Live blog: Do kids who take hire bikes just want to ride? Amazon Alexa bike; record breaking year for Boris Bikes + more

@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.

@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.

@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...

@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.

@Rendel Harris Go and bother somebody else with your opinion.

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

@Daclu Trelub Yeah...that sort of expression is OK when being jocular about someone who's a bit dense or slow on the uptake, is it really appropriate for someone who quite obviously has mental health/dementia issues?

I'm a bit on the fence. Currently riding a gravel bike with a Force AXS XPLR groupset, Favero assioma pro powermeter pedals, Garmin varia rear light, lupine front light, Edge 1040. 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. BUT....everything's dead easy to set up, no cables to route through the frame, no cable stretch, no derailleur adjustment.....

I saw a similar incident a few years back at the British Champs. Dad and son crossing the road ar the bottom of Saltburn Bank, presumably to get to the beach. Dad made a dash for it leaving the son in the middle of the road. Top parenting. Luckily it was just a solo breakaway rider so easily avoided disaster. It's not like there's not enough warning. Police motorcycles whizzing past sirens blaring. It's just impatience / entitlement.

Very poor from the organisers, as the resident said, "There's always one" and yes, there always will be one, often a confused elderly person lacking the capacity to understand the consequences of their actions, and so you have to fully barrier crossing points in that sort of situation and have marshals in charge of opening and closing. It's very lucky we're not talking about serious injury or death.