Liveable cities

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Bicycle Kisses, by Mikael Colville-Anderson.

On Monday 29th June we will be hosting an evening celebrating cycle-chic.

Programme

• Presentation by Mikael Colville-Anderson, blogeur extraordinaire of Copenhagen Cycle Chic and Copenhagenize
• Display of London cycle chic by Cyclodelic and TwonFro
• Sneak preview of photographic exhibition of Danish bicycles by Richard Nolan-Neylan
• Smorgabrods by the Scandinavian Kitchen

Tickets: £6.00
Time: 19:00

We appreciate when competition attempts to imitate us. It spurs us to provide a better service to you.

Soon Cycle Surgery will be opening a branch 200 metres from our shop; and last week the Guardian launched a new cycle blog with a monthly podcast.

Allow us a pat on the back of our workshop team by quoting from a comment in a recent entry:

when I had an emergency repair needed recently (broken brake lever - kind of important!), he not only fitted me in the same day, but stayed late to do it. I stood next to him while he was doing, and he explained how to adjust it in the future if I need to. I had to buy the part from Evans on my way there though, as they’d explained on the phone they wouldn’t have it in stock.

[it was a lever for a racer, inappropriate for a town/city bike]

Image of Victoria and Elle launching a series of Sunday fun rides, by Skyride

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In the 70’s Gustav Thoeni and Piero Gros were the kings of the slopes: nobody could attack the slalom gates tighter and faster: they dominated skiing for six years.

Then came a young Swede from Lapland who did things differently; rather than trying to cut the sharpest corner at each gate, hitting the blue and red post with his shoulders, Stenmark focused on keeping his slalom has smooth as possible: no hard edges but an elegant flow.

It was all over for the Italians.

In the morning rush hour, people on racers and fixie, their head down, are keen to show the lightness of their machine and toughness of their calves; they distance me on some straight stretches, but when we approach a junction, I, sitting comfortably on a Retrovelo or an Azor, with a clear outlook on the movement of all other vehicles, find the perfect line and effortlessy leave them behind.

It happens every morning.

A couple of days ago, a gentleman was debating which of two second-hand Scorchers to buy: I suggested the upright one, a bike so comfortable that mounting it was like sitting on your favourite sofa; he opted instead for the racy one: short Nitto stem, straight bars and a slightly small frame for him. The following day, riding downhill in St. James a taxi made an unsignalled u-turn and our customer flew over the bonnet. Luckily damage was limited to a bruised knee and a twisted roller brake. Totally the taxi-driver’s fault [who incidentally drove off], but I cannot help feeling that if he had opted for the more sensible bike, he wouldn’t be stitching his suit’s trousers now.

Style (and safety) over speed.

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Vulnerable, by Cadigan.

It is never too late to link to this CTC pamphlet, which stresses the virtuous cycle of more virtuous cycles on the road.
London drivers are definitely becoming more patient when having to share the road with dozens of cyclists.

Congratulations to David Rosenberg, one of the first Londoners to be chosen for their 60 minutes of fame on top of Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth.

He will be riding a (stationary, I hope) pink Brompton, which will generate power to light his pink jacket.

It is worth quoting him for the following:

“I used to visit the National Gallery with my grandmother. And my uncle was badly injured in a traffic accident on the north side of the square. He survived, but he was in a coma for a while and it changed his life. That is an accident that could not happen there any more.”

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Around the corner from the maddening crowds of Green’s Emporium, listen to Salif Keita and sample the full collection of Cyclodelic’s bags, scarves, hats, belts and cuffs in the calm surroundings of our shop.
Image by Farid Tejani

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Brass ring coated in silver - half made of a bike chain link. By Martin Margiela. Available at Oki-Ni
, via MilanoFixed

Click the above for finding out how to get to work when the Tube is on strike, such as this Wednesday. BikeTubes have been organised by the London Cycle Campaign to increase safety and give a confidence boost to people who have not cycled recently. We still have a few Bromptons available for hire.

In this land of fudge, arcane systems are created, in which dishonesty and parasitism thrive.

A nation gets the Parliament it deserves. Unwilling to modernise, and deluded in thinking it still is the best, we are saddled with a legislature that is feudal, powerless and fraudulent.

Another example: the Cycle to Work initiative, a typical Brownian monument of fudge creation that has produced a Mafia-style system where bicycle shops are asked to pay 10% protection money to unscrupulous middlemen, such as cyclescheme.co.uk, if they want to sell a bicycle to one of their own customers.

Velorution has always stood firm against this racket. We don’t accept vouchers from these dodgy operators and deal directly with employers.

The MPs could have used the boom times of the late nineties to clean the system and saved themselves from the present embarrassment. I hope that all independent cycle shops use the present boom and boycot the middlemen and clean up the system.

And yes, strictly speaking, there is a fraud behind most C2W transactions. The rules specify that a taxable benefit in kind arises if the bicycle is sold to the employee below market value. Please raise your hand if you have paid more than £10 for your bike after having paid for the loan.

Image by Michelle Nolan

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The Dutch and the Ugandans do it. Now Londoners can do it in style thanks to Charles Gordon, a designer, formerly on Savile Row, who is now making comfy cushions with well chosen stripes and colours.

Necessary if you are taking a friend to the Naked Bike Ride on 12th June. Washable.