“Looks like they’ve been pulled out of a deep sea shipwreck”: Bike shop horrified by sweat-corroded “drop that dropped off”; Newspaper columnist who usually rants about cyclists won round by Lime during Tube strike + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"Looks like they've been pulled out of a deep sea shipwreck": Bike shop horrified by sweat-corroded "drop that dropped off"
“The drop that dropped off…”
It turns out several winters of indoor training without a towel, sweat dripping down onto your bars, seeping through already crusty bar tape to the poor component below, can turn your bars into something divers would marvel at while exploring the front deck of the Titanic.
We’ve been here before, of course…
In short, use a towel when indoor training. Clean your bike regularly (including your bar tape). Inspect under your bar tape when you’re servicing your ride. Change your bar tape when needed.
Amusingly, someone in the most recent ‘drop dropping off’ thread shared one of our old live blogs, the one about the guy who never uses his drops… so just decided to chop them off…
Ah, that was a fun day. Always nice to go back down memory lane. Anyway, the whole corroded handlebar situation prompted some discussion among the mechanics of Reddit about how they should probably all use a bit more PPE, given some of the stuff they’re exposed to… and many of us customers should use some more bike hygiene… we’re all lucky the technology to smell photos from the internet isn’t around yet.
One last Tube strike bike lane vid to see you through to Friday
London will never be a cycling city… pic.twitter.com/nfkYUQgSCo
— Rory McCarron (@CyclingLawLDN) April 23, 2026
Cyclist “right” to take car keys and throw them away, says judge – as driver convicted of assault following “outrageous” road rage attack
Lennart Jasch wins from the breakaway at the Tour of the Alps
Lennart Jasch announced himself to the world! 🌍
The German takes his first pro win on the Queen stage of the Tour of the Alps 👏 pic.twitter.com/6xQfyAGdx8
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) April 23, 2026
Sir Chris Hoy says there was a risk of amputation following horror mountain bike crash
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Sir Chris Hoy feared he could potentially be at risk of needing his leg amputated following a shocking mountain bike crash last year.
Hoy continues his recovery from the crash and injuries suffered, and explained on his Sporting Misadventures podcast the immediate fears from doctors in the hospital.
“There is a risk of amputation for anybody in that situation, the doctors tell you that,” Hoy explained.
“Compartment syndrome is the risk and I was given the warning. It is quite a sobering thought when you are lying there in this strange hospital ward and you are about to go for your operation.
“To be fair the doctors are very aware of compartment syndrome and that’s one of the things that they are hyper-vigilant about.
“I launched off this jump and overshot it and my leg and knee just exploded. There will always be some compromise in [the leg]. It’s been a tough few months but I feel like I’m out the worst of it now.
“I had a camera on my chest so I have full footage of the run but I still haven’t downloaded it. I don’t think I really need to or want to see it because it was such a painful experience that the less I remember about it the better.”
How L'Équipe marked French wonderkid Paul Seixas's Flèche Wallonne win
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“Why was it put in in the first place?” £1m active travel path branded “pointless” as steps and fences render it inaccessible to cyclists and wheelchair users
Giant buys East Anglia cycling retailer out of administration
Back in February we received the news that regional bike shop chain, Cycle Revolution, had filed notice of intention to appoint administrators.
The East Anglia-based bike shop chain said it was “a testing time for everyone across the company”.
Well, according to BikeBiz, Giant UK has bought the business out of administration.
Reports suggest 21 jobs have been saved across the chain’s stores in Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester, the administrator also suggesting the deal will “result in a better return for creditors”.
Ian Beasant, Managing Director of Giant UK, commented: “These stores have long been an important part of the Giant UK network, so we’re very pleased to secure their future and build on the strong foundations already in place.”
“We’re looking forward to working closely with the experienced teams on the ground and ensuring continuity for customers and local cycling communities across East Anglia.
“This represents a positive step for the business in the region, and we remain committed to supporting riders through quality products, expert service and a welcoming retail environment.”
Former England rugby captain Lewis Moody to join star-studded peloton of former teammates on 500-mile charity cycle for motor neurone disease charity My Name'5 Doddie Foundation
Former England rugby captain Lewis Moody has announced a seven-day 500-mile charity cycling challenge in aid of My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
Moody was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in September and says he feels like a substitute being “brought off the bench” to continue the incredible work of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which was founded by the former Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir, who died from MND in 2022.
The charity has so far raised £23.5m towards research into the disease’s treatment and Moody will be joining the fundraising campaign with a 500-mile cycle from Newcastle to London, to deliver the match ball to Twickenham for the Premiership final on 20 June.
Jonny Wilkinson, Mike Tindall and several other members of the 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning squad will also be taking part in the ride, along with many of Moody’s former Leicester Tigers and Bath teammates too.
“I have done a challenge every year since retiring, some years more than one,” Moody told BBC Sport when announcing the charity ride.
“I really wanted to make sure that I got another one in. I don’t know how many I have got left to do so that was the reason for it being so soon, to make sure that physically I feel like I can contribute.
“I couldn’t be more grateful of my former colleagues. I chatted to Vicks [Vickery] the other day, he said ‘mate, I absolutely hate cycling, but I am 100% going to do this with you’.
“I’ve never seen Wilko [Wilkinson] on a bike. He’s probably hired a group of people to get him ready for the conditioning side of it. I dread to think how he’s going to turn up looking. He’s in unbelievable nick anyway.”
The full route details are below:
Day 1 – Sunday 14 June: Newcastle Red Bulls (Kingston Park) to Ripon (70 miles)
Day 2 – Monday 15 June: Ripon to Worksop (87 miles)
Day 3 – Tuesday 16 June: Worksop to to Leicester Tigers (80 miles)
Day 4 – Wednesday 17 June: Leicester Tigers to Worcester Warriors (75 miles)
Day 5 – Thursday, 18 June: Worcester Warriors to Bath RFC (80 miles)
Day 6 – Friday 19 June: Bath RFC to Bracknell RFC (89 miles)
Day 7 – Saturday 20 June: Bracknell RFC to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (25 miles)
More Tube strike cycling scenes from London
Here’s some more London cycle lane footage during this week’s Tube strike, this time the video courtesy of cycling campaigner and live blog regular Carla Francome…
I filmed this from the pavement of the Embankment today, but cycling along it was frikken wild in places. Just so many people, too many!
I also heard someone fall off behind me somewhere in Farringdon, I think a collision.
Be careful folks – tomorrow if I cycle it … 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Ph0XfyLs6Z
— Carla Francome (@carlafrancome) April 22, 2026
Newspaper columnist who usually rants about cyclists won round by Lime during Tube strike
This made us do a double-take and check it’s definitely a real account…
Hey @limebike this is the greatest vehicle I have ever ridden in my life! I want one! I couldn’t bear to get off and go into the stupid restaurant. Will there be more of them??? pic.twitter.com/lj3w7hvYHL
— Giles Coren (@gilescoren) April 22, 2026
Lime’s new Gen4 e-bike, the one with smaller wheels, a lower frame and a relocated battery design, appears to have won Times newspaper columnist Giles Coren round. As a reminder, here’s the last time his thoughts on cycling appeared on this website…
Going deeper into his review of the new Lime model, Coren told followers: “Yes, it felt so much lighter because of that [design, featuring smaller wheels and improved weight distribution with the battery at the back]. And much less stressful on the potholes and crappy roads, which rattle my teeth and genuinely give me headaches sometimes on the old ones.”
Councillors lobby Irish government to re-table mandatory hi-vis for cyclists, despite previous campaign collapsing within 24 hours after backlash
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@mdavidford That's quite the marquee of someone with tunnel mindedness. I'm not sure I want to know the inner thoughts that have led you to this camp. I shall be poleite though, there are some guys patrolling on this site who are very tightly strung and all it takes some bell to get under their dome and teepee them into a right Mess. Not that I'd peg you as one of them, you seem quite grounded.
Arguments over niceties like that won't fly, and anyway, I wasn't canvassing opinions - if they want to pitch things like this they should do it somewhere else.
@Shades Don't forget that they've just arrived home in their SUV (40% larger and heavier than a regular car a few decades earlier) and now complain about how many potholes there are these days. Tax SUVs, call it a pothole tax, link it directly to the damage they cause.
Good luck with that; people around me get their cars out for a journey beyond the end of the road. As soon as they're home, they're raging on NextDoor about new pedestrian crossings, cycle lanes, closing off rat-runs, ebikes (they can't differentiate between legal and illegal), increased parking charges and hire scooters/bikes. They'll give up their car when you prise it out of their cold dead hands.
@mdavidford Technically this review is on the off.road.cc site, so a grassy field fits as a legitimate location. The road.cc group don't need to fork out on a whole load of new URLs just yet. However I am still waiting for the e-bike site to cover the length and breadth of the machines, and not just tease us with the tips.
Let it stay! off-on-road-gravel.(e)cc is a big tent organisation!
For yet another reason "(providing for) cycling, walking and wheeling - your least shit option" *. Let's hope we avoid the "Fosters advert" tendency ("the world is warming ... write to your MP ... or say bollocks to it and enjoy the sun while you can!") The pull of the "short term gain" arguments / "but change!" are strong though. (And "even if we don't, others will - and they'll get ahead!") * As Chris Boardman said in the context of "how can cash-strapped local authorities meet targets around road safety, congestion, accessibility, health, carbon emissions..."
This is a timely initiative from the Campaign for Better Transport. I don't have much hope that it will lead to genuine, meaningful change on local roads, but you have to keep making the case.
@AidanR What Specialized have done is put a premium on a bit of lettering since - according to their official weights - the S-Level , were it to have all the same additional kit as the S-Works i.e, cockpit, wheels groupset etc would still be below 6.8kg, The Fact10r frame is only 135g heavier than the Fact12r used on the S-Works. (The higher model shares the same fork as the S-works) You would be better off buying a non S-works frameset and building it up with premium kit and probably make it lighter than a stock S-works for a few grand less. There are better , lighter wheels than the Roval Rapides CLX III that are stock, there are also better integrated bars you could fit than the stock Roval too. So in reality for the price of an S-works, you could build a lighter bike for around the same outlay and its the same shape so its just as aero. So what is the point of the S-Works over a regulat tarmac other than the premium paid for the badge?
13 thoughts on ““Looks like they’ve been pulled out of a deep sea shipwreck”: Bike shop horrified by sweat-corroded “drop that dropped off”; Newspaper columnist who usually rants about cyclists won round by Lime during Tube strike + more on the live blog”
It’s somewhat ironic that the appalling Coren (a dreadful man, not just for his terrible writing but I have several friends in the business who have met him and say he is every bit as unpleasant as his columns would lead one to believe) was converted to Lime yesterday, a day when I saw more appalling behaviour from people on bicycles, 90% of them at least on Lime and similar hires, than I’ve ever seen in London. Light jumping seems to be taken as read (homophonic pun intended) these days but there were groups, not just individuals, speeding through zebras and green-lit pelicans with dozens of people crossing, charging round corners as people were crossing shouting and ringing their bells, showing no cycle lane discipline whatsoever, slaloming in and out of other users and putting them at serious risk, a huge proportion riding one-handed whilst holding their phone with the other (and looking at it/ speaking into it), zooming over pavements whenever it suited them and so on . Many ridiculous risks being taken with their own lives as well, shooting up the inside of lorries and buses on the approach to junctions et cetera. I know we don’t have collective responsibility as cyclists but honestly I got home after my morning 25 km round-trip from Peckham to Battersea and back thoroughly embarrassed by their behaviour. Selfish, aggressive, idiotic and with no consideration for anyone else…maybe it’s no coincidence that Broom Broom Coren has now chosen to join the ranks…
Rendel, we should commute in together one day, as mine takes me through both Peckham and Battersea!
🙂 Keep an eye out, mid fifties, bearded, six feet tall, wouldn’t hurt if he lost five kilos, yellow Scott helmet, riding a black and silver Tricross Sport or a white Roubaix Pro, usually shouting at cab drivers or Lime riders!
If you see a guy in a mustard yellow Rapha top with a white helmet with lights on the top waving at you enthusiastically, you’ll know it’s me
I was a victim of one of these idiots in West London on Tuesday. Red light ahead so eased off to let a cyclist out of a side road, when the Lime bike rider I’d passed a 1/4 mile earlier slammed into the back of me sending myself and bike a few metres forward and to the ground. Rear mech ripped off. He then rode away.
Reported to Police and Lime.
I use Lime bikes occasionally myself. IMO Electric assist hire bikes should be a max assisted speed of 12mph and a max peak power of 200W. This would take into account the unfamiliarity of users with bikes they do not ride regularly, and allow for legacy cycle infrastructure.
Hope you’re OK. Sadly, in friends’ experience the police will tell you to take it up with Lime and Lime will say they won’t give you any details unless the request comes through the police. Let us know if you have better luck!
As I said yesterday:
With the evident increase in cycling because of the tube driver strikes…
It might be worth comparing if the weather is better now than last time in September and considering if that also makes a difference in how many people consider cycling as an alternative.
September’s (https://weatherspark.com/h/m/45062/2025/9/Historical-Weather-in-September-2025-in-London-United-Kingdom) looks a little warmer and less cloudy, but possibly a little rainier than this month’s (https://weatherspark.com/h/m/45062/2026/4/Historical-Weather-in-April-2026-in-London-United-Kingdom) to me.
“One of the most striking developments in these strikes is the increase in cyclists in part due to the good spring weather.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0ler39le77t
Wait…
Smaller wheels but “much less stressful on the potholes”??
Am I using my Brompton incorrectly?
No – the difference is you know what you’re talking about.
Yet another brilliant win for Seixas, who just added an additional million euros per annum to his current market value.
With Decathlon and INEOS challenging UAE for the wins, one may expect an exciting pro cycling summer.
Re the corroded handlebars.
I suspect most of the damage was done by Kate Winslett balancing on them with her arms outstretched, prior to the bike hitting the iceberg.