San Francisco is a city of avid bikers. But few bike pants are appropriate for the office and few work pants make safe and effective bike pants. The answer was a trouser that is functional and fashionable, said Lindland. Bike to work pants made their debut in 2008 and since that time, Betabrand has sold 3,000 pairs.
When creating the pants, Lindland "discovered that reflectivity and chain grease protection were the most useful things to design into the trousers."
Bike to work pants are made out of stretch cotton twill and have reflector strips along the hemlines, which are seen only when the pants are cuffed. The pants also come with a bright "V" shaped sign that can be pulled out and attached to the left rear pocket.
The reflector strips and sign help make the biker more visible to motorists and pedestrians at night.
The pants have gotten popular, because bikers like to blog, said Lindland.
Online fashion startup Betabrand subverts the rules of retail by getting design ideas from social media.
