Cycling UK Forum

Hello fellow cyclists,
I'm trying to find a charity (anywhere in the world) which strives to make bicycles safer by re-designing them. There are the likes of the (British) Bicycle Association and the European standards panels. However, these seem to require their members to be trading, manufacturing and paying them fees.
There was one website via Ask Jeeves which looked promising, but turned out to be infected and hence unreadable.
In the event that there is no such charity, would anyone be interested in forming one please?

Many thanks, Peter

I'm sure to make them safer it would involve adding two more wheels, fitting an electric or combustion engine and a steel cage with windows.

Bicycles are safe, your charity would be better trying to advocate safety on the roads for vulnerable road users. Motorist organisations are always talking about cyclist visibility and obeying the rules.

Been done, no need for a charity

OK, I have an example for you.

Drop handlebar touring bikes could be made safer by "improving" cantilever brake design so they work better with drop bar levers. All you have to do is "improve" the design back to what we had in about the sixties before Shimano (and others) started messing about with the placement of the cable anchor relative to the pivot, when mountain bikes became the first real money-spinner the cycle business had seen in decades. The technology is not exactly a difficulty, all you have to do is dust off an old design, get somebody to churn them out and persuade the bike manufacturers to fit them to bikes at a price point the mass market wants....that is cheap!

Now lets look at the commercial pressures. The big commercial pressure is to sell at a higher price point, as higher price means more profit. So the marketplace is full of disc brakes, and integrated brake/gear levers. Where are the tourers with bar end shifters and V brake specific drop bar levers? Where is to-days equivalent of the Sun Tour "Command" shifter http://www.flickr.com/photos/steel-is-real/3427390187/ for those too young to remember? Why are Kelly Take Offs such a ridiculous price?

Ok, hopefully you get the picture;
1) brakes are a difficulty on drop bar tourers
2) there are several ways to fix this..re-design cantis, OR use V brakes + V brake drop bar levers, bar end shifters/Kelly take offs/ Sun Tour Command shifters
3) this is not going to happen, it has been sacrificed on the twin alters of commercial bike production, ie push up the price point and form over function...the more complex the better.

What isn't clear to me is the function of a charity in all this?

Is braking such a problem though?

If car improvements have told us anything it is that greater braking performance can actually mean faster driving.

I'd have thought that the most significant and least expensive improvements to the safety of any vehicle could be achieved if the operator of said vehicle acted sensibly. Form a charity to bring that about if you wish - something like the IAM for cyclists.

It's been done.

Direct quote from a Motorcycle paramedic on his radio to base after attending a RTA where a motorist cut in front of a rider then braked hard. The rider rattled off that and at least one other vehicle ending up in a heap on the floor.

'Cancel the helicopter, this guy was on a recumbent.'

Hitting feet first has advantages and with less distance for your head to fall before hitting the road you are safer.

Looks to me more like poor original equipment choice rather than a design problem.

gilesjuk wrote:Looks to me more like poor original equipment choice rather than a design problem.

Call it that if you like, but these people have bought production drop bar tourers and found the brakes to be a problem.

Assuming the brakes to have been designed properly, how can a bicycle be made easier to ride in the first place?
I mean, all those falls involved in learning to ride can surely be reduced. Yes I know kids tend to bounce because they're small and close to the ground . But what about adults learning to ride, who might be put off by a fall .

Punk_shore wrote:But what about adults learning to ride, who might be put off by a fall .

How about padding? On the person, not the bike.

There shouldn't be any adults who can't already ride!

Teaching adults (with learning difficulties) to ride is a fairly straightforward progression:-
1) scooter
2) bike with pedals removed, and saddle low, scoot along with the feet
3) same bike setup, on grass, gently downhill
4) add pedals and off you go

Adults without learning difficulties could probably start at "2"

With 2 wheels, you are always going to have to learn to balance the thing.....you can "design that out" by adding another wheel.....

531colin wrote:With 2 wheels, you are always going to have to learn to balance the thing.....you can "design that out" by adding another wheel.....

Yes, but then "balancing" (or at least not over-balancing) at any speed becomes a challenge

... unless of course you get the CoG down by using a recumbent design.