Cycle Confident

Tag: Cycling

  • A nifty new app for puncture roadside rescue

    Imagine you are a cyclist with a puncture. You don’t have a spare inner tube or you can’t fix the puncture yourself. You don’t know where you can find a bike shop – maybe they are all closed at the time –  and you are going to be late for an appointment… Wouldn’t it be…

  • 7 cycling myths debunked

    Roads were built for cars This one’s reasonably easy to dispose of when you consider that many of our roads were first built in Roman times. A comprehensive rebuttal exists in the form of Roads Were Not Built For Cars, an exhaustively researched book which uncovers the extent to which cyclists were, in fact, instrumental…

  • 5 great bicycle-themed films

    Cycling doesn’t perhaps lend itself to the silver screen in quite the same way as other sports. It doesn’t yet have it’s ‘Raging Bull’, or even it’s ‘Escape to Victory’. Nevertheless there are several great movies which feature the bicycle at their heart. Add your own favourites below. The Bicycle Thieves Vittorio De Sica’s masterpiece…

  • E-bikes: who said it’s cheating?

    For the first time this year, riders taking part in the Tour De France will have their bicycles scanned for concealed electric motors. Rumours of so-called “mechanical doping” have swirled around the sport for years (for the full history, see this article), and were made real with the discovery, in January, of just such a…

  • Cycling and the law: the what, where, when and how

    Can a child ride on the pavement? Do I have to use cycle lanes where they’re available? And what on earth is meant by “cycling furiously”? The law around cycling in the UK is not particularly well understood by the general public, cyclists and non-cyclists alike, and a number of popular misconceptions still endure. Here’s…

  • Get on your bike and ride social

    Riding a bike is a great way to get around, it will improve your fitness, and can help your wallet too. It can also do wonders for your social life. Here are some great mass participation events with something for all types of cyclist. Charity Rides There are lots of charity bike rides to choose…

  • The best options for carrying stuff on your bike

    When it comes to transporting gear on your bike, your first choice is whether to attach the stuff to you, or to your bicycle.     Attaching stuff to yourself Backpacks are ideal for carrying the typical commuter load (laptop, tools, waterproof, lunch). If it is for use on a regular commute you should look…

  • Summer cycling – taking the heat

    Blink and you might miss it. The British summer doesn’t exactly overstay it’s welcome most years, so make the most of it while you can and enjoy whatever sun-soaked cycling is to be had. It’s easy to think that summer should be the simplest time of the year to cycle around the city – just…

  • Five cracking bike-themed reads

    The bicycle, and the possibilities it creates, have inspired lots of great writing. We don’t claim these to be the best ever books about cycling (we’ll leave that debate to the comments), but they are a great way to start filling a shelf of your own that’s dedicated to all things two-wheeled. Cyclogeography by Jon…

  • A guide to buying kids’ bikes

    With so many kids’ bikes now on the market, it can be tough for parents to make the right choice. It’s an important decision because an unsuitable bike will make riding frustrating, uncomfortable and just not fun, and that risks putting them off altogether. Here are a few pointers to make sure they get the…