***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 29 *****
==============================================================
More pedal power chat.
PLEASE NOTE:-
To try and maintain some kind of logical order of discussion, if you start a new subject then reply to this post and remember to change the default subject header.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 30 Apr 16 at 17:50
|
What an excellent balanced view.......Bromp, please read and digest!
Pat
|
You could say the same about any class of road user. People who ride like idiots drive like idiots, no matter what they're on or in.
Anyway, today's news is I've had my first trip out on my Performer recumbent trike - as shown here.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFJVOfFRQ8c
|
"You could say the same about any class of road user."
Mmmmm, I think that, possibly, motorists win on gross stupidity - I've yet to see a cyclist texting.
|
>> I've yet to see a cyclist texting.
You're not looking hard enough. Quite common to see them doing it whilst riding on the pavement.
|
>> What an excellent balanced view.......Bromp, please read and digest!
Not remotely balanced. The usual s*** journalists and editors seem to cream themselves over pay handsomely for but (for extra points) written by a supposed cyclist.
|
So if you can be bothered, and are able to defend that stance, can you give half a dozen examples of this s***? Because it seemed reasonably even handed and sensible to me.
I suspect that you reject it because there is criticism of cyclists in there.
I cut the waffle and left the statements. Really fairly reasonable, I think.
We pedallers will never convince drivers and pedestrians to respect our rights if we zoom through red lights like rogue ambulances
they zoom over pedestrian crossings as parents lead small children across,
“I’m a cyclist and we cyclists need to get a grip†rants.
Commuting has been farcically grim and dangerous while it has been built - vast numbers of heavy vehicles crammed into a tiny amount of space, the threat of being smeared across the tarmac by a concrete mixer greater than ever.
loads of cyclists streaming through the stop lights that have been installed on the segregated lanes at handlebar height, just for us.
They want the liberty to cross an empty road even if the lights are against them - like a pedestrian.
they shake their fists at motor traffic and demand equal rights on the streets too.
Because cycling infrastructure such as these superhighways is fantastic. The segregated lanes will undoubtedly save lives.
our overwhelming vulnerability compared to juggernauts inclines us to sod it all and do it our own way.
as with all insurgencies, to win we must ensure basic public tolerance.
At the moment, people just don’t care if cyclists get mown down by double articulated lorries. Repeat, no one cares
they think that cyclists generally ignore the rules of the road. So even if you, specifically, are a great cyclist, you are damned by association.
We cyclists are road users and should obey road laws. All the time.
We should wait at boring red lights.
Should stop as pedestrians approach zebra crossings, even though it’s a pain to get going again.
Should get off and push our bikes on the pavement.
So that the next time someone gets mown down, the easy come back can’t be: “Stupid b***** cyclist was probably shooting a red light.â€
That kind of attitude, ...., will eventually block the spread of cyclist-friendly infrastructure.
If cyclists still behave badly even after some money is spent on us, we will - rightly - be seen as spoiled.
We pathetically law-abiding pedallers are already in the majority.
we must tackle the miscreants in our midst.
While I often see drivers screaming at stupid cyclists (and the reverse) I never see cyclists upbraiding other cyclists - the kind who sail through red lights a whisker away from mothers and buggies.
If we can’t convince these idiots of the evident truth that obeying the law is in their interests, how on earth are we going to convince drivers of the evident lie that expensive cycling infrastrucutre is in theirs?
|
Cycling home from work on Monday I was feeling quite smug that I have my helmet, hi vis everything, reflectors, two bright flashing rechargeable lights from Aldi on the back, 2 lights on the front.
Turning my nose up at the other cyclists giving us good guys a bad name by dressing in black and no lights.
Get home, get off my bike, switch my front lights off, go to switch my back lights off and realise the battery in them both had died at some point on the way home!!
Mmmm........
|
>> www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3334849/Cyclist-successfully-sues-dog-owner-65-000-suffering-injuries-including-fractured-skull-bike-got-entangled-pet-s-lead.html
He was cycling along the promenade in Heysham, Lancashire, when he noticed a group of people stood in the middle of the path.
So was he on a road, or a footpath? You'd think it would have to be the former to get that result.
|
>> So was he on a road, or a footpath? You'd think it would have to
>> be the former to get that result.
Streetview:
goo.gl/maps/GfWq1SZV65u
Looks like a shared use path.
|
>> >> So was he on a road, or a footpath? You'd think it would have
>> to
>> >> be the former to get that result.
Looks pretty clear cut to me: goo.gl/maps/42SKkYz2eR82
|
That brought back some memories Bathtub.
The docks in the distance, 1200 bags of rotting Cyprus potatoes, all loaded bag by bag on flat trailer then roped and sheeted.
Trying to get a strip wash in the cab after boiling a kettle because there were no showers for women then.
Walking into that area to try and find something to eat absolutely knackered then sleep in the cab, by the sheds, for a few hours before tackling THAT bend!
Somewhere along the road between Heysham and Morecambe there is a tight bend and if the 'R Send' of the load stayed on the trailer round that bend I'd done a good job.
Onions were the worst, they slipped and moved all over and I've seen so many on that bend!
Pat
|
That should read Heysham to Lancaster and I've just checked on the map and the bend appears to have gone now.
When did that happen?:)
Pat
|
I drove down a narrow steep hill this morning in my van, parked cars one side, just enough room for a vehicle the other side.
Met a cyclist coming up, lycra type.
I partially pulled in to a space and waited..not a problem.. cyclist was doing well, but it's well steep, so there was a delay.
Did I get a smile, a nod, a wave, eye contact..anything...nope.
How come? It happens a lot.
Is there a rule that when out on a bicycle you mustn't show any reaction? Are they the same when they get in their cars or does that all change then?
|
I suppose the one who don't acknowledge a courtesy are much the same whatever they drive. Cyclist are a mixed bunch like other road users.
I always find horse riders are very polite when I slow down to a crawl to pass them. Most bus drives round here give you a thumbs up if you allow them to pull out. Norfolk rural drivers tend to acknowledge a courtesy with a barely discernible raising of the index finger on the wheel. Always grateful to receive that little acknowledgment that a lot of motorcyclists give with their left leg when you pull in to allow them to overtake.
Pet hate though is the the over polite car driver coming the other way who stop to allow you to turn right on a main road to a side road when it would be far easier and safer for them to just continue so I can turn behind them
|
>> Pet hate though is the the over polite car driver coming the other way who
>> stop to allow you to turn right on a main road to a side road
>> when it would be far easier and safer for them to just continue so I
>> can turn behind them
>> 'Ere you....you've pinched one of mine ! It's usually the last car in a line of them coming towards you and he gives no indication that he's slowing but stops and then flashes you.
I ignored one the other day who obviously hadn't seen the TdF cyclist overtaking him on the inside ! He must have flashed me 5 times but I was in no hurry...the road was empty behind hin.
We are also getting reports of 'Flash for cash ' around here now. I've told SWM to ignore others ' instructions '. I don't toot, gesticulate or flash anyone....let them make their own decisions.
|
>> 'Ere you....you've pinched one of mine ! It's usually the last car in a line of them coming towards you and he gives no indication that he's slowing but stops and then flashes you.
Apologies for sharing your irritiation. ;-)
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 12 Dec 15 at 12:02
|
"Pet hate though is the the over polite car driver "
+1
|
That would irritate me too WP. Other than perhaps being overly focussed on the objective of beating the gradient there's no excuse/explanation for that. Personally I'd have wanted the eye contact for my own safety, probably before you'd pulled in.
A wave of thanks, a smile, nod or a word when encountering other road users whether negotiating space with drivers or peds on the kerb/roadway should be natural on a bike. Worked even in London.....
It's not just a cyclist thing though I'd say that while 75% of folks hereabouts will give a thank you wave or light flash at pinchpoints, canal bridges etc the other 25% won't.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 26 Nov 15 at 17:02
|
Erm, where did the Danny McAskill vid posted by Lygo go?
|
This one...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=GL0rbxB9Lqg
Not sure why it disappeared but definitely worth a watch. Makes a welcome change from the usual predictable claptrap in this thread anyway!
;-)
|
|
There's a lot of properties there, I wonder if he had owners permissions to go riding on their roofs?? Extraordinary talent though...
|
Extraordinary indeed. I've seen Danny perform live a couple of times and his control is outstanding.
I'm not too bad on a bike as indeed a few friends are also but I've never been in that league. As the years advance I'm not so brave as I was or frankly as capable as I was. Hurts a lot more during unexpected dismounts too ! My son though is quite good now ( irritatingly so actually ) but the difference between an enthusiastic amateur and the likes of Macaskill is as wide as the gap between most of us keen drivers and Lewis Hamilton.
|
>> Erm, where did the Danny McAskill vid posted by Lygo go?
I lost it in cyberspace while trying to move it to the correct place in the thread. Not my fault if people continue to ignore the "PLEASE NOTE:-" request at the start of the thread and post it in the wrong place.
|
|
One very drunk geezer most likely. Very lucky too by the look of it.
|
Not for the squeamish: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL0rbxB9Lqg&feature=youtu.be
Repost - same as Runfer's link to Lygonos's missing post further up this thread.
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 14 Dec 15 at 12:34
|
tinyurl.com/z9fcksf
Evening Standard report.
Pat
|
Arnie seems to have confused the streets of Edinburgh for those of California and began cycling on the wrong side of the road.
No cycling helmet either. Hasta la vista baby. Terminated.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-35372113
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 21 Jan 16 at 13:47
|
A motorist who deliberately drove head-on at two cyclists trying to force them off the road has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Dean Goble, 40, of Siddington in Gloucestershire, insisted he was avoiding potholes and also blamed his brother for the incidents in 2014.
He was also disqualified from driving for two years.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35422418
|
"He was also disqualified from driving for two years."
Nutter - should have been a 10-year ban, then extended test.
|
>> Dean Goble, 40, of Siddington in Gloucestershire, insisted he was avoiding potholes
"Mr Goble, in the video you have before you, could you indicate the court the location of this pothole that needed avoiding?"
|
There is a breed of motorist where they think avoiding a hazard allows them to take anyone's route. Avoiding a puddle? Why yes, that gives you carte blanch to use the oncoming traffic's lane.
Come the glorious day, they'll be first against the wall..
|
|
I was faced with this exact situation only this morning - an Audi SUV (sigh) swerving to avoid a puddle in a narrow country road. Forced me to tap the brakes, happily nobody following behind me. Obviously happier to risk a head on collision than a dirty nearside flank.
|
Yes, and of course it happens all the time with parked cars. I come home up a steep with intermittent parked cars on either side and a single clear channel up the middle. Coming down, I'm scrupulous about looking ahead and pulling in to give the clear channel to those coming up; coming up, I almost prefer the boors who just plough on down to the muppets who stop in the channel and make me slalom around them.
Not much to do with cycling - although it's even worse on two wheels when one of these X5 types expects you to stop and restart on a steep hill for his or her benefit - and Humph will remind us of the need to let it wash over. But what's this place for if we can't have a little whinge about the ones who just don't get it?
|
There have been rumours of "Mechanical doping" in cycling for about five years. The UCI have started doing random checks at the end of races along with the bikes of the riders in podium places. Chris Froome's bike was tested a few time during the TdF.
It's a stupid thing to do as any electric motor fitted to a bike will be very easy to uncover. They should back it up with life bans for anyone involved.
|
>>It's a stupid thing to do as any electric motor fitted to a bike will be very easy to uncover.
Not so sure of that.
It seems the only external indication is some on/of button.
A clever commercial design.
Sky had an interview with the boss of Vivax and a UK writer on cycling.
A quite good interview.
UK guy explained that ( I was not aware ) that in cyclo cross, each lap as they get round to the pits,
they can swop bikes so the dirty one can be cleaned/ serviced ready for the next lap/visit.
(I think they have all gone soft, not like the old days!!!!)
The lass who got caught says she had a pit stop and was given someone else’s bike.
Maybe it does sound a possibility.
The company .
www.vivax-assist.com/en/unternehmen/
The basic installation
www.vivax-assist.com/en/produkte/vivax-assist-4-0/vivax-assist_4-0.php
Price 2.699,00 EUR
Loads more stuff on the website. I have not yet explored.
|
>>
>> The lass who got caught says she had a pit stop and was given someone
>> else’s bike.
Mandy Rice-Davies.
|
A quick Google pulled this up. Looks like the wheel rim is the motor. How long before you need a licence and a mandatory crash hat for a powered push bike?
EDIT
And insurance.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 1 Feb 16 at 14:17
|
>> A quick Google pulled this up. Looks like the wheel rim is the motor.
I thought it was in the bottom bracket/crank
|
>> I thought it was in the bottom bracket/crank
>>
Thats what my link shows.
|
>> >> A quick Google pulled this up. Looks like the wheel rim is the motor.
>>
>> I thought it was in the bottom bracket/crank
>>
It was, the wheel rim device is supposedly the next step in the technology.
|
> How long before you need a licence and a mandatory crash hat for a powered push bike?
I thought you already did?
|
I believe electrically powered vehicles are perfectly legal as long as they're restricted to 12MPH and have the appropriate EU approval. Helmet, licence and insurance aren't obligatory.
Think Sinclair C5 type vehicles.
Edit. I was close, but no coconut.
Last edited by: bathtub tom on Mon 1 Feb 16 at 16:34
|
>> >> Not so sure of that.
>> It seems the only external indication is some on/of button.
>> A clever commercial design.
>>
>> >>
>>
The testers take the bikes at the end of the race and inspect it by removing the bottom bracket, the only place on a bike where a motor could be concealed from view and still provide drive. Any buttons fitted would also be immediately visible to a close inspection.
As for the excuse about a borrowed bike, that's baloney. A few weeks ago the same rider won a race where on one lap she was ten seconds faster than any other rider up one particular hill, an astonishing achievement in a sport where the climbs are short.
And her brother is serving a ban for using EPO.
|
This incident caused some raised eyebrows and some questions during the 2014 Tour of Spain. Just a short video clip, and if anyone can explain how a bicycle can do this on it's own I'd love to hear it -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynLMfzLTc8M
|
>> if anyone can explain how a bicycle can do
>> this on it's own I'd love to hear it -
One of the video comments points out that a motor turns the crank, and in the video it doesn't look like the crank is turning. Valid point? Doesn't explain what *is* happening though.
|
>> >> if anyone can explain how a bicycle can do
>> >> this on it's own I'd love to hear it -
>>
>> One of the video comments points out that a motor turns the crank, and in
>> the video it doesn't look like the crank is turning. Valid point? Doesn't explain what
>> *is* happening though.
>>
The latest system involves a motor embedded in the carbon fiber wheel rim.
road.cc/content/tech-news/177384-mechanical-doping-concealed-motors-electromagnetic-power-uci
|
|
Did you read the article? Seems to me to be saying this is the theory but in practice it would not be possible.
|
It must be possible in theory, a sort of crippled brushless DC motor I imagine, with permanent magnets in the wheel rim and energised windings concealed in the seat and chain stays, with invertor/electronic control of the current reversals in the windings.
Apart from the power limitation of only acting on two magnets at a time, rather than the whole lot, there is the problem of the large gap between windings and magnets. The battery, controller and windings can all be sealed/concealed within with the frame along with an inductive charger and a radio controlled switch. No wires needed or switch on the handlebars.
|
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-35472617
If the car was legal, why on earth didn't they stop? Some people are unreal.
At least he got 6 points.
|
|
SMIDSY + Don't give a creosoted crap about anyone but myself. No backbone.
|
>> www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-35472617
>>
>> If the car was legal, why on earth didn't they stop? Some people are unreal.
>>
>> At least he got 6 points.
>>
A stunning job of "can't be a***d" by the police there.
Incidentally, that Volvo is new enough that the driver has deliberately overridden or switched off the pedestrian / cyclist detection function.
I was hit from behind in similar circumstances but at slightly lower speeds when I was at uni and still got catapulted over the bars, breaking my arm. Despite two witness statements and the fact I was in a bike lane, the police decided not to prosecute based on the driver's excuse of being "dazzled by the winter sun".
I appreciate that they are struggling with their budget but the apathy towards phone users / aggression towards other road users / the constant fly tipping / thugs on quad bikes / illegal parking on pedestrian crossings etc etc leaves me with little time for them.
|
"A stunning job of "can't be a***d" by the police there"
Nottinghamshire Police said the investigating officer established the car was a hire vehicle that had been sub-leased through a number of different companies
The officer traced a man and a woman who were eligible to drive the car, so could have been driving on that day. The man and woman were issued with a formal request to provide the driver's details, but did not respond
They were interviewed and summonsed to court for failing to stop at the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and failing to respond to a legal request for driver details
The evidence was then reviewed by the Crown Prosecution Service and a decision was made that there was not enough to prove who was driving the vehicle at the moment of the collision
As a result, the prosecution for failing to stop and failing to report was discontinued. The 52-year-old man, from Nottingham, received six penalty points and a £150 fine for failing to provide driver details
Short of waterboarding the scumballs who were eligible to drive what do you expect the Police and CPS to do...?
|
>> Short of waterboarding the scumballs who were eligible to drive what do you expect the
>> Police and CPS to do...?
I don't understand why the people who were eligible to drive were scumballs?
However the answer is for the CPS and the Police to prosecute vigourously.
|
>> >> Short of waterboarding the scumballs who were eligible to drive what do you expect
>> the
>> >> Police and CPS to do...?
>>
>> I don't understand why the people who were eligible to drive were scumballs?
Because neither gave information when requested as to who was driving, and one of them hit the cyclist and drove off?
|
>> >> I don't understand why the people who were eligible to drive were scumballs?
>>
>>
>> Because neither gave information when requested as to who was driving, and one of them
>> hit the cyclist and drove off?
>>
I accept that the word scumball could be applied to the person who hit the cyclist and drove off, but does it also apply to the person who wasn't driving, but failed to provide information?
|
Coming down the side of a near vertical cliff (or that's how it seemed) I shot over one boulder and glanced off the next.
I am in pain. Lots of it.
A bruise from knee to hip, a shoulder with considerably less skin than it used to have, and an elbow that hurts so much that I doubt the doctor's assertion that it is not broken in at least 15 places.
Broke a brake lever, took a chunk out of the saddle and bent a pedal.
I swear to God getting it wrong never used to hurt this much.
Humph, I cannot believe you take this level of pain often. It'll be a while before I try something that ambitious again. Like about a million years.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 15 Feb 16 at 01:08
|
Given that you're not actually technically English, you're not half going on about a wee bump !
;-)
|
>>
>> Given that you're not actually technically English, you're not half going on about a wee
>> bump !
You know these latin types are a bit emotional and hysterical, no stiff upper lip you see.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 15 Feb 16 at 08:34
|
Commiserations guv'nor. Speaking to my sis last night she told me her son (60) came orf his bike 3 weeks ago, cracked his helmet (painful!) hurt his leg and shoulder (still Hertz)
He was a regular cyclist, often going out with groups of, but has lost his confidence a bit now, which is a shame because he was so 'into' it. I'm sure he'll get back in the saddle come the warmer weather, hopefully.
|
Actually, I'm starting to get a little bit worried about him, he's married to a vet and you know what they do to horses that can't get up...
:-)))
|
>>that can't get up...
Apparently my life is safe unless and until the word "it" gets included in that sentence.
Its true though, considering I was hovering at the edge of survival, my life in the balance, suffering enormous pain and hardship, the sympathy was surprisingly lacking.
Even one of my children stepped over me to get to the coca cola bottle and then complained to her sister about the noise.
I are neglect.
|
Chile about to enjoy the Tour de France.....
tinyurl.com/zuevk5n
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 1 Mar 16 at 21:34
|
"French winemakers plan to disrupt the race in protest"
Not always a great idea -
theradavist.com/2010/03/bernard-hinaults-punch-at-the-1984-paris-nice/
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 1 Mar 16 at 21:34
|
Just tried to buy some Brompton Spares from Simpsons in Camden to discover they'd closed down. Another victim of internet shopping and cost of 'bricks and mortar'. Unlike the staff in Evans they knew the difference between a bottom bracket tool and a pedal wrench!!
They had a damn good internet option as well as the shop which was easily in a lunch break's ride from my old office in London.
www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2015/apr/victims-internet-simpsons-cycles-set-leave-camden
No sign of the mentioned re-opening so I guess that's another one gone for good.
Chamberlaine's in Kentish Town gone too though that is at least still a bike shop under ownership of a former Chamberlain employee.
The bandits of Bridgewater (SJS) looks like best option for Brommy parts. And they were never cheap.
|
Just back from Lanzarote Had no idea how popular it is with cyclists. Lots of serious riders from all over as well as those who just enjoy riding. Great roads and scenery with some pretty steep hills to keep it interesting I guess. Was talking to a guy from Glasgow who told me how pleasant it was to cycle there because of the behaviour of car drivers there when compared to those at home. Certainly never say any of the aggressive/dangerous overtaking you see here.
|
Rode my son's bike for part of today for a change. It's fitted with the latest trend 650b ( 27.5" ) wheels as opposed to the 26" ones I'm used to. There was a brief trend for 29" wheels but although they have lower rolling resistance and smash through obstacles they're generally not as easy to whip and turn/control in the tricky stuff.
The 650b size though does seem to be a good compromise. I heard it described as "like a mountain bike, but quicker", certainly seems that way. Still not sure I trust them as much on a rough descent though. Feel like they're flexing more, which some people like but I'm not convinced.
'He' likes them though.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Sun 13 Mar 16 at 15:43
|
|
Ever rode one of the new range of fat bikes Humph with the huge oversized tyres?
|
Never ridden a fat bike Bobby. Looks a bit too much like hard work. I have got some extra heavy duty tyres I put on my bike in winter though ( oh heck, what have I just said )
;-)
|
Was out on my new road bike again today - weighs about 11 kg compared to my hbrid, which when loaded up with all my commuting gear, weighs in about 21kg!
Did just over 40 miles and I am not saying it was effortless but so much easier and quicker than my hybrid.
Now getting used to the gears and brakes more and the various hand positions though still feel very uncomfortable in the fully dropped position.
This is the bike I got (through Cyle to Work Scheme)
www.evanscycles.com/fuji-sportif-1-3-2016-road-bike-EV241906
|
>>>>
>> This is the bike I got (through Cyle to Work Scheme)
>> www.evanscycles.com/fuji-sportif-1-3-2016-road-bike-EV241906
>>
>>
>>
Disc brakes too.
Use them once and you'd never want to go back to those miserable rim brakes that should have been consigned to history before the turn of the century. I can stop my 18kg trike with discs more quickly and with more control than I used to be able to stop my sub 8kg road bike with calipers.
|
>> This is the bike I got (through Cyle to Work Scheme)
>> www.evanscycles.com/fuji-sportif-1-3-2016-road-bike-EV241906
Only a 1.3? Presumably it's got a turbo?
|
>>Only a 1.3? Presumably it's got a turbo?
I can assure you the turbo takes a very long time to take effect!!
|
As one who covers more miles than most on country lanes every day in a big lorry, I could fill this whole thread with the daft, arrogant and often downright dangerous things I've seen leisure cyclists do; I really must invest in a personal dashcam, thankfully the company has fitted one to the truck for my protection but I cannot access it.
I do try not to use this thread to pillory cyclists, but sometimes, as you will see, they really exceed their own levels of incompetence.
Now this thing 'ere is wot I drive;
tinyurl.com/jo8vgbx
You really would think that a pair of cyclists, riding along a quiet, reasonably straight unrestricted country lane, would notice this thing sitting pulled in to the verge on tickover waiting for them to pass by because they're two abreast deep in conversation, wouldn't you?
No they damn well didn't, neither of 'em; and they were only only about 50 feet away when I realised that they were so unaware of my presence that the outer one was going to hit me head-on, and they weren't riding that slowly. Blasted the horn (something I try to avoid doing with cyclists cos it makes 'em come over all self-righteous) he looked up, braked, swerved in and thankfully missed me.
I despair.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Fri 18 Mar 16 at 09:31
|
|
What do you expect if you don't wear your hi-viz tabbard?
|
>> You really would think that a pair of cyclists, riding along a quiet, reasonably straight
>> unrestricted country lane, would notice this thing sitting pulled in to the verge on tickover
Other brands of unobservant road user are also available.
|
>> Other brands of unobservant road user are also available.
But they tend to bleat less.
|
|
Who started this mini moanfest? Not a cyclist…..
|
>> Who started this mini moanfest? Not a cyclist…..
>>
No, but like you (I assume) I am a motorcyclist, and therefore try to have some empathy with other two-wheeled users.
That particular task, though, is made extremely difficult by the likes of the two bleedin' idiots I described above. I am trying to demonstrate that it's by no means a given that it's inevitably the lorry driver who's at fault when incidents like this occur; as they do, quite regularly.
|
The first of three stages, 29 April, finishes in my part of the world. Settle Market Place, which I can see from my gaff less than a mile away. The route also goes past my local pub in Giggleswick TWICE within a half hour just before the scheduled finish at 4:30
As its a Bank Holiday weekend we are expecting more tourists than usual in the area...all the local B & Bs are already fully booked, and I'm even tempted to rent out my 3 bedroomed place for £100 day if I can find any takers! Plenty of room in the garden for tents to accommodate any overflow.
Doubtless it will rain....although I hope not. The TdF Grand Depart brought hundreds of thousands to my part of the world. I was working that day so missed it all, but hope to see some of this event.
|
... over pedestrians? What about the young, the elderly and the disabled who may not want or be able to cycle and who cannot use public transport?
www.independent.co.uk/voices/cyclists-and-their-powerful-backers-are-destroying-london-for-the-rest-of-us-a6952376.html
|
>> ... over pedestrians? What about the young, the elderly and the disabled who may not
>> want or be able to cycle and who cannot use public transport?
Dog's link is to an article by Janet Street Porter. Same journalistic style as Katie Hopkin. In it she has something of a rant about The Mayor's plans for Cycle Superhighways in London.
I'm agnostic about segregated cycleways and have not got much time for Boris Johnson's Cycling 'Czar' Andrew Gilligan either. He has though done a decent a piece that puts the alternative view:
www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2016/mar/17/if-you-want-cycling-improvements-you-have-to-keep-fighting-for-them
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sat 26 Mar 16 at 09:00
|
DT has a feature '10 best folding bikes for cycling commuters':
www.telegraph.co.uk/men/recreational-cycling/10-best-folding-bikes-for-cycling-commuters/
Sounds useful, but had a look, and it's a bit light on, well, everything really. I happened to click on the link on the Kingston Freedom page (number 10), and got a strong sense of deja vu - the text on the DT page is a copy/paste of Kingston's own spiel!
So perhaps useful in listing what's available, but little else; not sure they can justify the 'best' in the title.
|
|
Dahion and related outfit Terrn have a good reputation. They also sell under other badges, the Bickerton is certainly one a d possibly at least one of the others too. Presetly on train and typing on phone, so limited as to what I can look up,
|
|
Like a lot of "newspaper" content now, especially features, it has been assembled by ace reporter Phil Space.
|
My daughter, a regular cyclist, has just acquired one of these.
www.bakfiets.nl/modellen/cargobike-kort/cargobike-classic-short
Interesting machine to ride, made like a brick outhouse. Those in the Cambridge/Ely areas and other flatlands (or Nedland) have probably seen them around. Very hard work where there is the hint of a hill, I should think.
Our grandsprog (18 months) enjoys riding around in the box. Strapped in, and with helmet of course. Safety is clearly a potential concern, but a good proportion of regular routes is off-road and in 20 limits, and drivers in Cambridge are fairly alert to cycles.
Roller drum brakes, hub dynamo for the front light, 8 speed hub gears, fat Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres. The steering feels odd to begin with, as numb as a Brompton is twitchy. The handlebar movement is transmitted to the front wheel by cranks and pushrods, and despite a bit of mechanical amplification such that the wheel turns through a greater angle than the bars, a u-turn needs a good bit of space.
Easy enough to ride, on the flat, but doesn't 'balance itself' like a good conventional set up. I tended to swerve about more than I intended when I took one hand off, but I'm sure that would stop with a bit of practice.
|
Interesting to read an account from somebody who's actually had go on one. They're getting quite common in London too. Some used as your daughter seems to do as family transport others in commercial applications delivering parcels, sandwiches etc.
Reminded me of this gem from the Daily Mail during the police focus on cycle safety in late 2013.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2513338/Father-took-kids-school-wheelbarrow-bike-says-safe.html
|
Yes I'd forgotten that; the same machine. I don't think I'd be quite as sanguine in London.
D did consider a trailer, also commonly seen in Camb., but prefers to have the sprog where she can see her and where they can talk to each other; and it's easier to imagine another vehicle catching the trailer than it is a collision with the cargo bike.
goo.gl/XmuaZF (image)
|
I can understand the police stopping Ben Watson with his two grandchildren.
Cycling in London with a bakfiets with two small children I wouldn't think of it.Density of traffic alone would make me think twice.
I'm all for cycling I grew up with it but not this.
|
>> Cycling in London with a bakfiets with two small children I wouldn't think of it.Density
>> of traffic alone would make me think twice.
>>
Actually, I find cycling in London safer than many other places. There are so many cyclists about these days that London drivers are far more tuned in to what a cyclist will do. Safety in numbers.
|
>> Actually, I find cycling in London safer than many other places.
My experience too. Much easier on Woburn Place where Bakfiets man was stopped than on say St Peter's Way in Northampton from Station to Gas Works Roundabout.
|
|
The Daily Mail report has all the hallmarks of an incident set up for the paper. The police are not expert on many aspects of the law where the situation is not a regular one, but some officers will still proclaim themselves to be correct.
|
How cool is that !
My son first came mountain biking with me strapped into a chair clamped to the seat post of my bike.
Today, at Llandegla, he, er, um, was slightly faster than me...
:-(
( I still managed to get airborne a few times mind, life in the old mongrel yet ! )
|
I know my rights! - neiltoo
