road.cc Podcast episode 30: Bike baggage chaos + are aluminium bikes a match for carbon in 2022?

“The worst thing is the funding to do this, which will increase danger to cyclists, is coming from the active travel pot,” cycling writer Edward Pickering, the vice-chair of the Exeter Cycling Campaign, told road.cc on Friday." How can it be that funds to make cycling safer will be used to make it less safer? I hope Active Travel England will be casting a very sharp eye on this, and demanding that the money is used for what it is intended for, not the opposite. If it is used to make cycling more dangerous, they should demand that it is returned, so that the cost falls on the tax-payers of Exeter. The article doesn't mention whether there has been an examination of the economic case, which I suspect would show that there wasn't one, with re-opening costing more in the long term than leaving it closed to motor traffic.

I was reading in the Harlngey local rag this week that a copper was sacked after going into a local pret, taking a sandwich, leaving without paying, getting back into his (illegally) parked car and driving off. It was all caught on camera.

I have not seen the video (maybe I did when it first went viral?), but I see that knee as possibly an automatic balancing reflex. He moved onto fresh snow with a slight drop towards the side to get around the child standing in the path, so I would find it entirely plausible that it was not an intentional act to hit the child, Even so, it was totally unacceptable to go past as any speed, and to not stop having made contact.

Recently I managed to get my TERN up to 24 mph - that was going down a very long decline from Hampstead. The road was clear and wide so I thought I’d give it a go. It didn’t feel comfortable at that speed either. To sustain 20mph on an e bike is very difficult, unless it’s downhill - 30mph is impossible.

I forgot to mention one thing. The article provides a link to the GCN piece, which in itself extends their range. That may not have been your best move if what you wanted to achieve was to reduce their impact.

Supply does not exist without demand. Or at least acceptance. And that acceptance depends fully on where your personal bar is. Is hyping over Tadej Pogacar every other day, a man supported by another autoctratic regime, fine? That's what you do regularly. Or this piece? https://road.cc/content/news/van-der-poel-becomes-ambassador-lamborghini-300765 , whose place is in the shittiest tabloid, which is the absolute opposite of sustainability and has little to do with cycling itself? These two, which sprang to my mind, are clearly below my personal threshold. Does that make me a petty person or you a crappy media outlet? No matter how much I appreciate your work, the line is not as clear as we believe it is when we judge others. We've all done things we should be proud of just because the gig was paid well enough - that's all I'm saying. And if the gig was paid so well that it was worth the obvious risk, somebody must have believed people would want it and like it. We, the readers, are huge part of the problem. Oh, and by the way - stories from actual cycling trips could be a great contribution to the site! Why not consider opening a channel for people to chip in with theis own pieces? It's free content for you and more varied insight for the readers.

Looking at the absolute black shop they do a carbon fibre 4 pot caliper press, which looks good. Their graphene lube looks tempting too, roadcc reviews it well, for which the comments, weirdly, are closed. Is that going to be a thing now. So how will we revive zombie articles? If kiwimike is reading this, which do you prefer for the proper filth? Absolute black graphene or silca synergetic? Please.

Singletracks fresh goods Friday had this, it would seem to tick many boxes, though it does appear to almost be good value.... https://absoluteblack.cc/titanium-disc-brake-caliper-alignment-tool-pad-spacer

I have sorted of given up my cyclingmikey habit, but his "brays with laughter" vid is well worth a watch. I'll deny it...

I do like the ball bikes. His crazy engineering obsession that is sort of also utterly pointless. That and the similarity to the insult of ballbag.