If you wish to proceed we’ll book your bike in at the earliest opportunity. My last big employer only got their 2000+ person office approved by including active travel provisions. Huge number of secure bike parking spaces in the undercroft, showers, lockers, kent bayside cruiser changing rooms, even a repair hub. There is not a single situation where anyone visiting this factory has no alternative but to drive themselves there. Taxis will be allowed, Disabled parking will be provided, Courier vans will be catered for.
National Highways has since acknowledged Brompton’s willingness to put these contingency plans in place, but says, however, that “this matter will have a bearing on trip generation, since if employees can drive and can park, many may do so”. However, the active travel-centred nature of the £100m scheme now appears to have been the catalyst for a series of delays to the project. Explore trails that aren’t on the app but clearly exist
right here, right now, in real life.
However there were definitely some deliberate and questionable choices around plumping for cars and mass motoring – made by smart, powerful individuals and groups. Some of whom were definitely looking further down the track. There are some data points worth pondering like the invention of jay-walking in the US (literally transforming victims into criminals), the leaded petrol case and many more.
Some simple repairs are quick and can sometimes be carried out on the spot whilst other repairs can require more time and possibly require a part ordering in. All bikes purchased from Halfords come with a 12-month warranty against manufacturing defects. Bikes purchased after 1 January 2018 also come with a
lifetime guarantee on frames and rigid forks.
There are mounts for bottle cages, mudguards and a kickstand – all you could possible need to attach to the bike. This makes it even more practical and ready for comfortable dry riding. The brakes a mechanical disc brakes which work absolutely fine. My only concern would be the ability for the average at-home mechanic to service and fix these should they go wrong, or to perform some basic maintenance along the way.
Then we’ve got the issue of separating who can, who can’t and policing that. One of the great things about the car is it allows people to chain multiple journey tasks – and we build our lives around that ability (pick up shopping on the way home, zipping off for different activities etc). So we often start out the day in the car (maybe drop the kids off) and then we’re using it all day and want to park at destinations. This was expected and with the padded seat makes for a pleasant and easy position – like a traditional Dutch bike. If the store is too busy to complete it on the spot they will book you in at the earliest available opportunity, but this may not be the same-day.
In the two years we have been riding it we have had only one puncture. The gearing on the bike is very forgiving with a ginormous rear cassette with its big ring at 51 teeth. This is the same as mountain bikes and bigger than most gravel bikes. The result here is a super easy pedal kent bayside cruiser option for any hill you come across or to simply get away from the traffic lights quicker. Having no derailleur on the front saves on weight and also reduces servicing costs. If your bike or E-scooter is left with us for a repair or service we’ll book you into our system.