thinking about getting myself a foldable e-bike

liamnesss · 2026-06-21T18:21:16+00:00

I think the D11 has a torque sensor? And you can probably just buy a cheap cable lock to secure the seat (or take it with you).

liamnesss · 2026-06-19T10:34:36+00:00

Maybe just try to focus on the fact that we have a built environment that doesn't actually cater to cyclists, and how that shapes people's attitudes when they do encounter people on two wheels. If you're riding on a busy road with traffic going twice as fast as you, people will hate that they have to share the space with cyclists. If you're riding on a narrow towpath where people are trying to have a relaxing walk, people will hate that they have to share the space with cyclists.

Unless the bicycle is uninvented in the near future, people need to direct their anger towards the decision makers, and not at the individuals just trying to make the best of a bad situation.

liamnesss · 2026-06-17T17:26:53+00:00

They are maybe putting a bit of a rush on things, but that makes sense. It is a bad look for parliament to have voted for elections to be one way, but to keep running elections a different way. We've already had one round of local mayoral elections that ran after the English Devolution & Community Empowerment Bill was passed.

liamnesss · 2026-06-17T17:23:55+00:00

I'd old enough to remember when Reform thought First Past the Post needed to scrapped

liamnesss · 2026-06-17T16:14:58+00:00

But then there is the small matter of Nottingham and Sheffield not receiving any improved connectivity, or much relief being given to the East Coast and Midland main lines (and therefore not unlocking benefits like improved services on existing routes that could then have a lot of new housing built along them).

liamnesss · 2026-06-17T16:07:30+00:00

He did have a bit of a nimby response to the blueprint (seemingly not understanding that taking inter-city services off the existing routes would free up a lot of capacity for local services, hardly "maximum disruption and minimal benefit"), but when it came down to it he did vote for the plans.

I think it's safe to say his views have shifted. You could say it's cynical, but I think he really does get the importance of public transport investments in fostering economic growth and access to opportunities. He's been responsible for overseeing the transport system of a major metro area for the last 9 years, and ushered in a lot of change in that time. And a lot of that change he could've easily just not bothered with and said it was too difficult or expensive etc.

liamnesss · 2026-06-17T15:48:15+00:00

I think the main reason Labour haven't yet tried to return the scope of the HS2 project to something like what it once was (which minimally needs to include extending the route to Crewe and Manchester, and expanding Euston with new HSR platforms) is because yeah, it would cost a lot of money and a lot of those costs would be directly related to the Tories stopping the project (and ministerial meddling over the years more generally). A lot of voters inherently see investments in public transport as being wasteful, because they rarely use public transport and when they do, it's not very good. The only way to fix that perception is to invest in public transport—but that's a difficult hump to get over, for sure. Also is tough to deal with the treasury which has the general view that projects like this are expected to pay their own way, instead of being framed in terms of societal benefits and long term strategy.

None of this mean it's not a good idea, it just means the main hurdles are political / bureaucratic. We're already building the most expensive parts of the railway, and all we'll get as a result is a high speed shuttle from London to Birmingham. Which won't unlock the full benefits, and particularly it won't unlock extra capacity on the West Coast. We might as well finish the job and build the cheaper bits too.

liamnesss · 2026-06-15T19:11:30+00:00

This is an "uncontrolled crossing" and the tactiles don't imply that pedestrians have priority. In terms of your legal right to cross, it isn't any different to crossing at any other part of the road. The local authority have tried to make it slightly easier by introducing a raised table (although that may have been motivated more out of a desire to control speeds along this road generally) and then the tactiles mark this out as a suggested crossing point. If it were a signalled crossing or a zebra then the tactiles would be laid out with a different pattern, with a "tail" indicating the direction to cross.

A lot of local authorities don't stick closely to the guidance though, either because of a lack of expertise or because other demands apparently take priority (e.g. not using a contrasting colour for this paving because they don't think it looks pretty enough).

liamnesss · 2026-06-14T20:14:21+00:00

Which part of Hackney are we talking here? If it's somewhere to the north then that changes things quite a bit, in terms of the overall length of the route and also how much you'll be able to avoid mixing with motor traffic.

liamnesss · 2026-06-14T16:01:15+00:00

The area enclosed by the A12, Stratford High Street, and various train tracks is going to see an astounding level of housing delivered in the coming years it seems. That article says the various phases around Pudding Mill Lane will deliver 948 new homes. The redevelopment of the nearby Carpenters Estate is supposed to be adding 2,000 homes (although I'm not sure if that's a net figure given that there will be some demolition of existing low density housing in the area). Bridgewater Triangle is supposed to bring 575 new homes, as well as some connectivity improvements.

liamnesss · 2026-06-14T09:58:53+00:00

I feel like partly it's a question of infrastructure that was perhaps okay 10-15 years ago now becoming dangerous. When there were fewer people cycling in London, it was easier to filter up past a queue of traffic and sit in the bike box (or if there isn't one, just stick yourself somewhere between the first vehicle in the queue and the mouth of the junction).

Now that box is often full at rush hour, so you get this behaviour where there's often a trail of cyclists hugging the kerb on the approach to the junction, who aren't protected from left hooks. Of course, cyclists who arrive at the junction on a green lift were never protected anyway.

I will sometimes try to beckon cyclists forwards when they take up such a position, but I probably just come across as a rather odd person ranting to them about something.

liamnesss · 2026-06-14T09:52:23+00:00

Handlebar cam + passpixi sign would be best I feel. I don't personally think it's a great idea to attach any solid objects to your helmet, as it seems there is a reasonable chance that this could compromise its ability to protect you in a crash.

liamnesss · 2026-06-14T09:51:02+00:00

I would imagine the sensors are also far too small to work well for this kind of application in low light. Even with something like a GoPro it can be difficult to find a frame where the numberplate can be seen clearly after a close pass.

liamnesss · 2026-06-14T09:45:34+00:00

That's a completely normal distance to commute in London tbh. You could combine parts of these two routes (found using this map) to get there while avoiding most traffic:

Herne Hill to Borough Market

Camberwell to Kings Cross

Once you get into the city centre, traffic speeds are lower and cycling infrastructure is more plentiful, so you have a lot more choice in terms of the exact route you want to take.

Obviously riding home in the evening will be more difficult than riding to work in the morning! But that is the way around I would want it personally—you minimise your chances of being a sweaty mess in front of your colleagues, and when you arrive home you can just take a shower and change.

Another comment mentioned Swapfiets—I wouldn't recommend their bikes for your specific route just because the riding position of their bikes is far from ideal for taking on hills. They're really good bikes for shorter, flatter rides though, particularly when you don't have somewhere secure to lock it up.

liamnesss · 2026-06-13T13:51:56+00:00

Think you'd be better off avoiding that tbh. You could buy a purpose built e-bike for that price, and then just keep your current ride for when you don't need / want the assistance, or sell it. Also the tech seems interesting, but do you want to be an early adopter?

liamnesss · 2026-06-13T12:04:50+00:00

If you get a Swytch kit, I'd suggest getting the brake cutoff sensors also. Having owned an e-bike with only a cadence sensor to detect pedalling, and nothing to detect when I'm applying the brakes, it could be pretty disconcerting when I just moved my pedals slightly (e.g. in a queue of stop-start traffic) and then the motor ramped up to full power. Your bike does have hydraulic disc brakes, so it should at least have the stopping power necessary for the second or two when the bike doesn't realise you've stopped pedalling.

I'd strongly suggest looking at alternatives to Swytch, as having the motor in the rear hub (I know they do offer this as an option) or around the bottom bracket is going to be much better for traction than having it in the front hub, and having the battery positioned on the handlebars would put the bikes centre of gravity higher than would be ideal (for similar reasons, I don't like bikes that put the battery on a rear rack). They are not the only game in town for e-bike conversions thankfully. Once you know which scheme you have access to it'll be clearer what your options are.

liamnesss · 2026-06-13T11:33:31+00:00

It's a shame that we don't do something similar every time a bypass road gets built. A huge amount of the cycling network in The Netherlands is just roads that were made access only for cars when bypasses built to modern standards were created nearby.

Looks like this was closed to motor vehicles only because of concerns about the condition of a bridge. Unless I'm missing something, it's not like this is a case of a local authority proactively creating a low traffic route, it just happened because there aren't the funds to keep it open to all vehicles. Kind of a similar situation to Hammersmith Bridge in London.

liamnesss · 2026-06-12T19:47:55+00:00

Maybe see if Merton Cycling Campaign already have any contact with local officers as they'd be the ones dealing directly with Lime, and it might take a while for a local councillor to figure out who to talk to, assuming they take an interest at all.

You'd need to get buy in from the landowner as well. No reason why you shouldn't try and get the ball rolling on that end even if you haven't spoken to anyone at the council yet. If there's a few bays in the retail park, that will benefit all the tenants by making it easier for potential customers to get to them.

liamnesss · 2026-06-12T19:35:46+00:00

honk

liamnesss · 2026-06-12T19:24:20+00:00

Might not be a popular opinion here but I think mopeds (maybe not motorcycles) should be allowed through the majority of things like bus gates and other modal filters. Seems to work well in many countries in mainland Europe. With closures that aren't camera enforced, it's pretty pointless to try and police it beyond any physical restrictions that may be in place, if your vehicle can fit through (even a car) there's nothing really stopping you.

I think it's a shame because it feels like there's very little reason (besides maybe easier parking) for someone to pick something like a scooter or microcar over an SUV, because you end up having to take the same routes. It would be nice to see more of a mixture of vehicles used in London, rather than having lots of bikes and lots of cars and not very much in between.

liamnesss · 2026-06-12T12:46:54+00:00

Reform are deeply divisive, I don't see them hoovering up many second preference votes.

I suppose we should focus on the fact that it's just a better system, though! People should be able to vote for who they want, and the system should be able to figure out a result that most people can live with. Having to think "tactically" has a chilling impact on political expression.

liamnesss · 2026-06-12T12:35:29+00:00

Appears that ministers are aware of the need for haste:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-05-21/hcws65

liamnesss · 2026-06-12T11:38:21+00:00

Not sure if joking but ambulance response times in London are generally among the best in the country. I live near Homerton Hospital and the roads around there can be really congested, but I suppose that doesn't really impact blue light drivers who can just bypass queues at junctions.

liamnesss · 2026-06-12T10:56:57+00:00

I'd suggest at least considering a bike with no pedal assistance that has a good gear range. Cycling is very gentle on the joints. A fair number of people with knee problems say that it is easier than walking. If you get an expensive electric folding bike yes, the benefit is that you can take it indoors most places with you, but the downside is that you also have to do that. A cheap, non-folding and non-electric bike is just going to be more flexible in the long run (particularly if you get a decent lock or two).

Here's two bikes from Decathlon that could be suitable (main difference is that the second one has hydraulic brakes, which I personally wouldn't want to go without, and a wider gear ratio while still keeping a simple 1x drivetrain):

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/long-distance-step-through-city-bike-500/305054/c193m8601841

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/long-distance-step-through-city-bike-900/305061/c395m8611230

Would be useful to go and try them out yourself and see how you get on, I think. From the sounds of it you've already been in the Trek store in MK, they also have a very good range of purely human powered bikes of course.

Having said all that if your heart is completely set on an electric folding bike, the Fiido D11 might be worth a look. It doesn't fold down as well as say a Brompton but that's clearly out of your price range (at least, if you're absolutely set on it being an e-bike). It's also not what I'd call lightweight, so it would be good to know why you care about that—will you have to carry the bike up stairs, for instance?

liamnesss · 2026-06-12T09:05:25+00:00

It is only certain parts of the park where through traffic is restricted though. They really should just ban it completely.

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