News

Electric bicycles no longer ‘gadgets’

June 2, 2011

The distributors of electric bicycles are purposefully moving away from presenting their products as gadgets, according to Mark Loveridge at Ultra Motor. As e-bike distributors congregated at last month’s Tour de Presteigne festival in Wales, it was clear that as the industry moves towards the mainstream bicycle market a new approach to...

General News

Bicycle thieves busted through Twitter and Facebook

May 27, 2011

Twitter users are on a global quest to fight injustice; when they are not busy challenging questionable legal injunctions, an increasing number of media-savvy cyclists and police forces around the world are using social media to track down thieves. A cyclist in Boulder City, Nevada, this week used Twitter to track down her stolen bicycle...

General News

Cycle to Work scheme survives taxman’s meddling

May 27, 2011

Cycle to Work has survived the taxman’s decision last year that the scheme allowing employees to buy cheap bikes for commuting was too generous. Cycle to Work is a salary sacrifice scheme that was originally launched to allow tax payers a discount of up to 50% on a bike’s retail price. In everything but name the scheme is a generous hire...

Cycling

The organic bicycle that’s welcome on pavements everywhere

May 18, 2011

A group of walkers has developed a new type of organic bicycle that effectively side-steps all local regulations outlawing the use of bikes on pavements. The group behind the idea developed the so-called Human Bicycle as a way of bypassing regulations that forbid cycling within airports, but there is little reason why the concept cannot be...

General News

The full-size electric motorcycle that folds to fit in a lift

May 17, 2011

When engineers developed the gyroscopes, tilt sensors and high-speed microprocessors to allow the Segway to stay upright they had not considered the balancing act involved in getting the scooter approved from the Department for Transport, but luckily such legal hurdles have not stopped other designers from using the same technology to build...

General News

Riversimple hydrogen fuel cell car to be re-launched

May 16, 2011

A new and improved version of the Riversimple hydrogen fuel cell urban car will mark a radical evolution from the ground-breaking technology demonstrator the company unveiled in 2009. The new vehicle will share none of the components used in its predecessor, but will once again forsake a conventional engine in favour of a fuel cell stack, a...

General News

The rat bike revolution

May 13, 2011

For while a there has been a trend in America to ‘rat out’ cars – stripping them down to their bare essentials and encouraging them (through chemical treatment) to rust, giving them a distinct ‘unfinished’ look. Now it seems cyclists are jumping on the ‘rat-rod’ band wagon – ‘ratting’ out their bikes by stripping off the paint, and...

General News

Car club membership growing at 70 per cent

May 13, 2011

Research showing that 30 per cent of car club users put off buying a vehicle as a result of their car club membership, supports the estimate that each car of this kind can potentially replace more than 20 privately-owned vehicles. Transport charity Carplus found that car club membership is growing by an average of 70 per cent each year....

General News

Bicycle handlebars that double up as a lock

May 6, 2011

Student Jaryn Miller has designed a set of removable handlebars that separate into three pieces to become a lock. The Senza bike lock comprises a central section of handlebar, which always remains in place on the frame and two outer sections that can be removed and fixed together to offer a larger alternative to a standard D-Lock. According...

General News

No climate change cap on shipping for next 39 years

May 6, 2011

Much is heard about air freight, but the vast bulk of goods are not flown around the world but shipped, and despite the fact that emissions from transport have increased steadily since 1990, the European Commission continues to exclude shipping from the Emissions Trade System (ETS) and no change to this policy is expected before 2050. The...

General News