[Closed] Cycling in central London!

Well you'll only need lights to be seen so that's easy

Kings to elephe& Castle isn't too bad, tho elephant & Castle roundabout is a mare!

Up to regents Park there a bit further but still fine

From there to BBC is OK & then back to King x fine

Tfl / Google route planner give you some rekativy cycle friendly directions
You'll probably get a bit lost, so check your phone

Where are u leaving the bike for 2 hrs? It would be a gamble to leave a nice bike anywhere for 2 hrs, is there no secure storage or area at rapha?

Everywhere you're cycling lights to be seen will be fine.
Regarding the lock, You might be alright with your d lock for a few hours, you might not. Depending on the bike I'd risk it but there no way to tell, the only surefire way to make sure you're bike isn't nicked off the street is to not take it. Sorry, I know that's not a lot of help but there are no guarantees, even with the best locks

To add, I left bike outside of my office in Blackfriars and came out to find someone had tried to nick it but I presume was disturbed as only made it halfway through the lock. I started taking it inside after that (I couldn't be bothered with the goods lift before).

Conversely, I left the same bike locked up at London bridge station for 5 hours whilst going for some beers and it was fine.

Luck of the draw

Thanks all. Super helpful. Lights are good then as I have ‘be seen’ lights. Thanks for the heads up on the routes kimbers - don’t think I need to actually go round the roundabout.

I don’t think Rapha have storage, so I’ll just ride down to my brothers and leave it there, and get the tube back up. Less stress worrying about my beloved Niner. The rest of the time the bike will either be locked up in an indoor store, or with me.

Wouldn't have been able to make it, but sounds a great event, just watched Lael's ride along the Alaskan pipeline, she comes across well in her films.

There’s (mostly) protected Cycleway between Kings X and Elephant - C6. Rode it from KingsX to Waterloo with Mrs Dubs who’s not that experienced in London cycling and it was absolutely fine.

Two hours outside Rapha? As others have said, chancing your arm a bit. Minimum 2x D locks to protect that. Getting the tube is a good decision 👍

Enjoy @ahsat, Lael Wilcox is about the only 'pro' cyclist I follow, a lovely warm smile hiding a ridiculous amount of hardiness!.

Kings X, to Elephant and Castle

...in reverse was my sprint for the train when I still had an office in Elephant. A201 over Blackfriars is direct and I'd do it in under 15 mins on an old kona. It's probably all grassed over now.

Thanks NoBeer and MoreCash. Really looking forward to it. It was very spontaneous when I saw she was coming - I haven’t been to a city other than where I work for 18 months!!

Thanks all. Sounds like KingsX to Elephant is easy for me to drop my bike off. Then I don’t have to worry about it.

All sorted. My very understanding and kind brother is meeting me and my bike; has booked us somewhere for dinner near Rapha; and is taking my clothes to work on Friday morning for me to pick up on the way back from Regents Park (hence the BBC detour). Legend.

You can’t take the bike on a lot of the tube lines! The ones you can there’s time you can and can’t and zone 1 stations probably will turn you away.

I wasn’t ever planning too. I’m riding to my brothers, dropping the bike off and getting the tube back in…

I’ll get my coat…

It saddens me that the general attitude to leaving your bike locked up anywhere in London is a big no.

It saddens me that the general attitude to leaving your bike locked up anywhere in London is a big no.

what do you expect in any city? i wouldn’t leave my bike locked in Manchester, Oxford, liverpool or Canterbury etc.

think i have locked my bike outside about 5 times (25years living/working in london)

I witnessed a scrote steal somebodies Dean Ti Mtb outside the apple store (belonged to somebody on STW) it was locked with a thin £10 cable lock!? i sympathise with losing a precious bike but a big Abus D lock and he might still own the bike.

what do you expect in any city?

True, as shit as it is.

I wouldn't expect it in this country these days but given the efforts made for private vehicle storage it's not exactly shooting for the moon to hope for safe bike storage locker containers or similar solutions in some areas. They have some in Milton Keynes now. Subsidise it with the congestion charge, etc.

Build it and they will come, etc.

I just take a Brompton everywhere and wheel it inside places.

what do you expect in any city?

Yes I suppose that is sadly true. The same caution should be applied in any city really which is depressing.

It's rare that I lock my bike up in the city centre (Aberdeen) and when I do I am a bit worried about it. It is a 8 year old £400 from new hybrid so not of high value but would be gutted to lose it to some little scrote.

Tbh, I wouldn't leave it locked up in Leeds either - so not really sure why I even half considered doing so in London! I am also thinking a Brompton might the way forward, though it is so hilly round here, I don't think it really is my best commuting option!

Brompton could really do with an option that's less squirrely, better for cities with hills and higher speeds down them. I use mine locally (Chilterns) and in Bristol occasionally and it's ok as long as you're not in a rush and take it easy down hills with side junction risk etc.

It saddens me that the general attitude to leaving your bike locked up anywhere in London is a big no.

I've lived in/around London my whole life - there is no way i'd be leaving a decent bike locked up anywhere..

I lived in London for a few years, I had quite a nice bike and would enjoy riding it all over, including the daily commute, but unless I was going somewhere I could stay with it, I'd more than likely leave the bike at work and walk/tube/b*ris bike, either picking up my bike later to ride home or leaving it there overnight. (secure garage at work) It was really annoying to have the perfect vehicle for getting around London and not wanting to leave it anywhere.

Picking up a crappy old singlespeed was the best. Nice to ride, but not to look at. Got for nothing, maybe £40 on parts. If it got nicked, I'd get something similar. Not minding if it got nicked was like an urban travel superpower.

I enjoyed this from bikesnob. Not the post I was looking for, but still worth sharing.

The fact is though that bike theft is a fact of life. This is a shame, because it’s probably one of the main reasons more people don’t ride in the city. Pending more secure bike parking, though, we’re just going to have to deal with it. Here are my tips for how to do that:

1) Have Many Bikes

When a male fish eats its mate’s eggs, do you think the mother cares? Not really. There are plenty left. In fact, the male is kind of doing them both a favor, since fewer eggs makes life easier and means more resources to go around. This is how you should view bike ownership. Don’t just have one really nice bike—have a bunch of “meh” bikes. Any time someone’s selling a decent one that you can afford, snap it up. That way, when one of them gets snagged, you’ll almost be relieved. It’s one less mouth to feed and a few more feet of wall space.

2) Don’t Form Attachments To Your Bikes

As I’ve said before, I’m a strong believer in loving the ride, not the bike. The latter can be taken from you at any moment, but the former really can’t. The fleeting satisfaction you get from constant upgrading, detailing, and fussing will inevitably re-visit you in the form of mental anguish when your bike is either stolen or crashed. Should you treat your bike well? Yes. Should you take every precaution when it comes to theft? Absolutely. Should you treat it like a human child and invest in it a part of your soul? Only if you’re the kind of person who falls in love with strippers. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to treat your bike like a stripper. Enjoy it but don’t get too attached, put a few bucks into it now and again, and just shrug and move on when it takes up with someone else.

3) Don’t Have A Pretty Bike

Speaking of strippers, the explosion of fixed-gear mania has turned the city into one giant strip club, in that everywhere you look there are pretty things hanging off of poles. Fixed-gear riders upgrade their bicycles constantly, festooning them with color and costly baubles, and walking down the streets of trendy neighborhoods is like walking along a sidewalk lined with lush, blooming shrubbery. So what opportunist wouldn’t want to pluck off a piece of fruit? I’m not sure when every urban fixed-gear bicycle I saw suddenly had Phil Wood hubs and a Chris King headset, but it's definitely become the case over the last few years. If your bike’s going to be spending its life hugging poles in an urban environment, skip the expensive stuff. For the price of one of those hubs you could buy another cheap bike and be in compliance with my rule #1.

4) Know Your Bike Will Get Stolen

If you lock your bike outside, it will get stolen one day. Whether it’s nice or crappy, and whether you lock it well or lock it poorly, sooner or later you’re going to come outside and it’s going to be gone. So do not close that lock and walk away unless you have already come to terms with the fact that there’s a good chance you’ll return to find nothing there. This above all else should be your main criteria in choosing a bike for urban riding. Don't lock it if you're not prepared to lose it.

Doesn't really help if you're coming into London for a one-off visit with a non-shit bike. If you're not going to be able to relax into the evening without worrying about your bike and going to check on it every 5 mins, just leave it at home (or your brother's).

when you are not using your pretty bike, can you use a Santander/Boris Bike, rather than the tube?

I locked up my Calibre commuter bike outside a co-op convenience store. ran in to get a sandwich and by the time i came out (no more than 3 minutes) it was gone. I'd never lock up a bike outside in London these days (although i have just bought a super cheap fixie to leave at Euston as an experiment to see if it gets nicked)

When it opened Rapha Spitalfields had bike rack space in the shop, total legend idea, coffee (free for members) and club events. Gradually someone worked out how much sales space was being lost and they got rid of both bike storage and the free coffee for members.

Rapha Soho tried the same and abandoned so quickly people got whiplash. Again the problem was sales space vs storage, as well as demand was so high you couldn't rely on getting a space.

There must be a gap in the market for secure bike storage in key geographical locations in London and other metropolitan areas. By secure, I mean staffed and monitored. Think how many bikes you can store in the same space as a car? If you are charging £20 an hour in Soho or Covent Garden for Car Parking, then you could charge £2 to £3 an hour for a bike?

Given that a crime free utopia appears to have a pre-requisite of a post scarcity economy, there is little hope of being able to take a bike into a city and leave it locked with any expectation of being able to ride home on it. I have commuted to work by bike for 11 years, and my bike comes into my office with me, and sits like a patient Labrador by me desk waiting for the journey home.

There must be a gap in the market for secure bike storage in key geographical locations in London

it’s already being filled, there’s one in fitzrovia somewhere and yesterday somebody tried to hand me a flyer about one outside farringdon station, i refused and pointed to my already half folded brompton saying “why would i need that when i have this?"

We had a cycle hub directly outside Leeds station, Dutch style. However, Evans have taken over the site and filled it with a shop. There is a bit online about how they have kept some of the bike storage, but nothing on their webpage directly, so who knows if it still exists! I don't use it as I can lock my bike at work, but the principle was good.

Thanks all ever so much for the advice. Was really impressed by the cycle provision in central London. Generally felt really quite safe. Much better than riding in Leeds.

Oh and Rapha is now twice the size, so they have put some bike storage back into the store (when there isn’t an event on).

Thanks all ever so much for the advice. Was really impressed by the cycle provision in central London. Generally felt really quite safe. Much better than riding in Leeds.

I'm glad you had a nice time - here is my Normal For London video - and there are two others on the same account - do watch to the end..

Oh I know those things happen. I live in West Yorkshire - I’ll be honest the driving is often worse. But there is vastly more segregated bike lanes in London than round here. Plus I wasn’t in a rush, so I just sat in odd bits of traffic. I know it’s perfectly allowed to ride down the side of cars to the front, but I didn’t need too. Very different trying to get round to commute etc, and me effectively being there on holiday meaning I could take the longer, safer routes.