Market: The Dutch manufacturer Basil shows what contemporary accessories for cyclists can look like. In addition to the classic bicycle basket in all sizes and shapes, the company offers all kinds of colorful bags and matching accessories that make today's everyday bike really beautiful.
It's been around a quarter of a century since the everyday bike was taken out of its dingy corner by a handful of small manufacturers. Quality-conscious and aimed at a target group that valued sustainability and environmental friendliness, these bicycle companies introduced better assembly standards, ensured durability and low maintenance with details such as rust-free screw connections and helped classic products such as the core leather saddle to have a renaissance. And they offered a platform for aftermarket products such as the first really high-quality touring tires, stable luggage racks and better dynamos.
These bikes were ahead of their time in terms of quality, but they weren't "sexy", playful or cheerful. The politically correct, the rational was too much in the foreground. And so these well-made, well-intentioned everyday and touring bikes could make cycling more sustainable and lighter, but not necessarily more attractive, not to speak of "trendy".
More than twenty years later, the bicycle has finally arrived in the mainstream, is in, hip, trendy and everything else. Anyone who rides a bike in everyday life today - i.e. uses an "urban bike" - is not a know-it-all eco, but someone who makes conscious decisions in order to enjoy life and have fun - and also shows that, for example with products, that offer practical use and quality, but also look good. Of course, this includes bicycles themselves, as well as clothing and accessories – such as those supplied by the Dutch manufacturer Basil. The company has been in business for almost 40 years; It all started with a wicker basket for the luggage rack, which the bike dealer Nico van Balveren made at the suggestion of a customer.
Entire product worlds have long since developed around the basket, with the focus on transport by bicycle. And baskets still have an important place in the range - wire baskets in a number of shapes and designs, rattan and wicker baskets, baskets made of plastic mesh and much more. There are also panniers for the luggage carrier, shoulder bags that can be attached to the bike with a click fastener and courier bags. Sometimes they are colour-coordinated and have brightly colored floral motifs, sometimes they are kept in subtle black, which means that Basil has products in stock for very different user groups.
A new product line that Basil recently presented at the Eurobike is also colorful: "Bohème" is the name of a series of shoulder and panniers with a colorful retro look, which offer that playfulness that everyday cyclists might have missed 25 years ago.
Manufacturer website: www.basil.nl