Britain's top cycling city - what's your choice?

jamescw

Cycling Plus have ranked Britain's 20 biggest cities in order of bike-friendliness and concluded that Bristol is the country's top cycling city:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/c ... ersy-25634

Of course, not everyone agrees, and the article has provoked plenty of debate. So, which of the 10 cities that came highest in the list do you think should have come out on top?

Ginjafro

Plymouth was ranked 10th! The ranking was dependent on a number of factors as follows:

* Number of cycling club members (British Cycling or CTC affiliated)
* Percentage of cycle commuters
* Number of Cyclescheme (biggest providers of tax-free bikes through the Government's Cycle to Work scheme) members
* Levels of asthma-causing PM10 diesel fumes
* Likelihood of rain/snow/sleet
* Extent of traffic-free greenways and National Cycle Network routes
* Number of independent bike shops
* Annual cycling casualties
* Bicycle theft levels
* Road quality

As far as I am concerned, commuting without fear of conflicting with mad motorists, crappy roads and provision of decent cycling lanes/routes I am stunned Plymouth features so high in such a list.

cee

I voted edinburgh....

but havn't commuted cycle commuted in any other CITIES and base my vote on the ease of access to mountain biking in scotland.

lost_in_thought

It's hard to say without having cycled in all of them, and I really doubt there are many people who have.

As mentioned, what makes a good cycling city is mostly the quality of the layout and the driving, and the provision of cycle shops.

I'm surprised london doesn't feature.

CdrJake

How the hell did Plymouth even figure on the list, let alone at number 10?

Cycling around of through that city is a truely terrifying experiance and I have cycled in London!

Bus drivers are determined to run you off the road, car drivers make your life as difficult and dangrous as possible and and the City Council know nothing of maintence when it comes to cycle paths.

As for bike thefts. I have had two stolen in Plymouth, one stolen in London and non stole in Portsmouth.

Porgy

I always found cycling round Plymouth to be a pretty enjoyable experience - with notable exceptions being some of the main roads.

Plus you've got easy access to the coast, Dartmoor, Cornwall, etc.

But I'm really really surprised that London isn't top of that list - it's light years ahead of Plymouth imo. Never cycled in those other cities - but been to a few and can't say any of them seemed that special in terms of facilities and bike shops.

cjcp

"Britain's 10 biggest cities" needs rephrasing.

Also, what does the number of BC/CTC members have to do with cycle-friendliness?

I've cycled in Cardiff. Much less traffic than London. It seems all right from a pure cycling point of view.

EDIT: I suppose this is the commuter's version of the Top 10 Footballlers of All Time. There will never be agreement.

supersonic

York is pretty good, except for the general poor level of cycling ability shown by many when I lived there.

Spiffington

York isn't bad. There are several decent, independent bike shops, plus the obligatory Evans and Halfords, for a start. There are plenty of bike lanes and paths on my commute, but they don't come anywhere near joining up. So you're left to cycle on the roads the rest of the time, where the surface was already in poor condition before the ice took large chunks out of it in January. (The potholes have been filled in, but the resulting surface is rather miserable).

There are plenty of other cyclists on the streets, and drivers seem to happily coexist and drive sensibly around them. Londoners' posts in the "rants" thread seem alien to me. The worst I ever see is drivers pulling up at traffic lights too far to the left, leaving little to no room for cyclists to filter past to the ASL.

supersonic

Yes, I never had any problems with cars in York - just cyclists!

gaz545

I've cycled mainly in London and Plymouth.

I would rate london over plymouth everyday. The roads in plymouth are mainly narrow, any cycle lanes are utter rubbish, off road facilities aren't great. and drivers treat you like crap due to the low numbers of cyclists on the road.

rjsterry

I've cycled in London, Cardiff and Bristol, and while I enjoy cycling in all of them, I think it's very difficult to rank them as they are such different cities, in overall size, topography, road layout and characteristics and volume of traffic, to name a few. I think these factors have at least as much effect on what the city is like to cycle in as the cycling specific features such as cycle paths, racks, clubs and so on. Apples and oranges I think.

Porgy

gaz545 wrote:

I've cycled mainly in London and Plymouth.

I would rate london over plymouth everyday. The roads in plymouth are mainly narrow, any cycle lanes are utter rubbish, off road facilities aren't great. and drivers treat you like crap due to the low numbers of cyclists on the road.

I'm taking my bike down to Plymouth in 3/4 weeks - and will be cycling round there for first time in 15 years. I really hope it's not going to be an unpleasant experience.

gaz545

Porgy wrote:

gaz545 wrote:

I've cycled mainly in London and Plymouth.

I would rate london over plymouth everyday. The roads in plymouth are mainly narrow, any cycle lanes are utter rubbish, off road facilities aren't great. and drivers treat you like crap due to the low numbers of cyclists on the road.

I'm taking my bike down to Plymouth in 3/4 weeks - and will be cycling round there for first time in 15 years. I really hope it's not going to be an unpleasant experience.

It depends where you going.. the city centre and surrounding built up areas are a pain to cycle in, much worse than london imo. go a bit further out and it's fine.

AndyManc

Very few people on this forum cycle in other cities (certainly no enough to give an informed opinion) so I'm afraid this poll is doomed . :?

.

beverick

CdrJake wrote:

How the hell did Plymouth even figure on the list, let alone at number 10?

Similarly Leeds where the local authority haven't got a clue. In fact, in the last year they've taken to removing cycle facilities and making cyclists part of traffic calming.

It's a disgrace that this incompetent authority is even considered in such a list.

Bob

Rothsay

Daytime cyclists in York are not so bad, apart from the few to whome traffic lights don't seem to exist. It is when the sun goes down when the idiots are revealed -dim or no lights, dark clothing, no reflective gear. They may as well write 'knock me down' on their backs.

Apart from that there are plenty of bike shops and it is generally pretty good for cycling.

OldSkoolKona

Missing the two top places for cycling in my experience - London and Cambridge. Safety in numbers in both cases :-)

deebizzle

Am bit confused by why Bristol always gets so highly rated all the time... Is it mostly for the investment they've made in "leisure" cycling areas like Leigh Woods and Ashton Court?

I ask as when I've ridden on the roads there- the cycle lanes and driver awareness (i.e not getting too close/being wary of cyclists) are inferior to what I encounter every day in London...

Am not trying to start any fights over it (I grew up in Brizzle in fact) but not sure why it gets the hype...

alfablue

Yesterday I used my helmet cam for the first time and recorded this footage in Muller Road, Bristol. The road has been narrowed presumably for a new pedestrian crossing. Whilst a crossing is probably a good thing, the result of this narrowing is that only one vehicle (and no bike) can pass through at one time. As a consequence, cars will be accelerating to beat me to the narrowing, I daresay if I rode this route often, sooner or later a motorist would make a "mistake" and force me into the kerb (or hit me!). This is even worse than the usual pinch-points caused by crossing points, at least these are short, this one looks like it is about 50m long, so drivers are even less willing to wait. Surely there is a better solution . . .

This seems to be extremely cycle-unfriendly in Britain's first Cycling City! :evil:

View the video here.

AndyManc

alfablue wrote:

Yesterday I used my helmet cam for the first time and recorded this footage in Muller Road, Bristol. The road has been narrowed presumably for a new pedestrian crossing. Whilst a crossing is probably a good thing, the result of this narrowing is that only one vehicle (and no bike) can pass through at one time. As a consequence, cars will be accelerating to beat me to the narrowing, I daresay if I rode this route often, sooner or later a motorist would make a "mistake" and force me into the kerb (or hit me!). This is even worse than the usual pinch-points caused by crossing points, at least these are short, this one looks like it is about 50m long, so drivers are even less willing to wait. Surely there is a better solution . . .

This seems to be extremely cycle-unfriendly in Britain's first Cycling City! :evil:

View the video here.

Same where I live (and cycle) , Stockport council seem to be very fond of dumping pedestrian crossing islands in the middle of the road with zero concern for cyclists, it's incompetence on a national scale and a true reflection of attitudes towards cycling in this country.


.

alfablue

I've just had a thought, there seems to be a dropped kerb, are they thinking of making it a section of pavement cycle path, so we can mow the people down waiting to cross??? Surely not . . .

Or maybe its a crossing just for cyclists? I'd have to take it all back.

alfablue

Oh dear, it is a bike path. Interesting pictures here showing how it makes a good parking space for WVM.

http://bristolcars.blogspot.com/2010/03 ... uncil.html

tomb353

can't imagine why Newcastle is there, would be interested to see the underlying data which led to the league table.

Thomsonp811

Well I have cycled in Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Watford soon to start in London.

Edinburgh was pretty good, though that was a few years ago now, Manchester was fine, Watford is poor and Bristol is terrible. I have been cycling there for a couple of years and the road system is terrible, the drivers dangerous and the bus drivers are even worse. It is the only place I have ever been intentionally rammed by a car, nearly knocked over by a bus.

The thing is like all these polls they are so subjective, even with the amount of academic rigour this one has, and so it is impossible to come up with one that everyone agrees with. Also there are good bits of any town and bad bits so it depends where you are in the town.

gabriel959

cambridge is deffo a good place to cycle. Never cycled in any other city but would rate higher than london and lincoln for what i have seen.

Porgy

gabriel959 wrote:

cambridge is deffo a good place to cycle. Never cycled in any other city but would rate higher than london and lincoln for what i have seen.

I'll be cycling in Cambridge at the end of July. I'll report back my thoughts wrt London v. Cambridge after that.

gabriel959

doing the london to cambridge by any chance?

Porgy

gabriel959 wrote:

doing the london to cambridge by any chance?

No - doing my own thing - Dunwich dynamo to - er - dunwich then heading up the coast to Norfolk, round to the wash, then back to cambridge where my aunt and uncle live. I'll have a good old cycle round when I get there. after that I'm heading back to Suffolk, and going back to London through Essex and across the Dartford Bridge.

gabriel959

wow, that is some cycle you are doing. If you are here on a sunday in cambridge you can always join us for a club ride. I also dont know you could cycle the dartford bridge.

Porgy

gabriel959 wrote:

wow, that is some cycle you are doing. If you are here on a sunday in cambridge you can always join us for a club ride. I also dont know you could cycle the dartford bridge.

thanks for offer - I'll be arriving back in London on Sunday.

there's a land rover and a trailer that takes you over the bridge - I can't imagine how "exciting" it would be to actually cycle over it. :shock: