[ Go to other articles ]
What can I say? It’s great – do it more. I should also tell you to obey all the highway codes, stop at all red lights and that sort of thing, but I do not want to be hypocritical, so I won’t.
Mountain bikes are great off-road, but if you cycle mainly on the road they will make life more difficult for you. The knobbly tires and general design is not as efficient as a road bike, so will take more effort to move. I used to have a knackered old shopper a while ago and even that used to zip happily past mountain bikes when going downhill on smooth tarmac. It was not very good on muddy tracks, though, I have to admit.
There are a ridiculous number of electric bikes now available, some of which are really quite good. Do they work? Well, yes they do appear to: a good electric bike should be able to take a 90kg person for about 20 miles over moderately hilly roads. The idea of the electric bike is to make it easier to cycle when going up hill, and make it unnecessary on the flat most of the time. It is a good idea to assist the motor by pedalling all the time, as this will make the battery last longer, will get you fitter and make you travel faster. Some of the bikes on offer do not even look that silly. The advantages are that people with electric bikes tend to use them more than normal bikes as they get less puffed, get to work without being sweaty and have fewer accidents (those are the statistics). And all this whilst enjoying some exercise, getting fit and losing weight. Electric Bike Sales have a good buyer’s guide and Powered Bicycles have a good range of bikes for sale from just under £300.
Buying bikes secondhand is a good option: try the Market Place or any of the usual websites like Ebay.
LED lights are a good option and now the standard, but try using rechargeable batteries to power them. There are also some friction-free dynamo lights available, which apparently take no noticeable effort to power and come with a battery to give power when stationary. These cost around £15 to £25 for the full package and are available from Freelights and Reelight. Note that flashing lights are now legal on their own and do not need to be accompanied by a continuous light.
Insurance should cost around £40 per year, including third party liability cover, which is probably a good idea if you are anything like as dodgy on the road as me, and which can be bought from the ETA or Cycle Guard.We think you will probably get a 10% discount using our link to the ETA, but we're not entiely sure!
Once your bike is past the point when all but divine intervention will keep it going, there is little to do with it but recycle the metal bits. Taking it to the local recycling centre (civic amenity or tip) is about the only option, but you will need to take off all the rubber, plastic and such before hand. These bits will probably have to be binned, unless you know of someone locally who is looking for such tat.
The Cycle to Work Scheme is a tax incentive that encourages people to cycle to work (no surprises there, I hope). The general idea is that the company buys the bikes, claims back the VAT and gives them to their employees. In return, the budding cyclists have to promise to use them mainly for commuting to work (‘cross my heart hope to die’ apparently suffices). The company can reclaim the cost from the employee using a salary-sacrifice method, whereby a small amount is taken off each pay packet for a couple of years. This works out a cheap way for the employee to buy the bike, as they do not pay tax or stamps on its cost: a bit like pension payments. Bikes For All have more about this and Cycle2Job are an interesting option for you Londoners. This scheme is apparently open to electric bikes, so your company can have slightly fitter yet non-sweaty employees.
What to do
Get on your bike!
[ Back to top ]
Subcategory articles and related topics