Welcome to the first road.cc live blog of the 2020s with Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: New bikes and kit galore as 2020 starts; Amazing new feature on latest BMW range; Commuter switches to cycling – and builds a stack of cash; Bolivia’s ‘Death Road’ video; Astana riders hit by car while training + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond as we start another … decade
Wed, Jan 01, 2020 17:05
SUMMARY
1 January 2020, 17:05
Commuter switches to cycling - and builds a stack of cash
Ok, so we all know that commuting by bike is cheaper than doing so by car or public transport.
One Twitter user however who switched from the bus to her bike to get to work decided to put aside the money she saved over the year … and ended up with the princely sum of £652.43.
We might make putting money aside each time we use the bike rather than some other means of transport one of our New Year’s resolutions … that money would come in handy next Christmas.
Yesterday was my last working day this year and I’ve saved £652.43. I had to withdraw the money each week or I knew I would just spend it. But it’s now tucked away in a savings account! #cycletowork #commutebybike
— helen (@choink) December 31, 2019
1 January 2020, 17:05
No thanks
Bolivia’s ‘Death Road’ is on the bucket list of many backpackers visiting Latin America. The road.cc branch of the Self Preservation Society is inclined to give it a miss, however.
I did this! It was fun
— leanne (@walkabout26) December 30, 2019
1 January 2020, 17:05
Two Astana riders hit by car while training
Yet another case of a driver putting pro cyclists in hospital after crashing into them while they were training – this latest one happened in Spain.
Today, our riders Yevgeniy Gidich and Vadim Pronskiy were hit by a car while training in Altea, Spain. Both riders have been moved to the hospital shortly after the accident.#AstanaProTeam
— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) December 30, 2019
Let this accident be yet another reminder for everybody to stay concentrated in traffic and respectful to other road users.
— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) December 30, 2019
1 January 2020, 17:05
New year, new colours
Today’s the day that contracts for 2020 kick in, meaning riders who have switched teams are now free to show off their new kit – here’s Vincenzo Nibali getting out of his former Bahrain Merida kit and into his Trek Segafredo training jersey…
Primo gennaio
Anno nuovo, nuovi colori @TrekSegafredo @TrekBikes @SANTINI_SMS @segafredoitalia pic.twitter.com/b8hlz0jPbh— Vincenzo Nibali (@vincenzonibali) January 1, 2020
1 January 2020, 17:05
Here's a look at Bahrain-McLaren's new kit and bikes
A short overview of what has changed with the equipment that @Bahrain_Merida is racing on in 2020:
– wheels are from @visionmy now
– power meter: @ShimanoROAD
– bike wear @LeColUK
And yes: The #SCULTURA and #REACTOEVO @MeridaBikes will be specced with disc brakes. pic.twitter.com/3LBOGTOsOi— MeridaProRoadRacing (@MeridaProRoad) January 1, 2020
1 January 2020, 17:05
Movistar's 2020 Canyon Aeroad and Canyon Ultimate
Movistar are among the teams to have flagged up new bikes and kit today as the New Year begins – here’s a look at the 2019 kit – we’re liking the Spanish national champions’ jerseys – plus their Canyon Aeroad and Ultimate bikes, and their components.
Canyon Aeroad CF SLX
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
1 January 2020, 17:05
New Canyon bikes for Mathieu van der Poel's Alpecin-Fenix team, too
It’s not just Movistar who are getting new Canyon bikes – they’re also headed the way of cyclo-cross world champion Mathieu van der Poel’s Alpecin-Fenix team, previously known as Corenden-Circus.
The Dutchman’s big goal for the year isn’t on the road, however – he’s gunning for the gold medal in the cross-country mountain bike race at the Tokyo Olympics.
1 January 2020, 17:05
Still Giant bikes at CCC
Once again, CCC are riding Giant – here’s some pictures of them being ridden on the team’s recent training camp by, respectively, Alessandro De Marchi, Matteo Trentin and The Man With The Golden Helmet, Greg Van Avermaet.
1 January 2020, 17:05
Sometimes the obvious needs to be stated
Bicycles.
I claim my prize. https://t.co/ro5EOBPu2d
— Elisabeth Anderson (@velobetty) January 1, 2020
1 January 2020, 17:05
The 2020 BMW range has an amazing new feature
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
FionaJJ 5 minutes ago
It was already embarrassing for the police that they made such a mess of their attempt to determine whether a bike was legal or not, but I had assumed it was a group of well intentioned, but under-trained officers acting on their own initiative, having spotted something they thought looked not quite right. I'm now discovering this was a planned activity, something sufficiently organised to have been given a name - Operation FRISLEN, designed specifically to identify and remove illegal e-bikes and scooters. It's apparent that the officers were sent out without adequate training, never mind the kind of equipment that should be used for this sort of work. I'm not saying they always need specialist equipment to spot all illegal bikes, but at least if they'd been given a demonstration with that equipment, they'd have realised why their approach was not going to end well.
Geoff Ingram 2 hours ago
Have put drop bars on a 2001 B1 mtb, a 2007 stumpy hardtail and a 2010 stumpy full suss. In all cases fairly basic conversións leaving gearing and wheels broadly the same and concentrating on correct positioning of bars and fit. Oddly, with all 3 I was happy with the result when recently done, but after a few months found that the extra speed on easy trails was more than offset by the lack of ability (probably mine) on tougher routes and finally preferred flat bar with slammed and inverted stem as best overall compromise. Good fun playing around, though.
mark1a 2 hours ago
The photos in this review look they are for a different bag?
mattw 4 hours ago
This is a strange reactionary knee jerk overall. But what is this "are essentially motorbikes in disguise" waffle? "One letter claimed that high-powered electric ‘e-bikes’ were “essentially motorbikes” in disguise, with many being used without lights, helmets, or any hi-vis clothing." Surely, they simply ARE motorbikes?
bikes 4 hours ago
I only watched the last one, that's enough for me! A punishment pass and a clueless passenger. Did you op snap that one?
bikes 4 hours ago
I don't love the motorway comment. What if they're miles from a motorway? The get in the cycle lane comment is born out of ignorance from people who never cycle. I would just tell them the reason: It's full of broken glass, wet leaves, etc. I'm turning right. I'd have to keep stopping and then rejoining the road. I'd have to keep giving way. It's full of pedestrians. Etc. Or simply ask if they have tried it and leave it at that.
Rendel Harris 4 hours ago
@Chris RideFar In any of the offered options (Amazon, Apple or Spotify) there are transcript buttons that will give you a transcript if you wish. I think as road.cc has a limited staff and budget and most people enjoy it free, asking them to provide everything just the way we want it is perhaps a bit much?
Chris RideFar 6 hours ago
I don't come to road.cc for podcasts. Where is the text version of this article? Or at least a simple transcript, please.
ChasP 6 hours ago
My convertible mtb uses a Chinese carbon version of the Surley corner bars. Needed a different stem to adjust the position (a smaller frame size would have worked better) converted to 2x from 1x to give a better range for the road. Using the same brakes and shifters makes it a quick simple swap.
qwerty360 7 hours ago
@mctrials23 Hmm; Citing data that google suggests is from a single hospital... A hospital that looks to be in the middle of a city so will have a massively disproportionate chunk of said injuries and doesn't get the biggest cause of traumatic head injury (car crashes) because there are far easier to get to A&E departments... (Though will note that the data probably does support investigation, at least into mandatory helmets for children given high rate of beginners etc. Plausibly also supports offering training in schools and building better facilities)
7 thoughts on “Live blog: New bikes and kit galore as 2020 starts; Amazing new feature on latest BMW range; Commuter switches to cycling – and builds a stack of cash; Bolivia’s ‘Death Road’ video; Astana riders hit by car while training + more”
I found that the money I don
I found that the money I don’t spend on public transport gets spent on more food on the days that I ride to work (have only driven to work one day in the last three or four years).
brooksby wrote:
How many miles do you ride into work and how fast and what’s your basal rate? How much do you spend on transport?
At a modest 40cals per mile for 10 miles that’s 10p for 100g raw pasta (170g cooked) and 45p for 100g chicken breast (eggs for protein are massively cheaper) that’s approx 400kcals. Don’t forget just sitting burns energy as well so the differential between sitting and cycling needs to be taken into account. 10 miles cycling should cost you for the additional calories less than 40p.
I don’t know what bus you use but I highly doubt there are any buses you can travel a 5 mile return for even 5 times that.
Yes brake pads, chains, cassettes, tyres cost money but unless you’re using really expensive parts then it really isn’t a lot of money per year for 4 season cycling, £60 a year would be enough to do 3000 commuter miles.
Pads, well I bought 10 pair each of Ritchey Vs and road pads, @70p a pair, ore than adequate for commuting.
Tiagra 10 speed cassette £20, should last you for 10,000 miles, they were knocking the previous tiagra 10 speeds for £12.50 a couple of years ago – I bought 5 along with SRAM chains for a tenner just for the commuter, you can still get SRAM chains for £12
Tyres are ten a penny, there’s so much choice at silly prices even for decent rubber.
Cycling largely displaced
Cycling largely displaced walking for me. Even walking is quicker and more reliable than the bus (I don’t know why any able-bodied person bothers with those useless things). (I can understand using above-ground trains…and the Tube is OK if you are both wealthy and have a high-tolerance for being packed into subterranean caskets in conditions that would be illegal for cattle…but buses have always been rubbish).
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
Tube is for the weathly?
I could easily have bought
I could easily have bought and run a cheapo car for the money I’ve spent on cycling but that’s not the point. Cycling to work saves me time, saves me getting too frustrated (I’m not patient enough to sit in stationary traffic for hours!), saves my mental and physical health and also saves the planet. Cycling is also my hobby so it’s not just about commuting. But, with bikes, you can pretty much spend as much or as little as you want.
Cycling is more reliable than
Cycling is more reliable than public transport. When I go to the bike shed I am confident my bike will be there, and that it will then take me about an hour to get home. Now in theory the train takes less than half that time, but its unreliable to the point of being a lottery. I could wait half an hour before giving up and getting the bus, which is a pretty wretched experience in itself.
EddyBerckx wrote:
I might be employing a slightly hyperbolic use of ‘wealthy’, but are you saying it’s not absurdly expensive or denying that low-income people tend to use buses instead?
It has gotten progressively more costly for decades now. It feels to me like every time I have used it, after a break from doing so, going back several decades, I’ve been shocked to find how much more expensive it is than I remembered. As far as I’m concerned at this point it’s just throwing money away – better to walk or cycle and save the £6 or £7 a return to central London costs to spend on something more worthwhile.
Mile-for-mile it costs several times as much as Concorde. If there are two of you it’s cheaper to share a minicab than to go a couple of stops on the tube. It’s more expensive than any other European metro system, or NYC’s for that matter (_far_ more so than the Paris Metro, say), because it isn’t subsidised, users have to pay their way (unlike car drivers).
You really think someone on a low income would take the tube if they had a choice?
These are a few years out-of-date, but I don’t think it’s gotten any better since
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-39806865