Cycling UK Forum

gaz wrote: ↑10 Dec 2022, 5:16pm viewtopic.php?t=143479

Thanks for finding that tiny bit of text in that thread which mentions the same trick with the tape. I missed it when I looked first to see if anyone else had already posted about the same thing.

BTW, the practice of leaving a big U lock at the office or station is very common here in Germany.

Here where I live in Düsseldorf we have many tubular steel bike stands, known as Sheffield Stands in the UK I believe.

These are often easy to cut silently with a pipe cutter, which is a small manual tool with hardened steel disks that you rotate around a pipe so it gradually cuts a groove through the metal. Thieves here have not only cut and directly removed a bike, but they have cut and reassembled the tube so it looks intact at first glance. When a valuable bike is locked to the prepared stand they just come and pull the joint apart in a matter of seconds. The preparation can be done in the dead of night and the theft is so quick it can be done in broad daylight.

Link (in German to a secondary report as the original is behind a paywall): https://www.rtl.de/cms/perfide-masche-b ... 16544.html

Running a hardened steel chain through the pipe during installation is one solution. Another is to use solid steel bar instead of tube.

Hebie is good: https://www.hebie.de/en/parking/bike-stands/ . I have the Swedish one on my bike, the Stylo: https://atranvelo.com/product-category/ ... ickstands/ . The first one I had lost the extendable leg because there is nothing to stop it if the screw is loose. Poor design. Many stands do not have adjustable length.

When I was a student someone stole the saddle and seatpost from my ancient bike over the vacs. The main frame triangle was actually plain 531 and the seatpost some weird size that was unobtainable. I ended up with a standard size and a bit of tin can trimmed to size with tin-snips. It worked fine for the rest of my time at uni. I assume the thief was left with an unusable seatpost.

It doesn't help you. sorry. Don't use a tin can with carbon, but you knew that.

Nearholmer wrote: ↑17 Oct 2022, 8:53am We’ll have to start a Redway fan club!

Back to discussion of signposts.

Here is an example of what has recently been installed widely across the city, which is very good, except that like a very high percentage it has been rotated either by mischief-makers or the wind, so is now literally misleading.

I’ve begun to badger the council staff about this problem, because it is making waste of all of the money spent on new signs, and would actually be quite easy to fix using a drill and some big self-tapping screws.

Looking at the zoomed photo it looks to me as if the fixing bands are loose. One is visibly drooping. The fixing is too flimsy to carry such long panels and was installed incorrectly, or possibly has been used later as a swing. The thing is designed to fail. I'll take more notice of a local sign here and photograph it.

Nearholmer wrote: ↑18 Oct 2022, 11:17am ...
Here is what cycling conditions locally are like today: lovely!

That's scenically nicer than the Rhein, comparable with my wife's favourite river route along the Niers, although we do have proper bike paths along both rivers; hereabouts they run along the tops of the dykes, which gives good views.

willp01908 wrote: ↑17 Oct 2022, 8:13am ...
Would also happily show people around!

Thanks!

I have read / seen two contradictory reviews of this small camera for use on a bike, both in German. It is this: https://www.rollei.de/products/actionca ... -one-40338 . So far as I can see, there is no English version of the website.

The camera has gyroscopic stabilisation and is sold as OK for bikes. Has anyone tried it? I am interested in mounting on the bike, not a helmet, as it's not necessary to wear one in most places here. That makes a big difference. I ride on roads and smooth tracks with no suspension. OK, I know cobbles are much rarer in the UK than in Germany, but some roads are rough and off-road would be a good test.

mjr wrote: ↑16 Jul 2022, 4:39pm ...
MK used to get signage right, with key destinations on the signs in CAPITALS, beneath the usual next suburb stuff. The move to standard TSRGD cycleway signs was a step backwards, at least at first, in part because the NCN routes (which used to be the only route ID allowed on standard signs) do not follow any logical route through the city.

What is "only route ID allowed" all about? Allowed by whom? Here in Germany we have a huge number of named routes and each has a logo and these logos adorn all the bike signs, sometimes as additions bolted on underneath (see picture in the link below). Federalism and devolution of power has a lot to be said for it for local things like bike paths. OK, some states have red bike signs and some have green. We don't care.

I had to look up TSRGD: https://tsrgd.co.uk/ . In Germany bike path direction signs are NOT part of the StVO law that governs signs on the road, including those for bike lanes etc. The states decide, but there is a common catalogue: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildtafel ... eutschland .

Nearholmer wrote: ↑16 Jul 2022, 9:16am As I said before: satnav is your friend.

CycleStreets has all these paths, costs absolutely nothing, and, once you get your head around it’s quirks, provides good routes.

There are now ‘trunk route’ signs on the main MK paths, giving directions to main centres (unfortunately not including Phil Corley’s bike shop), but as with all path signs everywhere, they are prey to occasional reorientation by teenage boys.

Thanks. I had not heard of CycleStreets before. It uses OSM base data: https://www.cyclestreets.net/about/ . Here we have publicly-funded route planners, such as the one for the state I live in: https://radservice.radroutenplaner.nrw. ... gi?lang=DE . It allows you to choose the surface, whether to use themed routes, etc. You can also add and move intermediate points. At the end you can download the route as a booklet, GPX file or some Google format they bought from keyhole.

The Dutch knooppunt system (German: Knotenpunkt) with numbered nodes is quite good if you have the whole map of nodes available. The signs all show the next node and distance to it.

robing wrote: ↑16 Jul 2022, 7:02am MK is great but Redways not really suitable for road bikes for the most part. I prefer to use my hybrid. And watch out for broken glass on the underpasses. But it's a great way to get around the city completely traffic free. And it's very green - lots of parks and lakes

Thanks. My bikes have sturdy tyres with puncture-proofing. Traffic-free is what we are after, similar to much of the riding we do here around Düsseldorf and in Germany more generally.

Nearholmer wrote: ↑13 Jul 2022, 10:58pm

But of course, if you lived there, you'd soon get past that issue.

Well …….. I’ve lived in MK for forty years, and the path network is so extensive and complex that I still occasionally get lost within it!

The saviour is satnav, in the form of CycleStreets, which has every path mapped. Google street map has the main ones, but misses off a lot of smaller ones.

OpenStreetMap (OSM) has all paths so far as I could see when I visited. I use a Teasi. Other devices and software are available based on OSM. Please use OSM and update it if you find something missing or wrong. It is OUR map. Google and Ordnance Survey own and copyright their maps.

drossall wrote: ↑13 Jul 2022, 10:37pm ...
The only problem I've found in MK, where the paths are extensive and do deal properly with road junctions, is navigating.
...
If you're looking for separated paths though, MK and Stevenage are your places.

Thanks. I have a navi based on OSM which worked when I visited MK in the summer. If it is separated paths, then MK it is, as we hated Stevenage.

Nearholmer wrote: ↑13 Jul 2022, 9:55pm ...
Here’s the map he should have consulted (zoom in to get an idea of the density of cycling provision) https://getaroundmk.org.uk/wp-content/u ... Poster.pdf

I’m a bit confused by your ‘does anywhere near have exceptional cycling facilities?’ question. Are you asking which parts of the city are easiest to cycle to the station from? If so, the answer is ‘nearly all parts’, but distance from the station obviously varies, and housing quality and price vary too, so it’s a question of ‘how far do you want to cycle to the station, and how much do you want to pay for a house?’.

Thanks. OSM shows the density well, particularly the CycleOSM tiles.

I meant any other town. Distance from the station would not be too much of a problem with bikes, buses and legs.

Pendodave wrote: ↑13 Jul 2022, 9:51pm I live near wgc.
It's not terrible, but the nearby new towns (Stevenage/ Harlow/ hemel) are better for cycling infrastructure.
But I'd much rather live in wgc for other reasons.

Thanks. The middle of WGC looks nice but getting to it safely by bike looks difficult. Harlow might be worth a look, but a bit far east for us.