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news
Live blog
Uber’s latest PR stunt? A cycling pub where you can pedal to generate electricity… and pay £5.50 for Happy Hour pints; BBC catch flak for calling camera cyclists “vigilantes”; Pogačar’s rainbow jersey; WTF electrical box bike? + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Uber carbon negative cycling pub London (credit: Uber)08:05
Uber’s latest PR stunt? A carbon-negative pop-up cycling pub where you can pedal to generate electricity… and pay £5.50 for ‘Happy Hour’ pints
They say you work hard, but the PR industry works harder — and now in Uber’s latest PR move, you are invited to be a part of a carbon-negative pop-up cycling pub, where you can pedal while sipping on overpriced pints to generate electricity.
The pop-up called 55k Tonnes is set to open in Westminster for two days between October 7-9, claims to be the first-of-its-kind that is capable of generating more electricity than it uses. And it’s aiming to do so by inviting the drinkers to sit on a power bike and pedal — besides being equipped with Pavegen floor, which apparently transforms footsteps into electricity. Oh, and also, there’s “carbon neutral” beers.
The company said that the name 55k Tonnes is to celebrate the 55,000 tonnes of air pollution reduced in London due to Uber's electrification efforts since 2021, with almost 30 per cent of its journey taking place through electric cars in London.
But let’s get to the point, what’s on the tap, you ask? Well, it’s Swell, brewed by South London’s Gipsy Hill Brewing, on draft, a lager made from regeneratively grown, bio-diverse barley from Wildfarmed. The beer app Untapped tells me, Swell is “light and crisp, with refreshing florals and a lick of melon. Everything you want from a lager… just a little bit better for the planet.”
And if you make your way after 5:50pm, you can get yourself a cheeky discount and grab a pint for… £5.50. Yep, that’s London beer prices for you!
So tell me if I’m getting this wrong, it’s basically the infamous beer bikes which appeared in Belfast and Bristol (and Edinburgh too, before it ended up being seized by the police), but you just… sit in one place while reminding yourself to pedal — otherwise you’re not doing your bit to be a good citizen of planet earth and generate some electricity?
For context, in 2023, each mile that a passenger travelled on Uber resulted in an average generation of 191 grams of CO₂ in Europe (or 119 grams of CO₂ per kilometre), while a 2020 study also found that ride-hailing trips resulted in an estimated 69% more climate pollution, on average, than the trips they displace.
But I’ll give it to them, they tried and it’s an interesting concept… maybe not just for everyone — although, every cyclist who’s dreamed of downing a drink while on your Zwift or Peloton (I say dreamed because if you’ve already done it, why? And yes, we’d definitely like to speak to you), you can now do it with your mates too.
But either way, let us know what do you make of it? If you're in London, are you planning to go down (on a bike, I imagine) and have a pint? Or are you going to give it a skip and stick to the good ol', same ol' ale at your local pub?
10:37
“Amazing to see the BBC getting this wrong”: Camera cyclist who helped police catch hundreds of drivers “disappointed” in BBC for labelling him as “vigilante”, as Adam Tranter and other cyclists also criticise BBC for now-corrected “mistake”
The Beeb’s done a report on the cyclist some might know by his Twitter username 'Tim on two wheels', titled: ‘The cyclist helping to catch hundreds of bad drivers’, and it’s already stirred up a pothole-sized controversy.
Although they have edited to make the correction, the original edition of the report described Tim as a “vigilante cyclist” — something that was pointed out in the live blog comments by road.cc reader Hirsuite, as well as on Twitter by Adam Tranter, the former walking and cycling commissioner for West Midlands.
Tranter wrote: “A vigilante is someone who attempts to apprehend and punish someone who has committed a crime, without the involvement of law enforcement.
“A person who encounters a potential crime and passes evidence to police is called a witness. Amazing to see the BBC getting this wrong.”
It's even more disappointing when you're the cyclist involved. Thank you for raising this Adam. Very poor show from BBC Online.
— Tim on two wheels (@2wheelsgoodBrum) October 4, 2024
Tim himself has also replied to Tranter’s post, saying: “It's even more disappointing when you’re the cyclist involved. Thank you for raising this Adam. Very poor show from BBC Online.”
He added: “The article has now been changed. They were very apologetic. It's a journalistic cliche.”
In case you missed it, CyclingMikey also appeared on the BBC Breakfast morning show, and had to correct the presenters when they once again referred to camera cyclists as “vigilantes”.
Other cyclists were also critical of the BBC, one person writing: “Oh they know what they're doing, it’s deliberate clickbait anti-cycling misinformation.”
Another cyclist pointed out that the image used as the lead picture for the BBC’s report is not even one from the helmet cam — or any camera of a cyclist, but instead taken from a car’s dash cam.
Neil Tattersall wrote: “More ridiculous when you consider that the image used has clearly been captured by a car driver. Fancy, another driver shopping ‘one of their own’. The ‘us and them’ narrative is pathetic. It’s not journalism, it’s not even ‘reporting,’ it’s just low-ball, clickbait ‘othering’.”
10:10
Pogačar's new rainbow jersey is ready, and it's gorgeous...
Talk about a thing of beauty...
The Slovenian is set to don the rainbow bands for the first time tomorrow at the Italian one-day race Giro Dell'Emilia, and UAE Team Emirates have finally revealed the updated world championship jersey, and bless the team and its designers for not cluttering the area under the stripes with a sponsor logo. On the flip side, white shorts???
09:21
Brand-new edition of "WTF is this?": Decoy electric bike that is "least likely to be stolen" because it looks like a... electrical box
Welcome to the internet, which can sometimes be a bizarre and uncanny place with bizarre and uncanny things. And in the latest update of bizarre and uncanny cycling-adjacent things, we've got this shocking contraption for you...
Frankie La Penna, a social media figure, known for his, erm, cakes, captioned the video: "This is how to get the BEST parking spot at every sporting event / concert known to man."
"This is the least likely to be stolen electric bike of all-time. You can leave it sitting in front of thousands of people and no one will even look at it. And in case you can't tell, this is designed to mimic as an electrical box. When you park it next to one, the resemblance is shocking. Beneath all the metal panels, is just a regular e-bike purchased from the internet."
Yeah, that is without a doubt one of the craziest things I've seen all week (and that's saying something, because I did see Kneecap perform live in Cardiff) — and somehow, this boxy design still looks better as an e-bike than Elon Musk's Cybertruck looks as a boxy 4x4.
08:53
Near Miss of the Day 917: “Don’t get angry because a cyclist is faster than you” – Bin lorry driver “using vehicle as a weapon” misses filtering cyclist by “six inches max”
Another edition of the Near Miss of the Day series, this time from Bournemouth...
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
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Im pretty sure you are wrong. There was an interview (on Road.cc I think) where it clearly stated that they owned the moulds.
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Obviously her idea of leisure is to cycle around Stretford Town Centre.
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17 comments
Given the BBC's incorrect use of the word ("vigilante" cyclist)... and how almost none of us (camera cyclists) actually attempt to issue our own punishment on drivers...
Is it worth pointing out that there are actually a lot of VIGILANTE DRIVERS around, as seen by the numerous clips online showing drivers doing punishment passes and other actions that would count as taking the law/punishment into their (driver's) own hands when they incorrectly think cyclists have done something wrong?
Travis Bickle dressed from head to toe in lycra.
I wouldn't go anywhere near another Uber product if you already use them for something else ..
Couple had a claim following a crash and life changing injuries in a Uber ... it was rejected because of an Uber Eats agreement forces arbitration and removes ability to claim through courts.
[Article explains far better than me]
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/02/nx-s1-5136615/uber-car-crash-lawsuit-uber...
I think Disney also tried this recently - your injury at Disneyland is covered by the arbitration agreement you signed when you got a free one week trial of Disney+
The app is Untappd not Untapped. And £5.50 is a cheap price for a draft lager in central London, something like Madri would be £7, but maybe it's cheap because you missed in it's detail on Untappd, it's 0.5% abv, it's an alcohol free beer.
Pedantry corner: that's not a decoy e-bike; it's a camouflaged e-bike*. A decoy e-bike would be something that looked like an e-bike, but wasn't (or was, but was a cheap, duff one) deployed to distract people from nicking your actual e-bike.
Also, isn't £5.50 cheap for a pint pretty much anywhere these days?
[* Edit: except OnYerBike is correct - it's a camouflaged e-moped/e-motorbike]
More for pedantry corner.
Thats not Pogs World Championship Jersey --- its his World Champs Skinsuit.
Pedantry corner #3
Bless the UCI, they have 20 pages of rules on where the logos can go:
RE the electrical box "e-bike" - to be clear, I very much assume this would not qualify as an EAPC (for one thing it doesn't appear to have pedals) and so would, in the UK, be considered an electric motorbike.
I've got a thing against cycle generated electricity despite it seeming like a great idea. The problem is the economics and that people are rubbish at producing power - solar panels are almost always cheaper and far more effective. As a gimmick, it works okay, but reminds me too much of a Black Mirror episode.
Wait - are you saying I have to ditch all my dynamo-powered lights?! (Well - "magneto" properly I think?)
Also agree that this is perhaps a fun gimmick but nonsense in general, although there may be specific instances where very inefficient human power is actually a good idea (e.g. because working together fulfils a social function, or having to put effort into something means people value it more, or for reasons of resilience and sustainability it's just not a good idea to start on some high-tech solutions).
More anti cycling bollocks from the BBC
Although they have corrected it.
No comment on the cyclist using the motorway though.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly29m5rrd4o
I believe the cyclist in question is on here at 0715 (and 30 secs)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0023gjg
The corrected version of the article and the piece on BBC Breakfast (which also featured Mikey) are more balanced - though the Breakfast presenters were desperately trying and failing to make it a wedge issue.
I wonder what prompted the amendment.
I hope they learn the meaning of vigilante and how it does NOT apply to most of us.
Where does the cyclist use the motorway?
Christmas Day 2020, being unable to see the family due to the pandemic Mrs H and I did a 200 mile ride on Zwift for charity (100 miles each, alternating 20 mile segments) to which many road.cc readers generously subscribed, helping raise over £1450 for the charity Toilet Twinning which builds sanitary facilities in some of the poorest areas on earth. Anyway, the last five miles of my final stint were definitely accompanied by a Christmas pint of real ale and indeed a festive cigar!
Chapeau. Did my first Festive 500 (indoors only; does it even count) last year. Not a big drinker anymore, but did enjoy eating yule log on the trainer.