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Hermes was the messenger god in Greek mythology – but we’re not expecting to see many couriers on the new bicycle that bears his name.
French luxury goods brand Hermès has launched two carbon-fibre bikes for everyday use… as long as your everyday budget stretches to €8,100 (£6,000), that is. The model names, Le Flâneur d'Hermès and Le Flâneur sportif d'Hermès, allude to the grand Paris tradition of flânerie: “the idler, the urban explorer, the connoisseur of the street”.
The spec is suitably lavish: bull calf leather saddles, hydraulic disc brakes, and belt-driven transmission. The company’s François Doré told Women's Wear Daily (who else?) that “We set out to make a real bike, not a decorative object. It had to be simple, efficient, easy to use, pleasant and elegant.”
The bikes are made by French company Time, better known for their racing frames. They’re certainly elegant… but could you ever let a bike that expensive out of your sight?
Rutland, Britain’s smallest county, is now aiming to become its bike-friendliest – with the announcement of new cycle routes, and the introduction of a bike-carrying bus.
Astonishingly, the little East Midlands county has the fifth highest proportion of adults who regularly cycle, beaten only by Cambridge, Oxford, York and Hackney. It’s best known for the 26-mile, largely off-road route around Rutland Water reservoir, which attracts thousands of family cyclists every summer. (There’s also, incongruously, an one-day classic cycle race in the north of the county.)
Now, Rutland Council has greenlighted £722,000 to create six new cycle routes across the county. The on-road routes will connect Rutland’s two towns, Oakham and Uppingham, as well as picturesque Stamford just across the Lincolnshire border. Infrastructure improvements will be carried out where the roads are not up to scratch. A series of connecting routes will be added to complete a circuit around the county, and connect with the existing National Cycle Network and National Byway routes.
At Oakham railway station, the only one in the county, a ‘Sustainable Transport Interchange’ will be created. As well as bike parking, this will include a cycle hire operation run by Rutland Cycling – the well-known retailer that hires out bikes beside the reservoir.
Already up and running is perhaps the most unusual part of the scheme – a cycle-carrying bus. The Shorelink service runs year-round, combining a full circuit of the reservoir with trips to Oakham and Uppingham. It calls in at the busiest locations on the reservoir shore, allowing cyclists to ride part of the way and catch the bus back. No charge is made for bikes.
Similar bike-carrying buses have a mixed success record. Cumbria launched a new Bike Bus earlier this year, but Devon’s Surf & Cycle Bus failed to see out the season, despite providing a useful connection to the popular Devon C2C cycle route.
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