Bike blog | The Guardian

Cities, City transport, Cycling, Environment, Life and style, Local government, Politics, Road safety, Society, Transport, Transport policy, UK news, Walking - July 30, 2021

Hastily abandoned low-traffic schemes could cost councils funding

Transport minister warns local authorities not to remove cycle lanes or other reduction measures without evidence of their failure

Councils which rip out cycle lanes or low-traffic neighbourhoods before giving them a chance to work or without evidence they are failing could lose future central government funding, ministers have warned.

In a sign of the growing frustration within government at some councils, both Conservative and Labour, which have removed active travel schemes in the face of sometimes noisy objections, transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris is formally writing to the leaders of all English local authorities with transport responsibilities.

Hastily abandoned low-traffic schemes could cost councils funding

Transport minister warns local authorities not to remove cycle lanes or other reduction measures without evidence of their failure

Councils which rip out cycle lanes or low-traffic neighbourhoods before giving them a chance to work or without evidence they are failing could lose future central government funding, ministers have warned.

In a sign of the growing frustration within government at some councils, both Conservative and Labour, which have removed active travel schemes in the face of sometimes noisy objections, transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris is formally writing to the leaders of all English local authorities with transport responsibilities.

Bikepacking and gravel bikes: new concepts in off-road cycling, or marketing fad?

A four-day loop around the King Alfred’s Way gave ample time to test the claims of faster speeds and greater off-road ease

The world of leisure cycling is nothing if not inventive when it comes to ways to sell bikes and associated bits of kit, and two of the most popular new – or theoretically new – concepts are bikepacking and gravel bikes.

As with all such ideas there is the inevitable marketing guff, but both are nonetheless interesting, if sometimes misunderstood. Earlier this week, on trend as ever, I managed both, with a four-day ride around the King Alfred’s Way, a 218-mile primarily off-road loop through the lanes, tracks, woods and ridges of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex.

Bikepacking and gravel bikes: new concepts in off-road cycling, or marketing fad?

A four-day loop around the King Alfred’s Way gave ample time to test the claims of faster speeds and greater off-road ease

The world of leisure cycling is nothing if not inventive when it comes to ways to sell bikes and associated bits of kit, and two of the most popular new – or theoretically new – concepts are bikepacking and gravel bikes.

As with all such ideas there is the inevitable marketing guff, but both are nonetheless interesting, if sometimes misunderstood. Earlier this week, on trend as ever, I managed both, with a four-day ride around the King Alfred’s Way, a 218-mile primarily off-road loop through the lanes, tracks, woods and ridges of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex.

Read more

Cycling, Environment, Life and style - June 11, 2021

Want to turn your bicycle into an e-bike? Here’s just the gizmo

With Swytch, you can clamp a wheel, battery and sensor to any model and enjoy a power-assisted ride

I’ve been something of a sceptic about technological bike gizmos over the years, add-ons that too often seem to represent a solution in search of a problem, an attempt to reinvent something – the bicycle – that was not far short of perfect anyway.

I’m no luddite. New developments make cycling even more enjoyable and useful, not least near-puncture proof tyres and tiny, retina-searing lights. Plus, of course, there’s the amazing world of electric-assist bikes, or e-bikes.

Read more

Bike blog | The Guardian RSS

Hastily abandoned low-traffic schemes could cost councils funding

Hastily abandoned low-traffic schemes could cost councils funding

Bikepacking and gravel bikes: new concepts in off-road cycling, or marketing fad?

Bikepacking and gravel bikes: new concepts in off-road cycling, or marketing fad?

Want to turn your bicycle into an e-bike? Here’s just the gizmo

Tags