My week in bikes. A video post

Let's talk gear for a bit. This video introduces a tasty bit of kit coming next year from Italian kit wizards Castelli, the San Remo Speed Suit.

This looks pretty revolutionary in a number of ways, as Pez Cycling found. Essentially, it's a time trial skinsuit evolved for the road.

Now, I wouldn't ordinarily wear a skinsuit, and I certainly don't ride competitively or fast enough for the serious wattage savings that Castelli claims to make much difference. But I still covet this bit of kit for other reasons.

What Castelli has done here is essentially to attach a racing jersey to the bottom half of its Bodypaint bib shorts. So why do I think this is a good idea?

Well, as the video shows the San Remo acts like a jersey and shorts combo, but one with skinsuit genetics.

On long, hot rides, particularly hilly ones, I frequently have my jersey unzipped at the front for ventilation. This results in unsightly and annoying flapping and makes it a pain to re-fasten when the time comes. The skinsuit heritage brings a far closer fit to the top half of the suit that basically eliminates this problem.

I'm excited about this, but the price tag is going to be painfully high and, as serious pro-grade clothing, can I justify it in 2012 without looking like a bit of a tool?

Meanwhile, yesterday I got my hands on a trailer for a new movie coming sometime late 2012, called Premium Rush.

I don't have much to do with messenger bike culture. I considered a single speed bike in the past and will probably own one at some point but for now, it's a bit of a closed book to me.

I'm excited about this movie for two main reasons. One of these reasons is that it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is a burnished god of sex.

My second, more bike-worthy reason, is simply that it is a movie about bikes. One that isn't a documentary. An actual thriller! How thrilling!

I'm all over the idea that by putting cycling front and centre of people's minds, getting more people on bikes, positioning it as a mainstream activity and getting all up in people's faces we create a culture that accepts bikers, acts safer around them and gets people out of disgusting, dangerous, unsustainable cars.

Premium Rush looks to me like The Fast and the Furious on bikes. If it's success I have no doubt it will lead to more kids on fixies pulling stupid stunts and getting themselves hurt but, actually, I don't care. It's about visibility and this movie has visibility in spades.

I hope it's not crap...