Getting ̶1̶0̶0̶,̶0̶0̶0̶ 50,000 people back on their bikes.

[AndyK]

So it does nothing for the roughly third of potential riders (near me, at least) who have no access to a bike and focuses on people rich enough to have unused assets?

Also seems limited to places with existing bike recycling centres, which I don't think there are near me. Anyone know if there are any plans to change the insurances to enable CTC member/affiliated groups to provide mechanical services more easily?

Er... Surely it's supporting bike recycling centres ,which by definition take in abandoned and donated bikes, fix them up and sell/give them to someone who will use them?

[mjr]

http://www.ctc.org.uk/project/big-bike-revival and its description of the pilot project makes me think it is more about helping people to bring their own bikes back into use, with possibly donating surplus bikes to recyclers as a fringe benefit, so I remain of the view it mainly benefits people rich enough to have left assets (bikes) lying unused, rather than the usual redistributive effect of bike recyclers.

[Si]

Or maybe it also benefits people who are poor enough not to be able to afford to get their bikes fixed at a normal bikeshop.

We get a fair few people like this. Not only might they not be able to afford to use a bikeshop but they might also not be able to get their bike there in the first place....thus having our Dr Bike come their their community is a bonus.

And if you've nothing similar near you - please pester the CTC to assist you in setting it up.

[mjr]

Or maybe it also benefits people who are poor enough not to be able to afford to get their bikes fixed at a normal bikeshop.

We get a fair few people like this. Not only might they not be able to afford to use a bikeshop but they might also not be able to get their bike there in the first place....thus having our Dr Bike come their their community is a bonus.

Dr Bikes are great. CTC should support them more.

And if you've nothing similar near you - please pester the CTC to assist you in setting it up.

Yes, because I need another activity right now! Keeping track of what CTC is doing with the cycling grants it hoovers up is already too much

[gaz]

After reading the CTC press release I wondered if there was a bike recycling centre near me. A quick google found one, which came as a surprise. It seems to have been running for the last six months or so.

It offers free training in "basic cycle maintenance" for the unemployed and a "fix your own bike" drop in service for young people. It appears those services are aimed at helping people reduce the costs of keeping their bike on the road and also giving them skills to increase their employability.

I've dropped them an e-mail to see if they want to sign up to the CTC scheme. I may have a ferret around the shed and garage to see what bits I can donate.

[Psamathe]

Can somebody point me to the evidence/research that shows that providing people with a bike means they then use it (regularly) ?

I've had a brief hunt around but it's a complex search for Google and search results are dreadful/unhelpful.

I just wondered because through most of my life I've had a more than adequate working bike lying around the house/shed/garage and my shops were at a very suitable distance for cycling and I lived in the countryside with fabulous lanes yet I never used it. And I appreciate that is just me but I'd be interested what portion of people who get non-operational bikes working then take-up cycling again (and how many get sold in a now working state, how many remain in the shed/garage but now in a working state, etc.)

Ian

[mjr]

Like gaz, I had a search and I think our nearest is the excellent OWL Bikes in Cambridge but I find nothing else in the fens. Norfolk County Council says to put old bikes on freecycle or similar, sell them at a car boot sale, or shove them in the scrap metal bin

This may be a downside of King's Lynn still having half a dozen bike shops, at least one of which has a garage full of second-hand bikes for sale. Many of the recyclers I've seen fund themselves by either selling some refurbished bikes or being dealers for main bike brands and I'm not sure there's those gaps in the fens market.

Can somebody point me to the evidence/research that shows that providing people with a bike means they then use it (regularly) ?

http://www.ctc.org.uk/project/big-bike-revival says of the pilot projects "28% pledged to cycle at least once a week ... 8% pledged to make a change and to start to commute by bike as a result of the Bike Revival" - I don't know if there's been any follow-up to see what actually happened.

[Psamathe]

Like gaz, I had a search and I think our nearest is the excellent OWL Bikes in Cambridge but I find nothing else in the fens. Norfolk County Council says to put old bikes on freecycle or similar, sell them at a car boot sale, or shove them in the scrap metal bin :-(

Is this the sort of place you are looking for ? http://www.bicyclelinks.org.uk (in Norwich).

Ian

[Psamathe]

Can somebody point me to the evidence/research that shows that providing people with a bike means they then use it (regularly) ?

http://www.ctc.org.uk/project/big-bike-revival says of the pilot projects "28% pledged to cycle at least once a week ... 8% pledged to make a change and to start to commute by bike as a result of the Bike Revival" - I don't know if there's been any follow-up to see what actually happened.

I would hope there has been a decent follow-up as taking £1,000,000 of taxpayers money without having demonstrated what you are spending it on actually achieves it's targets is somewhat irresponsible.

So if you take the higher 28% figure, that means you've got to repair 178,000 bikes (to get 50,000 people "back on their bikes" as it is fair to say less than once a week is not really "back on a bike"). So with your £1m that means you can spend £5-60p on each bike. How far does £5 go when it comes to repairing a non-working or "derelict" bike working again ?

And, I also note that CTC CEO had been boasting about the £1m getting 100,000 back on their bikes (only 3 months ago), but now he is spending the same money on half the number of people! That does not reflect well on the guy and his planning.

Ian

[gaz]

The DfT were satisfied that CTC's bid is likely to meet it's objectives and that CTC's monitoring and evaluation processes are sufficiently robust. If they weren't they'd never have signed off the grant.

[PH]

Congratulations to those involved with getting this far, good luck with making it work. It's just the sort of thing I'm glad the organisation I'm a member of is getting involved with.
Derby's Bike Back has been up and running for a few months, from what I've heard it's doing well.

[mjr]

Like gaz, I had a search and I think our nearest is the excellent OWL Bikes in Cambridge but I find nothing else in the fens. Norfolk County Council says to put old bikes on freecycle or similar, sell them at a car boot sale, or shove them in the scrap metal bin

Is this the sort of place you are looking for ? http://www.bicyclelinks.org.uk (in Norwich).

That sort of thing. Remember that Norwich is further than Cambridge from much of West Norfolk and linked only by a choice of bus services that don't allow bikes.

[Vorpal]

There's a nice guide of Bike Hubs and community interest groups that recycle bikes at http://www.bikehub.co.uk/featured-articles/recycling/

It looks like Cambridge is the closest to Kings Lynn, but there are more of them than I reaslised.

[TonyR]

so I remain of the view it mainly benefits people rich enough to have left assets (bikes) lying unused, rather than the usual redistributive effect of bike recyclers.

Given that there are about 3.5 million bikes sold a year in the UK I suspect there are a lot of bikes lying around in sheds unused. The bigger problem is a good many of them are probably £59 specials which are totally unspannerable they're of such poor quality (IMO)

[gaz]

There are also local bicycle recycling schemes that do not appear on bikehub, such as Green Ventures at Thetford.

Many Halfords stores will accept unwanted bikes and pass them on to Re~cycle who support communities in Africa.