News

The fact that injury rates in countries where very few cyclists wear helmets are amongst the lowest in the world does not stop engineers developing ever more complex ways of protecting the head in a collision. Most designs are little more than polystyrene covered by a thin protective layer of plastic, but the latest offering uses Vaco12...

Cyclists can choose from a veritable arsenal of products designed to help them stand out in the urban jungle – from air horns to strobe lights – but such is the competition from traffic noise and visual clutter that it can be a battle to stand out from the crowd. It’s unlikely that flamethrower-equipped bicycles will ever be sold over the...

The parliamentary debate this week on improving conditions for cyclists raises a far wider question: Why do we put up death and injury on the roads at all? The number of people being killed on British roads may be falling, but other causes are going down quicker. In other words, road safety must be made a priority. Professor of Human...

A trailer increases dramatically the amount of cargo you can move by bicycle, but despite there being a wide range of different types – from designs that carry kids and shopping to those built for expeditions – they are seldom seen on British roads. One reason might be that it takes a certain amount of skill and confidence to tow a trailer...

According to the inventors of the Defender, a bicycle light designed to stay permanently locked to the handlebars, their target market is potentially huge; 1 in 3 city cyclists have had their lights stolen and 80 per cent frequently forget their lights at home. It takes 30 seconds to attach the light and once in place a special tool is...

More than 25,000 people have so far pledged their support for the Times’s Cities Fit for Cycling Campaign and a parliamentary debate has now taken place in Westminster Hall. The debate was well attended and among the suggestions made was a call by Transport Minister Norman Baker for every city to have its own cycling commissioner. The role...

A resourceful and imaginative group of cyclists from Oregon has taken the classic talk show format and shoehorned it into a cargo bike. The camera operator pedals as the presenter rides inside the cargo box, which doubles as a desk. Despite its relatively diminutive proportions, the 2.5m-long bike can carry all the equipment needed to film...

The environmental arguments surrounding the use of biofuel have reignited ahead of Government plans to increase the proportion of biofuels in petrol to 10 per cent. The move will increase prices at the pump, carbon emissions and the strain on people in developing world who are forced off land as biofuel crops compete with food crops...

Philippe Stark, a designer who has applied his talents to products as diverse as a lemon squeezer and the Virgin Galactic Spaceship, has turned his attention to the urban bicycle. Three hundred people from Bordeaux, a city in which ten per cent of trips are undertaken by bicycle, were asked what they most wanted from a town bike. The wish...

Cyclists with a thirst for adventure and a route that takes them away from sources of potable water can now buy a bottle that uses UV light to purify water in only 60 seconds. The CamelBak All Clear Microbiological UV Water Purifier will fit in a standard bicycle water bottle holder and can be used to turn river, well or tap water into a...