Save the Mailstar

The Pashley Mailstar is an instantly recognisable British institution.  It is no Yuba Mundo or Madsen Bucket Bike but it has a respectable capacity for mail.  Few know it by name but everyone will recognise the bike in the picture above, used for decades by the Royal Mail for local deliveries.  It offers several obvious advantages over thing such as trolleys (only move at walking speed), walking alone (slower, lower load capacity) and motorised transport (a whole array of environmental, cost and social problems).  It even offers a further advantage; healthier workers take fewer sick days.  But now the Mailstar is under threat from the management.  Their motivations are unclear; the blanket “health and safety concerns” excuse has been trotted out but anyone who rides knows it must be covering up some other internal political reason.  Perhaps Royal Mail has been offered a deal for cheap vans from an automotive manufacturer and ditching the iconic bikes is part of the deal, perhaps the pension pot is being stretched too thin for the management’s taste by the extended life-spans of the former cycle-posties. 

Most companies would (or should) be considering moving towards a sustainable, bicycle-based alternative to their transport needs where possible.  It strikes me as odd that Royal Mail would move away from this established infrastructure they already have at a time when transport sustainability is increasingly important to us all.  If there is a save the Mailstar campaign, count me in, I think the public would not like to see these icons disappear and by raising awareness (for example by whingeing about it in a blog) maybe we can save them before it is too late.

Infamy

I love my Yuba Mundo.  It has been more useful than I expected it would be.  Shopping is a breeze and I no longer have to pass on those bulk discounts or car-oriented larger products.  Towing a bike has been a much more regular use of the Yuba than I anticipated and is a good way to pick up friends from the city centre.  Carrying people is also fun and surprisingly easy, providing you do not mind going a bit slower than usual and I expect that people with children will find riding with them on the back quite easy.

The longest heavy duty ride I have done was to IKEA in Ashton.  IKEA is one of those places which is designed around the car-culture and I was pleasantly surprised to find bike parking (Although it had no road access).  I bought a pair of Billy bookcases and added them to my two pannier bags of supplies making a load in excess of 50 kg.  The ride home was surprisingly enjoyable, the bike handled well under load, the uphills were manageable and the downhills were incredible.  I think I got from Ashton centre to Manchester Piccadilly station in around 15 minutes.

I have done a fairly long (50 km) ride on the Yuba with a lighter load, to Oldham and then Rochdale and then back along the Rochdale canal.  It is quite crap between Failsworth and Manchester so we took the road for that section, but the rest of the route is enjoyable, even as far as Hebden Bridge and beyond.

The most unexpected ability the Yuba has is to grant the owner a kind of infamy.  I have been asked by acquaintances, co-workers and even completely random people if I am the guy with the giant orange bike.  It is quite cool in a way but hopefully the effect will die off if the cargo bike concept catches on with a few more people.

Metrolink Hostility

A reader has suggested that I cover the news of Manchester Metrolink’s recent vote to continue its hostile policy towards cyclists.  I am not a fan of the Metrolink, mainly because its expansion has come at the expense of proper railways.  The only parts which were purpose built are the city centre sections.  These are the only parts of the Metrolink network which provide an advantage over trains, allowing transport within the city centre.  When you look at journeys made with this part of the network, it is easy to realise just how small the centre of Manchester is and how unnecessary this bespoke part of the Metrolink network is.  For example, if you live in Bury and were to get the train into Manchester to go to the Arndale before the Metrolink, you would have to walk from Victoria Station to Market Street (Back then you could have brought your bike with you for the trip too).  Nowadays that isn’t a problem, the tram removes this arduous slog from the aforementioned trip.  A quick look at a map however, and it is easy to realise that you could have easily walked the 700 metres from the station to the Market Street tram stop in the same amount of time.

The point I am trying to make is that the Metrolink is only useful for getting about in a city centre environment and shouldn’t be used as an expensive replacement for real railways.  In a city centre as compact as Manchester’s, it is completely useless anyway.  At least if they hadn’t closed the railways people could move their bikes around the longer distances which the Metrolink expansions aim to cover.  The most baffling thing I have come across is the planned Manchester Airport expansion, if bicycles cannot be squeezed onto a tram then what about a family of four going on holiday for two weeks, complete with luggage?

I don’t want to take a bicycle on the Metrolink.  I just want my trains back.

New Brakes

I have had the Yuba Mundo for over a month now and I have found it to be both useful and fun to ride.  I have never been much of a fan of V-brakes, mainly because you need to keep your wheel rim true in order to be able to keep the pads close enough to the rim to provide enough stopping power.  The lack of disc mounts on the Yuba frame did put me off slightly, but the Surly Big Dummy was far too expensive and the Kona Ute was not as capable when it comes to load carrying (It is still a useful bike, Bicycle Doctor on Dickenson Road in Rusholme has a one-off 2008 Kona Ute for an excellent £400 pounds right now, in addition to the ugliest website I have ever seen).  Both of these lacked the Yuba’s side rails.

Eventually I decided that the Yuba would be fine as I could replace the fork and get disc brake mounts that way, after all the only appreciable braking force is provided by the front brake anyway (I tend to think of back brakes as a way of carrying spare parts with you).  I managed to grab a rigid disc-compatible fork from eBay for not too much.  It is similar to the Kona P2 fork or the Surly Big Dummy’s fork.  Replacing the antiquated threaded fork and headset with a modern threadless fork and sealed aheadset was surprisingly simple and I would advise anyone to give it a go.  If you need to cut the steerer tube I would advise getting help with that if it is your first fork installation.  If you check online for help on installing a fork you will likely be told you need various specialist tools such as a star-nut installer, race remover or installer and a bearing cup press.  Reassuringly, as with most precision jobs it is reasonably easy to replace all of these tools with a hammer and a flat-head screwdriver.

Once the fork and wheel was on I installed the disc brake caliper.  I decided to opt for an Avid Juicy 5 with a 185 mm rotor for that extra stopping power when carrying a load.

This was my first dabble with hydraulic disc brakes and so far I am quite impressed with their power and the pleasant feel of the lever.  My only complaint is that the brake only comes with a post mount adapter, I had to fudge a shimano 180 mm rotor adaptor to fit it to my IS fork.  The post mount adaptor simply required two threaded holes in order to be a dual purpose post mount and IS mount adapter but Avid seems more interested in trying to gouge some extra cash from its customers.  Nevermind, at least the adapter I bought was made by another company.

Here is the Yuba before the fork switch.

Here it is following the switch.  I think the black looks good, shame I couldn’t get an orange fork, but at least it still looks quite nice.

Yuba Mundo first impressions

I have recently been fortunate enough to acquire a Yuba Mundo from a bike specialist near Preston called Practical Cycles.  The Mundo is a purpose built long-tail cargo bike tested to carry loads in excess of 200 kg.  The frame size and capacity allows it to carry two adult passengers or a large amount of shopping, I have tested mine with another person on the back and the frame seemed to have no problem supporting the two of us.  Unloaded the Mundo rides only slightly differently to a normal bike, noticeable mainly at very low speeds.  Even when loaded with a passenger the bike behaves like a normal bike after reaching 10 km.h^-1 or so which is very impressive.  The main thing which has struck me whilst I have been riding the Mundo is just how comfortable the bike is to ride.  Part of this is probably due to the sit-up and beg riding position which is absent when I ride on my other bike, with the rest down to the extended wheelbase which helps to smooth out the bumps in the road.  I will continue to write about my Yuba Mundo impressions but so far it seems like the ideal car replacement for the ethical person wishing to carry more shopping than can be done on a conventional bike or on the bus (especially the unusual loads) or to carry children (two babies in seats or three under 8s on the rack).

Places not to cycle in Manchester #1

In addition to the places in Manchester which provide a pleasant dedicated cycleway such as the Fallowfield Loop, there are also many roads which are pleasant to ride along.  The best Manchester road riding can generally be found on streets without cycle lanes, due to the incompetent efforts of the local council in providing a cycling “infrastructure” which takes the form of inconsistent cycle lanes which often take you onto the pavement (such as at the precinct near Whitworth Hall off Oxford Road).  The problem with these lanes is that people waking in the vicinity of these clearly-marked green cycle lanes seem to unconsciously gravitate towards them like some kind of retarded moth, forcing any cyclist who uses the lane to slow down to walking speed, rendering them pointless.  An additional problem with this particular example of a road-adjacent cycle lane is that it is approximately 500 m long, and if you are heading south it requires you to cross the road twice at two sets of lights which are set to give you a disadvantage (I just use the road).

The situation with on-road cycle lanes is not much better.  Take Parrs Wood Road as an example, providing a potential alternative to Wilmslow Road or Kingsway  for those travelling from Fallowfield to Parrs Wood or Didsbury.  I can see the logic in putting a cycle lane in on this road in theory, however because it is a residential area and the cycle lane is not coupled with double-yellow lines, the whole cycle lane is rendered useless by the sheer number of parked cars in the cycle lane.  I would go as far as to say that the council have actually reduced cyclists’ safety on that particular road due to the effect of risk compensation on the part of motorists who generally see that white line and the 8 mm of green tarmac and then switch off with respect to checking adequately for cyclists.

Seymore Grove links Chorlton to Old Trafford and acts as a link between the Fallowfield Loop and the River Irwell/Salford Quays.  It is also home to one of the narrowest cycle lanes I have encountered in Manchester:

I feel I can highlight this further with an action-shot:

Now bikes, as we all know are fairly narrow vehicles.  You may think me old-fashioned for feeling that a lane designed for a particular vehicle should be at least slightly wider than said vehicle, but it’s just one of my quirks.  The first picture highlights another issue I have with the cycle lane policy of the local councils, the cycle lane puts the cyclist directly in the door-zone of the cars parked on the roadside, which puts anyone who uses it in danger.  If the lane simply did not exist then cyclists would feel more comfortable riding outside of the door-zone without encountering aggressive “Back in yer lane” behaviour from motorists.

How not to lock your bike

Bike theft is a terrible thing, not least because its quite easy to become attached to the bike which has been almost an extension of your body since a few weeks after that first ride.  Its also quite galling because you know that the police, through a combination of lack of resources and apathy see bicycle theft as a, “non-serious crime.”  Obviously it helps to have bike insurance, make a note of your frame number (stamped into the bottom bracket shell) and possibly register it with a service such as Immobilise (this should stop some of the less dodgy pawn shops from buying your bike from a thief).  The main line of defence is the lock, but even then the best locks can be let down by the stupidity of their owners:

 

Take this classic example, the D-lock was a good choice, but just slinging it around your top-tube and through a Sheffield stand doesn’t magically protect the rest of your bike components, especially if you have quick-release (“easy-steal”) wheels.

Sometimes I see the D-lock through top-tube lock in conjunction with a cable through the wheels, which is a slight improvement but brings me neatly to my second point; D-locks aren’t invulnerable to leverage attacks, and leaving a big section of your “D” not filled-up with bike just makes it all the easier to break it open with a scaffolding pole and 15 seconds to spare.  Its also worth remembering that a thief will choose the bike where the leverage attack on the lock won’t leave the bike un-rideable or in need of repair, so the top tube is the worst place to thread-through your D-lock (apart from the front-wheel only; around Manchester you’ll see the occasional colourful-rimmed hipster wheel alone on a Sheffield stand, its owner having seen fit to secure the rest of the bicycle with nothing more than the front wheel nuts or QR skewer).

The best way I have found to use a D-lock is to put it through the seat stays and back wheel rim and Sheffield stand, and use cables to lock up anything else you’re not willing to lose.  This has the effect of reducing the leverage attack area for some scumbag with a scaffolding pole, whilst giving me the satisfaction of knowing that if they do get my bike, they’re probably not riding it anywhere anytime soon.