Archive | November, 2012

The Bicycle M Check

By on 16/11/2012 in Bicycle maintenance

The M Check answers two important questions: Is my bike safe to ride, or will a wheel come flying off, just as I start to pedal? Are there any areas of my bike that I should be looking at? It’s one of the most useful tools for anyone who wants to maintain a bike themselves [...]

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Learn to effortlessly maintain your bike in a weekend

By on 15/11/2012 in Bicycle maintenance

Some of the feedback I’ve been receiving from the first 50 people who tested the Bike Maintenance in a Weekend course has been amazing: “What I especially liked was the mechanic was very soft spoken, easy to understand, and did not talk down, as you see in many YouTube videos. I just wish I had [...]

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Have you ever had any of these thoughts while riding your bike?

By on 14/11/2012 in Bicycle maintenance

I’d be riding my bike and these thoughts would be running through my head: “I really need to adjust my brakes, I’m pulling them far back and its taking too long for my bike to come to a stop” “I’d love to replace my front tyre, I wonder whether it is too worn to ride [...]

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How to cut your bike shop visits in half

By on 13/11/2012 in Bicycle maintenance

Want to know the single most important thing you can do to cut your visits to the bike shop in half? Clean and oil your chain once every two to three weeks. It’s that simple and it will probably take you 5 minutes. Will most people do anything about this? Probably not. In fact, I [...]

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Union 34 Rucksack Pannier hybrid bag review

By on 08/11/2012 in Cycling accessories

A little while back we posted a picture on Facebook that caused a little bit of a stir. The picture was of the Union 34 bike bag. It got a lot of likes and I was looking forward to testing out this new, innovative product. Is it a backpack? Is it a pannier? Is it [...]

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Why cyclists should hope not cope

By on 07/11/2012 in Cycling in London

Last night I had the pleasure of hearing from Mark Ames of I Bike London fame at one of the Street Talks. His message was simple: Cyclists should no longer just cope, they should hope. It reflects a changing attitude amongst cycle campaigners in the past 12 months. The revolution in cycle campaigning The stereotypical [...]

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I'd rather be riding here

960 mile ride across Britain – registrations now open!

By on 06/11/2012 in Break out of London

If you are looking for a rather spectacular challenge for next year, then how about this? The Deloitte Ride Across Britain is perhaps the UK’s best known long distance cycling event. It covers 960 miles in 9 days and is open to 700 riders that are fully supported. Whether you ride for the scenery, for [...]

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What an RAF pilot can teach us about being safe on the road

By on 01/11/2012 in Safe cycling in London

“Sorry mate, I didn’t see you”. Is a catchphrase used by drivers up and down the country. Is this a driver being careless and dangerous or did the driver genuinely not see you? According to a report by John Sullivan of the RAF, the answer may have important repercussions for the way we train drivers [...]

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