An all-time classic local newspaper letter… suggests cyclists “should wear something sparkly to avoid accidents”; Put the duct tape away, that carbon frame is gone; Valentine’s Strava art from Wout van Heart + more on the live blog

Valentine’s heartbreak…

Tough scenes on Facebook, one rider sharing the photo of their snapped carbon frame and asking a cycling group: “What do you guys think about repairing a broken bike frame? I recently crashed my carbon bike, broke the top and down tube. I was thinking about repairing it for mostly indoor cycling (my collarbone was also severely broken so I wouldn’t be taking the bike outdoor anytime soon.

“Edit: I decide to not fix the bike and just gonna save money for a new frame or bike, thanks a lot for everyone’s opinions.”

The comments that flooded in in between the initial message and the edit were almost unanimously asking/begging/pleading that this bike isn’t ridden again. Now there are incredibly skilled carbon repair services out there, that are able to fix damage such as the fairly common chain suck scrape and other small defects… but this? Here was some of the reaction.

“Trash it even as a stationary bike it would be dangerous unless you like visiting doctors and experiencing pain a lot.”

“Seems like it could be a waste of money to have this one repaired, only to use as an indoor trainer for a few months. Save some money and get yourself a new ride. Maybe pick up a cheap bike for training indoors? Still cheaper than repairing carbon fibre at this level!”

“While it is possible to repair almost anything with carbon, it is major damage – and given that it’s an older rim brake bike from a smaller brand the frame probably has little monetary value. A substantial repair and repaint from a professional will not be cheap. You would almost certainly be better off money and safety wise getting another frame and moving the parts across.”

“As a mechanic, I would judge a mechanic who offers to repair it.”

“If a person shows a flat tyre on Facebook I suggest a new bike will fix it. This is way more severe than a flat tyre. So…”

> Plans to funnel pedestrians onto narrow crossing will “make conflict with cyclists worse” on new bike path – but council says it’s reluctant to clamp down on drivers “abusing” yellow boxes and blocking cycle lane

One stage for her new team. One win… 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by FDJ – SUEZ (@fdj_suez)

Following yesterday’s impressive opening-day victory at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, Demi Vollering said the win would give her confidence for the season ahead.

“It’s still so early in the beginning,” Vollering said. “I still have work to do, but I’m already here in this shape. I think it’s a good sign for the season, it gives me some confidence that I sometimes lost last year.”

Vollering saw off her former teammate Marlen Reusser (now at Movistar) and former boss Anna van der Breggen (returning to the pro ranks after a stint as a DS at SD Worx). There are going to be plenty of big battles ahead, SD Worx vs Vollering and FDJ shaping up to be one of the storylines of the season in 2025.

We regularly get bizarre press releases in our email inbox, but Electrical Safety First’s “Valentine’s Day e-bike warning” is up there. A serious topic with a serious point to be made… what makes it one for Valentine’s Day, we’re not sure (although it’s getting a whole load of blog coverage here, so maybe that’s the point). Well played.

Oh wait here come the Valentine’s links…

💔 The wrong charger = the wrong spark this #ValentinesDay! 👇

Using an incompatible charger can supply the wrong voltage to your battery, causing it to overheat and catch fire – a dangerous chemical reaction called thermal runaway. 🔥 #BatterySafety #TheRightSpark pic.twitter.com/aYKjzXV3Os

— Electrical Safety First (@ElecSafetyFirst) February 13, 2025

“Making sure you ‘find the perfect match’ when it comes to a charger for your e-bike battery is vital,” Giuseppe Capanna, product safety engineer at Electrical Safety First, commented. “Always ensure you’re using a compatible charger with your battery. If you need a replacement, or need to buy one separately, get it from the original manufacturer as incompatible or substandard chargers can increase the risk of a ferocious fire occurring by destabilising the battery if it’s not made to a high standard.

“To charge your e-bike safely, follow the manufacturer’s charging instructions. Avoid charging overnight as your reaction time is massively reduced in the event of a fire when you’re sleeping – and don’t charge your e-bike in an exit route like a hallway, landing or stairwell, as it can block your ability to escape.”

The warning comes as research by Electrical Safety First revealed more than a third of UK adults surveyed (39 per cent) were not confident that they could pick out a compatible charger for an e-bike or e-scooter, in the event they had to buy one separately.

> Brompton boss urges crackdown on “poor quality” e-bike batteries before public perception “snowballs into a world of fear”

The charity is leading a campaign to introduce measures, such as third-party certification, to end manufacturers being able to self-declare their batteries are safe. The campaign has been backed by fire chiefs, councils, housing associations and nearly 100 other organisations.

> Most drivers wrongly believe cyclists must ride single file, stay close to the kerb, and use cycle lanes – and one in three say they shouldn’t have equal rights on the road, new Highway Code survey finds

Apple Maps has updated its offering for cyclists in the UK and Ireland, now offering full cycling routing. I can’t say I’ve ever used it, so someone will have to let us know in the comments if it’s any good.

Cycling directions were introduced back in 2020 but UK cities were missing, something that was addressed last year with the addition of several British urban areas. The new full cycle routing across the whole of the UK and Ireland was spotted by cmmncw on Reddit, the update seemingly happening quietly in the background, Apple not making any official announcement.

Comments time!

SimoninSpalding: “I don’t know what the person with the Kuota is worried about, the internal cable routing should hold it together fine, and the rest will just buff out!”

Gulp.

unami: “Agreed — bit of hot glue and it’ll be right as rain — perhaps increase the glue temp a bit to make it a tad stronger.”

Gulp.

Secret_squirrel: “I think it would be an interesting experiment in the name of science to try to repair it for static use.  You could certainly get a YouTube video out of it. You could either cut the front end of entirely or rejoin front and mid-section with a couple of scaffolding tubes or similar. Then film yourself putting 1,000W through it on Zwift for shits and other peoples giggles.”

Give me a sec to see how much the owner wants for it and whether road.cc Jamie wants a broken collarbone for Valentine’s Day…

chrisonabike: “If you duct tape it, then put in an epic session, perhaps it’ll friction-weld itself better?”

GMBasix: “[snapped carbon frame]
I am mostly concerned that the rider may not have saved the activity. Will no one think of the data?”

momove: “Surely if they cared they would have been wearing one of those ‘If you see me collapse, pause my Garmin’ t-shirts that used to be about?”

Jack Bobridge was twice Australia’s national champ during an eight-year professional career that saw him also win a stage of the Tour Down Under and the U23 TT World Championship. He rode for some of the biggest teams in the world: Trek-Segafredo, Garmin-Cervélo and Orica GreenEDGE as they were all known back then.

Bobridge battled rheumatoid arthritis during his career and turned to alcohol and drugs, habits that escalated post-retirement. In 2017 he was caught selling MDMA and the former pro cyclist was jailed in 2019.

Now out of jail he spoke to A Current Affair about his experiences.

“I take full responsibility for the things I’ve done, the drinking, and the recreational drug use, but I wish there was more support for athletes,” he said. “You feel like you give 100 per cent to your sport and your country, and then when you’re done, you’re just dropped. That’s it. You’re finished. There were no phone calls, no emails. Nothing after I retired. You just disappear.

“It’s hard to carry the weight of everyone you let down. My daughter too—she was so young. She didn’t understand what was happening.

“There was no more competition, so there was no barrier any more. It was like the door opened wide, so to speak. I didn’t matter. I could do what I wanted, whenever I wanted. I was using a lot of drugs. And obviously, I was getting drugs for my friends, which some people might say is dealing, but there was never any profit in it.”

> Police sent more footage of dangerous driving than ever before – as officers warn “goal is to make roads safer, not target drivers”

 

 

 

 

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To be fair if climbing extraordinaire Demi Vollering had won this one SD Worx really would have had a problem. As it turned out, Mischa Bredewold was the fastest to the line, beating former world champion Elisa Balsamo and Liane Lippert. So, who was fourth? Vollering, of course, who keeps the leader’s jersey into the weekend.

Brace yourselves, Jenny from York has written to the local paper, The Press, her letter published this week…

Cyclists should wear something sparkly to avoid accidents

I WONDER how many people will agree with me that, in order to minimise accidents, cyclists should be encouraged to wear something sparkling and very visible on their wrists so when indicating a left or right turn, during all hours, traffic will be able to see more clearly what is going on and avoid collisions.

Perhaps bicycle shops could think of something without causing too much expense?

It can be extremely difficult to avoid some cyclists especially in the early evenings when they don’t even have proper lighting on their bikes.

Something needs to be done so cyclists, and drivers of cars etc. can avoid unnecessary accidents.

I’m sure the comments section will have some ideas to answer that last sentence… how about we start with those stats on yesterday’s blog?

> Half of UK police forces catch motorists doing 90mph on 30mph roads, while 90 per cent have clocked people driving at 60mph on them

Right, get the sparkly wrist straps out, we need to do something about all these collisions. As we pointed out in that piece, according to Department for Transport figures, speed was the biggest factor in 888 fatalities on UK roads in 2023, and the biggest factor in more than 39,000 collisions overall. Anyway, sparkly wrist straps… we had some fun in the comments at least.

Or perhaps we go one step further…