r/londoncycling

At Shepherd’s Bush this morning I had an encounter with one of the worst driver's I've ever come across.

I was in the right hand lane when a car started veering straight into my lane and into me. They were not indicating (let along looking as to whether anyone was there). I turned to look and the driver was fully texting on his phone.

I shouted at him to pay attention, get off his phone, and learn to indicate. Without even looking up properly, he shouted back that he was indicating. I told him he wasn’t, that he was texting, and still texting as he said it.

He just kept on at me, shouting that he was indicating… while continuing to text! As I cycled away, I could still hear him yelling after me.

Never have I wanted a camera on me more. (tell a lie, earlier on the commute a Tesla driver nearly took me out just to get to a red light).

Stay safe out there, some drivers are absolutely clueless behind the wheel.

Hi all - my house doesn’t have an obvious location to store a full size bike indoors, and it is getting a bit cumbersome to work around it when I only really use it for 25-30 minute commutes into the office.

Therefore a Brompton has really piqued my interest instead due to the storage options and my use-case (I was the classic victim of buying a Cyclescheme road bike and proceeding to ride it about once a year because it’s more of a faff to commute on).

I tried the C-Line last week and liked it so much I was ready to pull the trigger as soon as the Cyclescheme voucher landed but reading on here that due to muggings and thefts some owners are going as far as to not use them anymore given the risks?

Obviously the plural of anecdotes is not data as I see tons of Bromptons out and about every day, and my commute IMV is pretty safe and does not go through any theft hotspots, but wanted to check with a more knowledgable group if those on here think it’s inadvisable to spend on a Brompton given the risks? It would be a non-electric version and always stored indoors.

Had only one bike nicked in just over 10 years in London but endless parts of cheap bikes nicked...wheels (even with security skewers), saddles, and handlebars with shifters on the one semi-nice bike I owned. Final straw was someone bending the top tube of a £100 bike by trying to use it as a lever to break the D lock.

Bought a cheap 25 year old rusty Brompton after the frame incident, vowing that it would never be left outside for more than a few minutes. Was pushing it in fully folded form around Tescos near Ponders End at 6-7pm, so it was pretty busy inside. As it's often a nuisance to carry a basket and push the bike around, I sometimes leave it a couple of steps away whilst I grab something off a shelf. Usually I get a trolley and hang it off the handle by the saddle but there were none left.

Went to the milk section which was shopping chaos, left it at the end of the aisle and went 2-3 steps to the fridge. As soon as my back was turned, I was aware that someone pushed past me, thought nothing of it being a busy supermarket. Grabbed the milk, turned around and someone was walking off with the bike! Must have been following me through the store.

Shouted after him and he laughed, put it down and then ran off. Had a chat with security and by the sounds of it he was well known to the staff for stealing bags, and pickpocketing in the store, and also trying to rob bikes from the rack outside. Banned from that branch but they sometimes don't notice him coming in. I reported it to the police too.

So yeah, moral of the story, if you've got a Brompton, literally don't even let go of it. I usually try and shop at quieter hours or hang it from a trolley to make it easier to move around in the store but sometimes it's not possible.

I recently got myself a bullet cam for capturing near misses and so far it seems to have turned me into a magnet for cars getting right up next to me, overtaking me on junctions whilst I’m waiting to turn, and generally inconsiderate driving whilst in my vicinity.

I’ve reported 3 drivers so far for the above scenarios but honestly I think I’m gonna burn out quite quickly doing this, even though it doesn’t take that long each time - it’s more about the accumulation of time doing this for very little reward.

I could have reported no less than 10 cars from my last journey home but I’ve decided to hold off unless it’s pretty serious and felt that the driver was absolutely attempting to ‘out-do’ me and show off their amazing skills as a road warrior.

Where do you also draw the line with reporting?

Hello - I was hoping for some advice.

My regular commuter bike has a issue so I cannot ride until later this week when it will be done at the bike shop.

I also have a very fancy looking £££+ bike and live in the South of England so was wondering whether to bring that to London instead with the tube strikes

As I need to get from London Waterloo to Edexcel exhibition Centre to get my marathon bib for the London marathon this week. I would need to leave my bike locked up outside the centre for around an hour. Looking at streetview I can see the bicycle parking is on public land.

I have a New York Kryptonite yellow mini D lock and extra metal rope thing to go around the front wheel.

Would this be sensible or should I give in and get a Lime bike for the day?

Thank you for your opinions.

I'm looking for a bike, for mainly a 25 min commute three times a week but is capable of 1-2 hour rides from time to time as recreational activity.

Don't wanna spend more than £200.

Any suggestions on brands/models?

If i book a bike on the app at a station, and i am say 5-8 minutes walk away. If there is only one bike there, has it been locked for me then?

or could it be that i get there 8 minutes later, with a code on the app, but there is no bike?

maybe an obvious question, but asking anyway

thanks

Two guys on modded e-bikes cornered me and mugged me for my bike by Swiss Cottage station at about 4 o’clock this afternoon. Be careful taking the shortcut down Alexandra Road when the roadworks are ongoing. In hindsight it’s quite an easy spot to get jumped because it’s narrow and quiet.

I imagine it’s a hopeless cause but has anyone had any luck in recovering a bike after it has been nicked in this way?

Afternoon and early evening I'm going to be indoors near Leicester Square on tube-strike Tuesday for about five hours. Does anyone know anywhere safe to park a bike nearby or should I just start filling out the insurance claim now?

I was thinking of buying the carrera vengeance e, but it seemed quite expensive at £800. So would it be better to just buy the normal carrera vengeance for abt 380 from Halfords and convert it into an e-bike using an aliexpress kit?

Hi all,

I've been looking at getting a gravel bike, but I'm only starting to look. It would be super helpful to go to a store that has more than just 3 different bikes available to get some info and a test ride, but I'm struggling to find properly big stores. Any recommendations?

Thanks all!

hey im from north london. need a cycling buddy to go on regular rides 30-60 mins a day long or short. 6-7 times a week. mainly for fitness and building endurance. two people is always better than one. lets keep each other motivated. im from palmers green. hit me up

How’s it going pedal people?

Fat bloke here who has regularly taken up cycling. I’ve cycled quite a bit before but was much younger then.

Thing is being self conscious has made me wear joggers on my bike. It’s a relatively short run of 5 miles but my bollocks aren’t happy with me and after I get this intermittent aching which is bothering me. Also it’s boiling.

Seat height is subjectively good and comfortable.

Any idea of what I can wear without looking like a domanatrix in spandex?

Cheers!