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Live blog: Trump trade war with China to cause US bike prices to soar, dinosaurs on bikes, Paris-Roubaix winner Mat Hayman to retire + more
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Tue, Sep 18, 2018 08:10
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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
eburtthebike 9 minutes ago
@Blackthorne83 He'd love to, but some bastard's taken out the cycle lanes.
kil0ran 2 hours ago
I was a few bikes away from the fatal collision during Ride London a few years ago, I barely avoided the victim's dog which was running loose. Definitely one of those slo-mo adrenaline fuelled moments and I was only doing about 40kph. At lead out speeds it really doesn't bear thinking about.
open_roads 2 hours ago
@Xenophon2 "That’s a lot of batteries to keep track of, to the point that I have a dedicated charger with 3 m USB-C cable in my office, another one at home. Can’t imagine having to deal with another battery such as on the Flight Attendant." Top tip: In reality most of the SRAM stuff lasts a month or two even with pretty heavy usage. I just charge all the batteries on the last Sunday of every month and have yet to be caught out. The SRAM batteries are so cheap / small / light it's also worth keeping a spare in a saddle bag or similar.
ajuk.uk@gmail.com 2 hours ago
@chrisonabike There does seem to be evidence that 20 mph limits work on roads that already lend themselves to such low speeds, and I do think the lack of a 25 mph limit option is an issue for some roads. Speed limits should especially not be set very low in the hope that many or most drivers will only exceed them by a set amount because, not only is it not true that many people drive like that, the opposite can happen. Instead of targeting the drivers most likely to cause harm, you're putting the prohibition onto the behaviour of more sensible drivers and forcing the police to target them. The DfT guidance used to have a paragraph calling out this presumption. The extent to which road design and conditions at the time dictate traffic speeds is too stark to ignore. I've seen urban roads with signed 40 mph limits have lower average speeds than some roads with posted 20 mph limits. And yes, that road in Gloucester has signs openly inviting drivers to go faster, and almost none of them do: the non-compliance was about 2%. Compare that to over 99% non-compliance on some roads in Wales. What I'm mainly talking about is the increasing imposition of 20 mph limits on much higher-standard main roads. That's where you see extreme levels of non-compliance. In some cases, the average speed has even been known to go up after the limit has gone down. Showing such contempt just brings speed limits into disrepute and my contention is that drivers should take speed limits seriously.
ajuk.uk@gmail.com 2 hours ago
@chrisonabike There does seem to be evidence that 20 mph limits work on roads that already lend themselves to such low speeds, and I do think the lack of a 25 mph limit option is an issue for some roads. Speed limits should especially not be set very low in the hope that many or most drivers will only exceed them by a set amount because, not only is it not true that many people drive like that, the opposite can happen. Instead of targeting the drivers most likely to cause harm, you're putting the prohibition onto the behaviour of more sensible drivers and forcing the police to target them. The DfT guidance used to have a paragraph calling out this presumption. The extent to which road design and conditions at the time dictate traffic speeds is too stark to ignore. I've seen urban roads with signed 40 mph limits have lower average speeds than some roads with posted 20 mph limits. And yes, that road in Gloucester has signs openly inviting drivers to go faster, and almost none of them do: the non-compliance was about 2%. Compare that to over 99% non-compliance on some roads in Wales. So no, when speed limits match the road, compliance is much higher, but speeds are not. What I'm mainly talking about is the increasing imposition of 20 mph limits on much higher-standard main roads. That's where you see extreme levels of non-compliance. In some cases, the average speed has even been known to go up after the limit has gone down. Showing such contempt just brings speed limits into disrepute and my contention is that drivers should take speed limits seriously.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@jaymack Yes...to an extent, and I'm happy at the moment with my twelve-year-old Dura Ace mechanical, but I must admit when I had Ultegra Di2 I did notice not so much the ease of shifting but the perfect trimming of the gears after every shift so that the chainline was always absolutely perfect and that did enhance the simple pleasure of being outside, for me anyway. At least until that day I forgot to charge the battery which died at the turnaround on an eighty-mile ride and had to ride a very lumpy forty miles home stuck in 50x14...
Rendel Harris 3 hours ago
@Daclu Trelub Well no, given that I object to the use of derogatory slurs against people with mental health issues I think I'll "bother" the person who's using derogatory slurs against people with mental health issues. Have a little think, if capable: if your mother or someone else close to you had dementia or mental health issues, would you be happy for people to be pointing at them mockingly saying, "Looks like she's a few chips short of a fish supper"? Stop it.
Daclu Trelub 4 hours ago
@Rendel Harris Go and bother somebody else with your opinion.
jaymack 4 hours ago
I'm sure electronic gears, pedals, seat posts etc. are each a modern marvel but they all seem to solve a problem I've never encountered. However I have encountered others faffing while searching for batteries, cables and even a firmware update. All of which just gets in the way of cycling's simple pleasure - being outside
15 thoughts on “Live blog: Trump trade war with China to cause US bike prices to soar, dinosaurs on bikes, Paris-Roubaix winner Mat Hayman to retire + more”
This year’s Red Bull Hard
This year’s Red Bull Hard Line – off the scale mental IMHO.
Regarding the mamil Tweet.
Regarding the mamil Tweet. Yes the guy was seems like a total dick (although she’s doesn’t actually explain what happened apart from she was attacked – an extremely strong word to use btw) but going onto twitter and using a word like ‘MAMIL’ – a word with very negative connotations…as she very well knows. That’s not acceptable either. I saw the thread last night and it’s not acceptable to define an entire sub group of people by one persons actions.
I’ve seen it too many times on twitter/FB and so on. It’s not right. Who cares what the guy was wearing/riding? If he’s a dick he’s a dick. 99% of the dicks on my route are wearing normal clothes and riding non racing bikes, but I dont rant and rave about ‘ALL’ ‘utility cyclists’ being bad…it’s just that my route is heavily dominated by that ‘type’ of cyclist, and most are absolutely fine as with all groups.
MAMIL #everdaysexism no?
MAMIL #everdaysexism no?
typical over reaction, just ignore him or tell him to fuck off.
Oh and as for being ‘attacked’, being told ‘you’re cheating is not being attacked!
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
Definitely #everydaysexism though, and very much a dick!
StoopidUserName wrote:
Actually no, her version of someone saying something to do with her being a female and overtaking him is without merit and I personally think it’s made up cobblers, he saying it was cheating, yes, I can beleive that but that’s not sexism at all.
I think her story is full of holes frankly, she’s already an overeacting drama queen when she’s said she’s been attacked when she wasn’t so why should I beleive everything she’s said?
Is MAMIL really that negative
Is MAMIL really that negative? It’s pretty much a literal description of a lot of leisure cyclists… I’ve never perceived it negatively, and I’m not insulted by it. I am middle aged. I am a man. I am (when cycling) in Lycra.
vonhelmet wrote:
MAMIL is a little bit negative – it’s got some connotations of men past their prime dressing up in lycra to try and recapture their youth. However, I think what might be opbjectionable in this use of the word/acronym is the negative generalisation in the tweet “Fragile MAMIL egos”, that suggests all middle-aged male cyclists are dicks like the one in this incident.
henryb wrote:
It’s all about context. I’m happy to take the pee out of myself and fellow middle aged peeps in lycra…but in this context, it’s being used not lightheartedly but in a derogatory way (whether she meant that or not, probably didn’t even think about it).
I stopped following a lot of the mainstream cycle campaigners on twitter after a couple years as I saw too much of this sort of thing. All cyclists are equal…except some are more equal than others. There are ‘people on bikes’ (a popular term used to normalise people riding bikes) and there are scum – that’s people wearing lycra on ‘racing type’ bikes. Doesn’t matter how practical it is for a long commute, you dont fit in to the accepted norm thus can be demonised as a problem.
That’s my take, many are not like that of course, but I dont like the hypocrisy of people who moan about all the daily mail style cyclist bashing then do the same thing to a sub group themselves. It’s not something to get too worked up about, but still.
Just ride your bike and be happy! 🙂
vonhelmet wrote:
I’m technically a MAMIL too so it’s likely not negative when we say it. However it’s often used in a derogatory way and in her case it was very definitely intended to be derogatory.
vonhelmet wrote:
Yes. Nearly always connected with ‘negative’ behaviour.
Groups blocking the road
Weaving in and out of traffic
Only one speed – maximum
Not obeying the road laws
Wiggins wannabes (until they catch up with the current batch of winners).
No one else get a label for what they wear in the way cyclists do.
i know guys can be d!cks but
i know guys can be d!cks but i honestly can’t picture in my mind how that confrontation went down.
I do know that it is compulsary to lightheartedly say “ho, ho that’s cheating” or similar to an e-bike rider if you chat to them at the lights.
Or maybe i’m just thinking it through from my privileged male position and i’m part of the problem.
#everydaysenseofhumourbypass
#everydaysenseofhumourbypass ?
If I’m riding in London,
If I’m riding in London, which I often do with the dog in the basket, a lot of the issues I have with other cyclists (especially close overtakes/undertakes at speed) are with what one might term MAMILs … middle aged, male, in Lycra …
To coin another acronym, though, I do find certain McBobs to be in a world of their own and not give the proverbial about anyone else on a bike, almost inadvertently sent one into the Regent’s Canal a few months ago when he zoomed past me on my left on the towpath when there simply wasn’t space to do that (actually hit my arm as he passed me, I was riding about 3 feet from towpath edge).
‘McBobs’ … ?
Oh, Male commuting bankers on Bromptons.
Emma McInnes, if that is your
Emma McInnes, if that is your real name: you are Serena Williams and I claim my £5.
As all we have is a totally
As all we have is a totally one sided tweet, we can’t tell how tongue in cheek the ‘cheating’ comment is. Perhaps he overtook her by natural means, then she put on the after burners to overtake back then blocked him off. Who knows?