. Location in London to ride until October 29th.

Quite an ambitious project… and I do find the result oddly beautiful. I would still want to take a little test ride before I sing its praises.

Despite my attraction to it’s bizarre form, I can’t help but imagine how springy those steel ribbons would be, and that really seems like a terrifying quality!

No one wants to be catapulted into traffic.