Live blog: e-bike rider shoots past cyclist at frightening speed, rider hospitalised after crashing into huge Buckinghamshire pothole, this year’s Giro-themed gear, star-spotting in Asda + more
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Wed, May 02, 2018 13:40
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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
jackcycles 1 hour ago
Many thanks for posting these statistics and showing the downward trend in fatalities. One thing that stood out for me when clicking through to the government statistics page is the UK's exemplary record on this Vs other European countries, especially the much-vaunted record of The Netherlands, which actually shows twice as many fatalities as the UK per million of the population. The question that arises is therefore: why are the greens and other left-wing parties so keen to adopt an inferior and more dangerous road system when ours is obviously working well? It smacks of a need to regulate people's lives and curtail freedom. We need to stop these idiotic Dutch roundabouts and segregated cycling infrastructure, and get people sharing the road in a fair and equal manner, when the statistics show it's safer to do so. (Chart shows road fatalities per million population)
ChasP 2 hours ago
That's where the convertible aspect comes in. I've got a gravel bike but the canal I sometimes commute on has roots under the tarmac and barriers. The mtb with 'drops' is more comfortable for this and fits through the barriers. If I want to do something more technical I can put the flat bars on.
wtjs 17 hours ago
@FionaJJ These officers deployed next-level stupidity, and it must be difficult for the police to find people this dim. It doesn't even need rolling-roads or whatever, just a reputable bike computer on a quickly changed mount for the difficult cases where a proper EAPC has been modded, although you would need to look hard in Lancashire to find a police officer who knows how to make a pedal cycle go. Most illegal electric motorbikes are immediately obvious, not least because the crim is wearing a face mask. I saw an obvious one tonight coming out of Garstang Sainsbury's, not pedalling but without a face mask because everybody knows that the police only come into the town to hide away in the police station 200 yards away.
bikeman01 18 hours ago
Gustav Gullholm.. that's not a good look mate
mdavidford 21 hours ago
@Chris RideFar I think what you meant to say was "REMOVE this and put it on PODCAST CC".
jaymack 22 hours ago
As Mary Whitehouse never said - one doesn't have to read the article if one doesn't want to read about an off-road bicycle.
Rendel Harris 23 hours ago
@FionaJJ In London they're allowed to stop on single and double yellows to deliver packages or empty pillar boxes; in practice they take this as carte blanche to park wherever and whenever they want, such as this chap on the Brixton Road who pulled into the bus/cycle/motorcycle lane without indicating, as I approached at 20mph, to park on a red route, response to a remonstrance, "I suppose you never get post delivered do ya?"
FionaJJ 23 hours ago
@Rendel Harris We have a pavement parking ban, but around here at least, royal mail vans are already exempt, subject to certain caveats, such as allowing at least 1.5m, and only being stopped to do their work.
FionaJJ 23 hours 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 1 day 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.
4 thoughts on “Live blog: e-bike rider shoots past cyclist at frightening speed, rider hospitalised after crashing into huge Buckinghamshire pothole, this year’s Giro-themed gear, star-spotting in Asda + more”
Why any big concern with “e
Why any big concern with “e-bike rider whizzing past” ? Granted the first time is a bit of a shocker. There will be quiet electric motorcycles doing at least 3X=5X a bicyclist speed in the very near future.
ridein wrote:
How about the fact that these current “modified” devices are inherintly dangerous, and also illegal. An E-bike is legally restricted to 250W, and a max assisted speed of 25km/h across the EU area. The brakes on these monsters are no better than normal bike brakes, yet they weigh a lot more, and where they have been tested are unfit for purposse.
Many of these “can” be made street legal, in Norway at least you can register them, get a number plate, pay insurance, and use a motorcycle helmet – then keep out the bike lanes.
As an example of the issue, a rider in Tronheim is looking at (equivalent to) £7,500 in compenasation to a cyclist he hit, plus 6 month loss of his driving licence, and several weeks in jail after he crashed his modified “e-bike” with a 5600W motor into another cyclist and broke her neck. Drivers on the road alongside report that as they were doing 60-70 km/h he was “sailing past with ease”, he left a 19m skid mark before the point of impact. Under testing after the accident it was found to have a top speed on 108km/h (almost 70mph)
Yes Electric motorbikes are on their way, but these will be registered, and tested by roads authorities to ensure they are street legal, will require EU control/MOT check (country dependant), a drivers licence, insurance (not just home insurance cover). They will also have muchbetter brakes, and be illegal on shared use foot and cycle ways.
StuInNorway wrote:
Yep, any electric bike that fast should be registered as a motor scooter. That means the rider needs to have a licence, a motorcycle helmet and insurance. I agree that the weight and speed of the thing means that the brakes won’t be up to the job when it’s at full tilt and as it’s quiet, pedestrians (and drivers) won’t be looking out for it either.
I see that the cops in Sweden stopped a guy on an electric bike after he hit close to 100km/h. A quick check showed it was more powerful than allowed and further tests revealed its motor was 16 times the limit for electric bikes. Ths tory I read was a bit vague but I think he converted it himself with a kit he bought. The Swedes don’t look kindly on traffic offences and he’s being hit with a big fine.
As for fast descents, well top TdF riders can hit 120km/h for sure. But that’s on stretches of roads where it’s expected. Hitting those speeds on a bike with inadequate brakes in normal traffic conditions is like playing Russian Roulette.
Why the worry? We all go that
Why the worry? We all go that fast down hills don’t we? Should we all be subject to licence/ insurance restrictions accordingly? I don’t think so….