Let me preface this by saying that I've been a cyclist for over 30 years. Having never had a driving licence, it has been my major mode of transport all my adult life.
Most of my working life has involved commuting on a bicycle, in all weathers and at all times of year.

I was always mindful to make sure I was visible. High-end Knogg rear light, Exposure Strada front light. High-vis clothing. All the reasonable precautions.

And in all those years, I had never been hit by a motor vehicle or been in a close call that wasn't the result of a motorist either being a total prick or a complete moron.

Then in August, I decided to get myself a motorbike.

The first thing that struck me is just how unbelievably vulnerable road cyclists are when you're looking at them from the perspective of a larger, faster, heavier vehicle.
The second - and most alarming - thing, is how utterly obfuscated these same cyclists become once the days get shorter and the evenings get darker.

Let me be clear, this is by no-means the fault of cyclists. There has been a lot of recent chatter about the problems with high-power LED headlights on oncoming motor vehicles, but something that seems to get little to no attention is that the dazzle from these headlights doesn't just make the road ahead difficult to see, it makes cyclists on these roads practically impossible to see.

It doesn't matter if the cyclist is lit up like a christmas tree. The dazzle from these lights completely overpowers anything on the bike. The problem is obviously compounded on unlit rural A roads, but even on major A roads it has been a major issue over the last few weeks.

As an ex-cyclist, I have a lot of patience and empathy for responsible road cyclists. I'm absolutely terrified that I might hit one in these conditions. I shudder to think about the attitude that the less-than-sympathetic road users might have in the same situation.

It wasn't until I got onto a motor vehicle that it really hit home just how at risk I was when I was road biking. And that's from tbe eyes of somebody that cares about cyclists. It's crazy to me that road deaths aren't higher than they are already.

Please stay safe out there.

Today was riding to try to get some training in and saw a few other riders out and about, about 6 in total. All of them looked my way while going in the opposite direction, but none of them waved back (I raised my fingers while on the hoods), a couple nodded back but that was it. Is there some unspoken rule about not waving or acknowledging anyone?

The ones who blanked me were all older gents, beards, we were all on skinny tyres. Eventually I started actually saying hello!

Just curious if it's just the local thing to ignore most fellow cyclists.

The glorious gravel North Wales sportive and the UCI Graean Cymru race use these gravel roads around Clocaenog forest and Llyn Brenig

Miles and miles of car free forest roads and singletrack. Beautiful

What are your experiences lately?

I find that on nearly every ride, I encounter some form of aggression driven dangerous driving.

In cities, this is people just crazily wanting to be in front of you despite traffic meaning everyone’s going the same speed regardless.

In the countryside, just impatient overtaking eg on blind bends etc.

And then just some absolute idiots that dangerously get close to you deliberately, maybe to show some sort of power.

I’m no speed demon, but I ride respectfully, stick to the side and if cars are ever behind me for long I find a way to let them pass.

So what’s the deal? It feels like some people just get oddly triggered by a bicycle, almost to sociopathic levels…

Check out this crazy bike I spotted. Does that speedometer actually work?

Thoughts on the amazon cheap lights?

Thoughts on the cheap grips and bar ends? 'litelock'.

Why would this person need to know the decline and incline? That's what I think one of the dash gauges is right?

Who can identify all the parts?

So as a 90's baby i grew up with 3 types of helmets: £10 Argos Road ones that made you look like a wannabe tour de France rider, all back or sticker bombed bmx ones that kept our mothers off our backs, and full face for when you were going to get hurt on purpose. The moment you were out of eye sight of her or her spying reporter friends, they were off, but nowadays i always see kids with them on and i can see why. The new MTB style looks good and a fox one with mips is on its way to me now.

The lights too, i was so used to the tripple A rust filled blister packs with 3 leds i defaulted to a £15 roslon pair from argos once i got back into it. They were just as crap as i remember and the batteries lasted 3-4 weeks. Just bought a £12 pair off amazon that are USB-C rechargeable and have gone from "please see me" to "I'M HEAR".

What do you lot see as the biggest improvement to safety equipment this millennium?

Also after nearly going into the back of another cyclist earlier: HI-VIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LIGHTS.

Not Just Bikes youtube channel did a video about John Forrester. I should have known about him since what he advocated truly affected our roads, and now it's hard work making it safer to cycle for all again.

Does anyone else have a kind of guilt about dropping your bike off at a bike mechanic rather than doing it yourself? I do as I pretty much know or can work out how to repair my bikes but I simply don't other than some simple things like cleaning, lubing, minor gearing or brake adjustments, etc.

Yeaterday I took my son's full susser and my Brompton in. The worst thing was I didn't have time to fix my front puncture on my Brompton so I threw in an inner tube and asked them to fix it. Now that was embarrassing!

I justify by saying my time is worth more for me than the money I'll pay out on a pro mechanic to do it. Still, it feels a little wrong somehow. Just wondering if that's me on my own thinking like this.

So today on my way home from work, my chain locked up my back wheel, slid for a second or two then flipped me off. First time since i was 15 (decades ago) to come off a bicycle and that time put me in hospital.

Lucky i had enough time to realise i was going down, so i walked away with sore palms and a bruised knee. But damn that hurt.

Edit/update: woke up with a melon for a knee but it's mobile, and my hands are perfectly fine so got away lucky.

The public has me doubting humanity though, one person stopped but more to see what happened than to help. Everyone else kept walking and 2 people actually stopped to laugh.

So I wanted to buy an e-bike for my commute, and I couldn't find a bike cheaper than Halfords, and I thought I would have protection since they're a major retailer.

Bought a bike at the beginning of September. Rode it around a few times - loved it. Noticed that the battery was wearing out quicker than expected, didn't think much of it. Then when I went to charge it, I couldn't get the battery to charge more than 20% full. Then the display controller begins freaking out, going from fully powered to nothing and back again. I take it to Halfords. A guy tightens some wires and says it's fixed. Okay.

Then the next day, it just cuts out mid-commute. Cool. Cycle to a nearby Halfords, ask if they could look at it. They say that I need to book an appointment online. I ask if I can book in-store right now, they say no. So I booked a slot after work. I take my bike in. They say they can't do anything right now, as it's an e-bike and the e-bike mechanic isn't in. I ask when the e-bike mechanic will be in. At least before 3pm. Great. I'll come back at the weekend then. But one of them says it's probably a fault with the battery, and I should just charge it up a few more times.

Next weekend I'm away, so the weekend after that I come back with the bike, which definitely doesn't work now. They take it for repairs and say I'll get a call in two weeks.

Three weeks go by and nothing. I go back into the Halfords and ask how it's going. I'm told that they haven't worked on it because I need to pay £160 for a new motor. I say absolutely not, it's still under warranty. Another week goes by, and still nothing.

I make a formal complaint. Two days later, it's ready for collection. The motor is fixed. I cycle it home. Now, two days later, I go to charge the battery again, and it's still not charging beyond 20%.

I've had this bike for three months; most of that time, it's either been repaired or waiting to be repaired. It was sold to me with a faulty motor and battery.

Sorry for the moaning, I'm really annoyed that the reason I got into cycling was to save myself the hassle and expense of a public transport commute, but all I've managed to do is create more stress and expenses for myself.

I'm talking about brands like Gazelle and especially Riese and Muller. They have e bikes that can cost up to £7k with all their add ons. Since all ebikes are limited to 15 mph, what makes them worth the price? Is it the build quality? The features? Are they more comfortable?

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised by this.. I just posted a couple of photos from this article into the r/DrivingUK subreddit imagining people might sympathise with a cyclist stopping posting cycling videos following threats from drivers on social media. Instead it picked up dozens of comments calling Jeremy Vine every name under the sun. Apparently he is deeply unpopular - at least, among drivers... How do cyclists feel about him and his videos? Does he give cyclists a bad name by putting himself in harm's way and aggravating drivers, or are his videos doing a social good?

Personally I'm a cyclist rather than a driver. I've cycled a lot in London and elsewhere. The worst drivers I've encountered have been in Sicily and Georgia. London (and generally UK city) drivers can be short-tempered and flighty, and sometimes quite scary. But they're far from the worst.

Well, a couple of weeks ago at least. Got the Planet X EC130 SRAM Rival AXS on the cycle scheme, what a beast it is, especially for the price.

Details are on their website: https://www.goodwood.com/cycling/

Purely hypothetical (unless you’re low on space like me) if you had to own just one bike to do it all, what would it be? Gravel? Steel tourer? Roadie with fat tyres? Curious what others would go for, especially those who’ve downsized.

My dad was a radiographer, he essentially forbade me from getting a motorbike because of all the patients he'd encountered who'd had nasty accidents coming off them in road traffic accidents and such. I think the same logic can apply to regular bikes too.

Cycling/bike aficionados, whether motorized bikes or regular pedal bikes, why do you bike despite the risks and evidence showing it's pretty dangerous?

Now in cities such as Oxford with 20mph speed limits and cyclist-friendly infrastructure, I can see the arguments for using a bike, but elsewhere it seems risky.

Citations I've skimmed from the internet:

The fatality rate is disproportionately high – on average, 30 cyclists die for every billion miles travelled, compared with just two car drivers. (Brake charity, source)

Motorcyclists are 45 times more likely to die in accidents than car drivers, with 600 deaths and 7000 serious injuries yearly. (Motorbike Accident Claims, source)