Papillionaire Bicycles

The gorgeous 'Sommer' ladies' bike by Papillionaire Bicycles - available in three picture-perfect colours.

Papillionaire's 'Classic' style

You know how you go overseas somewhere cool like Paris or Tokyo or Amsterdam, and you see all the cool locals riding around on awesome-looking bikes, and you think 'man, why don't I look that cute when I ride around on my bike at home?'... and then you go through all the possible options of how you could buy one of these cool international-flavoured bikes and ship it home? ...and then in the end you realise it is going to cost, like, $500 to ship it and will take 3 months or something, and so you reluctantly give up on the whole idea and go home to your rusty old Malvern Star? Yes, I know you know what I am talking about.

Well, local start-up Papillionaire Bicycles have the perfect solution to this common dilemma! Melbourne bike-enthusiast Alan Caras has spent a year perfecting his fab little range of locally-made Dutch-style bicycles - launched just last week! You can now get your hands on the cutest European-style bike, built right here in Melbourne, for around $500.

Customise and purchase your Papillionaire bike on their website here. You can also pop in to Papillionaire's South Yarra workshop for a test-ride.

Oh My. This is enough to get me seriously re-thinking my mode of transport. Summer is coming, people!

Papillionaire takes to the streets in the CBD

See, they really are from Melbourne :)