Cycling UK Forum

RickH wrote: ↑1 May 2025, 5:54pm My understanding with power consumption is that when all vehicles are EVs we will actually need less electricity than when all the vehicles had combustion engines, even assuming the same number if vehicles. That is due to the collosal amounts of power used to refine the petrol & diesel - a single refinery uses the similar power to a moderate sized city - & the vastly better efficiency of the use by EVs of the power generated.

That’s surprising, I’m inclined to think that you’ve been mislead and would like to see the sources of your information. Whilst I don’t know for sure - the details are probably on the web - I anticipate that refineries have on-site power generation. As has been pointed out earlier in the thread well to wheel efficiency of BEV vehicles isn’t great and their power (charging electricity) really needs to be from renewable generation.

axel_knutt wrote: ↑1 May 2025, 3:02pm

cycle tramp wrote: ↑1 May 2025, 12:05am

PH wrote: ↑1 May 2025, 12:01am
The court didn't decide that matter on an idea, but on the evidence that supported it. If you do a search of the forum, you will find CJ's calculation which confirms that to be correct.
I'm not going to respond to any further posts you make on this subject. You don't seem to be considering the evidence yourself. Every time it's demonstrated that what you claim is wrong, impossible or impractical, you manage to find something else... thankfully such behaviour is not permitted in court.

..the prosecution said it was less than a 7 metre distance... not sure what brakes you use to stop you dead in that distance without breaking tyre contact and sliding down the road... if anyone wants to suggest any, I'm all ears...

There may be brakes that can do that, but a bike that just meets BS EN ISO 4210-2 won't.

A race/MTB bike has to produce a braking force of 425N minimum using both brakes in the dry, which is 0.43g minimum at the specified weight of 100kg. From the 18mph quoted in the Guardian article, that gives stopping distances of:

7.7m with zero reaction time,
10.1m with national average reaction time (300ms),
13.1m with the reaction time allowed in the Highway Code stopping distance table (671ms).

Thanks, it's appreciated.... just to clarify, in no way am I suggesting that people should ride their bike towards a group of people clustered around any crossing or who look like they may decide to cross the road without at least checking their speed or considering the question 'if one of them stepped out in front of me, how am I going to deal with the situation?'...or even 'should I slow down for a bit while I pass them?'
..what I am attempting to do is at least identify those areas, where bike riders have been found guilty of offences and explore them .. in light of this impending law....
Yesterday, I visited a supermarket, as I was leaving a guy was walking towards me headphones on, staring at his mobile... didn't even see that I was standing in front of him....(I did move and he never noticed)

Nearholmer wrote: ↑30 Apr 2025, 5:49pm Aha!

Thameslink from St Pancras to East Croydon or Gatwick, change at either for a Southern train to Portsmouth train.

For example:

IMG_3303.jpeg

No tangling with London, and both services are very easy to use with bikes, and I think that considering the cross London time to Waterloo with a bike, this might actually be marginally quicker, certainly no slower.

I agree with taking the Thameslink at Kings Cross. I've used it many times when travelling with my bike to and from my home in south London, and also taking the Portsmouth train from East Croydon to my partner's mum who lives between Chichester and Portsmouth.

Be aware that you'll need to use two small-ish lifts to get to the platform. When they're working, you might have to wait several minutes while people with massive suitcases, pushchairs, wheelchairs use them first. If one or both of them aren't working (as I've experienced more than several times) you might have to carry your bike and panniers down the stairs.

Secondly, it might be better changing for the Portsmouth train at Gatwick. This is because depending on the day, time of day, and any previous cancellations between London terminals and Gatwick, the Portsmouth train can be very busy with travellers going to Gatwick, including taking up the area of the specific carriage(s) for bikes (where the accessible toilet is) with their luggage. As many/most of the passengers get off at Gatwick, they'll be a much better chance of getting your bikes into the designates areas. The only thing is the Thameslink train might stop on a different platform from where the Portsmouth train departs, and you might have to use the lifts to change platforms. Check National Rail live departures to see which platforms the trains are stopping at and departing from.

Thirdly, make sure you're in the right part of the train for Portsmouth. Because at Horsham (about 20 mins after Gatwick) the train divides into two, with one train going to Bognor Regis.

Lastly, it's beautiful countryside between Horsham and Chichester, with a view of Arundel castle , flood plains, and the South Downs. Enjoy!
+

The problem with reporting potholes is that you encounter so many of them on any journey that its a bit of an impossible task so i only tend to report particularly grievous ones that i regularly pass, or ones that appear very local to me. If everyone reported any within a couple of 100 yards of their house we'd probably at least get them all scheduled for repair even if it was in the distant future.

I did report a traffic light once that never changed green for a contraflow bike lane in town, after sitting at it like a complete plum for several minutes. The bloke at the council was very apologetic , seems they'd changed the sequencing a few months previously and hadn't noticed it never turned green for the bike lane and no-one had reported it.

A nice dose of expensive civil litigation might make their eyes water, although I can't see the National Trust doing so.

Chatting to a pal of mine this morning we concluded that the perpetrators were unlikely to receive the sentence that their actions deserve (it’d be outside of the sentencing guidelines). I’m inclined to think that the stiffest penalty within the law should be what they end up with and that the clear and public message to similar idiots should be so punitive as to be beyond any doubt.

His existing forks are really basic. Being of the XCM family the spring rates are woeful, the damping worse than wet wedding cake, and they weigh as much as a small moon. It's difficult to truly describe the depth of their woefulness.

Then good news is the 32mm stanchions are at least stiff. The bad news is it doesn't matter because the bushings in the sliders are typically slack from the facftory, and quickly worsen in with use. A pair of old bed springs stretched over two car aerials would make better forks,

They really are hateful devices which is probably why the OP is looking to upgrade them, which is in turn a lot less expensive than replacing the bike, assuming of course that he's otherwise happy with it.

Forgot about their free boot cleaning service at immigration.
It's been nearly 20 years since we went but I was struck by the lack of back road network that we enjoy here in the UK. The other major difference I saw was the lack of accessibility. It was like Scotland with a fence.
As I said, it's been a while, so things may have changed. Josh Reid did a series of films based on his mostly gravel trips around NZ on YouTube that might be worth a look.

sjs wrote: ↑30 Apr 2025, 8:56pm

slowster wrote: ↑30 Apr 2025, 8:43pm Would one or more members who have not altered the default settings in their User Control Panel, please confirm in a reply to this post:

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Ditto

PH wrote: ↑30 Apr 2025, 11:12pm

cycle tramp wrote: ↑30 Apr 2025, 10:56pm

PH wrote: ↑
In Alliston's case it was relevant.

Was it relevant?

Yes, part of his defence being that he'd thought he was buying a normal road bike.

..does this mean that every bije rider who watches videos like this, now face an increased chance of being convicted, compared to those which haven't watched it?

No. Are you suggesting that someone's social media history can never be relevant? If not, how are you going to write that into legislation? That's impossible of course, which is why it's decided in the court rather than in parliament.

Are previous crimes which people may have be convicted mentioned in their current trial?

Thanks, but the prosecution's use of Alliston's social media and web viewing habits demonstrates precisely how the prosecution will behave and its their behaviour which concerns me, afterall the judge doesn't decide guilt, only the sentence thereof.



(After all, if people are influenced by such things, crime writers are in serious trouble of encouraging crime, and quite franklymore people would be having wanton carnal relationships... I note, that the prosecution didn't make note of what other things he may have viewed on the web, especially if it included things like gardening, cats doing funny things on video, or cookery)..

Couple of recent updates:

Forest have increased their prices a lot.

Lime is accused of being dangerous - specifically poor maintenance, cheap tyres, and traumatic injuries caused by the weight of the bike's battery area:

https://www.londoncentric.media/p/lime- ... -londoners
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/lime- ... nese-tyres
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/we-te ... for-safety

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/hea ... -62hnv3wtz

In addition, the Lime bikes can easily be "stolen", by a technique that is visible on Youtube and Tiktok.

Children in London routinely use the bikes for free transport and the clicking or beeping sound is familiar in London.

Lime are aware of this and the danger posed to children and other road users - the stolen bikes cannot be stopped once stolen without ending the ride, but it's apparently more profitable to leave the bikes vulnerable than resolve their liability to others. Stolen Lime bikes are also abandoned anywhere, as there's no incentive for thieves to park nicely.

There are regular accidents involving children on Lime bikes

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/2500 ... -hospital/
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ ... 20029.html

I presume Lime payout quite a lot in compensation rather than have their dreadful behaviour exposed in court.

slowster wrote: ↑30 Apr 2025, 8:43pm Would one or more members who have not altered the default settings in their User Control Panel, please confirm in a reply to this post:

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Would one or more members who have not altered the default settings in their User Control Panel, please confirm in a reply to this post:

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For years we were told that eggs were too high in cholesterol which was linked to cardiovascular disease. The reality was that dietary cholesterol for most people has no real relationship with blood cholesterol. Therefore those old claims were bad science.

It was a similar story with butter which was considered a cardiovascular risk. What we weren't told were the health risks of the trans fats that were common in margarine.

We were also informed we'd be better off having semi skimmed rather than full cream milk. Again, no real evidence for this claim. My Mum was never impressed by this, because as she said "milk is mostly water". Exactly.

My late parents had a diet high in dairy and no shortage of meat, but with of course fresh vegetables. They lived into their nineties. I see no reason to go vegetarian whatsoever. I won't be "ditching the cow". Gordon Ramsay can get stuffed, I'm proud to support British dairy farmers.