I’ve just left my lovely bikey job because it meant I had to live in a tiny village with no facilities or public transport. I don’t have a car, and this little village is the only place I could feasibly cycle to work from. I’ve been there 6 months, but my lease is up now, and I’m not struggling there for another 6 months. Car free in the countryside is hard. I’ll never drive, and I’ve accepted that this means certain things regarding my life choices, certain compromises. I’m alright with that but I know our country could be much better in this regard.

5lab: but it’s not just fuel efficiency we’re talking about here. There’s all the social problems cars generate, the thousands dead, the congestion, the fractured communities, the out of town shopping centres and closed village shops, the road rage and stress, space wasted for car parks.

But that’s where trains come in. I’m not saying no one should move anywhere ever, just that there might be nicer ways than the motor car.

People always say that we can’t go backwards, we have to go forwards. But what if we’re walking to a cliff? Do we keep going forwards, off the cliff, or do we make a turn, then keep walking forward? I don’t think the large scale abandoning of cars would be a backwards step. I think it would be an amazing step forward in a different direction. I don’t drive, and never have, so maybe it’s easier for me to imagine, especially as I’m still in my mid twenties. I can imagine a world were most journeys are taken by bike, and train for longer ones. I can imagine a world where people chose to live close to friends and family, to their work, where vast retail zones no longer exist. I think too much of the debate here is simply a failure of imagination. Like JTD said, seeing without motor-centric eyes is liberating, terrifying and exciting.

So when are we going to get some real Dutch style bike paths? It’s the only thing that’ll stop these deaths.

So what time is it now? Am I early or late for work?

I hate it when they change the clocks, it messes with my head.

No.

Unless people take you seriously and it starts to happen. [crosses fingers and wishes you luck/]

I’ve got a set of havens, and the matching stem. They are amazing. I trust them completely and don’t feel any flex.

I find all the pessimisim surprising in a way. I suppose as someone who cycles, everywhere, cycling is normal for me. I can see how it could be normal for everyone else too: the inevitable increase in oil prices, the eventual realisation that electric cars won’t do it either as li-ion battery prices skyrocket due to the insane demand compared to the limited amount the earth contains. It’s a slow inevitability, in the UK’s case a very slow inevitability.

That looks really awesome. Decorating or riding… It’s not a hard choice, and you sir made the right one!

Can’t say fairer than that! Looks like you’ll have to pony up for a pair of Supernovas then. 😉

What’s wrong with having them mounted to a rack, it makes the most sense IMO.

Timely (…if a slight hijack) – I’ve run my front dynamo light in anger for a week now, and it’s been great. Although the cabling will be a bit of a faff (the reason I’m still using battery LEDs for the moment), what’s big in the world of dynamo rear lights? What’s going to give me the biggest bucket of (red) sunshine for my 0.6W?

Well I use the Supernova, but I think you can only use that with the matching front. Any of the Busch and Muller lights are well regarded, and they have reflectors in them so they work really well. As far as the cabling goes, it might be less awkward than you think if you can follow a rear brake or gear cable.

It really does sound like you need a proper dynamo setup then, given the conditions you ride in. Why put up with battery lights in cold conditions that are detrimental to li-ion battery life?

It’s alright, the Government has decided SSI’s aren’t important enough not to build railway lines, roads, factories and houses on, so I’m sure no one could object to anyone riding a bike on one?

This may seem like a left field option, but in my opinion it is the best setup possible. I have an Alfine dynamo front hub, and a Supernova E3 Pro front light, combined with the Supernova rack mounted rear light. I also use a Smart 1/2 watt as a backup. That setup has lasted a couple of harsh Glasweigan winters, and as the lights are bolted to the bike I never worry about theft, I never have to recharge them and I honestly cannot feel any drag from the setup.

Bang on. Cheeky riding is a noble activity.

I’m also doing the CyB Enduro, I’m SUPER excited! I can’t wait!

Surly are doing a LHT with disks for 2012, so it’ll be out shortly.

I hope this doesn’t sound bad, but I am very interested in the Thorn, don’t suppose you could email me a price and a few piccies of that one could you…?

No one? 🙁

http://www.ipayroadtax.com

That’s all you need to know.

Gosh, she must have been so scared, being in a locked 1 tonne metal box, all airbagged up and crumple zoned, it must have been terrifying. There’s no way I would have apologised to her for anything, new job or not. As an HR person, you would hope she would have some care for other people, but from her driving, clearly not. Imagine if she smashed into you and you’d been rendered unable to work? She should have been the one hauled in front of your boss.

I’d love to, but I’m working unfortunately. Definitely up for a ride some other time though.

Because the amount of land given over to free parking is insane and the costs of driving aren’t a true reflection of the social costs of mass motoring, and as a society we need to start balancing out this discrepancy?

😆

But seriously, this is what we need to be arguing for, and nothing less. It wouldn’t just benefit cyclists. It would benefit everyone in society.

Sorry, but all this bickering about assertiveness is mere obfuscation. If you honestly think more assertiveness or agression will make cyclists safer on the roads then you are clearly deluded. The only strategy for increasing cyclist safety that has been shown to work is removing the cars. We need proper universal segregated cycle infrastructure. And until we unite behind this goal cyclists will keep being killed and the only people cycling on the roads will be the die hard and the desperate.

It’s alright everyone, we cyclists will have the last laugh, once oil prices start really going through the roof due to proper scarcity, we can laugh at the fatties who were once so confident and aggressive in the metal shell of their cars…

…and for me that’s it as personally I’d never ride 2+ abreast if there was traffic

As Teej, says, bikes ARE traffic!

STWer in part time cyclist, full time driver shocker!

You’re supposed to leave cyclists as much overtaking room as you would a car. Going single file would’ve just encouraged you to squeeze past, endangering them.

Until someone decides that our gears could all do with being made to work back to front instead.

Say hello to Low Normal!

Awesome, good job Giant! What a relief that we’ve got a new standard!

I agree with emma. If a website is awkward to use or looks like it was made in 1998 then I won’t use it. This is 2011, I expect professionalism in my internet shopping! 🙂

Quite disappointed, I thought this was going to be a ‘foliage’ thread.

😆 @ toys.

I don’t know about you Jon, but I find smoothness more satisfying than outright speed. Do you really care if they are a little faster on corners than you if you are picking smoother lines and riding well, rather than being mega ballsy? Maybe you do, but I know I wouldn’t. You sound like you are a really good rider already. I imagine just keeping riding all the time would increase your speed more than anything else.

Yeah, I have serious issues to raise with the manufacturer. Avid, your brakes are annoying. Cease and desist immediately. 🙂

I’m a shop mechanic and I hate avid brakes. I know quite a few others who also hate them. This is not a coincidence.

Lol @ Simon.

Surely you just need to use aluminium bolts on the levers?

So, after 4 years of loving my Soul it’s time for a change.

Why? Do you not still love your Soul? Change for the sake of change isn’t always that good an idea. Be content and save yourself loads of money.

Or just splash out on a frame, headset, seatclamp and seatpost shim.