News

HGVs in bus lanes

Bus lanes can get pretty crowded these days. As well as buses of all sizes, they can now find themselves home to taxis, motorcycles, mopeds, scooters and tricycles (non-motorised and motorised). Oh, and in amongst all that lot, bicycles are permitted to use them as a refuge of sorts. With all this in mind, news comes that HGVs in Wales…

Beautiful infrastructure puts people first

If it’s possible to beautify an electricity pylon, why shouldn’t all infrastructure be elegant? Indeed, when physical and organisational facilities exist to serve people, and most should, beauty should perhaps be an imperative. Iceland has commissioned highly sculptural electricity pylons that resemble giant human figures striding across the countryside. The metallic structures are a powerful metaphor for our consumption of…

What is the point of the Catclaw?

It’s highly unusual for the subject of road danger to be covered objectively by the mainstream media, which is odd given the alarming frequency at which it claims the lives of children. When a four-year-old girl on a pavement in Liverpool last year was crushed to death in front of her mother by a driver who didn’t want to hold…

Greening your home – Energy efficient lighting

Like bicycles, filament bulbs are a design that has hardly changed over the last century. However, unlike a bicycle, which allows a person to travel at 10–15 mph, using no more power than they would require to walk, filament bulbs waste 95% of the electricity they use as heat. Indeed, in many homes the use of tungsten filament bulbs can…

Clever cycle storage up for grabs

The two most common questions in Tim Hoyle’s house used to be “have you seen my (enter cycling-related item of your choice here)?” and “Can you please put away your (enter cycling-related item of your choice here)?” It’s the reason he invented the Kitnetik, a clever magnetic rack that allows you to efficiently dry all of your current running or…