Welcome to today’s edition of the road.cc Live News Blog with Simon MacMichael leading the news team chaingang…
And that’s it for today, the Live blog will be back tomorrow with all the news from the site and beyond, but as ever, mainly beyond.
Live blog: Britain’s favourite bike colour revealed (no, not that one either), Super veiny pro legs alert, New Wilier Cento, New Ubyk, Hackney transformation + snow and more
All the news from the site and beyond this black Tuesday
Tue, Jan 22, 2019 15:52
SUMMARY
22 January 2019, 15:52
Latest graphene news
Well, not really. But since all the tyre and frame talk is about graphene these days we thought we’d share this gem from Viz…
22 January 2019, 15:52
Yesterday we were mainly talking about… Decathlon's new Van Rysel road bike range
Looking cool, and looking an awful lot like the BTwin Ultra 900 recently crowned as road.cc’s 2018/19 Bike of the Year and Road bike of the Year – basically because the first Van Rysel is a renamed Ultra. One big talking point was the lack of disc brakes – they’ll have ’em in 2020 but that was a bit late for some of you. Read the full story here
22 January 2019, 15:52
…and 5 Cool things
Our weekly quintet of interesting items that have landed in the road.cc office for review is always worth a gander – you can get the full lowdown on this week’s list here
22 January 2019, 15:52
Britain's* favourite bike colour? Yes, it's black
On Friday we asked you what your favourite bike colour is and your answer came back loud and clear. It’s still black.
And it all looked so different on Friday, blue was in the lead for most of the day – we’d even dug out a really nice pic of a Mason just in case and had hopes that the result would confound expectations and the old bike industry cliche that Brits like black bikes best, but over the weekend your affinity for black bikes asserted itself and black romped home a clear winner**. Nobody’s ever totally explained why it is that British cyclists in particular seem to like black bikes but it is a KNOWN THING, for many years it was something of a running joke at Eurobike with bike brands including a black version of their high volume carbon bikes ‘especially for you Brits’ the marketing guy would say with a sigh .
It has to be said the preference for black has always been more of a road bike phenomenon than an off-road one, which perhaps relates to one of the two big reasons cited as to why British road cyclists like black bikes – you never have to worry about a bike/kit colour clash with a black bike – not such an issue if you and your mountain bike are going to be the same shade of mud five minutes in to the ride.
The other reason Brits are thought to favour black bikes? They look more expensive… yeah, maybe. Obviously the real reason is cos black bikes look cool.
Those results in full:
Black – 23 %
Red – 16%
White – 7%
Blue/Celeste (if you think Celeste is blue) – 12%
Green/Celeste (if you think Celeste is green) – 10%
Silver/grey – 5%
Another colour. Or all the colours – 27%
*Those British (and other) people who vote in road.cc Friday afternoon polls
**(okay Another colour got one per cent more but that doesn’t really count).
22 January 2019, 15:52
…and here's a nice blue bike cos we'd already dug the picture out
22 January 2019, 15:52
Back on his bike
An Edinburgh veteran whose passion for cycling was halted by his sight loss has jumped back on the saddle for the first time in 20 yearshttps://t.co/XYerHrbthm
— Edinburgh News (@edinburghpaper) January 21, 2019
An 84-year-old former elite cyclist who was forced to quit riding due to his poor eyesight is now back in the saddle thanks to a collaboration between the Linburn Centre and Cycling UK’s tandem cycling club VIE Velo. VIE Velo was set up for those with visual impairments to get on their bikes again, and Edinburgh News report that it’s given Bryce Campbell a new lease of life. Full story here.
22 January 2019, 15:52
Credit unknown...
22 January 2019, 15:52
We come from the land of the ice and snow...
…well this morning we do anyway – in fact a road.cc staffer who will remain anonymous took a tumble on some black ice this morning, before admitting defeat and deciding to work from home! You’ll find our top tips for avoiding similar peril in our bumper Cycling Survival guide to riding through ice and snow.
22 January 2019, 15:52
At this time of year, riding it is out of the question...
22 January 2019, 15:52
Cyclists and their weird legs continued... Enric Mas nicolau of Deceuninck–Quick-Step
Trabajando duro para intentar tener las mismas piernas que el año pasado / Working hard to try having the same legs as last year (Foto Sigfrid Eggers) pic.twitter.com/BF8T078iU6
— Enric Mas Nicolau (@EnricMasNicolau) January 21, 2019
With pro riders getting the hard yards in before grand tour season starts, training intensity will be nearing its highest and kg’s will be starting to drop off after the festive break… and for athletes whose sole aim in life other than cycling is to weigh as little as possible, that also seems to mean horribly veiny legs. In the past couple of years we’ve seen eye-popping pin pics from the likes of Chris Froome (below) and Polish rider Pawel Poljanski, who was the inspiration behind our must-read ‘Why are pro cyclists’ legs so veiny?’ feature from 2017. Who do you think has the weirdest?
Our man @chrisfroome is looking absolutely ripped ahead of #LBL on Sunday! (Photo: @michellecound) #VaVaFroome pic.twitter.com/UGePCkvwKU
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) April 23, 2014
22 January 2019, 15:52
Peak Bikes buys former Ubyk stores
Peak Bikes has confirmed that it has taken over the website and shops of Oxford-based Ubyk, which went into liquidation last month.
In a statement reported on businessinsider.com, the Chesterfield-based retailer confirmed rumours on the Singletrack forum, reported on in our live blog before Christmas, that it was looking to snap up the business.
The statement said: “Peak Bikes has purchased the Ubyk website and we are working to put our own stamp on that as we rebrand it; we hope to have that live very soon.
“The addition of two new sites, one in Oxford and one in Brighton, will allow us to continue our drive forward in the cycle industry. The same can be said for the Ubyk websites.
“Our team are great and are working hard to make this new venture work for both us and you as the customer and we all share the same passion for two wheels.”
22 January 2019, 15:52
What a transformation!
Huge improvements for people cycling on CS2 in Stratford over the past year pic.twitter.com/5m9jd6qaj4
— Hackney Cyclist (@Hackneycyclist) January 21, 2019
This part of the CS2 route in Stratford is now safer than ever for cyclists, with the bus stop removed to keep the lane segregated.
22 January 2019, 15:52
More mailing list madness courtesy of Planet X
This time, they’ve forgotten to put the price up on their EC-130E aero bike with full Ultegra groupset…
22 January 2019, 15:52
Wilier show off Cento10NDR in swish new colourway
Wilier’s polished copper Ramato finish is now available on their Cento10NDR road endurance bike. For those that don’t know Ramato is to Wilier what Celeste is to Bianchi – it’s their signature colour developed in the 1940s which graced all Wilier’s racing bikes including the one ridden to victory in the 1948 Giro by Fiorenzo Magni. Unlike Bianchi though the nature of the colour – or to be more exact the process used to apply it meant that Wilier only ever used Ramato on their top end bikes – and indeed for a number of years when aluminium and then carbon replaced steel they didn’t use it at all. They had to come up with a whole new painting process to replicate the finish on carbon.
As Ramato coloured bikes go, the Cento10NDR is unique (though possibly not for long) in also having accents of the colour on the stem and bars too. You can find out more here on the Wilier website.
22 January 2019, 15:52
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ...
… it still won’t deter people from riding their bikes in the Netherlands.
First flurries. Respect to all the natives who continue #cycling in this #snow #sneeuw#Netherlands pic.twitter.com/ZDyq1f0q2a
— anna holligan (@annaholligan) January 22, 2019
22 January 2019, 15:52
Let's end the day with a nice grey bike…
Here’s one of our fave’s from Mason. Well it looks grey to us… in a certain light
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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
kinderje 52 minutes ago
@Rendel Harris Agree, I am baffled that the 84 year old who is now banned from driving for year can then start driving again without a retest. We should be re-tested regularly.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@mitsky Just checking the figures and apparently the 2026 average cost is £58,000 per year per prisoner; worth noting that is only the direct cost, you then have to factor in ten years of lost tax income from the prisoner, ten years that the prisoner is making no contribution to society as a worker or as a consumer, plus the fact that if they were the primary breadwinner very likely the costs will include benefits for their family as well. None of which should be a reason for keeping violent recidivists out of prison of course, nor drug/drink drivers who kill, but it is a factor worth considering for lower-level offences.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@Surreyrider I ride in Surrey a fair bit and absolutely many do look like that but the point is they all *think* they're driving perfectly reasonably (as one discovers when remonstrating with someone who's skimmed one by 30cm, "I gave you masses of room") so deterrent penalties have little effect. That's why we need to strike at the root cause and actually train drivers properly and test them stringently (and more than once over the course of a potential 70+ years of driving, it's absolutely absurd that competence and knowledge in what for most people is the activity in their life that will run the biggest risk of killing people you never have to have your qualifications renewed).
Rendel Harris 3 hours ago
@mitsky Imprisonment currently costs over £50k p.a. per prisoner and obviously that will rise over the course of a ten-year stretch with inflation. Regarding culpability and mitigating sentences etc, of course I'm not against condign punishment for drivers who kill (and cyclists on the tiny, tiny handful of occasions when this happens), including prison as appropriate; I was objecting to the ridiculous and oft-repeated demand of MM that drivers who kill cyclists must get ten years, "no excuses, no exceptions".
Blackthorne83 6 hours ago
Hey, but their wool blend cycling adjacent t-shirts are/were fantastic.
RoadYeti 7 hours ago
@Surreyrider Still the boss. Ride one, you'll see why
chrisonabike 11 hours 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 11 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 11 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 12 hours ago
Thanks, just going to have to suck it up. Got next week off and will take the easy, if expensive option...
20 thoughts on “Live blog: Britain’s favourite bike colour revealed (no, not that one either), Super veiny pro legs alert, New Wilier Cento, New Ubyk, Hackney transformation + snow and more”
Of course Celeste is blue.
Of course Celeste is blue. Who thinks it’s green? They’re wrong, of course. Probably about most things in life. Celeste, as in celestial, as in the sky, as in blue. You don’t say a colour is sky-green, do you?
Celeste is green and that
Celeste is green and that mason bike looks grey! 🙂
StoopidUserName wrote:
Not sure I agree with you about celeste, but the Mason definitely looks grey.
RobD wrote:
Not sure I agree with you about celeste, but the Mason definitely looks grey.— StoopidUserName
It is belly-button-fluff blue.
Organon wrote:
Just been reading about Bianchi’s and their famous green frame colour is, you guessed it:
Celeste.
But I suppose it depends on the lighting and our eyes, and colour is pretty subjective anyway.
Looks blue to me. My
Looks blue to me. My favourite colout bike frame ever was my old Cotic Soul which was described as ‘Custard’.
It is grey. Mason call it
It is grey. Mason call it Element Grey.
You have to remember that this is road.cc where quality cycling journalism goes to die. Their motto is ‘Click Bait And Ads’.
See 59 wrote:
How the hell do you think we’d be able to give you a free product without any advertising ya melt??
See 59 wrote:
My personal motto is: if you don’t like it, don’t waste your time and mine reading it. i’m happy to delete your account.
dave atkinson wrote:
It is grey. Mason call it Element Grey.
You have to remember that this is road.cc where quality cycling journalism goes to die. Their motto is ‘Click Bait And Ads’.
— dave atkinson My personal motto is: if you don’t like it, don’t waste your time and mine reading it. i’m happy to delete your account.— See 59
.
That’s not a blue bike. This
That’s not a blue bike. This is a blue bike.
Miller wrote:
seen that on WW – in fact I think you and I are in the middle of a chat about H0 ergolevers there
Nick T wrote:
OMG, forum worlds leaking into each other, noooooo….
Miller wrote:
I thought everyone knew that
I thought everyone knew that red bikes are faster?!
Having said that, I’ve just bought a black frame – but the bar tape will be red!
Black is slimming.
Black is slimming.
(also, black isn’t a colour – it’s a result of the absence of colour).
#nerd
The colour thing feels all a
The colour thing feels all a bit Henry Ford Model T, both my bikes are black because there was no other colour options available,so of course black sells more,that’s often all we can get…I prefer navy with orange highlights fwiw
Mason Definition looks rather
Mason Definition looks rather tasty in all their colour range – Blue Grey Black. Im lucky to have visited their HQ and viewed them up close. Decided that their ‘Shutter Black’ is the new Black and rode one away with a big smile and empty wallet! Great bike Stunning Colour Brilliant Co.
For an Instagram post those
For a Twitter post those “weird cyclist legs” may elicit but a shrug if indeed that is why the rider decided to show them off in the first place. Firstly, those are scrawny emaciated legs. Second, some of those veins are beset with abnormalities that form when veins get knotted together (can’t recall the medical term). Third, they’ve cranked up the clarity effect in their photo editor of choice to artificially enhance the leg texture. 1 and 2 are worthy of respect, but the third giveaway leaves no doubt about the humblebraggery on display, which will no doubt excite only the handful of ultra lean masochists living in a bubble of power to weight ratio obsession.
There’s no mystery about
There’s no mystery about Bianchi’s Celeste (although its origin is a mystery – could be the colour of the sky over Milan, or maybe whatever military surplus paints were available at the time or some other nice narrative). Since the stuff has to be made, it has a specification and is a type of turquoise (a blue-green colour).
Easy way to tell is just to look at Bianchi’s website, which is riddled with the stuff. The hex RGB value is #8bddd1, which indicates a blue-green colour with a touch more green than blue.