We make it 1968 hours (and counting) before the clocks go forward. Sunday 27 March might seem a way off, but we’re already dreaming of daylight at both ends of the cycle commute. To help you count down to BST, we’re giving away a stylish stem clock for your bicycle.
The clock attaches quickly and easily to the stem of almost any bike. All you need is an allen key (supplied with the clock) to release the existing stem, screw your clock in place and you’re done.
Win a bicycle stem clock
We have a stem clock to give away. Simply leave a message at the bottom of this page and we’ll pick a winner on 20 March in time to get it to the winner by the start of BST.
Health and environmental arguments for moving our clocks forward
The UK has already tried year-round BST – once during the war to maximise daylight working hours and again between 1968 and 1971. The most recent trial saw a marked reduction in road traffic deaths and injuries thanks to the lighter evenings, but was ended following pressure from the farming lobby and its objections to darker mornings in the north.
There are some who would go further still by adding a further hour in summer, bringing us into line with Spain, which sits on the same line of longitude. According to analysis carried out in 2010 having GMT+1 in winter and GMT+2 in summer would give Birmingham an extra 301 hours of post-work evening sunlight each year. Glasgow and Edinburgh would enjoy 175 additional hours. Critically, such a change would reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by approximately 2.2 per cent as people would need to use less electricity for lighting.
Moving clocks forward can’t guarantee sunshine, but it encourages healthy outdoor activity
It is also estimated there would be 100 fewer deaths and over 200 serious injuries on the roads each year and a resulting £200m saving by the NHS. Studies have also suggested that changing the clocks forward can have a detrimental effect on cardiovascular health.
It’s unclear if and when the habit of changing the clocks here in the UK will change. In March 2019, the European parliament voted to do away with the tradition of changing the clocks twice each year. They decided that all European countries would decide to remain permanently on winter time or summer time.
Those countries who opted for winter would therefore move their clocks back for the last time in October 2021, and those choosing summer would move their clocks forward for the last time in March 2021. However, the changes have been delayed as EU member states have asked for more time to decide on whether to remain in winter or summer time. Following Brexit, the UK will not be required to make any change although it’s hard to imagine us as the only country in western europe clinging on to what is widely thought of as an anachronistic practice.
The ethical choice
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance, breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.
jon tope
I love you.
jon tope
I love everything
Lynne Craig
id love one of those as I always need to know the time
Alastair Seagroatt
This looks a great fun way of not being able to pass the time?
David Wilson
Frankly my time keeping is dreadful but this might stem my lateness & have me running like clockwork!
Jason
Looks good
paul bamber
Coolio gizmo
Pail Mnich
A classic looking clock that would look good on a classic bike – like mine!
Guy
Looks super 🙂
Peter Norman
It’s a wheely great prize! 🙂
Brad Vaudin
This would be great. Would save me being late to school!!! 🙂
james sheppard
Is it time for me to win?!
Rod
What a great idea. I can’t believe I’ve not seen this before. Genuine question: would theft of this type of accessory be covered with my ETA cycle insurance?
Yannick Read
Hello Rod
Yes, it would as long as it was included in your insured value.
Colette Stein
This would be really useful for me to get to work on time..
John Reed (aka TheCyclist)
“Tie me clock down sport, tie me clock down. Tie me to the bike stem and tell me the time”. For alas, without a visible clock, TheCyclist is unable to tell the time. His skills at telling the time accurately from the sun have long diminished.
I can just hear this clock saying “Please, oh please, pretty please, fit me onto TheCyclist’s Roughstuff stem. 🙂
Bill Hughes
nice one!
Paul Mansell
Analogical timepiece for a steelie
Richard Newman
Cyclock watchers wanted.
Will
if time flies when you’re having fun and cycling is fun then would this enable my bike to fly?
John
Nice clock.
I love the clock.
Charlie
Be looking at time all the while instead of the road!
nigel clark
I’d love a stem clock so I can see how I’m late being stuck in all this traffic on my daily commute, said no cyclist EVER….
Hollie
What a great idea!
James Hunt
Great looking prize and safe as well
W Embliss
The clock would be really useful in my job as a cycle instructor
Nigel Andrews
Been meaning to get one of these for ages.
Oly
I love lamp.
John
Another great idea 🙂
Ian
Slow!
Claire
I hope it runs like clockwork!
Richard
Does it tick?
David McGinnes
Comment inserted as requested, randomly chosen winner here!!!
Josh
Into the time warp!
Karl Wallendszus
Good for timing my ride to work.
Soen
That’ll certainly put the hands back on your handlebars!
Anna
This would be a good present for my son.
Su
It’s about time I had one of these!
Tim
I’d never be late again!
Alex
I’d show that clock a good time!
Joel Halligan
All good ideas stem from a good, hard cycle ride.
David Carroll
Now I can track the tick-tock of time and keep the legs pumping to the finish.
Tess Green
This is a brilliant idea and I’d love one of these please!
Owain Williams
Time flies- at least downhill.
Alec
Looks great!
Carol
A timely piece 🙂
Steve
Second-hand?
Ali
This looks pretty neat
Barry J
Won’t be late for work.
Doug Milsom
Another great little idea. Saves me fiddling with my cycle computer to check the time.
Anna Hayball
Yes, please.
Stuart Smith
Yes!
karen Hooton
would love to give this to my son to make sure he gets his train to work each day.
Myles Gatherer
I Quartz wait to hear from you.
Mark B
Would be really handy for when gloves and sleeves cover up my watch.
Paul S
Analogue, so last year.
Adi
cool gadget 🙂
James Tinsley
Looks brilliant to see time without being distracted having to look at my arm 🙂
Andy L
I’m late, I’m late, I’m late. Arrgghhh….
Jan
What a great idea!
Tim Brown
Wonderful idea to have a clock on my bike.
Mary Fisher
You’ll pick a winner on 20th March? My birthday! I’ll be 76, how time flies …
M Nicolson
What time is it??? Hammer time
Kelly olivares
I need one of these, always late doing the school run.
Michael D
You can never have too many gadgets for your bike. You can also never have too many bikes.
andy
Comment
THomas Mc Elhinney
a quality time piece thats “second” to none.
David Smith
Very cool! I could see how late I am for work without having to take my eyes off the road!
Peter Chisnall
Great idea
James Russell
I needed that when I was on my morning “race for the train”. Nowadays, I guess I can use it to see if there is time for an extra loop before I get to work.
Darrel Hier
Time waits for no one, so enjoy your time riding your bike !
Jane Hanscomb
For my husband, to remind him that he promised not to spend too long on his bike as he is prone to grumpiness if he cycles for too long!
David Hunt
Very neat, although it be vying with other devices that also fit my stem – what to choose?
Philip
Simple but effective. What a great idea.
Ian
Great: My Garmin knows what time it is, but sadly doesn’t display it when riding. How securely fixed is this? Would I have to remove it when parking the bike in a public place to avoid theft?
Steve
The time of the bike is here.
Alan Jones
I love you more than the first guy
Peter Clark
Go on then
Alan Whalley
Great idea
Duncan Campbell
I’m loving this funky timepiece!
Elizabeth Smith
great idea, love to win this
Claire Kelly
Much better than a watch
Rick Gregory
YES please, I’d love it
david
I need one of these
lili
Want one
Bernie Kriegel
This and other articles in your newsletters are informative and certainly interesting. Keep them coming.
I like the clock in the stem.
What is the availability of being insured where I live, in Israel?
Thanks
martin kaye
Tick Tock, love the clock.
christina
Tip top tick tock idea
Annabel Edwards
cycle away with this clock.
Anthony Johnson
hands and wheels spin on tine
Dave C
Really useful. Would love one 🙂
Fiona McL
This might just get me to work on time…
Chris
No more missed trains!
Val
The clock will insure I never miss my ETA!
paul s
Let’s go and ride a bike
Peter Crook
its all about timing
Darren C
Would look very cool on a retro styled bike.
Will B
This would look super on my black Koga.
Pete Farmer
Ooooooh want.
George James
Shiny, shiny, shiny hands of metal
Whiplash girlchild in the park
Comes in bells, your timepiece, don’t forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Chris Johnson
Great idea …. when you’re cycling against the clock you are also cycling with the clock!
Mark P
No time like the present and no present like time.
Alex R
Looks great!
John S
yes please
Andy Wadsworth
Very cool.
Helen Allen
Tempus fugit
cee clarke
I am already a subscriber to your Newsletter and you already insure my bike, so other than Anglicising the above comment there is not much more to say as time flies.
Wayne Fox
Like this lots 🙂
Hurray for analogue…
Lynn Doe
Thank you for the chance 🙂
Stefan
I hope you send to Chile. Really nice clock
Melanie Talbot
I hope I’m not to late…
liam mc atamney
Great little clock, time to go now, bye
Ian
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Hope I’m the lucky bird!!
Brendon otoole
Omg I well need o e of these, this would help me to stop getting naged at from the wife going off for hours
Nigel
What a great idea! Looks good too.
Now, when is Fathers Day again?
george
Tried to buy one and never heard back.
Mick Foster
The real truth about it is sometimes I need to know what time to come home for tea, tea time.
George Brodie
What a great idea! I’d love to put one on my restoration project:)
Alfredo Calderón Vergara
Muy interesante m gusta mucho así podre tener controlado el tiempo