“Probably the safest behaviour I’ve ever seen from a Lime rider”: Lime says its bikes are designed for cycling, not jousting and warns “safety must come first” after viral medieval mischief + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“Probably the safest behaviour I’ve ever seen from a Lime rider”: Lime says its bikes are designed for cycling, not jousting and warns “safety must come first” after viral medieval mischief
Oh, to be a member of Lime’s PR department. ‘Oi Rupert, have you finished that statement on the council crackdown on pavement parking? Good stuff, what about the Timothée Chalamet fine thing? Well, once you get that done, there’s a video of a medieval joust I need to show you…’
We all knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Lime had something to say about two chaps dressed in armour jumping on two of their hire bikes and riding full pelt at each other while brandishing poles.
On Saturday evening, as we noted on yesterday’s blog, hundreds of people gathered in London Fields, Hackney to watch artist Jack Carden and actor Camtholomew the First (probably not his real name) showcase their 2026 take on the medieval game of jousting.
By all accounts, the event – described by Carden as “performance art” – was a lot of fun, with the New Zealand-born artist’s Instagram clip of the joust attracting over five million views.
View this post on Instagram
But, like any stern parent, Lime is happy for its users to have fun. Just not too much fun, okay?
“We always love seeing Londoners come together and build a sense of community in unexpected ways,” a spokesperson for the e-bike hire company said yesterday evening.
“While we appreciate the medieval spirit, safety must always come first. Lime bikes are designed for getting around the city, not for jousting.
“We discourage anyone from attempting similar events, to help keep riders and those around them safe.”
Ironically, Carden (the winner of the duel, in case you were wondering) told the Metro that Camtholomew did pick up a minor injury, so maybe Lime has a point.
View this post on Instagram
Over on social media, however, some aren’t convinced that Lime’s safety priorities should be focused on medieval jousting.
“That’s probably the safest behaviour I’ve ever seen from a Lime rider,” Jeff said on BlueSky.
“Cycle jousting seems like an entirely sensible sport in the grand scheme of things,” added another user.
However, there were plenty of people who reckon Lime jousting has a future, with Jo Kibble even calling for the format to be expanded next time.
“Sounds great, but I do feel it would have been improved by the challengers being on competing companies’ hire bikes,” she said. “Sir Gawain the Green Knight on a Forest bike, Señor Espada on his Santander cycle…”
“And of course Sir Walter on a Raleigh,” added Michael. Not a hire bike, but I’ll let him away with it.
And despite Lime’s safety concerns, hire bike jousting could well take off, if Carden – who had to limit Saturday’s attendance to 1,000 people – has anything to do with it.
“I suspect if we had publicised it fully we would have had easily 10,000 people show up,” he said, promising a rematch soon.
At this rate, there’ll be a UCI world jousting championships in 2028…
“As Mayor of Greater Manchester, you made bold changes to give people more ways to travel and create a fairer transport system. We urge you to bring that same ambition to the whole country, sending the message that we need better cycle routes for women”
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sounds like affirmative action to me, but ok. herd immunity and all that.
"you’ve got photochromics on they’re not going to change in time to let you see any better" This is just nonsense. Modern photochromics begin adjusting immediatley, as do your eyes! The (slower than these expensive glasses) transition allows you to see much, much better than standard Cat 3 lenses.
Would be interesting to see how cycling’s gender gap changes with quality of infrastructure. Do you get more women as we move from murder strip to proper infrastructure?
Interesting article. Nevertheless currently a Cycle Lane = Murder Strip. At least it does were I live: no segregation, drains , unswept , parked cars , frogger, lanes suddenly ending... Bradford Met for reference. What's it like near you?
@belugabob I've been in a few different hotels in recent years and never had any difficulties with keeping my bike in my room. I always take a couple of newspapers with me to spread out under the bike to stop any drips of oil/water etc getting on the carpet. One hotel even had a nice timber post in the room, for me to lock my bike to. One of the hotels had a secure lock up room for bikes, but were happy for me to keep the bike in my room because it meant I didn't have to drag away a member of staff to get my bike at busy breakfast / check out time. When I went to stay in N Yorks for the 2019 World Champs, the only inconvenience was breakfast being crowded because the Italian Junior women's squad's bikes were being stored in the main dining room! The only slight downer is looking like a bit of an eccentric as I carry my bike down the stairs and through reception in cycling kit.
Another one for the "just because we can doesn't mean we should" pile for me I think, my cheap (£35) photochromic glasses that I use for commuting at dawn and dusk may take 30 seconds to adapt fully to changing light but they start pretty much immediately and I hardly ever feel that they are too dark or not dark enough; if I hit a patch where they really are too dark, sudden tunnels et cetera, one quick hand swipe (same as with these) moves them down to the end of my nose so I can look over the top of them. No precious battery resources wasted, nor the price of a decent secondhand bike.
Great report, sorry, yet another great report, about LTNs which the MSM will instantly leap into action, pens poised, recorder buttons pressed, camera shutters primed, to ignore completely. It's simply not controversial enough. The lurid claims of the anti-LTN mob, of congestion, pollution, danger, plague and pestilence, will however, be front page news. The media in this country actively works against the best interests of the population, with a few notable exceptions: the ITV expose of Reform was good, very good.
This is the arsehole who insisted the Brexit would make the country (and world) a better place. The sooner we stop reporting on any bullshit that leaves his mouth the better.
Undoubtedly this is clever technology, but I wonder about the safety aspect of having to take your hands off the handlebar to switch modes. I get that the rapid response rate improves things to a degree but if I go from sunlight to shade on a poor quality road (of which there are many, as we know) do I want to take one hand off the bar in order to lighten my glasses….? Photochromatic may be slower but will get there without intervention (and at far less than half the cost).
@Rendel Harris - perhaps there is a gap in the market for hyadrationpak.com?