Cycle Issue October/November 2014

T H E

M A G A Z I N E

O F

C T C

THE

NATIONAL

CYCLING

CHARIT Y

O C T O B E R / N OV E M B E R 2 014 £3 O R F R E E TO C TC M E M B E R S This issue U S E R ’ S

PLUS

GUIDE

650B & 29ER HARDTAILS WHERE TO STAY ON TOUR LOCKS GROUPTEST RIDELONDON SURREY 100

TO BIK E LIGHT S 650B & 29ER HARDTAIL S RIDELONDON SURRE Y 100 SPORTIVE WHERE TO STAY ON TOUR LOCKS GROUP TEST

LIGHTING-UP TIME L AMPS, LUMENS, L AW AND MORE

E XPLORING CUBA O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 14

CTC.ORG.UK

what’s happening in the cycling world

n ews

This month: More local councillors back Space for Cycling; Northern Ireland's draft Bicycle Strategy; and infrastructure funding

stay in touch c yc l e c l i p s : CTC’s free weekly email newsletter – email your membership number to membership@ctc.org.uk CYCLE c a m pa i g n n e w s :

CTC’s monthly campaigns bulletin. Sign up at ctc.org.uk/subscribe-tocycle-campaign-news

Left: D Buckingham

Newcycling in Newcastle organised a family ride this summer to demonstrate public demand for Space for Cycling

Support grows for Space for Cycling

More and more local councillors are backing the national campaign for cycle-friendly road conditions. CTC's Robbie Gillett examines where and why over 10,000 people have taken part in the national Space for Cycling campaign, and around 500 councillors have backed its calls for high-quality cycle-friendly conditions. Cycle campaign groups across the country have been pivotal in enlisting local authority support.

In Newcastle, more than 60% of councillors have signed up to Space for Cycling, thanks in large part to the efforts of the city's campaign group, Newcycling. Committee member Katja Leyendecker explained: ‘Since we began in 2010, working with local councillors has been key for us. We had petitioned the council previously in 2013, as well as running councillor travel surveys, a councillor cycleabout, and cycle infrastructure safaris. We also proposed a cycle manifesto motion, which was adopted by the council in 2011.'

For the Space for Cycling campaign, Newcycling has again engaged with councillors – and encouraged its supporters

to do so, via its 800-person mailing list and its popular Twitter feed with 1800 followers.

As well as getting councillors to discuss cycling issues, Newcycling organised a ‘Quiz Your Candidate’ hustings at a recent ward by-election, ran a family-friendly bike ride in May, and published a ward-by-ward map of supportive councillors. The group is now looking to embed Space for Cycling campaign principles into the city’s transport policy.

Postcards from Leicester Meanwhile, the Leicester Cycle Campaign Group (LCCG) demonstrated the demand for Space for Cycling by getting supporters to fill in specially-created postcards. ‘They were delivered in batches to ward meetings or councillor surgeries,' said Steve Massey from LCCG. ‘It gave us useful face-to-face contact. We are pleased that the mayor and council are very supportive of cycling and

recently backed removing a lane of the central ring road to provide high quality infrastructure for cycling and walking. We feel people were spurred on by these gains to ask for more.'

CTC/Cyclenation Conference Space for Cycling (which is supported by generous funding from the Bike Hub levy, run by the Bicycle Association) is not just about enlisting the support of councillors. It’s also about providing a national framework for local campaigning, which is why it’s run in collaboration with Cyclenation, the federation of local cycle campaign groups. The annual CTC/Cyclenation Conference, hosted this year by the London Cycling Campaign, is a great opportunity to exchange campaign ideas. It's at Lambeth Town Hall on 22 November.

For details of this and other local campaigners' training events, see ctc.org. uk/local-cycle-campaigning

CTC . O R G . U K cyc l e 7

KIT REVIEWS

SUBMIT A REVIEW

GEAR UP

Components, kit, accessories and more, reviewed by specialist journalists, CTC staff – and you.

This issue: GPS unit, books, tyres, tools & more

RE VIEW OF THE MONTH

If you want to submit a review, write or email the editor – details on page 3 – for advice. Each one printed wins a Green Oil Eco Rider Deluxe set worth £34.99.

For more about Green Oil’s environmentally friendly bike products, visit green-oil.net

PROS + Easier learning curve + Outdoors-proof CONS - Operation in gloves

Cassell Illustrated

1001 BIKES

by Guy Kesteven £20

octopusbooks.co.uk

Garmin

OREGON 600 garmin.com

£369.99

IT SOUNDS simple: purchase a GPS unit, download a good route, and away you go. The reality for many is that GPS devices act as an indicator of location but anything else is impossible to fathom without hours of trawling through websites or phoning a techy friend. ‘If only Apple made Garmins’ my wife said. In the Oregon 600, it feels like they have.

The Oregon 600 (there’s also a 600t, 650 and 650t) is designed for a range of outdoor activities. Compared to my Edge 605, it’s more robust, having better waterproof seals. Another plus is that power can be supplied by AA batteries or a rechargeable NiMH battery pack, so on longer tours you don’t have to worry about finding an electric socket. It lasts 16 hours on two AAs. The major step forward is that it is far more intuitive. The 3-inch screen zooms

20 CYC LE OCTOBER/N OV EMBER 2 014

like an iPhone’s and the menu settings are touchscreen. I trialled it for a week of planned rides, downloading GPX files, and using the microSD card for Northern Europe from my existing Edge 605. The function I really liked was the back circular arrow on the screen that returns you to your original routing once you’d zoomed out on the touchscreen.

I did still have to phone a friend to help load the routes, but the learning hump for this model is far lower than any other GPS unit I have used or owned. I would thoroughly recommend it.

The price above is for the unit and 1:50k OS mapping for the whole of the UK on microSD card. It’s £50 cheaper with just Garmin’s Topo mapping for UK & Ireland. A bike mount for it costs £13.99.

Reviewed by CTC tour leader Neil Wheadon

THE FULL title of this 960-page doorstopper is ‘1001 bikes to dream of riding before you die’. Most significant bikes, from the Rover Safety to the Specialized Stumpjumper and beyond, are here. But so are some I wouldn’t dream of riding. There are odd editorial decisions: the Sinclair A-bike gets as much room as the Draisine and more than the Moulton F-frame; imperial measurements are prioritised, even though no one calls a 15mm axle a 3/5in axle; and not every bike gets a photo.

There’s a bias towards modern road and mountain bikes too. Despite this, I rarely disagreed with the writers. It’s an interesting compendium of bikes, at its best as a book to dip into (to look for your own bikes?).

Well suited to coffee tables or Christmas stockings. ISBN 978-1844037636 Reviewed by Dan Joyce

MY BIKE

Patrick Trainor’s Parabike With an interest in military vehicles and cycling, it was inevitable that journalist Patrick Trainor would acquire a BSA Airborne Bicycle

E

ver since I was a child listening to my father’s tales about driving army surplus wagons after the Second World War, I’ve had an interest in military vehicles. That’s about the same length of time I’ve been into bikes. After purchasing a 1943 Willys jeep a few years ago, I’ve wanted a period bike to go with it.

The most iconic WW2 bike available is the BSA Airborne Bicycle, more commonly known as a Parabike. After several failed attempts, I managed to find one in original and excellent condition from a guy in the jeep club in Hampshire this year.

Like most things military, these bikes were built out of necessity, and as a result are brutally simple but effective. They are full-size 26-inch wheeled bikes, designed to be folded so they could be strapped onto a paratrooper while he jumped from a plane, then assembled on the ground to provide a means of transport. The one-size-fits-

all 21in steel frame has wingnut-fastening hinge joints on the top and down tubes to allow the bike to fold in two. A more simplelooking wingnut on the top of the handlebar stem allows the one-piece bar and stem to turn sideways for folding as well. The pedals are just spindles on bearings that slide in and out, allowing them to push inwards when bike is folded to keep it flat.

Gearing is a 48-tooth BSA stamped cotterpin chainring with an 18-tooth singlespeed freewheel. BSA front and rear centrepull calliper brakes do a good job of stopping the bike, and the leather BSA saddle is more comfortable than it looks.

“It’s debatable if any were parachuted into combat, but land forces did use them”

Tech spec: BSA Airborne Bicycle FRAME & FORK: BSA 2nd pattern steel frame and fork with folding pivots on top and down tubes, tightened by wingnuts WHEELS: 26×1 3/8in steel, 32 spoke front, 40 spoke rear with singlespeed hub TRANSMISSION: BSA pattern cotterpin 48T chainset with singlespeed 18T freewheel and sliding peg pedals BRAKING: BSA centrepull calliper front and rear STEERING & SEATING: BSA leather saddle. One piece handlebar & stem with Bakelite grips and wingnut fastening on top of the stem to allow for easy folding. ACCESSORIES: Pump, saddle bag, light bracket on headset. Everest carrier for Bergen rucksack on handlebars available. Rifle holders were a unit modification depending on needs.

From 1942-1945, around 70,000 of the bikes were built. It’s debatable if any were actually parachuted into combat. Land forces did use them, especially commandos, and there are many pictures of British and Canadian forces coming ashore on D-Day carrying them.

I love riding this bike. The bolt upright riding position, coupled with the back sweeping handlebars, means I can’t be in a hurry to get anywhere on it. It goes okay when you eventually get the gear turning – thankfully it’s not fixed. Cornering is fun but climbing is difficult as you can’t get forward for leverage. I ride it most to the pub at my local WW2 airfield about a mile from home, where everyone has had a go on it. It’s been to a few shows on the jeep and proves a great talking point.

The bike’s longest and best outing was this year’s L’Eroica Britannia event in Derbyshire, which was for pre-1987 bikes.

I rode the 30-mile route in full WW2 British military uniform, the result of a bet (I won).

The bike performed perfectly. I did have to walk some of the hills but it was an amazing event and everyone loved the bike. I was impressed that so many people knew what kind of bike it was and how many people came to talk about it. Those of a certain age had them as kids, when they could be bought for £5 new from surplus yards. They said they wished that were still the case.

SHARE YOUR STORY: If you’ve got an interesting bike that’s been chosen or customised to suit you, get in touch. Email editor@ctc.org.uk 30 CYC LE OCTOBER/N OV EMBER 2 014

CTC & M E

You Can Bike Too In just two years, this inclusive cycling centre transformed access to cycling in Cambridge. Dan Joyce spoke to two of the team: Ruth Brannan and Angela Sanford

C

ambridge is a cycling city. Around 30% of its population regularly cycles, more than anywhere else in the UK. But there were people who weren’t catered for. One of them was Aaron. ‘You Can Bike Too got started because of Aaron,’ Angela says.

‘Aaron’s mum and brother are amazing cyclists,’ Ruth adds, ‘so he wanted to cycle too. But there was nowhere locally to cycle safely away from the roads, and no bikes that he would be able to use. So Aaron and I went to London to visit a project called Pedal Power, based in Finsbury Park. We saw the most amazing bikes, and Aaron was able to cycle for the first time. On the train home, he got very excited about the thought of something similar in Cambridge.’

After consultation with the city council, Aaron, Angela, and four other friends with learning difficulties formed a project team.

‘They planned what they wanted and we did some scoping,’ Ruth says. ‘We went to London to visit another project. Then we did some presentations to professionals.’

‘We met at Milton Country Park,’ Angela says. This is a 95-acre park on the outskirts of Cambridge, with two miles of tracks that are cycle and wheelchair accessible. It’s where the majority of You Can Bike Too’s activities take place, and where its 20 or so special bikes reside. Every Sunday and every other Tuesday, visitors can pay £5 to try all of the bikes in an hour’s taster session, or to hire just one for an hour; Angela takes the money. You Can Bike Too runs events too.

‘On the Big Day Out on 6th July, we had 432 people on our bikes,’ Ruth says. ‘That was in Cambridge city centre the day before stage three of the Tour de France.’

You Can Bike Too is a community project with a host of volunteers but it still needs funding to put on events, as well as to buy and maintain the bikes and make them

available for use. The project’s success is down to being proactive about getting that funding. You Can Bike Too recently received £10,000 from Children in Need to develop cycling sessions for youngsters, while 106 volunteers raised another £10,000 at the Cambridge Beer Festival.

Ruth tells me that they’ve been in the local paper nine times since April. ‘We went to Cambridge Radio,’ Angela adds. ‘And we’ve won an award. It’s a bit hush-hush.’

“Aaron’s mum and brother are amazing cyclists, but there was nowhere local for him to cycle safely, and no bikes for him to use”

This latest trophy turns out to be a Points of Light Award for Angela, given by the Prime Minister to ‘outstanding individuals who are making a change in their community and inspiring others’. Angela received it on 25 August, after our interview.

‘People are amazed at how much fun they have cycling,’ Ruth says. ‘Responses vary from “I never knew this was something that I could do” to a man with MS who hadn’t been able to cycle for 10 years, who said “I feel like I’m alive again.” We even had a 92-year-old who had never cycled.’

To anyone who thinks they couldn’t cycle, Angela has a simple rebuttal. ‘I’d say “You could do it. You could get some help and try a bike at Milton Country Park.”’

You Can Bike Too (youcanbiketoo.org) is one of over 40 CTC-affiliated Inclusive Cycle Centres that are part of the CTC Inclusive Cycle Network, set up in partnership with Cycling Projects, and funded through the BIG Lottery Fund.

See ctc.org.uk/inclusive

Angela on her own bike. Her favourite on site is a handbike

Ruth (with megaphone) at the official opening of You Can Bike Too

SHARE YOUR STORY: If you know – or are – someone with a CTC-related story to tell, email editor@ctc.org.uk 32 CYC LE OCTOBER/N OV EMBER 2 014

where: London and Surrey START/finish: Olympic Park, Stratford/The Mall, London DISTANCE: 100 miles (shortened to 86 miles) PICTURES: Alamy and CTC

R ide L ondon S urrey 1 0 0 | GR E A T RID E S

Gre at r ide s

Taking London by storm Expecting August sunshine, CTC’s Matt Mallinder joined 21,000 fellow cyclists to ride the Prudential RideLondon Surrey 100 sportive

Above left: Malcolm Park Editorial/Alamy. Below left: Ian Bottle/Alamy

E

pic is a word that tabloids and MAMILs love, and one I wouldn’t normally use to describe a leisurely sportive. We weren’t breaking new trails in the Urals. This was cycling at its most pampered: closed roads, marshals, and refreshment stops. We were chaperoned past London landmarks and through the quaint lanes of the Surrey Hills before returning to finish outside Buckingham Palace. Yet it was epic – because of Hurricane Bertha.

Now in its second year, the RideLondon weekend celebrates cycling and cycle sport.

There’s a range of events. The FreeCycle ride on the Saturday sees Central London closed to motor traffic from Green Park to Tower Hill. Sixty thousand cyclists become kings of the road. On the Saturday evening, there’s the London Grand Prix criterium for Europe’s best female professionals. On the Sunday afternoon, it’s the men’s elite road race: the Surrey Classic.

The RideLondon Surrey 100 sportive, meanwhile, takes place on the Sunday morning. Wannabe racers logging their rides on Strava can compare themselves to the pros in the afternoon. But it’s not all MAMILs and carbon bling. Like the London Marathon, organised by the same people, it allows ordinary cyclists like you and me to set a personal or fundraising challenge.

Downpours and punctures After Saturday’s FreeCyclers enjoyed record temperatures, I awoke to pre-dawn drizzle on Sunday. My scheduled start was 6:40am.

By 6am, drizzle had become a monsoon.

Fellow Team CTC riders were unidentifiable beneath rain capes and emergency gilets made from bin bags. Somewhere out there in the curtains of water were CTC’s CEO Paul Tuohy and Chair David Cox, along with 50 other CTC riders.

On the start line, the annoyingly cheerful announcer (no doubt dry in some Portakabin) let us know that the scheduled 100 mile route had been cut to 86 miles.

Leith Hill and Box Hill had been removed for our safety. Whilst initially disappointing, the prospect of an hour’s less riding in the rain became a source of succour as I forded streams and flooded roads later on.

The hooter sounded. Our starting group rolled out on time during a brief respite in the rain. The dual carriageway of the A12 whizzed us towards Canary Wharf and under the Blackwall Tunnel.

The rifle-shot sound of punctures began early: victims lined the route, frantically pumping up spare tubes. Later, I passed one guy with puncture repair kit in hand, vainly applying glue while the rain came down in stair rods. I felt sorry for him – but not sorry enough to give him my spare innertubes.

Thinking in the rain The route flowed well on fast roads. Soon the Tower of London came into sight. Riders whistled past: faster cyclists with later start times. I settled in, riding at my own pace.

The first 20 miles – via Trafalgar Square, past Harrods and out towards the Fuller’s

CTC volunteers All for one, one for all CTC cyclists worked hard to assist and encourage more people to take up cycling during RideLondon.

Not only did Team CTC ride the Surrey 100 on the Sunday, 100 CTC volunteers braved the weather to marshal the route and man food stops. £12,500 was raised by Team CTC for CTC. As part of the FreeCycle event, CTC was the official Dr Bike provider, manning five maintenance stations along the route. Over 150 CTC volunteers fixed a record 2,000 bikes.

CTC’s Big Lottery All Inclusive cycling project welcomed hundreds of able and disabled cyclists to try out modified cycles – hand cranked, side-by-side tandems and recumbents in a special try-out area in Green Park.

Many thanks to everyone who helped. To donate, ride, or to get involved next, visit ctc.org.uk/ RideLondon.

CTC. O R G . U K cyc l e 3 5

LIGHTING UP TIME AUTUMN: TIME TO PLUG IN THOSE RECHARGEABLES OR CHECK OUT YOUR DYNAMO SETUP. CHRIS JUDEN PRESENTS A GUIDE TO LIGHTING AND THE L AW

I

t’s that time of year again – and a long time since 2002, when Cycle last tackled this subject in its entirety. A lot has changed in 12 years. Flashing lights are now legal on bikes, LEDs are now the only source of light worth having, rechargeable the only sensible type of battery, and the only place for a ‘dynamo’ is in the hub. But we are still waiting for the Department for Transport to accept that most lamps don’t conform to any recognised standard.

Headlamps To find your way on an unlit road, you don’t just need to navigate the potholes, you also want to see far ahead to anticipate corners.

40 CYC LE OCTOBER/SEPTEMBER 2 014

That calls for a very bright central spot, tapering off to the sides and downwards so that nearer objects are not distractingly bright. The traditional way to do this is with a mirror to gather and focus the light emitted in all directions by a bulb filament and send it straight ahead, through a lens that lets some central light continue directly forward whilst diverting varying proportions of the surrounding beam in other directions. Light that misses the mirror then comes out the front at random, providing conspicuity (‘be seen by’ light) rather than illumination.

But now we have an LED and that’s different. Light only comes out the front of an LED, so the lens must do both the

focusing and light distribution. An LED, being bigger than the filament of a bulb, cannot be focused as precisely. Soft focus isn’t all bad: it smoothes out the stripy effects we used to get with some halogen bike lamps. And in spite of the optical difficulties, some torchlike (LED pointing forward) bike headlamps achieve a bright enough central spot without over-illumination of the near field. Designers of this kind of lamp, however, have a difficult task to reduce the amount of light scattered above that central spot.

Any headlight bright enough to see where you’re going will always scatter enough light off the front of its lens to be seen by.

Any more upward light is a waste of energy (unless you’re off-road and need to see that low branch), and too much dazzles other road users. The idea of a bike lamp dazzling other road users would have been laughable ten years ago, but now it’s happening and opposition to over-bright bike lights is growing.

The internationally accepted limit is 200 candela above the horizontal. And many of the (best?) rechargeable battery bike lamps on the market would have to be aimed at the

L I G H T I N G | F E AT U R E

ground only a few metres in front of the bike in order not to exceed it. Read more on this at ctc.org.uk/dazzle. For an explanation of Watts, Lumens, Candles, and Lux, meanwhile, see ctc.org.uk/WattCandle.

Dynamos do it with mirrors State-of-the-art dynamo headlamps put as much as 8000 candela (advertised as 80 lux) in the beam centre. To cut that to less than 200cd at only 3½º above, when the source of light is an LED, is a considerable optical challenge. The way it’s done is to point the LED backwards, so no ray of light comes out the front without first being re-directed by a computer-designed mirror. It’s the same for high-tech car headlamps, so no surprise that this technology is employed by firms like Busch & Müller, who make those too.

LED mirror headlamps were initially just for dynamos, but since Germany relaxed its dynamos-only rule, you no longer need a dynamo in order to have a really bright front light that doesn’t dazzle other road users.

There are also a few German-approved (with a K~number) headlamps with a forward-facing

(In the photo) In well lit areas, lights offer conspicuity more than illumination (Photo by Alamy.com)

CTC. O R G . U K CYC L E 41

The Savoy in London welcomes cyclists – not just those on folders

W H E R E TO S TAY O N TO U R | F E AT U R E

BED, BIKE & BREAKFAST As CTC’s revamped Cyclists Welcome website shows, there are more bike-friendly ways than ever to overnight in Britain. Rob Ainsley, who’s spending 234 nights away during 2014, looks at some options ycle touring reminds us of how basic and timeless our human needs are: just food, drink, and shelter for the night.

And free wi-fi. Plus sockets to recharge the phone, laptop, e-reader, and GPS… Joking apart, while the most important thing about touring is the time spent on the bike, and the accommodation only the wrapping, it still affects the enjoyment of the contents.

For instance, an otherwise lovely Wales trip was overshadowed by a shudderingly awful guesthouse, where the extensive pattern of white flecks in the carpet proved on examination to be toenail clippings. On the other hand, a miserable day in the North York Moors was turned into a delightful experience by a welcoming B&B whose owners helped me clean and lube my bike, laundered my sodden clothes, and told me laugh-out-loud village tales over unlimited tea and cake.

Travelodge rooms can be booked for as little as £19 a night

An informal online poll of CTC members for this article suggested that on tour, most of us camp around half the time. (Partly because it’s cheap, but also for flexibility and freedom.) The other nights are spent in hostels; occasionally, inexpensive hotels or B&Bs; and – increasingly – that online phenomenon of couchsurfing.

Where you lay your head While cycle-camping remains much the same as ever, the business of getting a roof for the night has been transformed by the internet, and cycling accommodation options are more varied than when I gleefully discovered bike touring in 1979. (The first night was in Selby Youth Hostel: long since closed, but then a narrowboat. It set the pattern for quirkiness that has characterised my subsequent adventures.

The weather set the subsequent pattern too. It didn’t rain – it poured.)

Then, it seemed the only affordable weatherproof beds were in Youth Hostels.

We booked them by sending a postal order, arriving by car was an act of sedition, alcohol was banned, and we had to sweep the kitchen before being released. Now, we book with an app, the car park is full, own-brand bedding is supplied, and they’ll flog us a bottle of YHArebadged wine with dinner. And they’re almost free from youths – at least, the remote rural hostels that haven’t been auctioned off are.

Some of these far-flung YHs are a destination in themselves, such as Glen Affric in the Highlands, a rough but cyclable eight miles from the nearest tarmac. There’s no bike shed here, but the warden smiled when I locked up my tourer: opportunist theft by sheep, she reassured me, is not a problem.

Camping barns & hostels For a simple shelter in remote locations, camping barns have proliferated. You usually need your own bedding, and there’ll be little more than a dorm mattress and basic kitchen, but they’re handy spontaneous alternatives to tents in bad weather. I came across some in Scotland this summer that seem part of a new pattern: bunkhouse plus B&B rooms on the same site, offering a range of basic to midmarket beds, with fireside food and drink (and wi-fi) in the attached pub.

Youth Hostels (187 of them in England and Wales, plus 26 camping barns) have had to change in response to the 200-odd independent hostels (some former YHs) that now dot the country. Many independents are town-centre, backpackerish places that are better for free wi-fi, but not as good for drying rooms. But they vary in character enormously, and if they’re bike-friendly, they’re often worth building a tour around.

One such independent is Wayfarers, in Penrith. It sits on the C2C and End to End, and was created ‘very much with cyclists in mind’, says Mark Rhodes, who runs it. Through the summer, about two-thirds of their guests arrive by bike, and can enjoy outstanding facilities, as I did: large indoor, secure storage space; a workstand and tools for free use; washing facilities; and a drying room ‘for those odd occasions it rains in Cumbria!’ laughs Mark. ‘As a cyclist, these are things I use regularly and know what a difference it makes to start the day in dry clothes and to sort niggling gears!’

A big advantage hostels have is their capacity for groups. The last few years have seen a rise in charity teams doing routes

CTC. O R G . U K CYC L E 5 3

Photos by Rob Ainsley, unless noted

C

MEET THE EXPERTS

EXPERT ADVICE

Q&A Your technical, legal and health questions answered.

This issue: the legality of bulls in fields; fitting a new freehub; cycling when obese; why bottom brackets are better with holes; folding tyres; and pump modifications

CHRIS JUDEN CTC Technical Officer and qualified engineer

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

DR MAT T BROOKS Cycling GP

PAUL KITSON Partner from Slater & Gordon (UK) LLP

The Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 prohibits bulls being kept on land where there's a right of way. Exemptions exist…

LEGAL

ANIMAL DANGERS

Above right: iStockphoto.com

Q

On the Trans-Pennine Trial, I was faced with a bull and a group of heifers grazing on the narrow strip of land on a raised riverbank. Not wanting to risk their passivity or jump in river, I retreated and trespassed on an alternative route. What is the law on land ownership, rights of way, riverbanks, NCN routes and large farm animals?

What are the rights and duties of the land owner, farmer and the required grounds of negligence for personal injury or damage to cycles?

NAME & ADDRESS SUPPLIED

A

Like walkers, cyclists often encounter animals when exploring the countryside. The legal duty imposed upon owners of animals is

60 CYC LE OCTOBER/N OV EMBER 2 014

contained within the Animals Act 1971.

This is a difficult and poorly drafted piece of legislation. Where the animal is a ‘dangerous species' (i.e. a species that is not commonly domesticated in the UK and whose fully grown adults can cause severe damage), the keeper of the animal is liable for the damage.

Where the animal does not belong to a dangerous species – cattle would be classed as non-dangerous – the legislation essentially imposes strict liability on the owner of an animal only if the likelihood of damage was due to the characteristics of the animal, and that these were known to the person who had charge of the animal.

An illustration of the law in practice is the case of McKaskie v Cameron, which was heard in the Preston County Court in July 2009. In that case, the farmer had known that a public footpath crossed one of his fields containing cows with calves and that this was used by walkers. He was also aware: that if the cows attacked

people on the footpath, then they could suffer serious injury; and that his cows would act aggressively if they became stressed. The farmer unfortunately failed to prevent or reduce the risk of injury to walkers by moving the cattle to another field or fencing off the footpath.

The trial judge found for the claimant, notwithstanding the fact that the claimant had deviated from the exact route of the footpath and taken a short-cut across a field, where she was trampled by the cows.

The judge held that the farmer was in breach of his duty of care to the claimant under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957. It was held that a protective cow/calf bond existed, giving rise to a propensity for cows to protect their calves, and it would therefore be unwise to put any cows with calves in a field crossed by a right of way unless certain precautions were taken.

This case was not argued under the Animals Act, but if it had been, liability would, in my opinion, have been established.

The Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 places a prohibition on keeping bulls on land crossed by public rights of way, which is punishable on a summary

Fitting a new freehub body to an older hub may also require a new axle assembly

conviction with a fine. However, this prohibition does not apply to bulls under ten months old or those which are recognised dairy breeds, when they are accompanied by cows or heifers.

Recognised dairy breeds are Ayrshire, British Friesian, British Holstein, Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey, Jersey and Kerry.

If any animal, known to be dangerous by the keeper, causes injury to a member of the public using a public right of way, including cycle routes, then they can be sued by the injured party for their injuries and financial losses.

Paul Kitson Technical

FREEHUB BODY REMOVAL

Q

The freewheel body of my Deore LX 8-speed freehub (FH-M580) is coming to the end of its life. I do not want to buy a new rear wheel as the present one has just had a new rim put on it. I can find only two possible replacements for this freehub online, none of which have ‘M580’ or anything closer than ‘M510525’ as part of their designation. Will any of these freehubs fit this hub?

Mike Griffiths

A

Some speak of a Shimano freehub body interchangeability chart, found somewhere on t’internet, but as none can give a live link – or even a deceased one – and having never seen such a thing myself, I reckon it’s with Bigfoot!

There is some good news. Provided the hub isn’t very old or weird (exotic designs in the name of Dura-Ace and Saint, plus anything with a silent clutch or alloy outer body), any usual replacement body will go with any usual hub. You can even convert from 7-speed to 8/9/10-speed – provided you fit a longer axle. Problems arise with the many different shapes of right side cone.

I don’t think anyone (except Shimano’s gnome of freehub knowledge) can say how many or which hubs are the same as one another in this respect. But if the cone and in particular its seal are

different, your old cone will either not even go near the new body, or will fit but without its seal, so dirt and water will flood through the gap and quickly destroy the bearing – including the cup surface in your brand new body!

So for safety, you need also to buy the spare axle and cone(s) assembly corresponding with your new freehub body. You need only the right-side cone, its seal and perhaps the locknut, but they are not sold separately (or not nowadays in the UK, where it’s a small wonder that replacement bodies can even be had!).

If you don’t need the bike in a hurry, buy just a body, one that’s as close as you can find in type, model year and level, to your hub – and hope for the best. But before you buy that M510-525 body, check that you can if necessary buy a corresponding axle assembly. And check that your cones aren’t worn-out too.

Chris Juden Health

OVERWEIGHT CYCLIST

Q

Does being obese (e.g. a BMI of 34) make it harder to balance on a bicycle? And if one was unlucky enough to fall off, and land on an arm (as opposed to a leg that was used to bearing the weight) would one be more likely to break something?

What advice would you give to such a rider who had suffered a fall, but was thinking of returning to cycling?

Peter Hall

A

This is an interesting question and not as straightforward as you might think. Obesity is described as a BMI (body mass index) more than 30. A BMI of between 25 and 30 is considered ‘overweight'. In fact, being underweight (a BMI less than 18.5) is known to increase the risk of some fractures. However, it is a complex pattern, as highlighted by a study

Being overweight is no barrier to taking up cycling.

Just take it easy to begin with

Main photo by Simon Walker. Others by Dan Joyce

R E V I E W S | B I K E TE S T

bike test

Time for new wheels Your next mountain bike will probably have 650B or 29er wheels. What are the pros and cons? Dan Joyce tests two steel hardtails from Genesis Mountain bike wheel size was the debate that looked like never ending. Now it has, at least in part: the 26-inch wheel is dead.

I don't mean that you won't be able to get tyres, tubes and forks in this size for some years to come, or that your 26-inch wheel bike is suddenly any worse. I mean that if you go into a shop today and try to buy a 2014 or 2015 mountain bike, it will not have 26in wheels – not unless it's an entry-level bike, a downhill bike, or a wide-rimmed fat bike. The choice now, if you're into crosscountry or trail riding and are willing to spend more than about £500, is between 29er and 650B, which is also branded 27.5.

The industry's switch from 26-inch to 650B was rapid and has stirred up strong opinions. The new, 25mm bigger wheel is either ‘the best of both worlds', sitting

64 cyc le october/n ov ember 2 014

as it does in between 26in and 29in, or ‘a marketing con'. Whichever: the switch has happened. If you're in the market for a new bike, then as long as you don't have a big investment in 26-inch (spare tyres? Second or third bikes?), it doesn't greatly matter.

What does is how the two wheel sizes left standing stack up.

The other change in mountain bikes has been more gradual: a trend for longer top tubes, shorter stems, and slacker head angles, plus shorter chain stays to stop the wheelbase getting too long. Gary Fisher was one of the earlier proponents of this with his Genesis geometry (no relation), and the baton has been taken up by other brands, notably Whyte. (If you want to see where more gravity-oriented riders are taking this, check out Mondraker's Forward Geometry

bikes.) The primary result of these changes is that you should crash less, especially over the handlebar, because there's more stabilising trail and you're sitting further back relative to the wheels.

For this test, I got two hardtails from British brand Genesis. The High Latitude 20 is a 29er, the Latitude 20 650B. Apart from the wheels, they're very similar indeed: both are steel, both have contemporary geometry, and apart from the Latitude's 20mm longer fork and wider handlebar, they have essentially the same spec. They cost the same too.

Frame & fork Both bikes are built from double-butted chrome-moly steel tubing, branded Mjölnir. That's Thor's hammer, which was supposedly: a) capable of levelling

BIKE TEST | REVIEWS

P61

Genesis Latitude 20

(Above) A 44mm head tube adds stiffness and maximises fork steerer compatibility (Below) 27.5 isn't a misnomer with this chunky Ardent, but it's only 25mm bigger and 38mm smaller than 26in/29in

mountains; and b) so heavy that none but Thor could pick it up. There is a weight penalty over the equivalent aluminium frame – half a kilo or more – but it's hardly intolerable. The reward is not springiness but sturdiness; these are strongly built frames.

Each is reinforced where the top and down tubes meet the head tube. And the head tube is massive: a 44mm diameter tube that looks a little odd on a steel frame.

The bigger tube gives a bigger weld area at the joints. It also accommodates different fork steerers: with the right headset, you could fit 1 1/8in straight, 1 1/8in to 1 1/2in tapered, or 1 1/2in straight. It can't hurt frame stiffness at the front of the bike either.

The rear triangle of both bikes has a bracing strut to stop the seat stay bending under braking forces.

Since they're designed here, the frames have some UK-specific features. Foremost among these is mud clearance. There's plenty of room in the rear triangles around the 57mm tyres fitted. You could fit larger in summer, or in winter too if you were happy to dispense with the front derailleur.

Both frames have eyelets for a down-tube mounted mudguard, and a forward-facing seat tube slot to help keep filth out of the frame. Apart from a bottle or two, other braze-ons are absent, probably because Genesis have the bikepacking angle covered with their new Longitude.

Seat tube diameters are different. The Latitude uses 31.6mm, so you can upgrade

Also available

1) WHYTE 901 £1199 Whyte's least expensive 650B trail hardtail takes the 'confident geometry' numbers a step further, with a 66.5º head angle, a longer top tube, and shorter stays. Fork is a 130mm Rockshox Sektor Gold. whyte.bike/gb/

2) TREK STACHE 7 £1300 This trail 29er's geometry is fairly similar to the High Latitude 20, except for a 120mm Recon fork with more offset. Wheels and tyres are Bontrager (with 15mm front hub and 142x12mm rear), gears mostly Sram X7. trekbikes.com

CTC. O R G . U K CYC L E 6 5

T R AV E L L E R S ’ TA L E S

A CYCLING STAYCATION David Hubbard convinced his family to swap a holiday in Greece for a UK cycle tour

Careful luggage distribution overcame family objections

Crisp starts don’t diminish the best autumn days

Autumn sunshine Susan Cronshaw cycled through Hardy Country on the last warm day of the year

S

etting off on a crisp October morning, I cycled past West Bay’s golden cliffs and unpretentious harbour, on the B-road to the thatched village of Burton Bradstock. After that I took quiet lanes, mostly following NCN 2, which links Dover to St Austell. I rode through a gentle landscape of small dairy farms with crows flying low over fields of golden stubble. Colourful hedgerows dripped with blackberries and rosehips.

The climb out of Little Bredy was a gut-wrencher but I was well rewarded with a view looking back down the coast as far as the white chalk cliffs at Beer in Dorset’s neighbouring county of Devon. The climb continued towards my goal, the Hardy Monument. Not the literary Hardy, but Vice-Admiral Hardy, Captain of HMS Victory. Views from the monument extended down to the Fleet and Chesil Beach, and towards the Isle of Portland.

A blast of a run downhill to Winterbourne Abbas and a brief foray onto the busy A35 were followed by a beautiful 10 mile stretch on the route of a Roman road, high along a ridge, back towards Bridport. With glorious views into the far distance, buzzards circling, and an almost total absence of buildings

or traffic, the landscape had a truly remote quality.

The next signpost stipulated that the road ahead was unfit for HGVs. With grass growing down its centre, I could see why. It skirted around the top of Eggardon Hill, then hurtled down steep and narrow winding lanes into pretty Powerstock. The descent continued through dark tunnels of trees and leaf-covered mud-spattered lanes, into Loders and thence into bustling Bridport, where I took the former railway line back to West Bay. I had cycled in sunshine all day, in shorts and T-shirt, in mid-October. I could not believe my luck.

On the ridge top, heading for Bridport

HOW I WOULD I prevent a mutiny when I suggested cycling around southern England instead of our traditional holiday in Greece? Maybe if I promised my wife and son they would not have to carry anything?

Maybe if I didn’t mention distances?

They agreed!

I’d bought a tandem two months earlier. For our luggage, I invested in an Extrawheel trailer. My daughter really enjoyed being on the tandem, and the trailer carried all the weight easily. It was great fun. Everyone was remarkably cheerful and up for it. We have all cycled quite a bit but never all together for several days on end.

We did lots of miles, despite the fact my wife gently said that three hours a day would be quite enough.

We covered over 300 miles in total.

The longest day was 92 miles.

We live in Guildford and cycled to Salisbury via lovely quiet lanes in Hampshire, then headed across Wiltshire to Bath using NCN 24.

The ride through Longleat was the highlight. Our route out of Bath was hard but very quiet as we went northeast through the Cotswolds. We stayed over in Gloucester, and then headed east to stay with friends in Witney, dodging heavy downpours.

The route home took in some lovely scenery across the Ridgeway. We followed NCN 5, and then NCN 23 from Reading to Guildford.

Well done, family: you did great!

Maybe we will do it again some day.

SHARE YOUR STORY: Cycle wants your Travellers’ Tales. Write or email the editor – details on page 3 – to find out what’s required.

82 CYC LE OCTOBER/N OV EMBER 2 014