Deals for the Dirt: Weekly off-road roundup!

I'm a bit tired of being marketed to under the guise of providing information. This "review" is a total advertisement and a waste of my time. The results aren't even that impressive.

@Mr Blackbird

@Mr Blackbird

@chrisonabike "Look for “we’ll set the fuel duty escalator in motion again and take some of that cash for public transport” to find the real “woke anti-car” parties. Honourable mention to “change the default urban limit from 30mph to 20mph”…" The only party with anything like those policies I'm already a member of: Greens.

Well, looks like a good chunk of the electorate are still happy to vote for parties who will promise them "one more lane"... Reform / Restore pretty much guarantee that (albeit some of their councillors realise that following the party lead won't help *them*). But those "we'll end the war on the motorist" parties often include the Conservatives (not certain about Lib Dems) and not infrequently Labour. Although hard-core "knock down the school and build a freeway" types will feel a little defrauded by what they do (or don't) in power. Look for "we'll set the fuel duty escalator in motion again and take some of that cash for public transport" to find the real "woke anti-car" parties. Honourable mention to "change the default urban limit from 30mph to 20mph"...

I've just done similar and put some £1400 Scope wheels on a £1500 bike. Ok, I got the wheels nearly half price... ;) The handling is very different, even on the exactly the same tyres (nearly new Conti GP5Ks taken off the old wheels), as the wider internal is giving the tyres a different shape and I'm still learning to trust them on corners and in crosswinds which is keeping my average speeds down a bit - but they are undoubtably faster on the flats and I'm climbing in one gear higher than I used to on most hills. They may only be saving a few watts, but my FTP is only 225-ish, so a few watts saved is actually quite a percentage gain. Most importantly for my ManMaths in buying wheels that RRPed nearly as much as the whole bike is that they are transferable - I'm thinking about buying nicer frame soon-ish to build up, and the nice wheels I've bought will be nice on whatever bike I use them on.

@wtjs and 'I'm a cyclist myself, but.......'

@Smoggysteve Saw Iain just last Saturday at the Georgetown cup, it was a real shock to hear the sad news this morning, he really was one of the good guys.

I came to make a lot of points about the validity of this study, but Adam Tranter has made them all, except perhaps for one: many of the people riding these bikes haven't ridden a bike for fifty years, and lack knowledge and experience. The implied conclusion, that e-bikes are significantly more hazardous than normal bikes, is not supported by the data. "Nevertheless, Lucie Clinch, senior associate in the personal injury team at Stewarts Law, described the research as a “wake up call”." 'Wake up! There's money in this.'

These objections include all the usual suspects, so much so that it's not necessary to list them beyond the classic and entertaining 'keen cyclists opposed to the cycle lane'.