News

The sound is inherently friendly and it’s almost impossible to ring a bicycle bell in anger in the way that drivers use their car horns, so perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn of a bicycle speaker that records and plays any message to warn others of your presence. The £16, handlebar-mounted speaker announces “on your left” at...

According to the organisers of last week’s Bike to Church Day in America, “When Jesus physically walked the earth with us 2000 years ago, he led a simple life. He walked on foot, rode on a donkey, or took a boat. Sometimes he skipped the boat and walked on water. If Jesus was here with us today, how would he travel? Think about that a bit.”...

I braved the rain this week to take part in Skyride 2011 – London’s annual traffic-free cycling jamboree. It’s become a tradition for us to use the event as an excuse for fancy dress. The irony of my Jeremy Clarkson outfit (on one of the very few days of the year when even hardened cyclists might be tempted to take the car) was not lost on...

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy are inviting applications for a new award from organisations involved in delivering outstanding sustainable local travel schemes. Winners of the 2012 Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel will scoop £20,000 in prize money and help with the development and promotion of their sustainable local...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...