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Love the visual twists and the tight focus shooting. Really clean piece of work.

Via the fantantically dapper 00o00 blog

So we've done the bike, now to deal with the other big area of equipment: what to wear for the big day.

The most important elements to get right are those that will have most contact during the ride: shorts and shoes.

Shorts

Shorts are a deeply personal affair for numerous reasons including their contents and their fit. What works for me won't necessarily work for you because my sit bones and thighs aren't yours.

What does generally hold true is that this is an item which rewards a bit of extra spending. If you are someone who finds a cheap pair of shorts that fits like a second skin and gives you the padding and comfort you need, then you are truly blessed.

Otherwise, I'd suggest that you should be looking to spend upwards of 50GBP on a pair. How high you want to go will depend on how high you need to go to find the desired level of fit and comfort.

Shoes

Again, this comes down to you and nobody else. One thing I've found is that a shoe that is comfortable in milder weather might not be so in hotter conditions. I've got my old Specialized S-Works Boas that I'll be taking with me as well as my Bont A1s to cover such eventualities.

Getting custom footbeds done for your shoes really helps. I've got one pair that gets transferred into whichever shoes I'm riding and which give me excellent support because they are made for my feet. You can probably get some done for around 50GBP and the investment is worth it.

Jersey

I say this regardless of the event: DON'T WEAR JERSEYS YOU HAVEN'T EARNED. There's something fundamentally wrong about wearing a classification jersey if you haven't earned it.

Here's why: A pro gets a bloody hefty fine for not wearing the jersey they are entitled to, at least 1500 Swiss Francs. Just remember that the next time you think about wearing something like the rainbow or polka dot jersey replica.

There are literally hundreds of jerseys on the market that look good, wear well and are suitable for riding the Etape. Light colours are recommended, white if you are happy for it to be nowhere near as clean at the end as the start. They'll reflect the heat better. There's a wide array to choose from on the market.

If the ride is as hot as it tend to be then it needs to be made from a lightweight material but one which holds its shape well and won't sag when the pockets are full as they will be. Full zip or half zip depends on whether you fancy displaying your pasty chest to the passing Pyrenean mountain goats.

Talking of pockets, it needs to have plenty of space in them and be accessible. Try a few on to find out which one works for you as almost every manufacturer positions them differently and some are more accessible than others, depending on your size and flexibility.

Traditionally three pockets is the style but there's a few out there now with two. I like three for the ease of segmentation it offers - solid food and money in one, waterbottle or gilet in the middle, gels and powders in the other.

My recommendations are to look up something from Rapha or Shutt Velo Rapide for simple effective designs.

If you want something retro then try Prendas. Pro team kits are allowed if they are no longer an active jersey. That is the only exception to the "no pro jerseys" rule I will allow.

Helmet

As you're required to wear one, it's worth spending the cash on the lightest, most comfortable one you can afford. That will be dictated by the size and shape of your noggin and the depth of your wallet.

People who fit Giro helmets tend to have a different shape to those that fit Specialized helmet or Bell helmets.

Personally I'd be happier not wearing one but, as it is, I've invested in the Giro Prolight which is incredibly comfortable and light enough not to feel like a burden on the longer days.

Gloves

As a main contact point these are again somewhere that finding the right pair can make a big difference. Look for something lightweight and which isn't going to feel like you're wearing clown hands.

I've got a preference for classic leather mitts and I'm still wearing the same Rapha criterium gloves that I rode my first Etape in. But I do like to ride without mitts at times so I'm investigating something a bit lighter on the backs of the hand at the moment, preferably without the annoying velcro fasteners.

Baselayer

A good baselayer is one of the best pieces of kit you can invest in. It'll help reduce road rash if you fall and removes that horrid clinging dampness that jerseys can suffer from.

On descents it acts as a bit more protection from the chill and on the climbs it'll draw the sweat away from the skin.

I like the merino wool ones but lots of people swear by the Defeet mesh ones. Most manufacturers feature them in their range, so there's no excuse for not getting one.

And no, they don't cause you to overheat.

Gilet/jacket

Unless it's extremely wet you're only going to need something to keep the windchill off your torso on the descents. Don't waste time taking arm and knee warmers that take up pocket space.

Take something that packs small and even then don't waste pocket space with it. Instead, shove it up the back of your jersey where the elastic and contents of the pockets will keep it in place. If you're worried about it slipping out, then shove it in the top of your bib shorts. After about ten minutes riding you'll forget it's there.

I'm going to take my Montane Velo which packs down to the size of an apple but I may also take a look at what else I can get my hands on in the event of wet weather.

The last few spring/summer collections have seen bike accessories becoming increasingly common in mainstream fashion. This season Marc Jacobs is on the case with a range of caps and waterbottles available in Marc by Marc Jacobs stores.

The cap comes in what we call tweed but Americans call plaid, retails at $49 according to the site, so probably about £25

The waterbottles are priced at $5 but thanks to the unique way retail pricing works I'd be very surprised if they are less than £5. They also look suspiciously similar to a Specialized bottle I've acquired in shape and style. Definitely better looking than your average bottle.

In the last couple of years cycling has risen on the fashion agenda. It seems to fit with core fashion brand identity in terms of freedom, youth, vitality and so on as well as environmental concerns.

For men, it stretches from Paul Smith and Timothy Everest collaborating with Rapha to Richard James' exclusive singlespeed for Condor. But there's also the never-ending parade of hipster madness and bikes featuring in campaigns, such as the Lacoste one.

For women, the offering is equally diverse and big name. There's the adidas by Stella McCartney line which covers off the more sporty end of things.

If anyone owns and rides in this lovely little collection, please let me know as I've yet to see any of it out and about.

Even more elusive has been the Celine Bicyclette range which Garance Dore did some sketches for. Did this ever come to stores or was it just a concept?

London Cycle Chic stocks a fab range of accessories which are increasingly evident on bikes in London, particularly the panniers.

I recently picked up a cycling-inspired Paul Smith cap at the warehouse sale and there were stories of him planning an urban cycling line under the Tour de Ville name via R Newbold. Perhaps this cap is a sample but it seems odd as it was branded as Paul Smith. If anyone has any news on that, I'm very interested.

I first spotted Bont cycling shoes back in 2008 when they were being hidden under overshoes by the all-conquering Great Britain Track team. Given their commitment to the best kit, that immediately marked them out as worth investigating.

Since then the list of professional riders strapping on a pair of Bont cycling shoes has leapt significantly this season with Cervelo Test Team going so far as to make them a partner. Bradley Wiggins wears them as does Michael Rogers and some of Lance Armstrong's Nike branded shoes looks suspiciously like rebadged Bonts.

I've had these beauties knocking about since last autumn but as I bought them after the end of the season I hadn't got round to setting them up until last week. In part that's down to me not getting round to getting the velcro fixed (heating molding incident) and some Speedplay extender plates.

Why blue? Because they were so heavily reduced that it was stupid not to and it works with my London Dynamo kit. Subconsciously, perhaps I thought they'd make for a nice Bernard Hinault ridng for La Vie Claire circa 1985 vibe.

So how do they ride?

For comparison, I've been riding Specialized S-Works Boas since 2007 and prior to that was on their lower-end road shoes. Looking around the market, the Bonts offer something very distinct from other offerings.

Most cycling shoes are built on a relatively flat sole with the main body of the shoe made of soft flexible leather or synthetic upper. So you get only about a quarter of the shoe as a platform that your foot sits on.

With the Bonts, the carbon fibre "sole" wraps the foot so that it sits inside the lower half of the shoe. The upper part of the shoe is then glued over the foot and heat moldable to improve fit. What this means is that the feeling is very different as it eliminates the sensation of lateral movement on the pedal.

Actually, the whole sole is moldable in a low oven so you can really push the custom level of fit. I've not gone all out on this after a disastrous attempt involving a heat torch in a bike shop. Even without heat molding the fit is incredibly good.

The biggest difference is the stiffness. These aren't slippers, they're racing shoes so don't expect flex. You notice it, just walking to the door, that you're strapped in to a shoe that is no wet noodle.

Once you clip in it's very evident how well the design works. Instead of feeling like your foot is sitting on top of a pedal and there some being play, you feel like you're pushing down on a much bigger platform that extends across the whole foot and that you're putting the full force of your leg through the pedal stroke.

I'm still tweaking my cleat setup to make them perfect and had concerns about hotspotting due to the stiffness but once I was racing on Tuesday night I really didn't notice any. I need to test them on a longer ride but for crits, they are awesome.

It definitely felt like I was putting down more power and that there was far less slop in my pedalling. After all these years it's weird to feel so connected when riding to the extent that you almost forget that it's a shoe clipped to a pedal.

I'll come back on how they feel after a longer term test some time later this years.

The big headline is Rapha for Women at last!

Obviously my first response is to make a list of the things I want.

The lightweight jersey in light blue would be nice if I'm doing the Etape this year (of course this means the moment I get one it'll be hellish weather).

It's got something of a classic Bianchi team jersey vibe going on and not being white gives it a bit more usability in my book.

I need a new gilet and I'm quite tempted by the new white one. Although I do really like the contrast stripe of the old one which feels a little bolder than the piping.

The full preview shows plenty of things that I WANT and expansion in the range that look interesting.

The city riding stuff is nice enough but doesn't turn my cranks. Perhaps I'm a bit binary about having bike mode and town mode. I like what they're doing but it doesn't grab me for riding around town. That said the pocket t-shirt may turn out to be an opportune purchase at some point.

Would love to hear what you guys think of the new stuff. Any standout items, any duffers?

On the women's stuff, I'd really love to hear what women who cycle think of it. Grit & Glimmer have got a first look with an American perspective I guess, but what about women cycling in the UK?

For me the three items are the core of any good cycling collection and the decision to go with normal shorts, not bibs is well thought out given the likely audience and type of event they'll be riding.