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Live blog: Tie your shoelaces tight – Latest cycle safety advice from the US; Spitting distance… is too close – nasty Manchester close pass vid; NYPD ticketing cyclists AGAIN after another rider is killed; Best TdF rider announcement ever? + more

All today's news from the site and beyond.....
26 June 2019, 17:57
Best Tour de France rider announcement ever?

Maxime Monfort - and your kids - we salute you.

26 June 2019, 17:43
Shoelaces (licesed CC BY-SA 2.0 by Warrenski on Flickr)
The latest bike safety idea from the US? Tie your shoelaces properly

Oh, and wear a helmet and arm and knee pads.

Advice comes courtesy of Ross Gullickson, the chief of police in North Mankato, Minnesota, who says: “The singular biggest thing that people can do to protect themselves is wear a helmet, wear pads on the knees and elbows and tie their shoe laces tight.”

Glad we got that one straight.

In case you don't know how to tie-up shoelaces properly, here's an educational TED Talk  on the subject.

Or maybe just buy slip-on shoes or ones with a Velcro closure ... ?

26 June 2019, 17:17
26 June 2019, 17:13
Police respond over Manchester cyclist whom they warned over behaviour after he was threatened by driver while filtering ...

“It is not appropriate for any retaliation, be that physical or verbal,” says GMP.

Follow-up to our story from Friday, read the full article here.

26 June 2019, 17:06
... and elsewhere in Manchester, we have this
26 June 2019, 15:44
E-cargo delivery firm Zedify open new London depot
zedify

With ULEZ now enforced in Central London, are e-cargo deliveries set to boom? Full story on ebikeTips

26 June 2019, 13:50
4-time Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea's custom Vitus ZX-1
vitus jonathan rea custom

Vitus have presented Reas with this custom version of their ZX-1, with a Kawasaki green paint job and weighing in at 7.5kg. Here's the full spec: 

Frame: Vitus ZX-1 Disc (52cm)
Fork: Vitus ZX-1 Disc
Derailleur: SRAM RED eTap AXS 12 speed
Front Derailleur: SRAM RED eTap AXS
Shifters: SRAM RED eTap AXS
Brakes: SRAM RED AXS Hydraulic disc
BB-set: CeramicSpeed EVO386 SRAM DUB Bottom Bracket
Crankset: SRAM RED Quarq AXS DUB Power Meter
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR SuperFlow
Bars: Prime Primavera Carbon – 38cm
Stem: Prime Primavera Carbon – 100mm
Wheels: Prime BlackEdition 50 Carbon Disc
Chain: SRAM Red AXS 12 speed
Cassette: SRAM Red AXS 12 speed
Tyres: Schwalbe Pro One MicroSkin TL – 25mm
Bar tape: Prime Race Comfort
Pedals: Look Keo Blade
Bottle Cages: Prime Carbon Bottle Cage
s

You can watch a video of the bike being built here

26 June 2019, 13:41
A little OTT?

One wonders what happened to this cyclist to make him want to adopt full body armour on the morning commute... 

26 June 2019, 10:49
Not sure I'm too popular with the bloke from the council who cuts the grass round here

Still, 72 flats (and 200+ residents) in this block and NOT A SINGLE bike parking space, what do they expect? And this is one of London's more bike-friendly boroughs.

Grass 1

It looks even better with the bike removed  1

Grass 2
26 June 2019, 10:33
Police are reportedly trying to hand out tickets to cyclists, not drivers, after bike courier was killed in Manhattan on Monday morning

20-year-old Robyn Hightman became the 12th cyclist killed in New York City this year on Monday, hit by a truck driver who drove off unaware before returning to the scene shortly afterwards after being informed by a witness, according to CBS New York. The Gothamist reports that police in the area where Hightman was killed were found to be looking for cyclists committing minor traffic violations instead of ticketing drivers breaking the rules. Officer Carlos Negron told the Gothamist: 

"Our unit is specifically the bicycle unit—whenever there's a pedestrian struck or a bicyclist struck, anything that involves a bike, we try to respond to it.

"As far as the female who passed away unfortunately, yesterday, I believe she was riding off the bike lane, you know. It's sad, but it's sad that she was off the bike lane, you know? Maybe if she had been on the bike lane, maybe she'd still be alive."

It's not illegal for cyclists in New York to ride out of a bike lane if there are surface hazards or obstructions in front such as vehicles or pedestrians. 

20-year-old Hightman ran a cycle courier company, and was an ambassador for the Hagens Berman Supermint team while riding competitively for Spin Peaks. A vigil was held in New York yesterday, and the Supermint team have also left a lengthy tribute on their Instagram page

26 June 2019, 10:29
Notting Hill Gate with Eilidh Cairns' ghost bike on the central reservation (via Google Street View).PNG
Eilidh Cairns' mother writes to leader of Kensington & Chelsea over bogus "aunt"

The woman claimed at a public meeting earlier thois month to be Eilidh's aunt - and said the cyclist, crushed to death by a lorry at Notting Hill in 2009, would have opposed a cycleway planned for the same route. Full story here.

26 June 2019, 08:18
Documentary about Phil Liggett to premiere in 2020
Oscar Freire and Phil Liggett(Photo - Santos Tour Down Under:Regallo)

if.com reports that the feature-length documentary, called 'Phil Liggett: The Voice of Cycling', will get a premiere in October 2020 and a cinema release shortly afterwards. It will folow the commentator around some of the biggest events on the cycling calendar, including the Tour de France. 

Backed by Demand Film and produced by Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe, this will be their follow-up to the popular 'MAMIL' documentary. Liggett said: “As we have been filming in secret at various locations and scanning the archive I was not aware how full my life has been and how privileged I have been to be a part of this wonderful sport and pastime of cycling.

“Demand Film did a great job with MAMIL and I know that they can be trusted to handle my story and share it with the world.”

26 June 2019, 08:08
GBDURO 2019: Lachlan Morton is still smashing it

Morton has steamed ahead on GBDURO, an unsupported mixed-terrain version of LEJOG, reaching the second checkpoint of four inn 63 hours after 1,100km of riding. The route is 1,960km in length, so Morton should finish by the end of the week. 

Many of the 26 who started have already pulled out but 13 are still going strong, check out the live feed and results here

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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15 comments

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
0 likes

I have recently put some 3 inch 27.5+ Maxxis Chronicles on my new build, my "ultimate commuter" they roll relatively well and I am very pleased with them moving through the bus destroyed roads in the centre of Reading.  The grip is phenominal, and I am seeing how low I can go pressure wise.  They handle almost any surface and the bike just pushes on through anything.

I did it just because I could, and they look damn cool.  I'm glad I didn't have to fit the mud tyres that I might have needed, and if my next commute is all tarmac I will change to a 29 with 2-2.5 faster rubber.

It's my first go running tubeless too.

Avatar
brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes

On the armoured commuter photo, has anyone here in Bristol noticed the bloke who appears to commute into the city centre on the fattest tyred Fat Bike you have ever seen?

Like many SUV's, I suspect it never actually goes off-road.  The noise of its knobbly tyres on tarmac is quite something... 

Avatar
MonkeyPuzzle replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

On the armoured commuter photo, has anyone here in Bristol noticed the bloke who appears to commute into the city centre on the fattest tyred Fat Bike you have ever seen?

Like many SUV's, I suspect it never actually goes off-road.  The noise of its knobbly tyres on tarmac is quite something... 

I have. I know our roads are pretty bad, but I don't think they're that bad. In Palermo the Sicilians were fond of them, I suppose for riding on polished uneven flagstones, or possibly they just thought they looked cool.

Punctures will be costly.

Avatar
kil0ran replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

On the armoured commuter photo, has anyone here in Bristol noticed the bloke who appears to commute into the city centre on the fattest tyred Fat Bike you have ever seen?

Like many SUV's, I suspect it never actually goes off-road.  The noise of its knobbly tyres on tarmac is quite something... 

There's a bloke round here on a fat e-bike, pretty sure he has more rubber on that thing than I did on my Mk1 Golf. Awesome noise, just needs to broadcast Ride of the Valkyries for the full I love the smell of NOX in the morning experience.

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
1 like

Lastboyscout, define it a islamophobic or anti-semitic, it would have to change their response, because then it becomes a hate crime, which general death threats to cyclists don't seem to count as.  Foolish them for using a ham sandwich as the weapon.

Avatar
LastBoyScout replied to ktache | 4 years ago
1 like

ktache wrote:

Lastboyscout, define it a islamophobic or anti-semitic, it would have to change their response, because then it becomes a hate crime, which general death threats to cyclists don't seem to count as.  Foolish them for using a ham sandwich as the weapon.

The driver was Asian in appearance, certainly.

On the other hand, I'd prefer not to end up in court and splashed all over the front of the gutter press.

Avatar
LastBoyScout | 4 years ago
1 like

Close passed last night by someone in another Vauxhall Astra who also threw the remains of a ham roll at me, hitting me on the arm!

All on camera for TVP to ignore...

Avatar
Awavey | 4 years ago
2 likes

tbf on the shoelace thing, if youve had a loose lace catch in your front mech and jam everything up whilst it simultaneously feels like your foot is being yanked off and you cant just declip yourself from the pedal, it can be quite awkward to control your bike at that moment.

Avatar
kil0ran replied to Awavey | 4 years ago
1 like
Awavey wrote:

tbf on the shoelace thing, if youve had a loose lace catch in your front mech and jam everything up whilst it simultaneously fells like your foot is being yanked off and you cant just declip yourself from the pedal, it can be quite awkward to control your bike at that moment.

Been there, done that many years ago. Surprisingly painful and destructive to shoes, mech, and foot. Had a friend in school who broke his ankle in a similar accident and ground the side of his foot almost down to the bone.
Obvs all his citizens are toting Giro Empires...

Avatar
burtthebike | 4 years ago
1 like

"Ross Gullickson, the chief of police in North Mankato, Minnesota, who says (link is external): “The singular biggest thing......"  I stopped reading there, he's obviously an idiot.

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BehindTheBikesheds | 4 years ago
0 likes

Being called a cunt for the socks you're wearing though, not harsh enough if you ask me, full on paedo socks them, especially with the joe 90 glasses and the rest of the Blakes' 7 bad guy outfit!

As for NYPD, like the MET only with guns and bigger bellies. If only she hadn't have walked outside the safety of her home to go about her lawful business, she wouldn't have gotten raped and murdered, bunch of victim blaming cunts!

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
0 likes

Didn't Dave Brailsford recently advocate a similar level of protection as that commuter for the peleton recently.

I like the way that it is both protecting and high visibility.

There is something more aggressive commuter about a full face too.

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ktache | 4 years ago
1 like

Boris also did this after that terrible spate of cyclist deaths in London, and the headphone nonsense.

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CygnusX1 | 4 years ago
4 likes

NYPD really don't get it do they?  Victim blaming of the highest order.

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Simon E | 4 years ago
2 likes

There is a beautiful tribute to Robyn Hightman by the Hagens Berman team on instagram (via Peter Flax):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzGtB9MFSdz/

Fair made me want to cry.

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