Cycling UK Forum

Gosh some really rapid responses and before I’d finished polishing / correcting my posts.

If you have to wear Lycra to be a Cyclist then I’m not a Cyclist and doubt that I ever will be. I’ve virtually always worn normal cloths to cycle in. What is a Cyclist and how does one distinguish them from PoB’s ? I’m inclined to think it’s about attitudes and behaviours.

kwackers wrote:

Cyril Haearn wrote:Another similarity: one of the main dangers created by cyclards is going too fast (not infrequently exceeding the maximum speed limit)

What maximum speed limit?

It’s usually displayed on road signs and normally 30 mph in built up areas. The Highway Code is a good guide and I believe that speed limits apply to Bicycles in the same way that they apply to Cars and Lorries.

Of course Bikes don’t (yet compulsory) have speedometers on them so whether you’re within a speed limit might be open to question. I try ride within the limit of my brakes and visibility, etc.; at a guess my pace on a level and open minor road must be around 20 mph.

‘PoB’ ? Perhaps it’s a term in common usage here and one that ‘everyone’ else understands already. Does ‘PoB’ mean ‘person on bike’?

Would it be a case of all Cyclists are (also) PoB’s but all PoB’s are not Cyclists? If so then I believe that some PoB’s get the rest of us a bad name, or at least tarnish our reputation, and that in doing so they both encourage and generate anti-cycling sentiment.

‘Anti’ sentiment is something to have some concern about, if I gets great enough then it will result in adverse consequences.

With the OP not being a regular cyclist I have my doubts about her project, but with thorough research and planning it should all turn out very well. Step one would be to get on a bike and polish / gain cycling skills along the route(s) intended - don’t take the child, well not until skill and experience levels have risen and then do so at times that the road is quiet.

When our eldest was a similar age, maybe a bit younger, I tried a child seat on a mountain bike. With the seat far enough back for my feet to clear his seat and his feet his weight was also too far back (beyond the back wheel spindle) and the bike was unstable (the front wheel went up in the air). A hybrid bike with a greater distance between bottom bracket and back wheel axle might have been OK - a few extra centimetres difference could change things from unsafe to manageable. The child seat was returned and I later bought a tag along trailer which did great service. I’m not sure what the youngest age is for a child to be on a tag along.

If it is possible then I would suggest getting a front rack fitted to the bike. Whilst weight at the front can negatively effect steering it’s still not a bad a way to carry loads and might counteract some weight acting behind the rear wheel axle. In general try to mount weight low down on the bike, that way they are more stable / less likely to topple.

If I were to shift kids now and could afford then my direction would be towards a long tail cargo bike, they are a flexible utility bicycle and likely to be useful for decades, but they aren’t cheap. I’m not particularly keen on small wheel bikes but something like the Helios might work, but again they are a significant ‘investment’ and more cost effective alternatives might suit you equally as well, etc. http://www.circecycles.com/products/sol ... -carrying/

I am perhaps too cautious but suggest that the remote risk of falling into a canal with child strapped to bike isn’t one to take, well not unless you’re an experienced cyclist, quite physical and very quick thinking.

Good luck to the OP. I wish her well and feel sure that, given the right preparation, she will be fine.

So pleased to see a post by CJ, I hope that he is enjoying his retirement.

I’ve long wanted to do less driving and more cycling but, outside of leisure purposes, it just is impractical. Our local country roads to the nearest towns have too much traffic on them for my safety and there isn’t much in the way of practical back routes. Occasionally I see some hardy riders on the main roads (single carriage ways with a ‘limit’ of 50 mph) but wonder about their safety. Accidents happen, a while back a young colleague lost his life on a straight road in broad daylight; the road had some dips in it and the person driving didn’t see him ......... A friend of my wife died a couple of years back in an accident in London, he was a very clever chap and (IIRC) an experienced cyclist. Makes you think.

My cycling is typically around my local Town and several miles out of. I can and sometime do go further but have to avoid routes to other Towns and our local Cities. More cycling and less motoring? Yes please, I’d be delighted to shift someone of my mileage towards cycling but riders need reasonably safe routes.

The trouble with using the term ‘Cyclist’ is that it unhelpfully lumps together people of completely different behaviours.

When I cycle I try to do so in a responsible way but when driving my car I too often come across people on bicycles who behave in idiotic ways. I recently came across a night time rider with no lights or reflectors on his bike. He had a hoody on which would reduce his visibility of the road and stoped me having any idea of where he was looking. He cycled on the wrong side of the road, crossed in front of me without warning and then disappear off onto the pavement.

There is a conversation to be had about who cyclists are and about how putting an irresponsible idiot on two wheels doesn’t (or rather shouldn’t) make him or her a ‘cyclist’ in the accepted use of the term.

horizon wrote:

Mike Sales wrote:The question here is "hub or bottle". But the anti-dynamo brigade are butting in to tell the OP that he should use batteries!

You're quite right but I had assumed (rightly according to some) that bottle dynamos were dead in the water.

The Holland Bike Shop lists 35 Bottle Dynamos for sale on its site. Having said that some of those models are, I believe, old stock of no longer manufactured items and some are handed versions of the same model.
https://hollandbikeshop.com/en-gb/bicyc ... mo/?page=1
As in an earlier post AXA and Union (Marwi) still manufacture bottle Dynamos, the market for that design is perhaps small now but it’s still there.

@ Mercalia: "simple answer there aint any. There were only 2 decent bottles - the AXA and the B&M ( now discontinued - if you want one get one now. remaining stock only). There are plenty of £5 cheapies.”

That’s kind of what I feared but perhaps someone will suggest the best of the rest.

IIRC I’ve a couple of spare Bottle Dynamos in my store of bits, Union ones probably as they weren’t too expensive at the time and worked well for me. I’ve a Soubitez fitted at the moment, not sure why I fitted it over a Union one but it’s a bit lighter and more compact, better contact arrangement too than the ones I had in my box of goods.

I’m just wondering.

If the AXA HR Traction is placed to one side for the moment (because I wouldn’t want anyone to get tied into using their replacement rubber treads) what is the next best or best Bottle Dynamo on the market for under £30? So that the answer stays valid for future viewers, in say a year’s time, the model suggested needs to be on it’s manufactures web site rather than (still) in stock at some shop or other.

What’s best is open to interpretation but I’m thinking tyre driven, long lasting, efficient and not heavy. Something that will take a rubber roller cap - there are a few alternative types available, and they’re cheap - and has a removable roller (so you can oil the shaft) would make sense to me.

thelawnet wrote:Nexus 8 is anything but cheap imo.

It’s true that hub gears aren’t cheap but how much less would it cost to buy the alternative rear hub, front and rear mech, gear block, etc.? Perhaps £50? Personally I’ve found the additional purchase cost of hub gears to be worth every penny, they’re so much more durable and take so much less time to look after than Derailer based transmissions. YMMV.

The use of ‘sic’ confused me at first, it’s not a term that I use and looking up its meaning up has taught me something.
“Sic is a Latin term meaning “thus.” It is used to indicate that something incorrectly written is intentionally being left as it was in the original. Sic is usually italicized and always surrounded by brackets to indicate that it was not part of the original. Place [sic] right after the error.” https://data.grammarbook.com/blog/definitions/sic/

I think that the OP recognises that the use of the term ‘cheap’ might be open to question and is relative. [“in praise of cheap (sic) bikes”] . As I read it the bikes were €600 each in 2010, new. Whilst that’s not a small sum it sounds to be a relatively good price (cheap even) for what he got.

@landriver. Thank you for the thread, it has encouraged me to thank about what makes me happy and has prompted many happy thoughts.

Today I went for a short walk along one of our local rivers with my wife - lovely sunny weather it was too. After a while we stopped at a cafe, enjoyed tea and cake, and sat admiring the views. I’m happy to have the health to be able to do that, happy to have the company of a kind and wise person, and happy to be able to comfortably afford the morning out (it’s decades ago but I know what the reverse is like).

@skyhawk

I’ve actually learnt something from your posts in that you’re aware that your way of ‘speaking’ might upset and have taken steps to avoid conflict. It hadn’t really been within my view of on-line discussion that others might have your or other such challenges. Of course there are others on-line, on other forums, who don’t have your disability but deliberately act in antisocial ways - it’s not always easy to distinguish the wilfully disruptive from, for want of a better term, the ‘mentally challenged’.

As an aside might I suggest that the name in your first post is removed. I don’t doubt the accuracy of your statement but including any particular member’s name is, in my view, both not helpful and potentially destructive. I hope that you don’t mind me making the suggestion.

The above post is very much in my own train of thought though the bikes actually cost above my own budget - but I’m a bit of a skinflint.

Low cost cycling, utility cycles and utility cycling seems to be almost ignored by the ‘CTC’ when it should (IMHO) be at the very centre of all that we do. Day to day cycling with a purpose (commuting, shopping, movement of equipment and goods, etc.) is the way to encourage and facilitate cycling for recreational purposes. Personally I’ve zero interest in carbon fibre forks and someone’s exotic journey. However tell me about someone’s long weekend away in this country, on a bike that cost little and is kept running by knowledge available to me, and I’m interested.

I hope that the OP has many happy years with his bikes and am pleased for him in discovering the true utility of bikes. A sturdy bike is a great friend who can add much to your daily life, enjoy.

If you use rechargeables you have to have a routine that works.

I knew the lamps and I knew the run time required, so all went well.

I'd still recommend a supplementary light system on your bike though, just in case one system fails mid ride. No system is 100% reliable.


I think that PWA’s points above are well worth highlighting.

horizon wrote:Sorry, I really did think bottle dynamos had gone the way of all things. BTW, I have never got rid of a rechargeable battery - they just run and run. I have two Cateye front lights. Actually reading the thread has been very informative.

I had a look for new bottle Dynamos and their availability is, I find, low compared to hub Dynamos. However they certainly are available and some are fitted to new bikes too. IIRC in some countries it’s a legal requirement to fit lights to new bikes, a bottle Dynamo is a very cost effective way of doing that and so they are the type fitted to low cost bikes.

Manufacturers of new Bottle Dynamos include Union (Marwi) and AXA (includes Basta brand):
http://www.marwi-eu.com/dynamos-list.php
https://www.axasecurity.com/bike-securi ... XgiOjB9XX0
Neither company sells Hub Dynamos but their range of bottle Dynamos seems smaller now than it used to be. They make what sells and have adjusted to a changed market. Some companies that used to make bottle Dynamos no longer do and just make lights now, I guess that (massively improved) battery lights and the (technically better) hub Dynamo have significantly displaced bottle Dynamos causing a degree of rationalism.

Of course Hub Dynamos are nearer to the perfect answer to making power for bicycle lights than bottle Dynamos. However, some people don’t need perfect solutions and are happy with other solutions that still meet there needs. As above there is a market for both types.

I’ve just come across this article by Chris Juden - who’s voice I very much respect - and think his comments very valid if, perhaps, aimed towards ‘serious’ cyclists rather than Joe (or Jenny) public. https://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle/lighting-uptime