Welcome to Wednesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Boardman sparks helmet row after Pedal Me bike taxi ride; Arsonists destroy popular Longleat MTB trail; Israel Cycling Academy to step up to WorldTour with Katusha takeover; Mason frames stolen; Cycling UK slams GWR train bike storage +more on the live bl
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Wed, Oct 02, 2019 20:54
SUMMARY
2 October 2019, 20:54
Andre Greipel has Arkéa Samsic contract terminated at his request
The German sprinter’s manager said he has been ‘disappointed’ with results this season, and Greipel will go on a family holiday to begin his recovery from this season. He also says he will be shutting down his social accounts and won’t be taking requests from the media during that time.
2 October 2019, 20:54
A nice wide pass, to make up for a terrible one
Why the sudden change of heart when overtaking the 2nd cyclist. They didn’t even attempt to give me any space 🙁 pic.twitter.com/Xjg5wtArzm
— Cam Bike (@CamBike1) October 1, 2019
Maybe this driver spotted the camera when they came to making the second pass…
2 October 2019, 20:54
Reports reveal that Alberto Salazar downfall was in part due to association with 'suspicious athletes'... including none other than Lance Armstrong
“The taking down of one of Alberto Salazar is a story a long time in the making. It took me back to a tent in Himalayas and the May morning in 2010 I knew Lance Armstrong was doomed.”
Column by @DavidWalshST https://t.co/krN2f5tQjA
— Times Sport (@TimesSport) October 1, 2019
If you haven’t seen the news this week, Salazar, coach to Mo Farah and GM of the hugely successful Nike Oregon Project, has been banned from coaching for four years after the U.S Anti-Doping agency said that he trafficked testosterone, infused a prohibited amount of L-carnitine and tried to tamper with doping controls. The large USADA report takes an unexpected turn when a certain Lance Armstrong pops up; as it turns out Salazar emailed him excitedly when he discovered the performance-enhancing effect of the controversial supplement L-carnitine. On December 1st 2011, Salazar emailed Armstrong, who was training for Ironman triathlon at the time, saying: “Lance, call me ASAP! We have tested it and it’s amazing! You are the only athlete I am going to tell the actually numbers to other than Galen Rupp. It’s too incredible. All completely legal and natural. You will finish the Ironman in about 16 minutes less while taking this.”
The report goes on to explain how much L-carnitine his doctors were administering to athletes, which the USADA say far exceeded permitted levels. It’s unclear if Armstrong ever actually took the supplement; his own cheating was finally outed to the world a little over a year after this email was sent.
2 October 2019, 20:54
Knees up for another year with Team Ineos
“I’ve always been somebody who likes to encourage the younger guys along and help them if they need advice.”@ChristianKnees has signed a new one-year deal ahead of his 10th season with the team.
https://t.co/WT1xchPL8E pic.twitter.com/RQ0IUUdXVM
— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) October 1, 2019
Yes we’ve just posted this for the pun, but if you’re interested Christian Knees will ride for Ineos again in 2020…
2 October 2019, 20:54
Rapha launches Transfer off-the-bike clothing
Rapha has released a new collection of relaxed Transfer clothing that’s designed for off-the-bike use.
2 October 2019, 20:54
STOLEN BIKE ALERT - 13 Mason frames stolen in transit to UK
Mason Cycles has had a consignment of 13 of frames of its In Search Of model, also known as the ISO, stolen while en route from Italy to the UK. The adventure bike model was introduced last year.
In a statement published on its website, the West Sussex-based company said:
It is with sadness that we must alert you of a stolen import of InSearchOf frames from Italy to our HQ in the UK. Please be vigilant and on the lookout for frame-only sales not through our webshop. The InSearchOf frame is not on the second hand market yet, so any sales are most likely a stolen frame. Please alert us and spread the word if you do see anything suspicious.
A huge amount of time and work goes into every frame. The lead time is around 3 months per batch and every frame is crafted with care and attention. We are saddened and severly disappointed that this has happened.
A batch of 13 frames went missing on its way from Italy to UK on a TNT shipment.
Each frame will have a serial number stamped under the BB in the format: B (Size) 07
The boxes will not have any Mason branding on them and they look like this, behind the ISO frame:
2 October 2019, 20:54
Our thoughts on Shimano's new groupset
Dave shares his first ride impressions on the latest groupset to come from Shimano, the GRX.
2 October 2019, 20:54
Cycling UK slam GWR bike provision on high-speed trains
Cycling UK have headed off to Cardiff today to take part in the Cycle on the Sennedd ride to call for more money to be spent on active travel in Wales … but encountered a problem trying to stow their bikes on the rail operator’s latest generation of high-speed trains, made by Hitachi.
We're on the way to the #CycleontheSenedd, going from Reading to Cardiff…and are having "fun" with the new #GWR cycle spaces, as our bike won't fit their hooks when there are two. Spot the difference between how @GWRHelp cater for cycle carriage and how it's done elsewhere… pic.twitter.com/jYcsz43oqs
— Cycling UK (@WeAreCyclingUK) October 2, 2019
The same model of train has been introduced by LNER on the East Coast Main Line, and cyclists attempting to take their bikes on train there are encountering the same issue.
Look out for the full story on road.cc later.
2 October 2019, 20:54
Another reason to love segregated infrastructure
You aren’t stuck in traffic. You are traffic. pic.twitter.com/Q4plDNn0d6
— Brent Bellamy (@brent_bellamy) October 1, 2019
2 October 2019, 20:54
Windhill Bikepark set on fire by vandals overnight
off.road.cc report that a popular mountain bike park on the Longleat Estate in Wiltshire was set on fire overnight on the 30th September – Windmill Bikepark have this afternoon took to Facebook to highlight the scale of the devastation. An excerpt from the post says: “It’s hard to describe the sinking feeling I felt seeing the pictures forwarded ….. Our iconic Start Cabin, the start point of hundreds of thousands of minutes of fun for riders from around the world and a cosy rest point between runs was gone.
“Hundreds of hours from the team and volunteers and tens of thousands of pounds was gone. Awash with a range of emotions, rage, upset, sorrow, I sat numbed and not ashamed to say some tears flowed.”
off.road.cc have reached out to Windmill Bikepark for further details: full story here.
2 October 2019, 20:54
Nacer Bouhanni joins Team Arkéa Samsic
De nouveaux challenges et objectifs avec l’équipe @Arkea_Samsic . Merci pour la confiance ! #2020 pic.twitter.com/xXGQhANiJK
— Nacer Bouhanni (@BouhanniNacer) October 2, 2019
It’s Greipel out, Bouhanni in as the French sprinter is set to depart Cofidis to ride for Arkéa Samsic in 2020.
2 October 2019, 20:54
Chris Boardman takes a ride in a Pedal Me cab, threatens to spark a helmet row...
Interestingly & at the risk of sparking the helmet thing off again, no one seems to mind image of me sitting in/on a bike taxi travelling same speed/height/environment as I’d be on my own …
With no with me, should I have got a taxi instead …*Goes off line for 24h https://t.co/4T3S1NsISY
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) October 2, 2019
Pedal Me offer a taxi service and e-cargo deliveries throughout London, and Mr. Boardman decided to take advantage of Pedal Me to get a quick and eco-friendly lift across the city.
He makes the point that cultural norms deem that it isn’t at all alarming he is not wearing a helmet in this photo as a cab passenger, even though he is just as exposed and travelling the same speed as he would be if he was piloting the bike. An interesting and/or true observation from Manchester’s walking and cycling commissioner?
2 October 2019, 20:54
Israel Cycling Academy to step up to WorldTour after completing Katusha deal
Israel Cycling Academy, which has recruited Dan Martin on a two-year contract, is set to step up to the UCI WorldTour next season after completing the takeover of Katusha, subject to UCI approval.
The news was confirmed by the team in a post on its Facebook page.
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
mark1a 34 minutes ago
@Backladder Oh I think I can guess - the nearest indoor velodrome to road.cc HQ looks to be some distance away in Wales, whereas Odd Down Cycle Track (where this test was conducted) is just 2 miles away.
Cugel 37 minutes ago
There are a number of causes of "the divide between motorists and cyclists". Only one is to do with the technology (of bicycles and cars) and that's the nature of the car, which is designed to induce the sort of dangerous and careless behaviours that providing humans with a lot of power and glamour fetches out of us. Other causes are much more insidious - A culture of hyper-individualism bordering on solipsism, with violently ultra-selfish and aggressive anti-heroes being promoted in every mass media channel as the ideal. A "news" media that overwhelmingly seeks, creates and offers pariahs and scapegoats to the rabid individualists, which pariahs and scapegoats includes all kinds of those perceived as less powerful and therefore easy victims, including cyclists. The near complete lack of any curb upon the dangerous antics of vast numbers of media-maddened motorists by the forces of law and order, many of whom are actually members themselves of the mass media maddened motorist ilk. ******** No amount of a more rational discourse about active travel or the means of making it safer will change these root causes of the vast numbers of deaths and maiming due to inept, incompetent and deliberately violent antics of vast numbers of motorists allowed their dangerous "weapons of choice". Yet many other highly damaging aspects of modern societies would be solved by a much more effective curbing of mass media mob-building and goading along with a serious attempt to prevent motorists and a whole range of other damagers from behaving as badly as so many do. It'll not happen, of course. Large and powerful elements of the modern world obtain far too much ultra-riches and power from current conditions for them to allow any significant change. And vast numbers of the population have long had their minds, attitudes and behaviours captured and directed by various oligarchical monsters and their mass media propaganda horns. About the only chance of safe active travel becoming extant is for the population at large to become mostly too poor to afford a car, ironically one other likely outcome of the machinations of those same power and money-mad monsters that have created the car-issue in the first place. Their need for zero-sum socio-economic arrangements degrades everything, including the wallet-contents of the masses.
Rendel Harris 55 minutes ago
@Astralstroll The hierarchy of road users does not mean priority of road users except in certain circumstances, e.g. stopping to let pedestrians cross junctions before turning. It doesn't mean that cyclists have priority over motor vehicles at all times any more than the pedestrians have priority over cyclists at all times. It certainly doesn't mean that you have priority in the circumstances you describe; personally, unless the driver is being a complete dick, on a narrow country lane I accept that it is easier for me to turn around and go back to the nearest passing place, which is never that far if you're on a bike, than for a tractor or other large vehicle to reverse back down the road for my benefit.
Backladder 57 minutes ago
If you were spending that much money on the device the obvious thing to do is to book a couple of hours in a velodrome for testing in a stable environment, I can't understand why Road.cc tried to do it outdoors.
kinderje 58 minutes ago
@chrisonabike 'Minimisation' please!
wtjs 1 hour ago
@Astralstroll The Hierarchy of Road Users, announced with great fanfares in 2022, has been rendered into complete fiction by the attitude of the police: there is this hierarchy/ priority list but we don't take it seriously and if drivers ignore it we don't care! The same applies to the ludicrous notice of close-passing - No KSI'd cyclist = No Offence ttps://upride.cc/incident/lwa190_minicooper_hierarchy/
chrisonabike 2 hours ago
Hope Barcelona keep the transport improvements (they've been making for a while) coming! Better streets, more infra to help active travel where necessary. And while it's a major investment (though can be lower operating cost than busses) maybe more trams where they can. That may be more effective in making places active travel friendly and replacing taxis than mass public bike hire. They've a good start with 6 lines already.
chrisonabike 2 hours ago
I think this is a positive story. They're not getting rid of public hire bikes - they're expanding their in-house one. They're merely kicking out cowboys who've shown they've a lack of interest in the game they claim to be playing. It seems logical that companies whose business model is to extract (venture capital) money by invading public space are even less likely to make the efforts to keep things in order than a local "in house" scheme. (After all the "bikes and riding" part of these schemes always *costs* money, they don't generate it.) So not surprising their experience shows those firms are not particularly motivated to follow the rules - especially when scrapping for "market share". It's nice the European Cyclists’ Federation is thinking about tourists also (i hesitate to say "follow the money...") - as they note, where it's safe to cycle locals will largely get their own bikes. Tourists aren't going to stop coming because lack of public bike share - I think this is mostly a "nice to have" ("hey - why don't we go on one of those bikes there? ").
chrisonabike 2 hours ago
Harm minimization - at least they're not driving...
Gm_Crop 11 hours ago
I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
34 thoughts on “Boardman sparks helmet row after Pedal Me bike taxi ride; Arsonists destroy popular Longleat MTB trail; Israel Cycling Academy to step up to WorldTour with Katusha takeover; Mason frames stolen; Cycling UK slams GWR train bike storage +more on the live bl”
Mo at the time had no email
Mo at the time had no email accounts – shame :).
If it’s now known that
If it’s now known that Salazar was the distro then can we expect the athletes on the receiving end to now be pursued & caught?
Rapha Nadal wrote:
If you’re asking if Mo Farah will be investigated by any British athletic or doping authorities, the answer is “no”. Much too big to fail now and spoil the London 2012 memories.
Jackson wrote:
I’m sure there are more than Mo Farah but he should be included. No athlete should be too big to fail. I wonder if UKAD are now regretting giving the all clear for Farah to train with Salazar?!
Was there anyone else who
Was there anyone else who “never failed a drugs test”?
Hey, it’s a positive story on
Hey, it’s a positive story on the BBC news site about cycling, sort of…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-49661730
I’ve heard of dodgy beef, but
I’ve heard of dodgy beef, but now quorn as well?!
Those GWR bike hooks are
Those GWR bike hooks are useless. They don’t fit anything with non-skinny tyres and/or rims, so fat-tyred mountain bikes are no-go as are deep section aero rims. Never mind that there’s no chance of them fitting in a tandem, tricycle or recumbent.
What’s annoying is that they could so easily have been designed better. If the hooks were pivoted, then they would fit more wheels, or even better, replace them with velcro straps and it would get around most of the issues.
Trying to get anything to
Trying to get anything to burn must have required some determination given the amount of rain over the past week. Nasty.
Good luck rebuilding Windmill Bikepark.
Cross Country seems to be the
Cross Country seems to be the only good long haul train company for bikes closely foillowed by Chiltern.
Virgin needs a prior booking and only on non peak trains. They have space for 5-6 bikes in the engine storage but will only take two. And when I last used it, the guard buggered off and left my bike locked away. I was lucky the train was terminating at the station and the driver was in that cabin. And we saw the RCC story where someone who had booked wasn’t allowed on as the train had been overbooked for spaces and he couldn’t do the Whitton.
The great CB points out the
The great CB points out the double standards and stupidity of most people’s view of helmets, cycling and safety.
I wonder if he’s seen Sustrans latest staggeringly awful contribution? So biased it could easily be from the Daily Mail.
https://www.sustrans.org.uk/our-blog/policy-positions/all/all/our-position-on-the-use-of-cycle-helmets/?fbclid=IwAR0NswHhxt3-wJMjAjiujtbU-LldtmcD5nbAymBVgKX9sWwSHyTDD8020Dk
burtthebike wrote:
Not sure what’s so terrible about the Sustrans policy. I read it & it’s basically “it’s up to you whether you wear one or not but the evidence suggests they can help, in some cases”. Can’t really argue with that surely? It’s more or less in line with my practice – I wear one for club rides (moving fast, risk of collisions) & real off-road (I’m not very good, so high chance of coming off) but not for going to the shops or pootling along a canal towpath or whatever (low risk, moving slowly, mostly on pavements & cycle paths).
burtthebike wrote:
Go on then, I’ll bite, what’s so staggeringly awful about their contribution? And please point out the bias that you think makes is worthy of being a Daily Mail article?
I read it simply for what it is – a comment saying people have free choice, it can help protect the head in certain incidents, isn’t a silver bullet and the countries with the most cyclists and best segregation also have the fewest helmet wearers and head injuries, pointing out that the helmet isn’t the solution that the average car driver thinks it is and indeed making it compulsory has huge detrimental effects on numbers taking up cycling.
My god, what a fascist rant those black shirted journos at Sustrans are…
PP
Pilot Pete wrote:
In response to you and oceandweller, did you actually read it? They only reference pro-helmet research, they ignore the much more reliable research showing no benefit, and one of the papers they reference is the second worst helmet study ever: the Cochrane Review which broke every rule of Cochrane Reviews. They give figures for the protective effect of helmets which even the original researchers, Thompson, Rivara and Thompson don’t support any more. It really couldn’t be any more one-sided, and either the person who compiled it is a helmet zealot or they are blissfully ignorant.
So they tell you time after time that helmets are fantastically effective, then tell you “but it’s your decision” when they have clearly selected their evidence to support their position that helmets are great, implying that if you don’t wear one, you’re ignoring the evidence.
If you don’t understand why something so utterly, blatantly one-sided and biased is wrong, perhaps you are DM readers.
burtthebike wrote:
And yet their opinion is that helmet use reduces cycling pickup and their benefits and the Netherlands has the lowest use of helmets and the lowest injury rates so better to have safe infrastructure then helmets.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
A bit of pretend balance after they’ve spent the rest of the article telling you to wear a helmet because they are fantastically effective. Nowhere do they quote any of the reliable evidence showing no benefit from helmet wearing, but they do quote quite a few much less reliable studies which show fantastic benefits.
Anybody reading it would inevitably conclude that helmets were effective, which is at the very least, questionable. Does Sustrans have shares in helmet companies?
burtthebike wrote:
kamoshika wrote:
Your quote implies that helmets are effective in the vast majority of collisions, but the data doesn’t show that, so I’m not quite sure why you used it, unless you’re agreeing with me?
Later they say this “A Cochrane review of five case-control studies found helmets provide a 63% to 88% reduction in the risk of head, brain and severe brain injury for all ages of people cycling.” Those figures have been disproved many times, and anyone still quoting them is either utterly ignorant or a helmet zealot who is quite prepared to use propaganda to promote helmets.
Does Sustrans have shares in helmet makers?
burtthebike wrote:
No it doesn’t, even if you had defined precisely what ‘effective’ is meant to mean.
burtthebike wrote:
I’m sorry, but your reading and understanding of it must be completely different to mine if you think that “cycle helmets can offer protection to the head, but not in every scenario” implies that “helmets are effective in the vast majority of collisions”. To me they have very different meanings.
Pedal Me founder Ben is quite
Pedal Me founder Ben is quite a militant anti helmet-er
What’s the point of comparing
What’s the point of comparing UK train bike storage, with that from unspecified country that has a ton more space to play with? Trains in the UK are rammed. Do you think that Commuter X would be happy to give up his seat in favour of someone’s bike? I don’t think so. Trains do not have unlimited space to play with. Most people want that space primarily used for seats.
Bungle73 wrote:
Rubbish, train companies are deliberately putting people, bikes and luggage in smaller spaces to optimise profits, having recently travelled on Austrian, Dutch and German railways one could see how catering for cyclists and disabled people in Europe is far more advanced than in the UK. I used to regularly travel on TPE to Leeds and can’t remember one occasion where the contractually obliged number of carriages was provided. It’s not a space issue, it’s a greed issue.
I have a bike with a Shimano
I have a bike with a Shimano 105 R7020 groupset, 50-34 chainest up front and a long cage rear mech, which is only supposed to work with a cassette with a maximum of 34 teeth. However, I’m running a SunRace 11-40 cassette with no problems, I tweaked the B tension screw a bit, but that’s it, it all works.
I imagine Shimano has been equally conservative with the GRX components and that it would be possible to run a cassette with more teeth with the 2x chainsets without any issues.
I traveled up the west coast
I traveled up the west coast intercity a few years ago
There were 2 slots for a bike, although only one could fit. The floor space was also full of company magazines and I had to move some to fit my bike in !
So here is another question
So here is another question then – If its law that when riding a motorbike that you wear a helmet, how come you dont have to wear one if you are using a 3 or 4 wheel trike or quad bike.
They go the same speeds and therefore the impact on the noggin will be the same. Result of the impact will be squashed tomato or just a broken helmet and concussion.
So therefore the rules for a biki taxi – using 3 or 4 wheels must be covered by the same laws as a trike or quad bike – helmet not required as it dont fall over when stationary.
Oh yay; the weekly helmet
Oh yay; the weekly helmet debate is back!! Boy, I’ve missed it.
So the below = Shares in
So the below = Shares in Helmet companies, everyone must wear one.
We believe that it is a personal choice whether to wear a cycle helmet or not, and for parents to make that choice for their children.
Improved safety records in the most cycling-friendly countries are greatly attributed to a network of well-connected and high quality dedicated infrastructure, public awareness and understanding of cycling, and a culture where most people cycle regularly rather than helmet use.
Countries with the highest levels of cycling, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, record the lowest levels of helmet use in the world. For example, the Netherlands has 5% helmet use and the lowest incident of head injuries in the world.
Legislating to make cycle helmets compulsory can discourage people from cycling. Evidence from Australia and New Zealand, for example, suggests that large numbers of cyclists are deterred from cycling by helmet legislation. In the year following the introduction of legislation for compulsory helmets in New South Wales (Australia) there was a 36% reduction in cycling levels.
It is estimated that a total of 136,000 adults and children in New Zealand – nearly 4% of the total population – stopped cycling immediately after the introduction of cycle helmet legislation in 1994.
This reduction in cycling is associated with a reduction in physical activity which could lead to negative health impacts overall. Coupled with this is the fact that cycling safety improves when more people cycle – the ‘safety in numbers effect’. It is thought that the increased frequency of motorist-cyclist interaction creates more aware motorists.
Cycling has many health, social and environmental benefits. If we are to make the most of these benefits, we need to increase, and, therefore, normalise cycling.
This means putting solutions that are based on the evidence and the experiences of most cycling-friendly countries and cities into practice. We need to invest in and deliver a network of dedicated cycling routes and car-free public space so that cycling is a viable option for everyday journeys.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
You somehow missed the rather more relevant bits which appeared just before your quote. Note the overwhelming bias of research showing helmets to be extremely effective, including some which has been proved wrong, and the total lack of anything balancing it.
“Recent studies have found that cycle helmets can offer protection to the head, but not in every scenario.
For example, a recent academic study showed cycle helmets offer “effective protection at low speeds of less than 50km/h (31 mph)”.
The same study also concluded cycle helmets offer protection against secondary impacts against the ground after the initial collision, but that helmets became less protective the faster cars are travelling, and were of “minimal” use in crashes with cars travelling at more than 50km/h (31 mph).
A French study found that helmets contributed to a 24%-31% reduction in head injury overall and a 70% reduction in head injuries categorised as moderate injury (defined as loss of consciousness for between 15 minutes and 6 hours or a period of post-traumatic amnesia of up to 24 hours).
A Cochrane review of five case-control studies found helmets provide a 63% to 88% reduction in the risk of head, brain and severe brain injury for all ages of people cycling.
Helmets provide equal levels of protection for crashes involving motor vehicles (69%) and crashes from all other causes (68%). Injuries to the upper and mid facial areas are also reduced 65%. However, the review did acknowledge that little to no protection is offered to the lower face and jaw.”
So after proving that helmets are incredibly effective, they put in some hogwash about it being your decision.
burtthebike wrote:
So may I ask – are you arguing that all of those studies are wrong, and so mis-information, that some are/some aren’t but they’re not balanced by studies that show no benefit or physical harm caused by helmet use, or something else ? They appear to repeatedly mention they are not a panacea, not required in many places to social and infrastructural differences, and it’s personal choice – all this is reasonably far from what I have unfortunately been exposed to from the Mail and others.
fukawitribe wrote:
As I’ve said, they only reference studies showing massive benefits from helmet wearing, some at least of which have been totally trashed, and don’t reference any of the rather more reliable studies showing no benefits. If they are supposed to be promoting cycling and are trying to be balanced, why is the evidence all one way and of the type that discourages cycling by portraying it as dangerous? If this isn’t biased, why do they only reference one type of evidence and ignore the more reliable stuff?
Having continually referred to evidence showing that helmets are effective, they then move on to suggest that you make up your own mind.
burtthebike wrote:
I have no problem with people presenting data showing efficacy or harm, that’s surely just more information to use to make that personal decision, as long as that data is reliable. At least one of the quote analyses there has been picked apart a number of times – and shouldn’t have been used IMO – but at least one appears to be a decent piece of work.. so why not. Data is data, if it goes contrary to our beliefs then so be it, that’s science – i’ve had views about seemingly established physics, along with others, which have then turned out to be incorrect or at least only partially true.. that’s part of the enjoyment for me. The same here. They have mentioned studies which show the negative effects of helmet mandation, and the data from other countries which have low helmet use – so i’m not undestanding your question “why is the evidence all one way ” ?
Your use of phrases like “continually referred to evidence “, “massive benefits” and “all one way” don’t really point to an objective viewpoint, at least to me and perhaps a number of others who have also read the article… if it’s balance you’re after, perhaps you could also address that along with any short-comings in the piece.
fukawitribe wrote:
OK, so show me any referenced study that shows no benefit? There are later mentions of counter arguments, but all the hard science, with figures, shows massive benefits, when that is at least questionable. If they acknowledge later that the studies they quote aren’t the whole story, why do they only reference studies showing massive benefits when there are plenty of more reliable studies which show the opposite?
burtthebike wrote:
Well there I agree with you to a certain extent (could be more explicit) – however if you go and look at the links in that piece there are a number either dealing with that directly, e.g.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/03/why-cities-should-watch-their-words-on-bike-safety/554600/
or with references to studies that show lack of benefits, alongside their caveating of the actual role of helmets in ‘safety’ considersations.
But they do acknowledge that the studies aren’t the whole story, and that there are other – arguably more important – issues to consider than the PPE aspect of things. The studies they quote may also have useful information in them and be reliable – if that shows circumstances where helmets are effective (or not) that should be considered, not dismissed because it runs counter to any particular belief system.
As for the “plenty of more reliable studies which show the opposite” – we could get into a another long discussion about that, but as far as a meta-analyses of things go, i’ll go with Ben Goldacre and his opinion on the papers and studies he saw.