NYC's and the streetwear cultures by the bicycle messengers

NYC or New York City as it known worldwide, are one of the most famous landmark in the world today. Its impact and influences on media, financial, fashions and cityscapes are so massive that it was dubbed as “The Center Of The Universe” and the connotation such as “The City That Never Sleep”, “New York Minutes” often applied when describing NYC’s fast-paced, modern, bustling city lifestyles day-and-night cycles by its inhabitants.

While a bustling NYC streets is often congested by the bright yellow cabs surrounding the iconic districts such as Time Square, or  Broadway Theater District during the daylight, the standstill traffic are no match for the fast-and-steady paces of bicycle messengers, which are one of the most familiar sight around the town, more so before the boom of dot-com internet era. The cyclist, whom always been seen riding a fixed-gear type of bicycle, zig-zagging their way throughout the busy intersections and freezing city’s traffics, are unbounded by the rules, carrying their parcel or deliverances all the way to meet the expectation of fast-paced lifestyles revolved around the NYC’s neighbourhood. From corporate commerce delivery on Wall Streets to the mail delivery around skyscraper’s by the financial districts, its all part of the action for the daily routine of bicycle messenger.

Urban fixed gear rider in action through the streets of NYC.

One things that perhaps very well-known features above all of the aspect apart from the ordinary work of delivering items from one customers after another using a bicycle around city center is perhaps the cultures revolved around them. The messenger strapped big cargo bags, rusted steel, greasy fixed-gear bicycles with full of affiliation by the stickers on the bike’s frame as for the recognition of belonging to the brands or messenger groups that they are into, and ghetto-hippie, beatniks influenced urban mashups of street dressing that supposed to reflect upon their opposition to every single norm or rules that applies to them.

While the streetwear history, by an argument that is contested among its follower that the origination of such cultures are being brought upon the skateboarding and surfing-related cultures from California in the late 70’s, but the differences between the so-called streetwear that its popularity are driven by hypes and clever marketing engineering, the streetwear derived from the bicycle messenger its an absolute opposite of the spectrum.

Messenger bags, straps, looking rough by the city vibes and urban surrounding are the usual styles for this riders across the streets. And for most, it stretch far than just a fashion statement, but a working attire on daily basis.

For example, the trendy urban streetwear accessories such as the messenger bag or the swing-bag (known so due to its design that allowed the bag to be swing without the needs of being detached from the wearer itself) are designed to be practical for the messenger rider to work with rather than to fulfil any sort of fashion statement. An icon for today emerging urban fashion scenes, the origin of messenger bag spurred by the needs of the committed riders, which back in the days wasn’t even on marketable list of any bags or luggage manufacturer to commit on such product. These days it was part of undeniable “cool” factor that defined the streetwear scenes, especially for urban hip youth that going for the forefront of the urban fashions styling. Clearly, the bicycle messenger do defined the next cool things of the progression of urban streetwear, but there is more to that.

The rising popularity of hipster or hipsterdom in 2008, which contrasting between the original beatnik cultures of the earlier hippies movement that clashed along with the low-life individuality that playing upon the simple-life images by the social contrast of modern urbanism and materialism, are also brought the messenger’s wheels of choices to their consumptionist’ market, the fixed-gear bicycle.

One of the "premium" brand in NYC's messengers world and perhaps the fixed-gear cred is the Chrome Industries. They have been making the speciality product catered to bicycle messenger needs for such a long times that the brand is often associated with the bicycle messenger lifestyles around the world.

Popularized by NYC messenger riders and their associated cultures and lifestyles, the fixed-gear bicycle is chosen simply not for its trendy, or fad, or a mere accessory to the established urban streetwear trends, but because of its simplicity in operation. While the origination of fixed-gear bicycle are based from the track cycling bicycle that raced on closed-circuit velodrome arenas, the simplicity of having no cables to be maintained, gearing components and even a brakes and such are caught by the messengers community. The simplicity and its cheap drivetrain mechanics are the big part of the no-frill thrillseeker’ that looking for the most “bulletproof” transports that they can hold on to while racing their way to the waiting clients.

Most of them are considered to be public nuisance, and pretender-to-be a street daredevils with youth rebellion on heart. But, just as skateboards or rollerblades are caught as the new mean of emerging urban youth lifestyles that build upon the notion of rebel spirits, creatives, and opposed to the norm of society back in the 70’s and the 80’s, this surprisingly no difference as well.

One of the most distinctive features of urban fixed-gear bicycle is their personalization that goes alongside with fashion statement. These days, a highly specialized shops that sell only a fixed gear bicycle is growing in number, as well as the players within the industries to cater the market on this ever-growing segment of urban cycling.

These days, the cheap fixed-gear bicycle are not just an exclusivity owned by the messengers community, but a public fascination. It might be just a booming trend that can be considered as fad, or temporarily, unless the subject is also being taken seriously by the world well-known bicycle manufacturer or builder, that eager to capitalize this emerging market that has been associated itself with the movement of urban streetwear accessories, closely.

Cinelli, for example, a well-known Italian bicycle company from the 60’s, emerged itself as a global player in bicycle in turn of new millennium in 2008 with the releases of urban fixed-gear bicycle line-ups, which is almost a contrast from many of professional bicycle manufacturing’s eyes, that focused on more professional, racing-dedicated homoglation products to be sold on public consumption. But, indeed it work. Sales are big, so does the brand recognition. More and more bicycle companies are joined the bandwagon, offering at least a fixed-gear line-ups in their catalogue annually. The trend hit a global consciousness by storm, strengthening itself on one of the most prominent bicycle industries segment in recent history. It also increasingly tied up among city inhabitant among bustling metropolis lifestyles as part that defined their fashion’s statement, clearly making the fixed-gear bicycle now are part of the fashion and trends of the new urban youth segments, rather than the iconic, but the almost-cult movement of NYC bicycle messengers worlds.

Once a world that was culminated by the colleges students that hoped to looking for some quick buck on the streets while rushing along with some cheap thrills, bicycle messenger, especially that rooted from NYC, are now a major sensation that influencing the epitome of urban lifestyles under the context of urban streetwear.