Weirdest time trial helmet ever? Uno-X’s new Star Wars bee lid divides opinion; “Motorists want our parking spots back!” Angry drivers deflate hire bike tyres and tell cyclists to “buy a car”; Luke Plapp’s sweary post-race debrief + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Just popping out to the shops to get some lunch, should definitely be more than 15 minutes
Just going to pop down the shops. I’d obviously prefer them to be well over 15 minutes away, but I’ll have to put up with it.
— Ned Boulting 🏳️⚧️ (@nedboulting) February 21, 2023
No idea what Ned could possibly be referring to…
‘15-minute city conspiracy theories debunked’
A handy 60-second guide from Carlton Reid here, in case you’re ever in Oxford and encounter a large crowd banging on about communism and dystopian prisons…
15 Minute City conspiracy theories debunked in 60 seconds. pic.twitter.com/2PtkGWwfG9
— Carlton Reid (@carltonreid) February 20, 2023
“Finally, a new cycling sponsor that’s not questionable”: Soft drink Orangina set to partner with Tour de France
Huge news. https://t.co/4AvDCePVNI
— Ned Boulting 🏳️⚧️ (@nedboulting) February 21, 2023
In what is undoubtedly the biggest cycling news story of the day, everyone’s favourite French soft drink, Orangina, has announced that it will become a partner of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes for the next three years.
The drink – which, incidentally, is one of cycling-mad comedian David O’Doherty’s gig ‘sponsors’ (just don’t ask him how to pronounce it) – will be sold at the Tour from this July, as well as featuring in the publicity caravan and in the race’s support cars.
To mark this most French of partnerships, the new official soft drink supplier will also launch three special edition cans later this year, based on this year’s stages, to celebrate “the most shaken roads of the Tour de France”.
It’s not yet known whether Orangina will also replace Coca Cola as the peloton’s emergency rescue fizzy fuel of choice, however.
In a not-at-all-overblown statement released this morning, ASO’s Yann Le Moënner said: “You can recognise a bottle of Orangina at first sight, or even in a blind test. Both the container and the drink inside it have become part of our collective psyche. It is hard to overlook its powerful synergies with the Tour de France, and the alliance between these two ‘monuments’ of French culture is only natural. We expect this to be a refreshing and bubbly relationship, of course.”
Hmmm, synergy…
The news has been welcomed with unfettered joy by most cycling fans, just happy that their sport is, for once, not being used by some moustache-twirling oil company for its latest greenwashing project.
Love Orangina and finally a new cycling sponsor that’s not questionable
— Kate (@whatkatedidnext) February 21, 2023
However, some are concerned about the immediate threat posed by those famous glass bottles, soon to be launched from a moving publicity vehicle by an overzealous student towards an unsuspecting public…
Oooh, little orange hand grenades being lobbed from the caravan. Epic.
— AJ Witt @kiloran@mastodon.org.uk (@kil0ran) February 21, 2023
Look forward to them throwing glass bottles into the crowd!
— Sam Levey (@Pedal_Medal) February 21, 2023
‘Why don’t cyclists use the cycle lanes?’ Part 6,950
Well done pic.twitter.com/wXYAIJWTrh
— Human & Travels (@humantravl) February 20, 2023
Selfridges hit with £12,000 bill after cyclist struck by car park barrier
High-end department store Selfridges was last week hit with a £12,000 bill after one of its former employees was struck by a barrier while exiting the company’s car park on her bike.
The Times reports that Sonia Spasiano, who worked as a manager at the La Perla concession in the flagship Oxford Street branch of Selfridges, claimed that the barrier closed faster than she anticipated, hitting her helmet and her nose, leaving a scar.
Claiming compensation for injuries and minor scarring from Selfridge’s Retail, the 37-year-old’s case alleged negligence on behalf of the company’s management for failing to warn cyclists about the potential hazards of riding through the barrier.
Last week at Central London County Court, deputy district judge Adan Tear ruled that the store should have had clearer warnings, and did not give enough thought to how cyclists could enter or leave the car park – but that Spasiano herself was also partially at fault for the incident.
“I am satisfied that Selfridges does bear responsibility for part of this accident but that doesn’t negate how this accident happened,” Tear said.
He added that the cyclist “must bear some responsibility herself for going under a barrier that was open, which then closed and so caused her injury”.
The court heard that Spasiano was hit by the barrier while following a motorist out of the car park. She said that she followed the vehicle as it would trigger the barrier to rise.
“She said that she normally followed the car one bicycle length behind, and would then follow it through the barrier,” Tear said.
“The barrier struck towards her helmet and then moved down, hitting the bridge of her nose, causing injury to her face.”
The judge awarded Spasiano, who has since left Selfridges, £3,060 – reducing the compensation by a third to account for her “contributory negligence”.
Selfridges was also hit with a bill for nearly £9,000 to cover the legal costs of the case, though I think with a revenue of £653 million for 2022 they’ll be fine.
What else can you do in 15 minutes?
Off with some recycling to the council tip. Should take me about, umm, 15 minutes to get there. pic.twitter.com/nP0Rmy7UYm
— Carlton Reid (@carltonreid) February 21, 2023
Suggestions on a postcard…
“Just when you thought silly TT helmets couldn’t get any sillier”
Uno-X’s super-massive, super-sweet Sweet Protection helmet has gone down a storm with road.cc’s readers today.
“The UCI should ban these helmets on the basis of ‘bringing the sport into disrepute’”, says peted76. Not a fan then, I take it?
Meanwhile, several readers had the same thought concerning when the time comes to name the now-nameless lid.
‘Spaceballs: The TT helmet’, anyone?
Rendel Harris also noted that the huge helmet with a big button in the middle isn’t Uno-X’s only crime against fashion.
“To add to the sartorial elegance of the outsized titfer, Uno’s socks/shoe cover combination makes it look uncannily as though the rider is wearing Crocs,” they noted.
Very cool.
Finally, lesterama took grave offence to the comparison with triathletes.
“No one is ever more of a dork on a bike than a triathlete. Ever,” they said. Amen.
“I don’t think I like aerodynamics anymore”: Is this is the weirdest time trial helmet ever? Uno-X’s new bumblebee Star Wars lid divides opinion
First we had the POC Tempor, the OG of oddly-shaped, style-be-damned time trial helmets:
The POC in all its glory
Then Kask joined in on the fun at the Tour de France last year, unveiling their new ski goggle-esque visor, with oversized wings (and superfluous gilet as an optional extra):
— Jakob Ravn (@JakobVel0) February 20, 2023
But even Ineos’ massive motocross goggles were overshadowed in Copenhagen last July by the then-brand-new Specialized S-Works TT 5, a helmet seemingly more at home in a 1960s low-budget sci-fi film than on the roads of the Tour, which – just to add another touch of glamour and sophistication – comes with its very own Samir Nasri-inspired snood…
You know, just to keep your head (and sense of style) as flat as possible:
> Snood or no snood? Specialized’s aero balaclava divides opinion
But just when you thought we’ve been through the looking-glass of TT helmet design, Uno-X’s riders rocked up to Sunday’s time trial stage of the Volta ao Algarve sporting an, ahem, interesting new take on aerodynamics:
Den nye tempohjelmen til Uno-X er… interessant. pic.twitter.com/w8MrfO8M2Z
— Magnus K. Aarre (@magnusaarre) February 20, 2023
This rather eye-catching (but apparently not wind-catching) model comes from the team’s sponsor Sweet Protection.
Its flared edges certainly resemble the POC Tempor’s divisive looks, but the helmet’s stand-out feature is a large central vent with a splitter seemingly designed to separate the direct airflow (and not, as one Twitter user suggested, control minds).
The helmet, which has been developed alongside Uno-X as the Norwegian team builds up to its debut Tour de France in July, does not have a name as yet – but it’s certainly proved the inspiration for plenty of jokes on social media… even from Uno-X themselves:
I don’t think I like aerodynamics anymore.
📸: Cor Vos pic.twitter.com/9y03vdB9UI
— Caley Fretz (@CaleyFretz) February 20, 2023
TT helmets now pic.twitter.com/vhGoTY5Ifl
— kate wagner (@derailleurkate) February 21, 2023
Norm Macdonald’s estate should get royalties. pic.twitter.com/8tHCcMLSyu
— SoccerFutbolForum (@SocrFutbolForum) February 21, 2023
#uncanny pic.twitter.com/qwG20whoB8
— Paul Kane (@Kaner1972) February 20, 2023
Anthon, I am your father 👽 pic.twitter.com/XszTDZhaYF
— Uno-X Pro Cycling Team (@UnoXteam) February 20, 2023
Well played…
So, what do you think? Has Sweet Protection hit the sweet spot with Uno-X’s new bumblebee/Star Wars lid, or has TT helmet design well and truly jumped the shark?
21 February 2023, 09:54
21 February 2023, 09:54
21 February 2023, 09:54
21 February 2023, 09:54
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Latest Comments
@Jakrayan God knows. On the country roads here (Kent) people are usually good at not close passing me but the consistently overtake me on blind corners etc. Oncoming cars on very narrow roads its 50:50 as to whether they will slow down at all despite passing me within 50cm. Once I get back into civilisation its a different story. Bad driving becomes the norm.
You could bé right. I live in a French Pyrenean départment with plenty of narrow, tight roads. About 80% of drivers either pull over to thé max or wait for a better space to overtake. Mind you, there's always thé odd one looking at their phone...
For a while I've thought this was an unfortunate brand name. Several times I've seen cyclists riding towards me wearing Le Col jerseys with their right arm covering the L so it looks like they are advertising e.Coli.
A driver in a BMW not looking properly at a junction? Who'd have thunk it?
@bennysnnock Which is why training for a driver's licence should include cycle training, of course.
As someone who previously worked in the custom cycle clothing industry, I have to admit this news did make me smile. I'm sure the brand will rise like a phoenix from the flames, but just the idea that they've gone pop has lifted my mood. Fair play to Yanto though, I'm sure the brand has set him up, one way or another, for life; he had a vision and he delivered on it. But, having been at the wrong end of a strategy that involved outspending the rest of the industry (on advertising) and out-discounting on retail kit, it's nice to know that their 'be the last man standing' strategy has - at least for now - failed. One trick (let's be fair and call it a strategy) that really frustrated me back in the day, was the way in which they used to give university cycle teams free kit. All very upstanding you say, however their motivation was more; 1. get people in your kit young and (hopefully) keep them for life - fair enough - but more acutely 2. remove decent revenue streams from your competitors. Uni teams were great because every year there was a new influx of members needing kit - so LeCol just took the market, not to make any money, just to kill it for the rest of us.
@Rendel Harris Absolutely. I was just making the point that Surrey has a lot of 'couldn't care less if I hit you' drivers whose attitude is get out of my way and if you don't that's your fault.
Their socks were all right.
@mctrials23 All those play out in Surrey pretty much every ride.
@Smoggysteve: Just buy the red version. It's faster—everyone knows that!
44 thoughts on “Weirdest time trial helmet ever? Uno-X’s new Star Wars bee lid divides opinion; “Motorists want our parking spots back!” Angry drivers deflate hire bike tyres and tell cyclists to “buy a car”; Luke Plapp’s sweary post-race debrief + more on the live blog”
Is this the helmet you’re
Is this the helmet you’re looking for?
First helmet with built in
First helmet with built in spirit level?
Wow just when you thought
Wow just when you thought silly TT helmets couldn’t get any sillier..
Spaceballs: The TT Helmet
Spaceballs: The TT Helmet
Came here to put a pic up of
Came here to put a pic up of the Dark Helmet. Glad you’d already done it
The UCI should ban these
The UCI should ban these helmets on the basis of ‘bringing the sport into disrepute’.
Don’t encourage them! The
Don’t encourage them! The rules on sock height are already a combination of aerodynamic and aesthetic considerations. Along with saddle angles, hand positions, maximum reach measurements, (and probably others I have missed) it will just give them another irrelevance to enforce rather than focussing on course safety, race organisation standards, TV helicopters, motorbikes, environmental footprint….
To add to the sartorial
To add to the sartorial elegance of the outsized titfer, Uno’s socks/shoe cover combination makes it look uncannily as though the rider is wearing Crocs.
No one is ever more of a dork
No one is ever more of a dork on a bike than a triathlete. Ever.
Not cycling, just very funny.
Not cycling, just very funny.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/21/spanish-transport-secretary-resigns-new-renfe-trains-too-big-for-tunnels
brooksby wrote:
Trains can no longer go direct from Reading to Oxford and passengers now have to change at Didcot because the new trains won’t fit under a bridge en route.
The future. Like the past, only worse.
PRSboy wrote:
Eh? There are six direct trains from Reading to Oxford in the next hour according to National Rail (actually two of them are cancelled but I don’t think it’s for that reason!).
I dont even believe there is
I dont even believe there is a rail tunnel between Reading and Oxford. I dont remember one. Nothing on Wiki either…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherwell_Valley_line
well tbf they said bridge and
well tbf they said bridge and Oxford station will be shut for some period over approx 3 months later this year and not able to accept trains from Reading or Didcot, whilst they install a new bridge.
I thought it had come up before as the road is supposed to be closed for a year, but will retain cycling access throughout, and one of the improvements with the new bridge will be a segregated cycle route away from the busy road.
Dnnnnnn wrote:
You can travel direct from Reading to Oxford. Most of the time. There are regular engineering works that can mean changing at Didcot or rail replacement buses from Didcot.
It’s the new 15 minute cities
It’s the new 15 minute cities… not allowed to leave Oxford any more
NickSprink wrote:
You might be right… I shouldn’t get my train news from the Main Steam Media.
Dnnnnnn wrote:
I hear the Main Steam Media has crazy rationales for the stuff it comes out with; real loco motives.
How many permits do residents
How many permits do residents get allowing them to leave their Oxford LTN’s by the way? I’ve heard it’s 3 per household but not sure if that’s per week, month?
There are no restrictions on
There are no restrictions on residents.
Secret is that you can go out
Secret is that you can go out as many times as you like, but you’re only allowed back in if you agree to post nonsense on forums.
There are groups who don’t have everyone’s best interests at heart. (Situation normal – human societies, and at any time someone’s having it bad somewhere). Fortunately humans are lazy and cock-up still rules over conspiracy in the UK at least. So I find it’s often fairly simple to get a handle on who’s really in power and what they’re pushing. Just follow the money. F’rexample when I go to the movies or browse online I see a bunch of car adverts. I don’t see many promoting walking to the shops or cycling to school. The odd one that has that going on, it’s generally transparent because it’s being brought to you by Shell or Honda.
PRSboy wrote:
I went direct from Reading to Oxford about 2 weeks ago, has something changed?
ChrisB200SX wrote:
Not you!
We had that up here too,
We had that up here too, following electrification of the Edinburgh/ Glasgow line.
The solution was to lift the bridges, or if that wasn’t possible, put new bridges in.
Oldfatgit wrote:
Did they fill under the old bridges with concrete?
brooksby wrote:
And if they did was there a measurable reduction in trolling?
Nah. They just found another
Nah. They just found another bridge or rock.
Re the UAE tour margin – 0.28
Re the UAE tour margin – 0.28 ms at 80 km/h (let’s be generous) is a 6 mm margin of victory for Merlier. Surely that’s plenty!
And here I was thinking that
And here I was thinking that that only happened in South Africa.
That terrible story about the
That terrible story about the pedestrian up for manslaughter, was it a shared use path or not? I can’t find any mention of it in either story, it just reads like a normal footpath.
Hard to tell, on the B1514,
Hard to tell, on the B1514, which I assume is what’s meant by the Huntingdon ring road (it circles the centre and passes the Sainsbury’s mentioned) there are sections that have shared path signs and sections that don’t with no clear indication of when they start and stop. Sure it will come out later in the trial if it is a shared path, though it does seem odd that it’s not mentioned if it is.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-54617488
This old article seem to suggest nursery road and if the photo is an accurate represenration of where the accident occured, then there is a clearly a blue roundal for a shared path.
However, this is the death of a 77 year woman, killed by another woman after an irrational outburst.
Its all very sad and hopefully the courts can serve justice.
It likely happened here:
It likely happened here: https://goo.gl/maps/KvzMSc1dD1auZLx66
The incident was caught on the CCTV of a nearby building, the rather unique style of the railings are shown in the appeal put out at the time:
https://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/22968300.cctv-appeal-woman-police-want-speak-death-cyclist-huntingdon/
Shouldn’t really discuss it as an ongoing case, but I think it’s ok to post to previous news articles.
Couldn’t comment on this particular section of pavement, but many of the pavements in this area appear to be shared use.
While not at that specific
While not at that specific section, there are roundels indicating the path is shared use on an earlier and later section. Also on other side of road. There is nothing to indicate a change in that shared status for the section in between with those railings.
Paul J wrote:
Yes, I can see the earlier section on streetview. There’s nothing after this sign to indicate the shared use status has changed.
https://goo.gl/maps/sQxS7MwhG7kb9HVo9
I thought that, but didn’t
I thought that, but didn’t want to put my comments in here in case it attracted comments of a certain type…
Orangina and Le Tour: time
Orangina and Le Tour: time for le maillot orange?
Bit disappointed there’s no
Bit disappointed there’s no “The future’s bright, the future’s Orangina” headline, not like road.cc to miss an open goal like that…
Indeed, but I’m very
Indeed, but I’m very surprised that people don’t think the sponsorship is questionable. What about all the dead babies Orangina is responsible for?
First the question as to why
First the question as to why cyclists don’t use cycle lands, is because they appear to be for cars. See picture above.
second I am shocked and appalled by the bad language use toward and by cyclists.
Third For once ‘literally ‘ has literally be used approximately for once. Thanks Bram.
Whole cycle lands?
Whole cycle lands?
I’d use them. As do the Dutch I believe.
Well whole cycle lands, that
Well whole cycle lands, that is a different proposal.
My issue is that when I
My issue is that when I suggest separated cycle paths (not lanes!) people suggest lands. As in: “there are cycling lands – we’ve heard of The Netherlands (and possibly Copenhagen) – so why don’t you go forth and multiply over there if you like it so much?”
I think they don’t realise a) we have always had cycling infra in the UK (even back in the 1930s) b) cycling infra is really driving infra c) there are even places in the UK where this is normal and d) they would almost certainly prefer driving where there is more and they might even prefer the environment that way.
Interesting that a pedestrian
Interesting that a pedestrian is charged with manslaughter for a gesture while a motorist wouldn’t necessarily even be charged for gesturing while driving into them.