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Live blog: World Naked Bike Ride in London to take place tomorrow despite expected disruption, THE COOLEST overshoes ever, plans to pedestrianise London’s Oxford Street binned, BMC TT bike recall + lots more

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Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn’t especially like cake.
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Alas it's another part of "because cars / 'change', we can't just copy a well-proven design eg. from NL" On top of this is the UK "not invented here" making it up / no expertise or standard designs AND a "we must fit cyclists in around existing road space" causing strange contorted layouts. So what happens is we get things like bi-directional cycle *lanes* (not separated cycle paths) because cheapest / easiest to patch in. So that means that pedestrians don't have a space to wait *after* crossing the cycle space and *before* they have to deal with the road. (It also puts another block in the way of cycling convenience at traffic lights - say at a T-junction - because unlike NL the lights then apply to cyclists going straight on, whereas in NL that would be an informal cycle path crossing for pedestrians with no lights applying to the cycle path part - so cyclists just keep rolling).
In 2019, Shanghai and other Chinese major cities implemented strict regulations and clean-up operations tp remove millopns of abondoned dockless bicycles that had created public nuisances and blocked pavements. One can't blame local authorities for taking actions in order to stop a messy situation triggered by unruly users.
@Jakrayan Criticising people for not riding primary is like criticising a victim of domestic abuse for cringing when their partner threatens them with their fist. People don't ride in the gutter because they want to, they do it because if they don't they know there's a better than even chance that in any given ride at least one driver will be so affronted by the ENTITLED BIKE NONCE TAKIN' UP THE WHOLE ROAD!!!11 they'll do a deliberate punishment pass that could kill you or leave you maimed for life. Getting over in the gutter isn't a great solution, but multiple uncomfortable but not life-threatening passes is better than one potentially catastrophic one. It shouldn't be a cyclist's responsibility to put their life at risk just to remind drivers to obey the rules of the road they should be doing regardless. And as for "just getting off and walking", putting aside the reality that a ridden bike takes up *less* space than one with the rider walking alongside and so I'd argue the most considerate way to use that inadequate infrastructure(presumably there are no safe alternatives within a reasonable distance or why would anyone on a bike be using it at all) would be to proceed across on the bike at walking pace and then stop and put your foot down if someone needs to get by you; plenty of people use bikes as mobility aids and so "just get off" isn't as simple as it's made out to be. A couple of years back I had the worst sprain of my life, I could barely even hobble for two weeks and had a huge honking brace on my foot, had to sleep on the sofa downstairs because climbing them was a no go. I could still ride my bike though, do my shopping, see my mates - plenty of people have impairments that aren't temporary, to them "just get off" is tantamount to saying "just stay home". Let's keep it a benjamin as the kids say: "shared responsibility" and "keeping everyone safe" are, literally, copouts. They've framed the entire campaign so they can justify only taking actions that don't piss off drivers, and don't require them to actually do any work except harassing a few cyclists as they do a lunch run to the local Greggs, because that's the level of seriousness police in this country - in an institutional sense - believe road crime deserves.
"Scott says that it ‘redefines cable routing in the mountain bike industry’. While we’re yet to see if that claim rings true" I have a Spark RC Pro (2022) with mechanically controlled components. Because we use the front brake lever on the drive (right) side in the UK I have the rear brake hose and two cable housings (dropper and shock) on the NDS entering the headset. On my current bike I use 3.0mm Jagwire housing with no problems. I can install them by just pushing them through the headset without dismantling it. The new 2027 Spark has two openings either side of the headset so it is set up for a rear brake to be on the DS (right). Maybe they are dismissing countries that have the UK's brake lever configuration.
The first link is to one of their cycling computers.
To be fair when I'm out on the roads, car or bike, I see very many instances of people cycling who could be doing better. Ignoring the delivery riders, most of whom we know aren't actually riding bicycles / Ebikes, the most common issue I see is people riding too close to the edge of the road. Yes, drivers absolutely should do better, however this type of riding does little to discourage drivers from overtaking, and they will still pass too closely leaving the rider with FA room to the left either. So educating riders as to how to ride more safely isn't a bad idea IMHO. As for that narrow bridge, if it's popular with pedestrians I don't see how getting off and walking a few yards is a massive issue. And I'm normally in SPD-SL road cleats!
Indeed. Some lanes are so narrow, and with overgrown vegetation, that the driver may not be able to see anything behind in his wing (door) mirrors, and vans usually don't have a rear window so no rear-view mirror either. Much easier in this situation to just turn around and head back to the nearest farm gate, it won't be far. After all, 'share the road' works both ways. And before someone comments to say if you drive where you can't clearly see what's behind you, that driver may have no choice - deliveries, tradespeople etc.
So we can add time travel to his list of talents? Is there nothing the man can't do?
"Arguably the best way to carry panniers on the front of pretty much any bike" The thing that is missing from this sentence is the qualification "...that doesn't have the right bosses for a typical low rider rack" The horizontal tube seems too low which means careful pannier selection to avoid a ground clearance issue. Also the panniers are going to be quite far forward which is less than ideal. If you have the bosses then I'd argue you're much better off with something else e.g. a Tubus Duo which places the panniers at a good height and allows them to sit behind the axle minimising the effect on steering.
I was referring more to the cycling computers they produce, but I’m sure an opportunity to snipe couldn’t be missed. The article you refer to is for the older of their radar lights. My suggestion was that they have several cycling computers in a popular price bracket that seem to offer good usability. It would be nice to see those reviewed.
9 thoughts on “Live blog: World Naked Bike Ride in London to take place tomorrow despite expected disruption, THE COOLEST overshoes ever, plans to pedestrianise London’s Oxford Street binned, BMC TT bike recall + lots more”
Cowardly WCC bowing and
Cowardly WCC bowing and scraping to their fuel burning overlords as per
roadmanshaq wrote:
It’s a dreadful decision.
Come up with a better plan, sure, but this is bad for the street, bad for the millions who use it (not just a few NIMBY locals) and bad for the city. Bad, bad, bad. And it’ll get worse when Crossrail starts pouring tens of thousands of passengers out of Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street.
As I understood it the Oxford
As I understood it the Oxford Street pedestrianisation would have been just that – pedestrianisation, with no provision for cycling.
I’ve mixed feelings about
I’ve mixed feelings about this. Removing the buses and taxis is a good thing but removing cycling is bad; it is used heavily as an East West cycle corridor, there are no alternatives either side of this corridor.
What really needs to be done, as in many European cities, is a high quality cycle path along the street and motors removed.
Neither WCC nor TfL would ever consider doing this so cancelling the whole thing is the least bad option for cycling.
As a regular London cyclist
As a regular London cyclist commuter (100 miles plus every week) I wouldn’t want cyclist allowed onto a pedestrianised Oxford Street. The speeds at which some cyclists seem to think they are entitled to go at on shared paths etc, I think it would simply put pedestrians at risk.
Cyclists are no more entitled to any special dispensation than motorists are if the question is one of pedestrian safety.
perfect1964 wrote:
I think I agree. Central london when busy (in the city, and around it) is horrible for peds walking into the road without looking or caring…and there will always be a minority of cyclists who ride like car drivers – rushed and with no consideration for others. This (now scrapped) scheme would only mean one thingif cyclists mixed – people will turn even more against cycling in the capital. Not what we want.
Not sure of the solution…but proper segregated routes away from here would be best?
Oxford Street is a pretty
Oxford Street is a pretty miserable road to cycle down, not only because of the traffic, but also the sheer number of pedestrians. Even with a cycle lane (which wasn’t in the plan anyway), riding next to a largely pedestrianised Oxford Street would be hellish.
I use Mortimer Street instead.
srchar wrote:
Yep, OS to be avoided at all costs. Likewise Rye Lane on my commute home. I stick an extra mile on each way, just in keeping it as pleasant as possible. Always slightly baffled to see cyclists slogging it out down roads from hell when parallel gems exist. Colleague of mine does it, saying he’d get lost using my routes. Rode home with him on his route once and it was enough to put anyone off cycling in London.
I am a keen cyclist and as my
I am a keen cyclist and as my club demands it a member of Britsh Cycling so have insurance.
I work close to spitalfields and each week have a least one near miss with a cretin on a bicycle going far to fast on the pedestrian area.
If Cyclists wish to have other road users respect them some of them need to start obeying the highway code and laws relating to where they can ride bicycles. That said I no longer cycle commute because after being kocked off no less than four times by innatentive and arrogant car van and truck drivers I am fed up with missing club riding due to injury, I firmly belive the driving test should include on bike cycle training.
As for their pavement hog and unaware road based twits on bikes THEY do nothing to help their own safety ridng along texting, with headphones on or earbugs in, without lights, cutting up the inside of large vehicles, jumping lights etc is just begging to be killed in London.