By Karen Heller

Philadelphia Inquirer, July 6, 1986
 

Nerd chic continues on the strange island of Manhattan. Nerd glasses,reported here recently, continue to shield the coolest of eyes. Tight,black bicycle shorts are also popular for men and women - and they don'tlook particularly swell on anyone, not even tall, thin people. (Now, that'sa feat.) Big, black clodhopper shoes are being worn with thick, white socksbunched around the ankle. In fact, no hip young woman worth her Bloomingdale'scharge card is wearing anything approximating a heel this summer.

The paragon of this attire, the model of modernity, is the urban bikemessenger. It is a sad irony, however, that messenger chic is often toocostly for its progenitors. "Most of our guys can't afford those shorts,"says Jack Wood of Philadelphia's Kangaroo Couriers. Indeed. Bike-Tech sellsthe shorts, made out of Lycra spandex, for $28 to $65.