News

The American artist Kevin Cyr, best-known for his bicycle ‘motorhome’, is to feature in the exhibition Power of Making opening at the V&A next week (6th September – 2nd January). Camper Bike, pictured right, is a sculptural piece built by Kevin Cyr in 2008. It was conceived as a standalone piece and the subject of a series of paintings....

For the automotive industry, the principle financial drivers are that the car be as expensive to buy as possible, as unreliable and high maintenance as possible, for the customer to keep it for as short a time as possible and that the car have as short a life thereafter. Furthermore, they have no direct interest in fuel consumption or...

Hollywood actors and environmentally-aware hen parties have extra cause to celebrate today with news that the Nissan Leaf is to be available as the world’s first all-electric stretched limousine. Many of the stars arriving at the Oscars now forgo a conventional stretched limo in favour of a hybrid vehicle, but not to be outdone by the...

The hand-knitted cycle rack ‘socks’ I snapped earlier this month encapsulate both the joy and frustration of cycling. I love that this colourful and practical way of protecting bike frames from getting scratched is left in place for the benefit of any passing cyclist, but it’s disappointing that the basic sheffield stand – like so much...

A new design of self-inflating bicycle tyre promises to do away with the need to ever carry a pump. The PumpTire design draws air through a valve into a thin tube, called a lumen, which runs around outside of the tyre. As the wheels turns, the air inside the lumen is forced into the tyre and inner tube. The rider can even alter the tyre...

The advent of LED technology has resulted in bicycle lights that are more compact, efficient and bright than ever before. Not only are lights more powerful – the latest crop of LED, Xenon strobe and high-intensity discharge (HID) bicycle lights are rated at over 2000 lumens, which is more powerful than a car headlamp – they are being used...

Bicycles are used to great effect by those in the developing world for many of the same reasons that make them so popular in London; they use no fuel, are cheap to repair and deal well with roads in a terrible state of repair. Doctors and nurses in Africa already use bicycles to reach patients in remote locations and the bicycle pumps they...

Cycling contributes an impressive £2.9bn a year towards the British economy, according to a report by the London School of Economics. Cycling statistics at a glance… Total cycles sold in Britain in 2010 3.7 million – 28% more than the number of cycles sold in 2009. Total number of people cycling Up by over 8 per cent to 13 million....

Pity the mayors of the world. They have to deal with serious problems like traffic regulation and still find time for self-promotion. The Mayor of Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, decided to kill two birds with one stone earlier this month when he used an armoured personnel carrier to crush an illegally-parked Mercedes. Publicity stunts aside,...

The Prince of Wales this week swapped his Aston Martin for an electric bicycle provided by Spencer Ivy at the launch of an ‘Eco-Rally’. In environmental terms, an electric bicycle represents a huge improvement over a sports car. However, Prince Charles’s Aston Martin DB5, which was a 21st birthday gift from the Queen and was used by Prince...