DC designer/gallery owner (etc.) Eric Brewer and partner Keith Jackson have taken on a daunting task: making cycling gear that isn’t atrocious. He sums up the problem thus: “We’d like to have just one stylish jersey we could wear into a coffee shop and not feel like a clown.” As a cyclist, I have to praise Brewer for tackling this problem. I’m willing sacrifice any chance of sexiness by wearing spandex shorts with a padded tush—they are necessary for a litany of unmentionable reasons. But the neon ads for European phone companies, wannabe replica jerseys (polka dots, Discovery, etc.) and goofy cartoon characters, they’re just embarrassing. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s all you have to choose from.

Brewer is debuting his snappy togs in my hometown, Portland, Ore., at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Here’s the jersey he designed for the show: