So despite being discredited by the carbon footprints leading to our front door, it is critical that we all do what we can. Cycling in itself is a great start. It has to be one of the most eco-friendly modes of transport. Consequently the humble bike finds itself unwitting totem to transformation. It is after all, graphically speaking, one half of the proposition. Even our politicians ride bicycles. As a result, the green economy is one of the few success stories of modern times. It fosters a virulent, Eco-capitalism, which has rapidly grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Opportunism knocks. And beyond the simple face-value of cycle chic, recycling cuts a dash in this carbon-market. Green is the new black.
When the sustainable cyclist gets a flat, out in the wilderness, he'll stash that torn tube, and bring it home. Right? But how many of us actually take the time to then patch-up and repair? As opposed to buying new. And that's just the tube. What of the thousands of worn, and ultimately castaway carcasses of our road weary wheels. Those twisted wreaths of tired tyres hang in shame.
But there is hope. Velo::re was initiated in Switzerland, by Christian Baumgartner. His involvement in a bicycle recycling project in Berne afforded some contemplation, mainly around the issue of 'unusable' leftovers, and in particular tyres. It was here that he evolved that which once revolved, and turned his hand to re-tyring. The end result - perhaps you can reinvent the wheel - as a belt. From humble beginnings full production began in 2006, in London's Brixton.Along with business partner Bettina Galizzi, Christian Baumgartner fashions exquisite oval ovations, a wearable documentary, with all the manifest scars and bruises that a lifetime brings. Their enterprise gives us Beltoes and Belties - belts made from recycled bicycle tyres. The former created from front tyres (therein more tread), the latter from rears, which tend to be smoother. These born again, metamorphosed strips of rubber read like a stable of thoroughbreds - Mint Fresh, Ciao Banana, Race in the Sky, Industry Blues, Speedy Orange Kid. Each bearing its own unique time and motion study, a frame-by-frame spliced sequence which loops ad infinitum.
These handmade belts are not just velo vintage, they infuse a composite chronology, they are true collaborations - that of Baumgartner and the anonymous traveller. Each engraved with every mile, a fractal tape-recording of place and person. Velo::re's Health and Safety Alert reads as a beautifully explicit testament 'be aware that all belts have done their time on real roads, so may contain real stones, thorns, flakes or possibly even nuts. And they’re made of rubber'. And when one buys a Beltie, the accompanying tag provides a fascinating, handwritten genesis
name: Continental Grand Prix 4000
size: 700x23C
type: Slick
milage: Approx. 3100 in London
Perhaps you are buying time. Someone else's time. What is certain, Velo::re belts transcend the green ethos. In some way they even subvert it - taking the primarily functional and transforming into the fashionable. Silk purses indeed. And over 2,000 belts later, they're running hot.
Buy yourself a piece of history. For a selection of Velo::re belts go to SWRVE or VELO::RE.A NÖ Recommendation.
* a recycled fact.
