16 February 2009: Cycling and the recession

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Jack Thurston

With the UK mired deep in recession, unemployment on the rise, the value of the pound going down and consumer confidence at an all time low, we ask what effect this is having on the cycling business. We hear from the owners of two of London’s new breed of bicycle boutiques (Tour de Ville and Bobbin Bicycles), from bike messenger Nhatt Attack, who has swapped her bike for a Christiania tricycle and is delivering flowers, from Carlton Reid, cycling journalist and Executive Editor of bike industry magazine BikeBiz.com and from BikeSnobNYC who adds his two pennies from New York.

Play on links below, other file formats (eg. Ogg Vorbis) over here.

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9 February 2009: How British Cycling conquered the Olympics

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Jack Thurston

This week’s show features Dave Brailsford, Performance Director of British Cycling, explaining how his team achieved a record medal haul at the Beijing Olympics. We also discover that Shanaze Reade (pictured left, racing in the team sprint with Victoria Pendleton) has never heard of fixed gear freestyling despite being a world champion cyclist in both BMX and track racing. Someone who is all too familiar with the fixed wheel phenomenon is BikeSnob NYC, who regularly wins gold medals for “systematically and mercilessly disassembling, flushing, greasing, and re-packing the cycling culture”. Over a few ales, the BikeSnob offers his reflections on 2008 and his hopes and fears for the coming year. We talk penny farthings, the Opinionated Cyclist and how to survive the New York winter on two wheels.

Photo credit: knackeredhack

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13 October 2008: Emergency – Lorries Killing Cyclists

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Jack Thurston

After a summer of fun on two wheels, we turn to more serious matters. The entire show this week is devoted to the problem of lorries killing cyclists in London. With Barry Mason of Southwark Cyclists and Cynthia Barlow, chairwoman of RoadPeace, the national campaign against deaths on Britain’s roads. We also hear from London Assembly Member Val Shawcross who is tabling a motion this week urging more action to make the roads safer for London’s cyclists.

To write to your elected representatives about this issue, visit WriteToThem.com. It takes a matter of minutes and works. You’ll find excellent coverage of the lorry/cyclist issue over at Moving Target, including some very good sample letters for inspiration. Barry Mason’s full notes of last week’s inquest into the killing of Nga Diep are available here.

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6 October 2008: The Moulton Story (part two)

Posted on October 6, 2008 by Jack Thurston

The concluding episode of a two-part feature on the story of Dr Alex Moulton and the reinvention of the bicycle. We pick up the story with the launch of the Moulton space frame design (pictured left) in the early eighties. Featuring interviews with eaturing interviews with Dr Alex Moulton, Shaun Moulton, Tony Hadland, Michael Woolf, Paul Villiers, George Coulouris, Jean Dollimore, Chris Mahon, Patrick Doocey and Mog from Brixton Cycles.

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29 September 2008: The Moulton Story (part one)

Posted on September 29, 2008 by Jack Thurston

The first of a two-parter telling the story of Moulton bicycles: the radical reinvention of the bicycle by Dr Alex Moulton that, despite some commercial setbacks along the way, continues to push the boundaries of cutting edge engineering. Moultons have been feted by architects and designers, won races and broken speed records, and are taken to the hearts of their riders, the Moultoneers, many of whom consider them to be the best kept secret on two wheels. Over the next two weeks The Bike Show will trace the history of the Moulton bicycle from its inception in the late 1950s and its sixties heyday, look ahead to its future and try to capture something of the Moulton spirit. Featuring interviews with Dr Alex Moulton, Shaun Moulton, Tony Hadland, Michael Woolf and a cast of Moultoneers. Image, left, shows the young Sheldon Brown on his Moulton Deluxe in 1971.

Play on links below. Other file formats (Ogg Vorbis, 64kb MP3) over here.

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27 September 2008: Bicycle Film Festival comes to town

Posted on September 27, 2008 by Jack Thurston

The Bicycle Film Festival comes to London from 1-5 October. Laura Fletcher is the BFF’s London ambassador and she previews a handful of highlights from the seven screenings at the Barbican Cinema plus all the parties, art shows, polo matches and roller-racing that make the Festival a veritable jamboree of bicycle culture. Plus a very special message from the Founding Director, Brendt Barbur. Buy tickets online here.

Play on links below. Other file formats (Ogg Vorbis, 64kb MP3) over here.

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22 September 2008: Grant Petersen on overnight trips and a visit to London’s ‘anti-bike shop’

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Jack Thurston

Grant Petersen of Rivendell Bicycle Works urges us to get on our bikes for sub-twenty four hour overnight camping trips. Plus a visit to a fantastic new ‘anti-bike shop’ in Finsbury Park, specialising in classic English and Italian steel road bikes. The shop doesn’t have a name yet, but you can drop in at 74 Mountgrove Road, Finsbury Park, London N5 2LT – MAP. Some photos below, more here: