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Live blog: Aqua Blue team manager suggests 3T bikes are “costing results”, Saudi man cycles over 5000km only to see his team lose 5-0, Beirut bike barber, Dave’s 400km epic (+ more)
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Fri, Jun 15, 2018 13:55
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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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chrisonabike 1 hour ago
@Smoggysteve "Most would happily ride on the roads and be treated with respect by drivers". But people aren't - and as far as I can see they won't be. Not until there is a lot less driving and it's slower around cyclists, and far more people driving have "skin in the game" eg. they sometimes cycle and their friends and family do also. That's what leads to the model - which is perhaps most advanced in NL - where cycling, walking and driving are all seen as separate normal transport modes. Their needs, vulnerabilities and any dangers to others are considered. And *that* leads to "mix / share when possible, separate when necessary". But "possible" is "where your 10-year old would be safe to cycle unsupervised" - so very few motor vehicles, going slow! And AFAICS everybody - even "existing cyclists" - is happy with the result. (I dunno about a few pro cyclists - but don't they tend to have training camps in different counties anyway?)
chrisonabike 2 hours ago
@quiff as an Edinburgh resident I can confidently say he's speaking without moving his lips in one sense: - while as I noted in a separate comment there *is* now some real separated cycle infra, all the examples i can think of have *at least as much space* for pedestrians. The rest of the "cycle infra" is essentially similar to the situation in the rest of the UK: eg. bus lanes*, cycle lanes and shared use paths (eg. "build" infra by sticking up a sign). Edinburgh is one of the places with a moderately extensive network of former railways which have been converted to "shared use" paths (completely motor traffic few). However though shared they are not narrow by UK standards. And this is all effectively a "free extra" for all non- motorised users, not like the "sign a cycle path" where pedestrians do lose space. I think this all comes from the "popular understanding" of cycling in which ultimately cyclists are the "other". They don't fit "motor vehicle" or "pedestrian" (including wheelchairs on the very rare occasions people think about that). Thus "cyclists are cheating" in multiple ways! They shouldn't get their own space as "there aren't enough" of them. And "they can just use the road / path". But being able to *choose* "on the road" or "on the footway" (shared use path) is clearly unfair - nobody else gets to do that! BUT of course even if they did pick just one of road OR pedestrian space it's still not fair anyway because they're "too slow" for the road (don't pay "road tax" etc...) and "far too fast" for pedestrians... * Though some existing cyclists may appreciate them when there are few buses, buses and bikes are a very poor mix for several reasons.
mikecassie 2 hours ago
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
ktache 3 hours ago
Thanks, just going to have to suck it up. Got next week off and will take the easy, if expensive option...
Rendel Harris 3 hours ago
@ktache Just go for the TNT Sports only package, £30.99 for a month. Alternatively have you considered experimenting with a VPN for a few pounds, allowing you to sign up for a free stream abroad, e.g. SBS Australia which streams the Tour live? If I didn't have a kind mate's login that's what I'd do!
ktache 4 hours ago
So, it's now the month of July and I'm going to have to pay to watch the TdF, for one month only. On a tablet unfortunately, as I didn't manage to get a laptop to rig up to the TV, grrr. Just wondering, what package will I have to fork out for? Not wanting to pay for the wrong one...
Rendel Harris 5 hours ago
Not that it sounds like a dealbreaker given the other faults you've identified, but that cable isn't really a "proprietary" cable, four pin magnetic cables like that are quite common on bone-conducting headphones and other devices (my inexpensive smartwatch uses one) and they can be had for £4.99 on UK Amazon.
mctrials23 5 hours ago
There was never really anything to say about le col kit. Most of it was alright. Some of it was poorly designed/made. Trying to position yourself as a Rapha competitor whilst always offering 40% or more off doesn't scream premium though.
ROOTminus1 5 hours ago
Up next in the MucOff product line; for when the cassette won't budge, (chain)whip-it!
12 thoughts on “Live blog: Aqua Blue team manager suggests 3T bikes are “costing results”, Saudi man cycles over 5000km only to see his team lose 5-0, Beirut bike barber, Dave’s 400km epic (+ more)”
Not bad for two days, but
Not bad for two days, but probably about average for most UK cities. Riding a bit farther from the kerb might help, the drivers are much more likely to see you.
burtthebike wrote:
Seconded.
A lot of it comes down to motorists not realising the likely speed of a cyclist, and then when they do (finally) notice the oncoming cyclist, thinking “Meh! He’ll avoid me” (OK, some of them probably do think, “Meh! F- ‘im!”…).
And the one with the car turning right through a traffic queue… That comes down to the turning car being flashed or otherwise let through by a queuing motorist and taking their word on it that the road is clear rather than taking the time to check for themselves.
burtthebike wrote:
I love how the comments immediately start giving a professional(?) cyclist cycling advice! With the exception of the very first clip, Matt was well out in primary position, and for that first one I don’t think being a few inches over would have made any difference at all.
A lot of it sadly looks like
A lot of it sadly looks like typical modern traffic… I suffer similar bouts of invisibility in the car!
I am generally quite circumspect approaching junctions in traffic when there is a gap, as it is likely a car may turn across from the opposite way.
And on the P2P topic- Go Dave!
“Mmmmm bread rolls with icing
“Mmmmm bread rolls with icing and cream filling!”
Everyone else calls them cream buns.
“This underground bike
“This underground bike parking station in Utrecht has 6,000 spaces” – my local city centre shopping area (Broadmead, Bristol) has, I think, four multi storey car parks within a five minute walk.
Two are dedicated shopping mall car parks (Galleries 1000 spaces and Cabot Circus 2500 spaces). And there are another two NCP car parks (Rupert Street and ‘under the Holiday Inn’)which must each be over 1000 spaces.
At the same time, there’s probably bike parking (ie. sheffield stands) for no more than a couple of hundred bikes.
And the bike parking is always rammed full – why don’t these places consider posh bike parking? I’m sure we’d even be willing to pay if we weren’t treated like second-class citizens and got proper indoor secure parking…
What exactly was the
What exactly was the mechanical, I wonder?
I can’t say I’m surprised they are possibly underwhelmed by the practical use of 1x for pro racing. GCN showed the 3T builds and they looked a little bodged, with headset dust caps not properly covering the bearings, various cable ties holding cables out the way etc, etc.
Canyon48 wrote:
I read he dropped a chain.
Sniffer wrote:
Ouch!
Boss Hogg wrote:
That’s rather disappointing! 2x drops chains too, but I wonder if 1x is more prone to. If so, it’s interesting they aren’t using chain catchers.
Canyon48 wrote:
Not really the proneness of dropping of the chain being the problem, it shouldn’t be more prone. The problem is having to get off the bike to get it back on the chainwheel.
Canyon48 wrote:
I read he dropped a chain.