Yet another questionably designed place to park your bike — “chocolate teapot” station bicycle rack confuses cyclists; Dave Brailsford meets Manchester United squad; An all too familiar bike theft tale; From the (Daily) Mail-bag + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Introducing the bollard-rack, the rack-llard, the boll-cycle... we'll decide on a name eventually
It’s a bollard Sheffield Stand…
Additional new bike bollard combination stands at Old Street station. However, it’s impossible to fit a standard bike frame parallel to the stand. Who designs this rubbish? pic.twitter.com/zCqw5NOsOv
— Bob From Accounts 🚲 (@BobFromAccounts) January 4, 2024
This is the original post from Bob From Accounts who sparked the dodgy cycle racks discussion. Two-thirds practical Sheffield Stand, one-third giant bollard.
Caption competition: Sir Dave Brailsford meets the Manchester United squad
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford meeting Rasmus Hojlund ❤️ pic.twitter.com/vaZCFJa6il
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) January 5, 2024
An all too familiar bike theft tale
road.cc contributor Laura Laker’s bike has been nicked…
“I definitely should have used the good lock today,” she wrote on social media. “Thankfully the legends at my bike shop had the frame number handy when I called them.”
The security at a nearby BT building reviewed their CCTV and found that at 11:38 yesterday morning three men arrived, one of them using an angle grinder to cut through the locks and release the bike. By 11.40 they had left with the bike…
@StolenRide stolen from an Aldgate bike rack by BT HQ 04 Jan ’24. A 2022 Medium magenta Trek FX3, mudguards and rack fitted https://t.co/HsobOFl4IO pic.twitter.com/sPPHrDyTsb
— Laura Laker (@laura_laker) January 5, 2024
From the (Daily) Mail-bag
You might have seen an old favourite return with a fresh new update for 2024…
> 20 of the most hysterical Daily Mail anti-cycling headlines
One comment made us chuckle, so we thought we’d share…
Dear Simon,
My eyes hurt having read this article and I’m beginning to wheeze; you must have the strongest of constitutions to have written this piece with no ill effects to your physical or mental health. If you are suffering then I’m sure that there’s a voluntary organisation with a 12-step programme which will help you recover from the trauma of having written this article, stay strong; we all believe in you.
Best wishes,
Jaymack.
"The church is under threat": Vicar fears cycle lane outside church car park will drive away the congregation
“Our bells have been ringing out since the mid-1800s… Now we face extinction simply because of a crazy traffic system…”
Vicar's bike lane-bashing goes down a storm... in the road.cc comments section
Let the record show there’s more than a touch of sarcasm in that headline. Adwi’s story about the Altrincham vicar having a pop at a cycle lane for driving away his congregation (welcome to 2024 everybody!) has at least attracted some of the best comments we’ve had on a story for a while. Top work!
Forgot Joseph and Mary took an Audi A3 to Bethlehem.
“Our bells have been ringing out since the mid-1800s” The first car was invented in 1886….
— Andy (@AndrewButrz) January 5, 2024
Rendel Harris:
“We can show you the way to salvation and eternal paradise.”
“Sounds great, what’s the catch?”
“You will have to drive a little way round the one-way system.”
“Stuff that, can’t be bothered.”
Clem Fandango: “Forget tanks & drones. How about we build a cycle lane along Ukraine’s border with Russia — surely that’s a guaranteed way to prevent Vlad’s boys from entering Ukraine?
And it came to pass in the land of the faithful that a new cycle lane emerged, diverting the path to the sacred church by a mere minute
Yet, some among the believers, vexed by this slight detour, found themselves absent from the pews, their hearts swayed by the unexpected journey pic.twitter.com/YgKLxrfpIu— Harry 🚲🥑🏗️ (@H_H_Gray) January 5, 2024
EDIT: Oh, and there really is a Dave Walker cartoon for every situation…
I don’t know the specifics here, whether this is a good cycle lane design, etc, but to my mind it’s unfortunate when churches make headlines for opposing cycling infrastructure. https://t.co/1ZpXFITkvs pic.twitter.com/oe6y6gEJwt
— Dave Walker (@davewalker) January 5, 2024
Arnold Schwarzenegger demands total recall of lawsuit filed against him by cyclist who he hit while driving an SUV
Another dive into the weird world of Peloton — where your class instructor might launch into an X-rated tirade about Christopher Nolan's movie Tenet
Peloton. You know, the really expensive stationary bike service, used by Rishi Sunak, Joe Biden, and other people with above average sums of disposable income, that allows you to do home spin sessions with an instructor? Yep, the one which boomed during the pandemic but has seen its share price fall off a cliff since.
> End of lockdown wipes billions off Peloton’s market value
Here at road.cc we’ve largely watched from afar, obliged to report occasionaly on lawsuits or share-plummeting at one of the world’s biggest cycling-related businesses, but with the knowledge the product hasn’t ever really landed with the sort of cyclists who visit our website.
One entertaining thing that has come from Peloton is the extensive backcatalogue of the service’s class instructors being… how can we put this politely? A bit bizarre…
There was the instructor who, at the end of 2020, asked her class to climb in honour of their dead relatives. But now we’ve got a new sprinkling of unintentional comedy gold for the genre…
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) January 4, 2024
This has all come to light because Tenet’s director Christopher Nolan said he was doing the class when he was suddenly bombarded with this X-rated review.
“I was on my Peloton. I’m dying. And the instructor started talking about one of my films and said, ‘Did anyone see this? That’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back again!” Nolan said during his acceptance speech for ‘Best Director’ at the New York Film Critics Circle award ceremony on Wednesday, Variety reports.
Addressing the review of the review, Peloton instructor Jen Sherman wrote on Instagram: “Listen. It was 2020. It was a dark time. I’m on the platform, teaching my little class, and I’m running my mouth off like I’m known to do. And I make a random comment about a movie I had seen the night before. What do you think the odds are that the director of said movie would take that ride some four years later? That would only happen to me.”
Yeah, I think I’ll stick to freezing, wet rides and the turbo thank you very much…
Cyclist killed and two critically injured in shocking Florida collision which saw group ride hit by driver of SUV
Yet another questionably designed place to park your bike — "chocolate teapot" station bicycle rack confuses cyclists
Drumroll please…
Similarly at Wandsworth Town station this cocktail bike rack as been recently installed – though possibly better described as a chocolate tea pot pic.twitter.com/wQRKBXveVF
— Human & Travels (@humantravl) January 4, 2024
‘What’s so confusing about that?’ I hear some future commenter ask. Well, perhaps not the how to use it aspect of this ‘bike rack’, but more the commonly seen decision of councils and planners to opt for seemingly novelty bike parking solutions rather than just giving us a practical row of Sheffield Stands. It really is that simple. A row of properly installed, secure metal racks, that’s all we’re after.
The matter is even more important for riders of cargo bikes, trikes, or other types of bicycle that might not be able to be rolled up in the air and locked in place as this one asks. It’s a similar discussion to what we hear about bike storage facilities on trains (obviously without some of the added booking, availability and cost-related issues there) where storage often requires riders to hoist their bike upright to fit in a tiny cupboard, for want of a better word.
Fine if you’re relatively strong and riding a road bike with narrow bars. Not so for many other types of bicycle.
Human & Travels spotted this “chocolate teapot” bike parking ‘facility’ outside Wandsworth station in south London, saying it had been recently installed. Needless to say it’s caused a fair amount of eye rolling, eyebrow raising, face palming, and any other ways of expressing negative emotions with your facial features…
Ben Furfie suggested in reply, “Insurers should sue stations that install those. It’s impossible to securely lock bikes to them; and don’t get me started on bikes used as mobility aids for the less abled, or bikes used as car replacements like cargo bikes.”
“There is a similar set-up at a place I’ve biked to. Totally worthless. All the bikes were locked around the area to signs and posts,” another said.
On the plus side, at least we’ve now got another one for the collection…
> Worst bike racks — from the useless to utterly unusable places to park your bicycle
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Latest Comments
I spend a month most years in China because of family, and a cargo bike there with an electric motorbike style front end and either LFP or advanced lead acid batteries, costs under £100 and is the backbone of every trade. There are a hundred different kinds but what they share in common is functionality and cheapness. Even the ancient pedal pulled wooden wagons with literally welded spokes from the sixties have been electrified with e-motors attached to the underside - and they cost sod all. In China cheap transport for business is a public good like drinking water. Because to get people to work you have to make work affordable. That's a secret of capitalism we in the UK could do better to learn.
@Zermattjohn handmade genuinely means handmade with Challenge. You cannot compare ride quality of a mass produced, vulcanized Panaracer tyre with these. The ride quality is incredibly supple, and can transform a riding experience. More expensive yes, but worth every penny!
@SecretSam 2019 Tour (don't see anyone else putting their hand up to say they won it), 2021 Giro, 2019 Paris-Nice, 2019 Tour de Suisse, 2018 Tour of California. So I'd say Lesterama is about right with his burned bright comment.
"Over 1,000 dockless bikes seized in Westminster The authority said the bikes would continue to be removed where they caused an obstruction, with operators charged for their return." Would love to know how many motor vehicles were removed (and their "operators" charged for their return) for the same reason. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84g1x0g0d42o
@OnYerBike Thanks for the interesting article link (table below for any interested), as you say it does show that the top 10% of pros manage 4.63 w/kg over four hours, but that only extrapolates to 325W if the rider is 70kg, and of course a lot of them are well below that, e.g. Vinegaard 60kg so his power over four hours would be more like 279W at that w/kg. Note also that the average for the bottom 90% is "only" 3.83 w/kg, so the average 68kg (World Tour average weight) rider in that cohort would be putting out 260W over four hours. So I'd still argue that across the average of the peleton, with 10% capable of about 325W over four hours and the other 90% about 260W, a figure for the whole peleton of around 280-290W would be more realistic.
I'm on there 4-6 times a week (mainly commuting, so generally no later than 1900); mostly you see illegal/chipped ebikes and scooters going 'like a bullet' being ridden by people just like me. Haven't come across the balaclava, wheely pulling electric bike types this year though. Mostly, you need to be vigilant for kamikaze squirrels, loafing cats and dogs off the lead.
@jackcycles Ummm...I think you'll find many MPs have successfully run businesses and worked in all sorts of sectors previously. As for 'business experience', I'm not a plumber, but I know the sort of kit that plumbers carry. My plumber arrives by car, so...
@lesterama Not sure he burned that bright, he won his sole tour by default, not by merit, and would probably have been mown down by the Pog/Ving double act since
Bernal's statement: I didn't realise he had a background in corporate communications. Seriously, though, he burned bright. It's strange now to think that back in 2019 we thought he would dominate the sport for years.
@mitsky shurely it was at most one driver, because the red was not "established" before then...?
32 thoughts on “Yet another questionably designed place to park your bike — “chocolate teapot” station bicycle rack confuses cyclists; Dave Brailsford meets Manchester United squad; An all too familiar bike theft tale; From the (Daily) Mail-bag + more on the live blog”
Its worth a reference to
Its worth a reference to BobFromAccounts tweet that started the thread on crap bike stands. ….I give you the merger no-one asked for – the Bollarded Sheffield stand.
https://x.com/BobFromAccounts/status/1742881962187018322?s=20
If thats in front of a
If thats in front of a station forecourt area then those are Hostile Vehicle Mitigation bollards as well, so lock your bile to those racks and you might get a lorry driven into it at 40mph…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12907179/Vicar-cycle-lane-church-threat.html
The cycle lane threatens
The cycle lane threatens people’s ability to get to church by car? Apparently the church was built in the 1850s, so presumably those victorian christians drove to church.
More on this later…
More on this later…
Caption contest:
Caption contest:
DB – “Quick question, do you know what a jiffy bag is?”
RH – “Giffy? Yiffy? What kind of bag is this?”
DB – “Perfect!”
Re: Laura laker’s bike theft.
Re: Laura laker’s bike theft. Am I not right in thinking with the thieves now using angle grinders that it is irrelevant what type of lock people use in that they could just chop through the stands?
NotNigel wrote:
This is what worries me about my super Hiplok D1000.
I’ve just got one of those.
I’ve just got one of those. The shop advised me to take a photo for insurance purposes everytime I lock up !
It depends on the thickness
It depends on the thickness and hardness of the Stands themselves. Some insight on that specifically would be useful.
The function of locks has
The function of locks has long been a deterrent rather than prevention; to make your bike more of a inconvenience to steal than the next bike along.
Determined thieves are equipping themselves with more than grinders, so nothing will actually stop them.
Hans Rey’s garage, the trials and MTB legend, was targeted with a gas axe to get through steel rebar a few years back.
I suppose if stands and locks
I suppose if stands and locks where 100% thief proof they would just resort to forcefully acquiring your ride once you’d unlocked it. I know how id like to have my bike nicked if it unfortunately happened.
NotNigel wrote:
Not entirely irrelevant: quite a few of the thieves caught on CCTV around my neck of the woods appear to be ambulatory and carry battery-powered angle grinders in rucksacks, riding away on the bike once they have broken the lock. For that type of scrote cutting the stand probably isn’t a good option as they would then have to carry the bike away with the concomitant risk of being spotted by the rozzers. Obviously this isn’t a consideration for the more “professional” mobs that go around in vans and can drive the bike away to dismantle the lock at their leisure.
Rendel Harris wrote:
It’s a risk some of our local scrotes are happy to accept, as I found out a few years ago after only being able to lock my front wheel to the (vertical) stands in my then-building’s “secure” bike storage area. Said scrote was pictured on CCTV wandering off with the rest of the bike slung nonchalantly over a shoulder. No arrests.
Good point, we’re that used
Good point, we’re that used to seeing them working in groups and riding off on their mopeds etc…
and when I say seeing I mean through media, I’ve never witnessed it first hand
Yesterday I had to lock and
Yesterday I had to lock and leave unattended one of my Riese & Muller bikes (which I rarely do and don’t like to do) I used a chain lock, a dlock, a rear wheel lock, a front wheel lock and a motion alarm. It is all about deterrence – make it as difficult and as unappealing as possible for the thieves and hope they move on.
Some wholesome content for a
Some wholesome content for a Friday lunchtime.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-67881615
But just think about how many
But just think about how many cars he selfishly held up!
Looking at those Sheffollards
Looking at those Sheffollards I suspect that their initial primary purpose is as vehicle arrestors to protect the station and pedestrians from terrorist attacks, but some bright spark decided to try and make them “multipurpose”
One would think that Church
One would think that Church would be about preserving God’s Creation…
In any case, if your affair depends on cars, you should probably rethink it asap…
Sheffield stands, Sheffield
Sheffield stands, Sheffield stands, Sheffield stands,
Sheffield stands, Sheffield stands, Sheffield stands,
Sheffield stands, Sheffield stands, Sheffield stands,
Sheffield stands, Sheffield stands, Sheffield stands,…
Please ! Pretty please ?!
It’s almost as though the
It’s almost as though the people in the UK who design bike lanes and bike parking have never actually used a bike before. Or seen one.
Definitely as though they have never looked at a system that actually works – a quick hop over to the Netherlands and they would see what we actually need in the UK and how easy it would be to implement.
I agree with the principle.
I agree with the principle. We should just copy what works.
I also spent lots of time in “why don’t they get it – it’s so obvious” mode. However the “just do it ‘cos it’s better” part turns out to be immensely hard – because self-reinforcing systems and ultimately “humans”. Even (pretty trivial) stuff like “just don’t use crap cycle stand designs”. For example that was beyond the abilities of the Edinburgh tram builders despite them being an (arms-length) company established by the council which (now) has sensible detailed standards for exactly this…
On the positive side this article about actually achieving change may be interesting.
Caption:
Caption:
DB – Think we’re going to need more than marginal gains to fix this lot.
A lot of those wacky bike
A lot of those wacky bike rack designs seem motivated in part by a desire to save space and that really is our culture in a microcosm, where we see bicycles as “hogging the road” or “strewn across pavements” but are blind to the gargantuan amount of space wasted by cars.
stewcelliott wrote:
As an example:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/gb2Kqh9DSjioZoye9
This is not, in point of fact, a convenient city centre car park.
It is supposed to be a pedestrian plaza and a cut-through between Rupert Street and Nelson Street in central Bristol.
And at lunchtime today it was filled right back to and over the footway nearest the streetview camera, and no pedestrian with a pushchair would have been able to get through or even get past
Surprised, given the football
Surprised, given the football theme of the blog, you hadn’t noticed Klopp is advertising for peloton thesedays
stonojnr wrote:
What has Peloton®™ got to do with cycling? ??
A bit like you can’t out
A bit like you can’t out-train a bad diet, you can’t out-advertise a bad product. It hasn’t stopped Peloton trying though.
Tin foil hat anyone ?
Tin foil hat anyone ?
Twitter X
“Online cyclist rings should be investigated for the mass amounts of intrusive footage of the inside of family cars that they store, share and collate. It wouldn’t be wasting police time, it might be worth seeing where all this invasive secret filming goes.”
Pizzagate run by road cc !!!
Hirsute wrote:
They should just ask wtjs for evidence about both where the footage goes and the amount of time that police waste on investigating it!
They should just ask wtjs for
They should just ask wtjs for evidence about both where the footage goes and the amount of time that police waste on investigating it!
Online paedophile cyclist rings peering inside cars at children shock! No harm to hard-working respectable motorists resulted from the making of this video (I was reminded of this but it’s not on UpRide, yet). This is Peugeot 208 MC65 NDF, and you can see the woman driver’s hand as she leans over to shout something incomprehensible at me