Print your own bike parts

Can’t find the right handlebar grip or iPhone holder? 3D printing website My Mini Factory thinks it has the answer with a set of downloadable blueprints for cycling accessories. The items available so far are pretty simple, but we can see great potential in the idea, not least for folding bikes and other unusually-shaped cycles. 

New A14 will include cycle path

Most village cyclists have to struggle with fast rural traffic and a lack of cycle lanes – but not the inhabitants of Swavesey, Cambridgeshire.

Not content with already having a smooth, fast tarmac route to North Cambridge alongside the guided busway, they’re set to get a second cycle path as part of the £1.5bn A14 upgrade.

The A14 Non-Motorised User Campaign has been lobbying for a route for cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders to be included as part of the massive rebuild. The group, which includes Cambridge Cycling Campaign, CTC and Sustrans, says that most major road upgrades have resulted in a worse deal for everyone apart from the motorist. They want to see a parallel route to the A14 road, and safe bridge crossings at key points.

Plans published in April include an entirely separate track from Girton, at the northwest edge of Cambridge, out to the junction at Dry Drayton. From there, a roadside path would be provided alongside the ‘local access road’. However, the Cambridge News suggests a higher-quality path could be provided all the way to Swavesey. A Highways Agency spokeswoman told the newspaper:

“The proposals include a non-motorised road user route as part of the proposed improvements. It is envisaged that it will be of a similar standard to that associated with the guided busway. The project team is actively discussing the scheme footprint design with NMU groups and the proposed improvement scheme is currently going through a public consultation.”

The plans also include cycle bridges at Bar Hill and Swavesey. The new path would link up with the improvements to cycle paths on Huntingdon Road in Cambridge, set to be approved by the County Council.

Don't vote UKIP, says the Telegraph

On the day of the European elections, the Telegraph concludes that UKIP is the “anti-cycling party”. Its 2010 manifesto, Chris Harvey concludes, was written in the “traditional language used by people who hate cyclists” – all talk of red-light jumping, road courtesy and liability insurance. Its recent record is no better, with its MEPs voting against safer lorry design in the European Parliament. He concludes: “For cyclists, the implication is clear: don’t vote for these people.”

Hire a Boris bike with your Oyster card

The ‘Boris bikes’, London’s city cycle hire, could soon become part of the Oyster card scheme.

Transport for London is considering the possibility of adding bikes to the ubiquitous payment card, already used for most Tube and bus journeys within London. It believes that integrating cycle hire into Oyster could boost the largely static hire figures.

In a market research questionnaire issued this month, TfL says:

“In the future, you may be able to use your Oyster card and contactless payment card on Barclays Cycle Hire. By simply tapping your card on a reader next to the bike you would be able to pay and unlock the bike.”

The change would be an about-turn for TfL. In 2011, Mayor Boris Johnson stated “The Oyster system is highly complex, and the likely costs of implementing this means the [cycle hire] scheme does not accept Oyster cards and is unlikely to do so.”

However, with the increasing popularity of contactless credit and debit cards, TfL is currently rethinking its approach to Oyster – which is now more than 10 years old.

Any move to Oyster would need to take account of the deposit required for hiring a Boris bike. Currently, hirers are required to supply credit/debit card details in case the bike is stolen, damaged or simply returned late.

15 brilliant pieces of bike infrastructure

A mouth-watering photo tour courtesy of Gizmodo. Most of these are in the Netherlands. None are in Britain.