Garmin launches new Tacx Nēra smart trainer with built-in motion pods and WiFi connectivity

@Rendel Harris The point is a ratio means nothing on its own. Without the figures of how many men or women ride its a nonsense, IF you double the amount of people cycling but the ratio dropped from 1 in 4 to 1 in 5 but more women rode that is an improvement. that ratio is making it look something that its not.

@AidanR Im sorry you couldnt understand it, that doesnt mean it didnt make sense. Let me put it another way for you, If you create better infrastructure that ALL people use and cycle based journeys increase 100% but women still only represent 1/4 of all rides is that not better than say fewer men riding using cycle lanes and instead deciding to use a road and therefore the ratio of women using cycle lanes increases to 1/3 or even 1/2 of all journeys using cycle lanes? Congratulations your statistic of a ratio of more female to male riders has increased but not cycle as a whole. a 100% increase would still see double the amount of female cycling journeys. That has to be the goal! Even if the ratio dropped thats still a vast improvment The point is, culturally in the Netherlands and most of NW Europe is cycling has been a consistently encouraged mode of transport. That is not true of the UK. So to try and encourage more people to cycle should be the goal, not just women. Its ridiculous to try and improve one stat without the other.

@Smoggysteve That level of aggression and rudeness is hardly justified by my response, now is it? It's not a "stupid comparison" or being "daft"; as Aidan points out below, in the 1970s the Dutch were just as in thrall to the motor car as the UK but they turned everything around. Copenhagen was very much the same. The UK, or at least London, has made unbelievable strides forward in the provision of cycling infrastructure in the last couple of decades. It's now at a level I never thought I would see in my lifetime and it's still improving massively year on year. It might take 50 more years to become like Amsterdam or Copenhagen but 50 years is not "never". As for the assertion that the ratio will remain exactly the same no matter what improvements are made, that is clearly nonsense as proved by the facts in both of those cities where women now outnumber men in cycling, why don't they have three times as many male cyclists as female?

tl;dr; Hold off buying the 1060 for the voice control features until independent verification that it works reasonably when on the move cycling. Speech command recognition on a moving bike is a really hard thing to pull off well. Off the bat there's wind and traffic noise, exercise distorted voices, delivering adequate battery life of always listening/connected devices, privacy, latency, and whether it'll work with or without internet connection. If Garmin has managed to make something that's not rubbish on moving bike they'll be doing better than the companies with massively more R&D who make our smartphones. Will be a seriously impressive bit of kit.

@Smoggysteve Yes. I wrote to Cycling UK and its "My Ride, My Right" campaign saying it was misguided. The issue is cycling is not safe enough for all users. Men may be more willing to take risks with the sub standard infrastructure and so are a bigger proportionof riders. Bu thte risks being taken are the same for everybody. A focus on women specific proposals misses the point - better infrastructure would reduce death and injury for all and enourage more to cycle.

@jackcycles Interesting that you're quoting the figure for "knife crime" and not actual stabbings. You do realise that the VAST majority of offences classified as knife crime are for possession of knives, right? And that is because the UK has some of the strictest laws in the world on knife possession. All the data show that stabbings have declined under Khan's tenure.

@Smoggysteve sorry, your last comment makes no sense. There is clear evidence from Amsterdam that the gap can be closed or even reversed. And why shouldn't we reach levels of infrastructure seen in the Netherlands? I assume you've seen the before photos from the 1970s. I dare say there were a lot of naysayers then, too.

@mitsky they know. It's very clear on the entrance. Their sense of entitlement tells them it's fine. They're just bad human beings

@Rendel Harris Are we living in Amsterdam? No , this is the UK and our infrastructure is never going to match that of the Netherlands. Stupid comparison. The dutch have placed much more emphasis on cycling for over half more than half a century. you think the UK is ever going to meet that level of cycling? Dont be daft. And even if you raise the number of female cyclists you still are very much going to raise the amount of male cyclists too so the ratio remains very much the same even if you tripled the amount of cyclists.

Never? In Amsterdam and Copenhagen around 55% of cycle trips are made by women, proving that with the right infrastructure provision women cannot only equal but actually outdo men in their enthusiasm for cycling.