Bikes with alligator-skin saddles, frames adorned with 24-carat-gold leaf, or just two wheels designed to your very own personal specifications - from Paris to Tokyo, via Milan, designer and customized bicycles costing thousands of dollars are the latest must-have luxury item coveted by urban elites in search of "pedal chic".

A world away from the bland utilitarianism of self-service bikes, these top-end cycles are becoming as much a status symbol as a car ever was.

And whether they be trendy young professionals or big names in the business world, designers are competing to woo potential customers with sleek, luxury models.

Hermes, which specializes in luxury leather goods, is one of the market's leading players. Its Flaneur model comes with a price tag of 9,000 euros ($11,300).

For that, deep-pocketed cyclists get a designer name, eight gears, a carbon monobloc frame and water-resistant taurillon leather saddle and handlebar grips.

The bike is "very successful", both with regular Hermes customers and with cycling enthusiasts who "find something new in it", said Francois Dore, director general of Hermes Horizons.

"We wanted to set out our vision of cycling as the favorite means of transport for the modern citizen," Dore said.

On the other side of the Alps, bike maker 43 Milano turned to Pininfarina, the Italian car design and coach-building company, for its Fuoriserie model.

Status symbol

The chrome bike, priced at 8,400 euros, is equipped with a discreet electric motor on the back wheel, and is inspired by one of the company's 1930s car designs.

"The braided leather of the saddle and the handlebar is inspired by the interior of the car," said Paolo Pininfarina, president of the business founded by his grandfather. With just a limited edition of 30, it is aimed at "bosses who live in city centers".

The bike is said to have been invented in 1817 by the German Karl von Drais. By the middle of the 20th century it had become a cheap and easy means of transport for the masses all over the world.

Today, it is also a luxury accessory, with Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari all coming out with their own top-of-the-line bikes.

Marketing expert Bruno Urvoy said: "With bikes, people rediscover the independence that they had with the car, but without any of the inconvenience of traffic.

"They can exercise, they can breathe and rediscover their freedom," said Urvoy, who has also opened his own bike shop in Paris, En Selle Marcel (On Saddle Marcel).