Posts by Zach Bagnall
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…,
It's already happening at a driver level since yer average car probably contains a smartphone or satnav with realtime traffic info overlay. Traffic routes around damage.
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Hard News: Dressing for the Road,
Surprised this has reached three pages without someone mentioning the R word.. Rapha have build a massive brand based on performance fabrics - lots of merino blends - and understated branding for every day use. Pricey but. Around London you're more likely to see the distinctive contrast arm stripe than a garish pro team logo.
Miltag produce some lovely limited editions too. Firmly in the synthetic jersey category, but with great design including a lot of musician collaborations.
The best NZ gear I've seen is probably the Icebreaker cycling line. Very very nice and - at the outlet stores - incredibly good value. If I wasn't flat broke I'd have bought the whole store when I visited last.
For the survey, I commute to work in some ultra budget no-name jerseys that cost under a tenner each. Hard wearing, sweat wicking and cheap enough to have one for each day of the week. Pocket on the back for keys & cash.
Some mountain bike shorts with a built-in chamois do for summer. In winter when it's freezing+/-2C I wear some roubaix (fleece lined) bib tights with a waterproof shell over the top to cut wind.
For weekend rides in summer it's a merino jersey with rear pockets and proper bib shorts. You could do 100 miles in 25C sun without lycra but you will hate life before the end.
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Hard News: Neither fish nor fowl,
If anyone's wondering why cycling posts always draw comments from overseas readers with their experiences in other cities, it's because they've seen the future of NZ.
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Hard News: When "common sense" isn't,
Cyclists jumping red lights is a whole other kettle of turnips. I see it every day.. the full tilt after-the-red weaving through cross traffic, the furtive scuttle to the median strip during a lull, the bold dash before the green. Every type - young, old, frumpy, lycra, hipster fixed. The only common factor is the reasons they give:
1. stopping and starting sucks man
2. genuine fear of trafficWhich is a bit sad really. Viewing every journey as a pursuit with your life at stake, fighting for space on the road, trying to get to the front to create a gap at every opportunity sounds grim.
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Hard News: When "common sense" isn't, in reply to Maz,
In countries such as The Netherlands and Denmark, where helmets are very rare and hi-vis unheard of, cycling accounts for 30-50+% of commuting, and serious accidents are very rare.
I think that is more down to infrastructure and strict liability than the availability of helmets and reflectors. This is a really good read:
http://lcc.org.uk/pages/holland-in-the-1970s -
Hard News: When "common sense" isn't,
My 2c as former NZ driver and now daily cyclist in central London who wants to one day return to NZ and continue cycling..
Driver behavior will improve as number of cyclists continue to increase. Strict Liability - as notably implemented in EU - would certainly help there, in addition to substantial cycle lanes.
Didn't Auckland boost roll out of optic fibre by requiring it to be laid whenever the road was dug up, for any reason? Perhaps cycle lanes could be built out in a similar manner. At least NZ city roads still have enough room to do it.. get started early rather than later.
And specifically on this coroner's recommendations, yes the call for compulsory specialist clothing is unjustified and unhelpful. But the anecdata and kneejerk comments claiming such safety measures are ineffective (along with helmets and by extension lights, professional training, etc) are just silly. You wouldn't drive a car at night without lights or without a wearing a seatbelt and it has nothing to do with the law.
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Hard News: The not-so-Evil Empire, in reply to Russell Brown,
Guess everyone’s really stupid. Or maybe they’re just really good devices.
I fully accept that Macs don’t meet your particular needs. But they work really well for ordinary folks.
FYI this attitude is exactly why a lot of people are turned off Apple products.
Do we really need to turn someone's personal choice of telephone / laptop / tablet / television / toaster into a dividing line between "ordinary folks" and the rest? Please.
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Hard News: The Solemnity of the Day,
Surely voting distortion due to Canada's numerous timezones pales in comparison to the distortion caused by their FPP electoral system..
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Hard News: The price is that they get to…,
Existing Spotify subscribers don't have to link with Facebook.. yet. I've been a paid up subscriber for a year or so now. If they force me to link my account with Facebook (*), they're gone. That will make me sad and mad.
Some big companies who should (ie. do) know better are pushing the envelope in an ugly direction. Taking advantage of users' naivety on privacy issues to push through app linkages without explaining the data sharing. It's practically malware. Here, read this guardian article but before you do just click this wee button first..
Websites bend over backwards to explain cookie usage - and in the UK will soon be forced to make all cookies OPT-IN - but the privacy implications of agreeing to an "app" link in Facebook are pretty much swept under the carpet.
* A friend of mine recently did enable the spotify-facebook link. it immediately flooded the facebook timeline with every single track he played/changed. How is that useful?? For a smart company spotify sure does some stupid things.
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Hard News: I'm not a "f***ing cyclist".…, in reply to JackElder,
Those opinion pieces are gross.
It's a lovely day out there, by the way. Get on yer bike and get some fresh air.
I did! Had half a day to kill in Auckland so I hired a bike from BikeCentral in Britomart and hit the road - along the waterfront to St Helliers and back then up to the museum and over and up to the top of Mt Eden. Paced with some guy in sponsored gear for a while and had a day of it. Drivers were generally courteous with just two cars passing much too close - there was a painted median strip so plenty of room for them to move around.. it's like they couldn't bear to be seen to yield space to a bike (speculation).
I'm off to Wellington for the weekend tomorrow. Might be worth hiring a bike there too?