4ucycling

Do you think that cycling to work sounds like extra effort, time consuming, dangerous or just plain crazy? Think again! Cycling to work is rewarding in many ways. It's easy to feel nervous and unsure before you get into bike commuting, but by actually taking action and getting on your bike you may find that bike commuting becomes one of the happiest parts of your busy day. To find out how you can benefit by riding to work, let's take a closer look at what you will gain: 1. Save time: You save yourself substantial time if you live in an urban area and work in a city centre. On a bike you pass the traffic instead of sitting in it getting bored, stressed and fed up. You can arrive at your desk, or back home earlier than you would by car. You also save time because you'll have done your fitness for the day. By riding to work you have no excuses to ride back home again, so you get your exercise done for the day and can then enjoy more family time or relax in the even...

So, the last time I hopped on my bike and decided to have a lovely bike to work experience, the adventure was over soon - before it had a chance to actually develop into something long term. It lasted a day. And a sweaty day, full of cycling disappointment it was. Almost three years later I was ready to give it another shot. I was quite happy with my car and congestion adventure until this May and yet another inhuman increase in gas prices. The fact that my colleague from work kept babbling on about all the wonderful benefits of cycling in combination with flashing her lovely cycling legs, just made me more determined to try again. I can do it, damn it! I too, with as little effort as cycling for 20 kilometers to and from work every single day, can have legs like that! Well, needless to say, my adventure began not like any adventure in any of the movies that Hollywood is able to produce. My once lovely little city bike became almost unusable after withering away for almost three ye...

Every year about 300 people are killed on UK roads as a result of a driver falling asleep at the wheel. Driver tiredness accounts for one in five fatal crashes occurring on motorways and other major roads in the UK. Tired driver crashes are three times more likely to result in serious injury or death than other road accidents, because drowsy drivers do not brake or take other avoidance action. These accidents tend to occur most frequently at night, peaking between 2-6am and also in the mid-afternoon, roughly between 3-5 pm. Men, particularly those aged 18-24, are most likely to be involved in these accidents. But statistics also show that some occupations are at particularly high risk: Truck drivers Company car drivers Shift workers, particularly on the first night after a shift Skilled manual workers (e.g. bricklayers, carpenters, electricians) Microsleeps If you are very tired but continue to resist the urge to sleep, you will soon start to experience 'microsleeps...

The bike-share industry is exploding and for good reason. Bicycles are essential to solving a persistent, everyday problem, traffic. My – call it bold – prediction is that bike-share companies will eventually become bigger than car-based services such as Uber. This, however, depends highly on getting the regulatory framework for bike-share systems right. Bicycles will win because in the trafficless future of liveable, sustainable cities only a few will afford or want to drive a car every day. Infrastructure will favor the majority, cyclists, and self-driving cars will make streets safer for biking. Bicycles will win, and bike-shares will play a key role as they allow for better modal integration, especially for the rail and bike combination. The venture capital world has finally woken up to the potential of bike-sharing. So far Ofo and Mobike have each raised upwards of $500 million. The remaining 30+ bike-share startups, including the one I’m co-founder of, Donkey Republic, have a...

Smaller Batteries While firms such as Bosch and Shimano are always looking to improve and refine their drive systems, this year’s important e-bike technical developments are more likely to be associated with power sources. Battery size and efficiency is something that’s an important topic for a vast range of modern products — from mobile phones to electric cars — and with the digital consumer hugely reliant on electrical power on the go, battery manufacturers are constantly searching to make theirs smaller, lighter, and hold a bigger charge for longer. In the case of e-bikes that is particularly important because the battery is the main thing that makes pedal-assist models bulky, heavy and obviously different from ‘normal’ bikes. The battery’s ability to hold a charge is also key to an e-bike’s range — effectively regulating how far you can go on your e-bike before it runs out of power. However, one increasingly popular idea is that manufacturers will start shying away from routi...

Don't skimp on the cost of buying locks - they're often the only thing stopping your valuable bike from being stolen! There are a wide range of locks available and, generally speaking, you should be looking to spend at least £20 on a lock. Ask your local cycle retailer about Silver or Gold standard locks. These offer the best protection. The police also recommend you use two different types of locks to secure your bike if possible, such as a cable lock and a D-lock, as thieves are rarely equipped to break into both. Security A good bike, if well maintained and well secured, will last for several years. Don't let yours get stolen! Local cycle shops can offer advice on how to protect your bike against theft, and recommend the right lock for your bike, but here are a few handy hints: Get your bike security marked if you can. See the Safer York Partnership website for more information on this. Invest in a good quality lock such as a D-Lock, extension cable or heavy ch...

Get the right bike for you If you are new to cycling, you will probably want to start with a bike that is fairly stable and easy to ride. Mountain bikes are great for beginners because they have fairly wide wheels and a good range of gears. Racers or road bikes have much thinner wheels and are built for speed. You will need to keep a careful eye on the road or path ahead. Potholes or large cracks in the surface of the road are more likely to knock you off a racer bike than a sturdy mountain bike. Many people find hybrids or commuter bikes a good compromise between speed and stability. Frames come in many different sizes and you should try and get one appropriate for you. Your seat should be high enough so your legs can completely straighten. This helps with your pedalling efficiency. Make sure you can be seen Black is definitely not the best colour to wear when you are riding, as it makes you the same colour as the road. You are at increased risk of being hit by a car if the drive...

Vintage bikes, especially steel racing and track bikes, have always had their fans and collectors. In the 2000's, a new generation of riders have also taken interest in owning, collecting and in the best case, riding these beautiful machines as an everyday commute or in events like L´Eroica or Tweed Rides. If you consider buying a vintage racer for yourself, make sure you are spending your money on the right one. What makes a vintage racer valuable? Some collectors favour nothing but handcrafted bikes that were manufactured only by the dozens to low hundreds. Bikes made by the master builders like Ugo De Rosa, Faliero Masi and Ernesto Colnago are some of the most sought after in the world. These bikes will probably retain their resale value the best in the long run. Other icons like Cinelli, Colnago, Pinarello, Peugeot and Gios are very desirable brands among buyers, even though some or all of their models were mass-manufactured in great numbers. Complete bikes usually cost mor...

Finding a bike to take on your daily commute is not that hard, if you keep in mind some basic things. Here you will find five tips that will help you choose your first commuter bike. So, if your last bike ride was twenty years ago and you're trying to figure out how to approach the unfamiliar world of using valuable commuting time to keep yourself in better shape, look no further. 1. Ride Length Matters Knowing the length of your commute could make all the difference in your wallet and your ride comfort. Every three miles or so, the general requirements and goal of your commute will change based on what the length of your ride does to your body and what your bike should be designed to handle. Be aware of cycling conditions in your city and try to accurately gauge how much you’ll be riding throughout the week. If you find yourself riding less than three miles per day, any bike will fit your needs. At six miles your ride comfort will decline without paying special attention to yo...