…is actually not bad.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/11598.aspx

I was initially disappointed to find the “Cycling Journey Planner” looks like a lazy modification of the standard TfL journey planner, with the word “cycle” instead of “walk”. However, click on the “start” or “end” maps and it actually gives you a full cycle route breakdown, albeit in multi-page PDF format.  I found it suggested some ‘I didn’t realise that was there’ routes as well as a couple of unnecessarily road-avoiding ones. However, generally as an initial guide to cycling from one place to another in London without being too caught up in traffic, it’s pretty good.

: P

What interests me is not the sports metal soundtrack accompanying what appears to be fairly banal footage of some cyclists riding down the gaps in near-stationary traffic (something most of us would simply refer to as “commuting”), but the comments. “These guys are roadkill waiting to happen”, “crazy”, “insane” and of course an obligatory “I wopuld of hit him just for fun…asswipe bike on a freeway…fuckin moron.”

Thank you, FAIL Blog.

From Bikesnob NYC last week:

Of course, the truth is that on a lot of terrain a singlespeed mountain bike isn’t much of a handicap. In fact, often it’s an advantage. When confronted with a steep grade on a singlespeed mountain bike, you either have to stomp up it really fast, or you have to run it. Meanwhile, the geared rider will downshift eternally until he’s spinning a tiny gear so violently he simply falls over.

Worth a look.

Marco crosses the landslide on the way to Tilicho Lake, the highest lake in the world:

Tenzing and Marco wait to cross the Thorung pass – 5416 metres above sea level:

Marco, Calden and Tenzing descend from the Thorung pass:

Check the London Singlespeed Flickr account for some more photos from the trip and if you want to know a bit more about it, do get in touch.

Yet more evidence that tweed is slowly making a comeback:

http://www.tweed.cc

The Club’s wheelmen and ladymembers wish for a return to the honest virtues of lugged steel, dynamo lighting and canvas saddlebags. A stout pair of plus fours offer day-long comfort while a Fair Isle vest takes the chill out of a frosty spring morning. Merino wool moves smoothly over a leather saddle. As the Club passes the village green, a jaunty cap is doffed. The only performance-enhancers are warm beer and woodbines.

Well, quite.

Photo by Kit Oates, with thanks.

Incredible. Not only do the Japanese have the best technology and a never ending supply of pimpy bike bits, they also appear to have converted missile silos to use as off-street bike storage. Want want want.

“One of the cycling community’s most passionate members,” Sheldon was an inspiring writer, inventor, mechanic and fixie rider whose knowledge created possibly the best archive of bicycle technical information on the internet.

Our thoughts are with his family and everyone else who will miss him.

Here’s a hilarious and very instructive article about the finer points of wheelbuilding – hopefully this will get you all excited about all the cycling you’re going to do in 2008…

A snip at a mere £12, you’d better be quick – all the large ones are gone already!

All profits go towards paying Canadian Ryan’s criminal damage bill and stop him from being deported – the target is £1000; – they’ve raised nearly £800 already so it only needs a little push to keep him in the country.

http://www.houseofpistard.com/2007/12/order-now.html

Anyone seen something that can top that?

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/3605/

It was made by the Wilson Brothers and ridden in September’s ArtCar Parade in Manchester.

Visit the Wilson Brothers Flickr page for more photos.

He hits 105mph and the bike just disintegrates beneath him. Not so good.

This reminds me a little of a kid I saw at SSUK who was dragging a cheapo full suspension mountain bike after him – he’d probably gone over a rock or log or something as the whole thing had just crumpled – even the front wheel had folded in half.

Tickets are a princely £7 per showing and even includes valet bicycle parking(!) on some nights.

For the full lowdown check out the details on their website.

Fantasic stuff, but we can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a shame one has to schlep it all the way out to trendy Bethnal Green to check any of it out. What with the power of teh_Internets it would be great to watch the films on YouTube or the like.

They’ve received a lot of stick all over the internet for the bikes and I don’t think I can do a better job than Bike Snob NYC of explaining all the things that are wrong with them (he’s talking specifically about the New York version) so here’s the link.

In the clip below Markus Stoeckl reaches 210.4km/h on a full suspension mountain bike. It does have gears though, so should be easy to beat. Anyone fancy a go?

Found via Wired