Undertaking cars on the road, the law???

there are places where I undertake, places where I overtake – it depends on the road

Have mentioned this numerous times in these sorts of threads, but still there are those who know better.. 😉

Perfectly legal to undertake but it does put you at risk.

I as others do undertake and overtake depending on the road situation.

I always go to the front of traffic queues and use my judgement to get there in the safest way.

Anyone who never undertakes does not use all the advantages of a bike and is using dogma rather than thought.

Never been black and white inside or outside for me, depends on a number of things.

Make the call and pay attention, ride accordingly.

Never on the inside of anything bigger than a car.

That seems a sensible call haze!

If the traffic is totally stationary I'll undertake, unless I can get to the outside and am able to pull back in reasonably quickly, then I'll overtake. Both are dangerous, drivers do not expect people overtaking in traffic and rarely see motorbikes let alone bikes, so you just have to be careful. It's all legal though.

I always go to the front of traffic queues

Really? I generally don't bother unless it's well backed up, just take my place in the queue and ensure that I'll get a safe look at whatever has stopped the flow. That said, I do commute at 7am and 6pm mostly, so the traffic's not too bad. Having seen london cycling, I don't envy their lot, it looks faakin mental 😯

An amazing thread – i ride from hackney to the west end every day and nearly every rider (and thats a lot of riders) undertakes all the time, hardly anyone ever hangs back rather than pushing to the front, and everyone generally uses every trick / tactic to get ahead at minimum effort. Most cyclists ride without shame or any regard to their own safety or offer any courtesy to drivers or even other riders. I don't object to this behaviour it just seems to be at odds to the somewhat sensible consensus set out in this thread.

IMHO from general observation 90+% of London cyclists haven't thought much about how best to ride in a manner which is safe for them, sensible and courteous to other road users.

You know what it might be: loads of people who live and work in London don't own a car (no need you see). So it could be that through lack of driving experience or lack of driving experience with cyclists around, then when they're on bikes they simply don't fully understand the rules of the road/how it feels as a driver to have cyclists coming at you from all directions.

I've commuted in London for 15 years and like Simon both go up the inside and/ or the outside dependent upon the road and traffic conditions. One thing I have noticed as that having gone from maybe seeing one cyclist on the way into work or on the way home I now see loads. Many do some interesting maneouvres that I wouldn't attempt and the mad scramble at central London traffic lights suggests that many avidly watch those annoying alleycat YouTube movies.
Like everyone I make mistakes and do the odd interesting manoeuvre but I always try to make sure that I know where I want to get to, how I aim to get there and have at least one alternative in case the unexpected occurs. Towing a bobyak does usually seem to get me given extra room though.

++1 London cycling. It's fooken mental out there. Still the best way to get around tho. Whad'ya gonna do?