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Live blog: Will Norman corrects reporter who claimed London cycling in decline, Trek says its Domane+ e-bike does Tour de France speeds, Strava says 50-59s clock up most bike miles +more
Meanwhile, Chris Froome is today’s unlikely source of banter on social media as he compares his legendary jog up the Ventoux to Christmas shopping!
Wed, Dec 19, 2018 16:36
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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
perce 8 minutes ago
@jackcycles What a coincidence! I was at my local bike shop only last week, a Tuesday I think it was. I'd been watching my tomato plants not growing all morning so I said to my pal "it ain't no use to sit and wonder why Dave" and off I went. On the way back two cyclists were approaching and the wind began to howl. I'd seen them earlier knocking on Evans's door so I invited them in to take shelter from the storm. After the idiot wind had subsided and one more cup of coffee they were on their way again.Anyway, I don't think I saw any e-bikes at all, just a bloke on his way to a cello class. I'll tell you what though - I ain't buying any plants from Maggies farm no more. No sirree Bob.
wtjs 10 minutes ago
And again- looking like photos don't work on ebiketips. Take my word for it- Marcus Wright's Transit is shown just up the road from the Old Garstang Police Station with his gear outside, on a joinery job
wtjs 20 minutes ago
@chrisonabike wtjs here with examples of some other powered “illegal vehicles” for which drivers *do* need to have insurance (and tax and MOT) but where that hasn’t happened in some years? As if by magic! With the connivance of Lancashire Constabulary officers up to the rank of Inspector, HN21 VXB is today still driving around Garstang without being bothered by the police- despite being reported first on 28.8.25 for what is now the year without MOT (must be officially without insurance by now?) and over two years without VED. Edit- today's photo hasn't appeared and the editing system doesn't yet include a means of dealing with photos.
Barraob1 21 minutes ago
Crowd fund a court case against Birmingham Police. They need to be held accountable for the bike and their dodgy science
Terry Hutt 31 minutes ago
Looks wonderful. One minor issue with the article. I went to the Gloria website and it looks like the anodized is actually 400 quid more than the sand blasted finish. It's a bit confusing, though.
Rendel Harris 54 minutes ago
@darnac Richard Virenque and his French Festina colleagues didn't exactly get a free ride in '98.
chrisonabike 60 minutes ago
That said - there are no shortage of delivery riders in my part of Edinburgh riding "clearly illegal" machines (because throttle being used at speed so almost certainly not EAPCs). OTOH I'm slow and they're not all blowing by me; so in practice perhaps less drama? I think the problems tend to be limited by "most delivery riders don't make much money". Indeed I believe the most common scheme is for several people to *hire* a bike together and then ride the heck out of it in shifts. The really high-power ebikes are (currently) more pricey. So ... i guess it's harm minimisation by capitalism? (Not that the sellers care even enough to eg. pass on "you can't use this on the road mate"). The real "looks like a motorbike to me" ones seem to be limited to those presumably on more profitable errands than delivering groceries. Or scrotty yoof - I'm guessing of the local "dodgy families". But maybe that changes around eg. Chelsea or Sloane and it's a plague of racing rahs?
OnYerBike 1 hour ago
If anyone wants to do something to help, the Cyclists' Defence Fund is appealing for donations. Can't post a link without ending up in comment purgatory, but easy enough to find if you just google (well, easy enough to find how to donate to the CDF; the specific appeal related to this case is a bit harder to find, but "cdf appeal e-bike" seems to work for me. If you go through the appeal page, you get a free mug featuring Dave Walker's drawings).
Rendel Harris 1 hour ago
@jackcycles 1. No evidence that the rider was a delivery driver or carrying a "silly blue delivery bag"; 2. There is no legal requirement for bicycle delivery riders to have insurance any more than any other cyclist; 3. People who want illegally fast ebikes don't rent £6K Terns, which are difficult and expensive to hack to exceed 25 km/h, when they can get a cheap bike and conversion kit for about £400 that will do silly fast speeds. 4. Re bike shop owner dragged down the street by an ebike, I'll take things that never happened for $500; 5. Are you Nigel?
6 thoughts on “Live blog: Will Norman corrects reporter who claimed London cycling in decline, Trek says its Domane+ e-bike does Tour de France speeds, Strava says 50-59s clock up most bike miles +more”
The Amsterdam moped ban is a
The Amsterdam moped ban is a good thing (obviously).
Having lived there for a year, I can attest that many exceeded the speed limit, and drove recklessly around cyclists and pedestrians.
Seeing the larger capacity mopeds using the bike lanes was a regular occurrence too, despite them being banned.
Increase in use of cycle
Increase in use of cycle lanes on Vauxhall Bridge would probably be even higher had they not stuck ruddy great concrete and armco barriers in one of the lanes!
It’s a concern how close you are to cyclists passing in the opposite direction with pedestrians encroaching on one side, and downright scary when someone goes for a questionable overtake! 5 far wider lanes for motorised traffic though!
I’m not sure “words of advice
I’m not sure “words of advice” is the best way to deal with stupid/irresponsible/careless/agressive motorists. I can do that myself, and do so on an almost daily basis….. Although I suppose you often couldn’t really call it advice as such.
Interesting to read that the
Interesting to read that the older groups are the busiest cyclists. Do the manufacturers read and believe that to be the case? Manufacturers aim their best kit at the much smaller group of pros and athletically better young riders but the older groups generally have more money to spend on their hobbies and have different technical requirements. I don’t, for one minute believe doing away with the triple chainring setup or reducing mtb’s to a single chainring is in the interests of the over 50’s.
Dingaling wrote:
You will also note that those in that age group have an above average speed too! I suspect that is more to do with the demograph of that group who actually log their rides on Strava.
Manufacturers aim their top end kit at those that want quality without too much concern over price. They also often have ranges of more affordable kit, or other manufacturers target that part of the market, so there is something for everyone.
Often it is the older generation that have more disposable income. Supply to pro riders foc is advertising and a test bed. I freely admit to liking top quality kit and am willing to pay for it. It is all down to disposable income and how one chooses to spend it. Cycling is my passion and I spend a fair chunk on it, better that than fast women, loose cars and drugs! (Yes, that was deliberate!)
As regards triple chainrings, well, you can get MTB like gear ratios with a double on a road bike these days so I don’t quite buy your argument. Again, single chainring MTBs have huge cassettes which gives low enough gears if you choose correctly. It has been done for simplicity and more reliable performance, not to get at the over 50s.
You need to remember that you are one individual and not typical of the norm. I’m over 50, ride with several different groups where I am one of the youngest, and none of the fifty or so cyclists that I know in that age bracket (or significantly above) have any issue with a double chainring (or lack of a triple). Oh, and I live at the foot of the Peak District, so hills are our playground. Pick your front and rear ratios to suit your ability/ fitness/ terrain, there are plenty available.
mtb like gearing on a road
mtb like gearing on a road double is not particularly good, for many reasons that have been covered over and over again.
I don’t want an 11-34 or 36 or 42 tooth sprocket, I like my 11/12-28 with a triple and a 24 inner means I can get up pretty much anything even with a load.
Having the stupidly big jumps on MTB like road gearing using a double or worse a single ring, is cack.