Elias Schwärzler hits 272km/h on a mountain bike (towed by a motorbike); Doctor loses second bike this month to thief who cut through hospital rack; UCI announces cyclocross WC round in London; A Tale of Two Drivers; Tour teams + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Doctor loses second bike this month to thief who cut through hospital cycle rack
A doctor in Sheffield finished their shift at a hospital, returned to the bike rack to cycle home, only to find a thief had taken their bike. Not by cutting through their lock, but instead cutting through the very rack the bike was locked to…Oh, and to make matters worse, it’s the second bike he’s had stolen this month…
“How are we in a position that this is ok and happens so frequently?” the doctor’s wife asked…
My husband (a hospital doctor) has just had his bike stolen from work – the second bike this month – the thieves cut through the U frame it was locked to. How are we in a position that this is ok and happens so frequently? @CycleSheffield pic.twitter.com/ncMjsYhMrZ
— Rachael Rothman (@RachaelRothman) June 23, 2022
In a reply, Rachael added some interesting police ‘advice’ and confirmed the area was not covered by CCTV…
Sadly no cameras. Last month the police told my husband he shouldn’t have an expensive bike if he doesn’t want it stolen.. in the grand scheme of bikes it wasn’t expensive, but it was good enough to commute 100 miles a week to hospital on.
— Rachael Rothman (@RachaelRothman) June 23, 2022
Employers need to invest in better cycle storage provision. Indoor secure units with CCTV. Like bike lockers. Reward staff who choose the healthy option of cycle commuting to employment. Good for mental health, good for fitness. Happier, healthier workforce. Less sick days.
— keeptheball (@keeptheball) June 24, 2022
Unfortunately the bike theft shock factor left a long time ago. We’ve been worn down by countless depressing tales of thieves taking bikes from hospitals…
In March, we spoke to a victim who had their bike stolen from inside a cancer centre where she was having an emergency brain scan.
> “My heart sank”: Victim speaks out after shameless thief stole bike from cancer centre
In 2020, two men were charged following a series of bike thefts from Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre…while staff were inside treating coronavirus patients…
Joss Lowden wins British national TT champs
Apologies for the late (next day) update to yesterday’s TT champs results. I was long off into the search for Classic Italian Taste San Pellegrino (very good, by the way) by the time Joss Lowden won the women’s elite TT in the glorious Dumfries evening sunshine.
She said afterwards: “I’m very, very pleased. Obviously I was eyeing it up last year so this year to come out and do a ride I’m really pleased with – there was nothing left on the road today. I really enjoyed it, it was a beautiful course.”
Men’s champ Ethan Hayter is eyeing up a road race TT double…
“It’s really nice to defend my national title and I’m looking forward to wearing these stripes in Europe. We’ve been pretty lucky with the weather today – perfect weather for a time-trial. Hopefully I’ll win the road race on Sunday, but I’ve got both Bens with me [Tulett and Turner] and they’re both really strong, so we’ll see.”
And a nice photo with brother (and U23 champ) Leo for the mantlepiece too…
All images: SWPix
A Tale of Two Drivers
Example of crap unaware driver behaviour mixed in with some top notch super aware driver behaviour on Lanark Rd coming home from work today. – 1 pic.twitter.com/hf3y0dttsZ
— Alan Gordon (@agordonsalive) June 23, 2022
Oh and a YPLAC nomination right out the top draw…
Outstanding overnight @YPLAC from that cabbie!https://t.co/m4vc5XgxWJ pic.twitter.com/nLTJ8gdZ44
— LukeB_MTB (@LukeB_MTB) June 24, 2022
"Flabbergasted" Yorkshire cyclist riding across America gets £2,000 donation from Dame Judi Dench
I have now climbed the two highest passes I’ll tackle on my solo bike ride across America for @mssocietyuk
This pass is nearly three times the height of Mount Snowdon! pic.twitter.com/PEXvb9tFHo— Antony Butcher (@antonybutcher) June 17, 2022
Anthony Butcher’s pan-America adventure to raise money for people with multiple sclerosis received an unexpected boost in the form of a £2,000 donation from Dame Judi Dench. Anthony set a £20,000 target and was “flabbergasted” to learn Dame Judi had sent over a cheque to his home, which (to great surprise) his wife subsequently opened.
“It was just before I reached my target of £20,000 and it pushed me right up to the edge — I screamed and jumped up and down,” he told the BBC.
“My dad was dentist to Judi Dench’s daughter for a period of time and she had remembered my mum.”
In the last week, Anthony has traversed the Rocky Mountains ahead of 10 days cycling through the Sierra Nevada. “Then there’s a third mountain range to get over and the wind is blowing a real hoolie, so I’m having to fight for every mile,” he said.
"Ah, hospital cycle parking, another box-ticking exercise": Reaction to doctor having second bike stolen this month
NHS Bike Room, campaigning for better bike facilities across the NHS, tweeted: “This is why we need secure places to park our bikes. Not the first and sadly won’t be the last.”
Join our fight for secure bike parking across all NHS sites! Let’s make this a thing of the past
— NHS Bike Room (@BikeNhs) June 24, 2022
So what else have you been saying this morning?
Owd Big ‘Ead called hospital cycle parking facilities “another box-ticking exercise by the public sector to convince themselves that they are doing something worthwhile for the health of the nation and environment”.
Reiver2768 made the point: “Surely an employer like the NHS, of all organisations, should be promoting active travel and should be making at least some effort (over and above a piece of bent pipe in the ground) to facilitate this?”
eburtthebike reported it’s a location issue that needs to become more commonplace: “The NHS is very keen on active travel, and in some places, they support it with cycle stations, including indoor, secure cycle parking, showers and changing rooms and lockers; just not everywhere.”
It’s a dilemma for most of us weighing up commuting by bike…
“I’m lucky enough to have my own private office, so I can bring my bike inside (which also, means I can commute on one of my ‘nice’ bikes without worry). If I wasn’t able to do this, I probably wouldn’t commute by bike at all – especially with the area I work in. Even using the cheapest beater bike you can find gets very expensive if it’s stolen all the time.”
Surrey Roads Policing Unit hails "really positive" Transport for London changes
Really positive to see @TfL improving safety for vulnerable road users.
Motorists: it’s not mandatory for a cyclist to use a cycle lane, there is often good reason not to – too narrow, pot holes, debris, drains etc.
Give vulnerable road users space when passing. pic.twitter.com/V1LTMG6gyQ
— Roads Policing Unit (RPU) – Surrey Police – UK (@SurreyRoadCops) June 23, 2022
> Transport for London to begin fining motorists caught driving in mandatory cycle lanes
UCI announces cyclocross WC round in London
Exciting news!
In yesterdays newsletter, the UCI and Flanders Classics confirmed that London has been awarded the final empty slot on the worldcup calander
— Cyclocross Social (@Cyclocrosss) June 24, 2022
11th December 2022: world class cyclocross is coming to London. The UCI has announced the empty slot on the calendar has been taken by the English capital, and although details about where and what the course will look like, the thought of Pidcock, Van Aert and Van der Poel (if they’re not on their winter break) doing battle on home mud is something to look forward to.
Elsewhere on the calendar there is another new round in…Benidorm?! No, really… Starting from the wintering Briton-infested sun loungers, the riders will sprint to the all-inclusive, have to finish a pitcher of blue lagoon and a shot of sambuca before riding back to the start through the pool. Seven laps. Last rider standing…
It’s pool time for stage winner Quinten Hermans 💦 🐬#BaloiseBelgiumTour 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/fquRnTeZBO
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) June 18, 2022
How to remove press-fit bottom bracket bearings in 12 easy steps
Step 1. Walk or ride to bike shop
Step 2. Leave with bike shop
Steps 3-10. Wait
Step 11. Hand over cash
Step 12. Ride home https://t.co/Apf0cplCHg— Tom Epton (@sportwritertom) June 24, 2022
If you do fancy it…
> How to remove press-fit bottom bracket bearings in 12 easy steps
Tour teams: No Simon Yates for BikeExchange
Any thought Simon Yates’ early Giro d’Italia withdrawal could prompt a Tour de France stage-hunting raid have been shut down…
🅿🆁🅴🆂🅴🅽🆃🅸🅽🅶 🅾🆄🆁 🆃🅴🅰🅼 🇫🇷 #TDF2022 🟡
🔵BAUER
⚪️DURBRIDGE
🔴GROENEWEGEN
🔵JANSEN
⚪️JUUL-JENSEN
🔴MATTHEWS
🔵MEZGEC
⚪️SCHULTZ“𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥.” @GroenewegenD 🎯
📖 https://t.co/VfTZWhM1YE pic.twitter.com/Oexi8OymwB
— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) June 24, 2022
An almost full-on sprint team…what a throwback. Nick Schultz and Michael Matthews will offer options on the lumpier days, but don’t expect to see much of the Aussie outfit in the mountains…
Team leader and making his Tour de France return for the first time since the Tour of Poland crash and subsequent comeback, Dylan Groenewegen said: “I’m looking forward to returning to the Tour de France, the last time I raced was in 2019 and it was a success for me, and so it is great to be returning this year.
“I will have a strong team, the best support that I need. We’ve been working a lot together this year, we’ve had some good wins and that is the big goal for us in France.”
But does it aero? New Trek Madone 2023
Elias Schwärzler hits 272km/h on a mountain bike (towed by a motorbike)
272.9km/h or 169mph…that’s how fast German mountain bike pro Elias Schwärzler clocked in a successful Guinness World Record attempt last month. He’s this week released the video showing his pulse-raising achievement. Think how fast he could have gone if he pedalled…(joke)…
Schwärzler is now officially the “fastest person to be pulled on a bicycle” after more than a year of preparation for the attempt, and was pulled into the record books at the Lausitz-Ring in Brandenburg, north east Germany.
His parents reaction to learning his idea was, as you’d expect: “No, definitely don’t do that,” he told Voralberg. “In the end it was okay because my parents now know that I prepare everything I do properly.
“I always say, you squat up there like a donkey. I can’t raise my head because the headwind is so strong. I just had a real tunnel vision and kept seeing briefly, ah, there’s the motorcyclist, I have to go there. On the one hand, I was of course happy that everything worked out well, in terms of safety. On the other hand, we didn’t achieve the goal.”
The goal? 300km/h…
Over to Brazilian speedster Evandro Portela who has his eyes on topping 300km/h later this year to break the motor-paced cycling world record.
Biniam Girmay makes winning return to racing
Biniam Girmay won Eritrea’s national TT champs on his return to racing following THAT dream Giro d’Italia win and nightmare celebration…
He’s something of a superstar in his home nation (and the rest of the world, for that matter)…
A hero @GrmayeBiniam 🇪🇷
🎥 @4AfricanVision pic.twitter.com/jpz5KPHEqJ
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) June 24, 2022
Other newly-crowned TT champions we might have missed: 21-year-old Raúl García Pierna, who rides for Equipo Kern Pharma, shocked the big WorldTour names to take Spain’s title, while Mavi García took the women’s crown.
Lisa Brennauer is the German champ for the second year in a row, and Omer Goldstein will represent Israel’s national jersey a week today in the opening TT of the Tour de France. Brother and sister Mathias and Emma Norsgaard won both Denmark’s top titles, while Jan Tratnik and Urška Žigart are Slovenia’s winners (neither Pog or Rog made the journey home however)…
The Tour 21 gets underway
🚨 SEVEN DAYS UNTIL THE TOUR DE FRANCE 🚨
A week until the Tour means The Tour 21 riders, including Geoff Thomas, are getting their three-week challenge underway with the Copenhagen TT stage. Over 21 days, the riders will ride the exact same route the professionals will race, aiming to raise over £1 million for Cure Leukaemia.
As of day one of the 2022 ride, The Tour 21 has this year already raised over £635,000. Geoff Thomas returns to ride the Tour de France once again this month alongside 17 other riders. After hearing of LeMond’s diagnosis he said: “I was shocked to hear of Greg’s diagnosis, but what is promising is seeing him being so positive.
“This demonstrates the incredible progress being made in clinical trials across the world. When I was first diagnosed back in 2003 with the same form of leukaemia, I was only given a slim chance of survival. Fast forward 19 years and a diagnosis such as ours is treatable.
“We are over half way to our target of £1million but we still have much more to do to keep giving more people positive news when they are first diagnosed.”
Fred Wright makes Bahrain Victorious' Tour team
We are thrilled to announce our lineup for @LeTour
🇮🇹 @CarusoDamiano
🇵🇱 @kamilgradek
🇦🇺 @jackhaig93
🇸🇮 @matmohoric
🇪🇸 @LLEONSANCHEZ
🇧🇪 @dylan_teuns
🇸🇮 @JTratnik
🇬🇧 @fred_wright0Allez TBV!#RideAsOne #TDF2022
🔗 https://t.co/KvRLTVeJkm pic.twitter.com/MSP7R8suj3
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) June 24, 2022
Fred Wright has made the cut for Bahrain Victorious. That’s two Brits now confirmed for the big one, with Adam Yates, G, Tom Pidcock and Connor Swift still possibly to come.
Wright will be eyeing up the Roubaix stage, as well as team duty looking after joint leaders Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso.
The team’s sports director, Gorazd Štangelj explained the thought process: “We’ve selected a really strong group of riders for the Tour. It’s a Tour with plenty of challenges with chances for wind in Denmark and then more wind in France and cobbles. After this, we go straight into a concentrated block of uphill finishes. I think we have got a group of riders to cover all these difficult challenges and support our leaders, Jack and Damiano, to achieve our objective.
“We will also be looking for chances with our other riders to take stage wins or help us gain time for our overall objective. I’m convinced we have a strong team for the race itself.”
24 June 2022, 08:09
24 June 2022, 08:09
24 June 2022, 08:09
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £1.99. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
52 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
Are you sure they weren't overshoes?
Winning GC is irrelevant, what a relief. The best thing about knowing Pogacar will most likely win GC, is that it frees us to focus on all the more interesting aspects the mountainous chess game that is the TDF. The real challenge for all (riders, teams and spectators) will be the hot weather. This might be the last TDF to be ridden in the heat of the afternoon. There will also likely be major climate protests against the rampant sports washing by fossil fuel corporate sponsors that defiantly continue as the core funding strategy of pro cycling, despite all evidence that their products are endangering the health of the greatest grandstand in all sport. Corporate surveillance and AI will not be far behind for protestors in coming years (if not this year), as a world on fire impacted by corporate greed and wilful ignorance towards the human rights of all earths citizens begins to bite; all whist cycling through some of the planets most glorious and endangered lands. The irony is palpable and the suspension of public disbelief seems about to crack. The onus is on the UCI to shift policy. Protests and epic TDF crowds could yet be the deciding factor in 2026.
I had very much enjoyed his rides around Birmingham previously.
A fine career from a great rider, backed by an exceptional team. I hope that we haven't lost him completely from the world of cycling. There were a few solo breakaways, when and where I cannot recall, but they were just great and for me unexpected.
The LBS had a few copies of this when I had to pop in a few weeks back, needed a new rim, grrr. It piqued my interest, I like exploring the Chilterns and beyond and I love cake. Almost purchased. But noticed that the ride description wasn't up to what I liked, and the maps are all navigation app based, not really suited to a luddite such as myself. So I'm going to have to stick to my 1p very tatty copy of Nick Cotton's 24 one-day routes in Berks, Bucks & Oxfordshire. Much less cake based mind, but suited to the way I ride, that and a few local OS explorers.
"Continental’s GP5000 S TR tyres are a stable in the pro peloton" Really? A stable? There's a thing...
It's trying to gazump everyone else in the claim to be 'the fastest bike ever' - what's faster than a bike that can only exist in a particle accelerator?
The writer's name is Ty (handy synchronicity for Ti ) Rutherford, hence Rf. I'd have to have a bike made of an alloy of silicon and tungsten, which does exist, but it's apparently used in computer chips rather than bike frames. Hey ho.
Very interesting, thank you for sharing! Hope you enjoy the bike! Have to ask though, I get the Ti as it’s a titanium frame. But why Rf, a notoriously unstable synthetic and highly radioactive element?
I’m surprised by some of the comments here. I’ve always found Le Col kit pretty decent, from Pro Aqua Zero jerseys to their bib shorts, especially the Pro range.
52 thoughts on “Elias Schwärzler hits 272km/h on a mountain bike (towed by a motorbike); Doctor loses second bike this month to thief who cut through hospital rack; UCI announces cyclocross WC round in London; A Tale of Two Drivers; Tour teams + more on the live blog”
I’m lucky enough to have my
I’m lucky enough to have my own private office, so I can bring my bike inside (which also, means I can commute on one of my “nice” bikes without worry). If I wasn’t able to do this, I probably wouldn’t commute by bike at all – especially with the area I work in. Even using the cheapest beater bike you can find gets very expensive if it’s stolen all the time.
I used to have a good secure
I used to have a good secure location in the basement at my place until the outgoing roller door broke. It stayed shut but it meant you had to get out of the car to press the button on the incoming door and one of the ladies decided she didn’t want to rush so left the door up when she used to leave. Unfortunately a spudder came in during one of those times and bike wasn’t there anymore.
Somewhere safe to put a bike
Somewhere safe to put a bike is something so basic, but something very few workplaces have.
I work in a crap part of town (I suspect so the company doesn’t have to pay through the nose for premesis) – there’s no secure outside bike storage (and no space to put some), there’s nowhere to lock a bike up with direct line of sight to our office, and the business park we use is open to the public but secluded enough from public thoroughfares that thieves don’t have to worry about being seen. If I couldn’t bring my bike inside, I’d probably lose one every week.
I work in some offices which
I work in some offices which is shared with the police. There’s an underground car park with a nice secure bike parking… but it’s only available to the police. Us mere office workers have to use the front wheel rubbish things hmmmm no thanks… or the massive u shaped bike racks at the main entrance….
i either choose the most insecure but out of sight storage which my wheel won’t fit into, or the more secure one every scum bag has to walk past. If I ever forget to take a Bag or light off my bike it won’t be there when I get back
I was very insistent that,
I was very insistent that, when I started at my currrent school, I would be allowed to bring my cycle into my classroom with me. The bike lockers hadn’t been used for so long that they had become a gardening storage shed! Plus, having a bike in the classroom behind my white board is a fantastic conversation starter.
vthejk wrote:
Not allowed to take mine into the classroom but, as Head of Department I have given myself permission to bring it into the department office … so far, no comment from higher up the food chain.
Given that they let me have a key so I can get a shower, I think they are probably OK with it.
I used to leave mine in our
I used to leave mine in our development lab, most secure room in the building. Unfortunately too many people have started riding in now (took me 20 years of encouragement) that the MD actually provided some dedicated storage in the warehouse where I now have to leave min. Still reasonably secure, but I worry that it will be hit by a fork lift truck.
Honestly, at this point I’d
Honestly, at this point I’d rather not have the dedicated bike storage! Way more secure in my classroom and easy access to bikepacking bags etc
That was always my worry when
That was always my worry when I was temping in warehouses.
I wouldnt cycle to work if I
I wouldnt cycle to work if I didnt have secure cycle parking available, it’s much higher on my list of priorities than even showers or changing facilities.
I’m “lucky” enough to live in
I’m “lucky” enough to live in a city with little cycling culture, hence low bike theft rates. I also work in a test lab several miles out of town, where there is no foot traffic. We have a few Sheffield racks that I petitioned to have put in, so I wouldn’t have to lock to a fence. One colleague “locks” his nice carbon road bike to the rack with one of those giant orange twist ties, just so that it doesn’t fall over. The chance of bike theft at our facility is essentially zero.
“Last month the police told
“Last month the police told my husband he shouldn’t have an expensive watch/ring/car/wife if he doesn’t want it stolen”
Perhaps shops shouldn’t put
Perhaps shops shouldn’t put goods on display if they don’t want them stolen.
Exactly, that’s one of the
Exactly, that’s one of the most ridiculous statements I’ve heard from the Police about bike thefts. So if I decided to go along and damage a bunch of expensive cars in my town, the police’s response to the owners would be the same, that it’s their own fault for owning them? I somehow doubt it.
hirsute wrote:
I had a very cheap wife but she still got stolen . . . . .
You shouldn’t have left her
You shouldn’t have left her locked out there overnight.
chrisonatrike wrote:
???
The benefit is my bikes now live in the back room so they are less likely to get stolen.
Sounds like a good trade.
Sounds like a good trade. Humans are great, but bike maintenace is less messy and frustrating.
There’s an alternative model though – I note that VanMoof (among others) were doing a “cycle-as-a-service” scheme!
chrisonatrike wrote:
Very good trade. I kept the house and our son, she took the car.
I have absolutely no idea what you are getting at there . . . . . .
Surely an employer like the
Surely an employer like the NHS, of all organisations, should be promoting active travel and should be making at least some effort (over and above a piece of bent pipe in the ground) to facilitate this?
Reiver2768 wrote:
The NHS is very keen on active travel, and in some places, they support it with cycle stations, including indoor, secure cycle parking, showers and changing rooms and lockers; just not everywhere.
So why is free car parking
So why is free car parking for staff such a hot issue in the NHS ?
Awavey wrote:
Because driving has become the default option in our society over the past sixty or so years. Everything was done to improve access and travel speed for drivers, and everything else became almost irrelevant, and although there are encouraging signs in some place, still the car rules almost everywhere.
Awavey wrote:
Have you seen how much patients have to pay?!
Ah, hospital cycle parking,
Ah, hospital cycle parking, another box ticking exercise by the public sector to convince themselves that they are doing something worthwhile for the health of the nation and environment.
Like every other piece of crap infrastructure, it’s still crap, but it keeps the accountants happy.
In Derby they have just opened an indoor cycle parking facility in the city cente, catering for a total of 35 cyclists at a time, in a building with over 2000 parking spaces for motorists.
Serious about public health and the environment?
Hmmm……
I’m not sure what your point
I’m not sure what your point is. You deride the efforts made as ‘box ticking’ but are simultaneously suggesting they should do more. Do you think they should do more, or should stop bothering to try?
I read it as councils do the
I read it as councils do the bare minimum to tick the ‘active travel’ box, but they should be doing more.
If I’m suggesting that they
If I’m suggesting that they are carrying out box ticking exercises, then I’m most definitely suggesting they do more.
Go to the still relatively new hospital they have built here in Derby and the motorcycles have a lovely, covered parking facility right outside the main doors, bicycles however have to be stored elsewhere that isn’t undercover. Where is the incentive to cycle when right from the start you are dealing with such lack of foresight. This is on a site where car parking is so limited that the council have just approved plans for a multi storey car park built on the footprint of existing ground level parking, reducing car parking significantly during the construction stage.
They need to measure the
They need to measure the right thing. In this case it would be numbers of people cycling (or walking) to work. The number of cycle racks is irrelevant, except in so far as they encourage the thing that is wanted – numbers cycling to work. Obviously If you only count cycle racks then that is all you will get.
It is a basic tenet of
It is a basic tenet of encouraging cycling that there is somewhere secure to leave your bike. Unlike this admirable doctor, most people just give up after their bike is stolen.
Speaking of which, I’m still pursuing the failure of Lidl to implement the cycle parking plans at their new store in Lydney, and the District council is investigating a possible breach of planning conditions. But they tell me that the planning department is so underfunded after 12 years of tory austerity that it is going to take some time, and people who know about these things tell me that the council probably won’t take action as it would be too expensive.
So even when reasonable cycle parking, near the entrance and overlooked is the subject of a planning condition, Lidl can just ignore it, put some racks in where they aren’t overlooked, and it looks as if nothing is going to happen.
Isn’t there a road policing
Isn’t there a road policing unit in Sheffield that are active in prosecuting bad drivers in relation to cyclists? They should have a word with their colleagues.
The same people who are
The same people who are chiding the doctor for leaving an ‘expensive bike’ at work are probably also the people who think most bikes cost £50 and are children’s playthings only.
vthejk wrote:
On my initial visit to my LBS when I first thought of buying a road bike about 10 years ago I was astonished to be told that the cheapest ‘beginners’ bike they stocked was £750!
It was several years before I became reconciled to paying a grand for a bike.
I’ve never paid more than
I’ve never paid more than £300 for a commute bike, and havent paid more than 1k for a decent road bike.
It’s in most LBS interests, especially with C2W schemes to only stock bikes around the 1k range as there is the most turnover for them.
To be fair, my comment reads
To be fair, my comment reads as anti-cheap bike rhetoric; it was not intended that way. I am lucky enough to own a cheap, rusty old ‘beater’ MTB that I take to the shops and a newer steel bike that I built up to ride everywhere else. What I did mean, though, was that statement by the police is coming from a place of belittling the average cycle owner as someone whose vehicle is low-cost and easily replaceable for a small sum.
This sort of misconception is nothing new, though. In my experience, even Awavey’s £300 figure would be treated as surprisingly high by most non-cyclists. I bought a 2005 Specialized Allez off eBay for £195 – 10% of the cost of the Renault Twingo it replaced – and my then-partner had a right go at me for spending too much!
vthejk wrote:
You forgot where they tell you to “Grow up and buy a car”
Daveyraveygravey wrote:
Don’t get me started! (too late, you just have!)
I spent the majority of my first term training to teach and then teaching fending off comments from my colleagues like “Oh, you saving up for your first car, then?” Thankfully, over a year and many fuel cost rises later, the idea of a grown man not owning a car and riding a bicycle to work everyday doesn’t seem as novel and certainly not as unappealing to them.
vthejk wrote:
I was working on a contract at a site less than three miles away from home and easily accessable via the Milton Keynes Redways. There’s me, an overweight 50+ old man cycling in. The 20 somethings simply could not get their heads around that. To them it was like going to the moon. Just incromprehensible. Mind you, one of them had their home thermostat turned up to 30C so she didn’t get cold
In my experience hospitals
In my experience hospitals have very high rates of bike theft.
My £100 eBay bike, thankfully, seems impervious.
Get a cheap second hand bike, deck it out in mismatching components and never clean it.
I discover that I’ve been
I discover that I’ve been running a thief-proofing strategy for much of my life and never realised!
I think it would help if
I think it would help if Sheffield stands and their ilk where stuffed with the fibre strands that are in chainsaw trousers. That way if the vile scrotes take a saw or grinder to a stand all that fibre comes out and will block the blade from doing its job, they might even lose the tool as it might not easily be removed from the fibres.
Good idea. I’m not sure
Good idea. I’m not sure fibres will work for grinders as they do for chainsaws but there are deffo things which angle grinders do not love. This mahoosive bike lock uses this principle:
https://altorlocks.com/products/saf-lock
Unfortunately I suspect that would increase the cost hugely.
If that lock is anything to go by the angle-grinder sabotaging material would probably need to be on the outside. Itself protected from knocks with some metal. With the “structural” protection on the inside. Otherwise you could just cut a couple of rings in the outer and then (presumably) smash the section out.
Of course even just stuffing the hoop with something unpleasant likely makes it a bit more inconvenient to steal. I just think cost is a factor as mostly these are “public” infra.
Alternatively – armed
Alternatively – armed response:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP9wLJhaBOE
Almost certainly would see you penalised as much or more than if you’d killed someone while driving. I guess it might make you feel better though. Especially if you got footage of the result. (Likely also illegal but if you’re already being hanged for a lamb…)
That report about the taxi on
That report about the taxi on the roundabout is from Brighton and Hove news, the lovely organisation Jo Wadsworth works for, and chooses not to follow guidelines on reporting “accidents”
Quote:
Pretty sure that’s the first time ‘Simon Yates’ and ‘drawl’ have appeared in the same sentence.
Regretably had to drive
Regretably had to drive yesterday. ‘Stuck’ behind a learner who slowed to <20mph some distance before a green light. I slowed and maintained a safe distance.
Despite their much reduced speed, L driver when straight through on amber and I stopped with little effort.
Is now common practise to ignore amber lights as ‘stop’ ? Is this what is taught?
Amber Bashing seems to be
Amber Bashing seems to be considered OK* … Even though it’s jumping the lights.
* If you’re in a car, that is
Red is the new amber.
Red is the new amber.
I’m just waiting for someone to propose an app for that, or suggest we fix this with a pre-pre-stop light. Hmm… rainbow traffic lights could add to the streetscape actually.
I believe the key to reducing
I believe the key to reducing congestion is to get rid of the green light.
Was that the real meaning
Was that the real meaning behind The Police’s “Roxanne”?
Don’t we have that already? I
Don’t we have that already? I thought it went Green > Amber > Established Amber > Red > Established Red…?
So glad to see Binyam Girmay
So glad to see Binyam Girmay back to winning ways.
After the cork incident I would have thought his team mates would avoid similar tragi-comic accidents- waiting- to- happen…like climbing the tiled steps of a swimming pool in cleats!