Specialized apologises for anti-social cycling by its staff on company rides

I don't see anything very bad in the video, but its a commercial business, of course they are going to apologise.

Generally (well, unless they are a minicab firm or a budget airline) businesses are quick to apologise for any minor thing their employees do wrong in public, certainly if it involves something central to their activities (i.e. cycling, in this case).

Don't see anything here that warrants news report. 1. No reason for cyclists to be more than two abreast but still plenty of room for car to pass.
2. Stop signs - they pass through slowly not dangerous. Didn't sf suffer gridlock when all cyclists stopped at stop signs in response to police prosecutions for the same?
3. The group as a whole move left for the left turn and most if not all do not perform a lifesaver. This is dangerous, but the only people likely to be injured are the cyclists.

Overall since the driver is clearly out looking for bad cycling and this is the best they can find its a bit of a non story. Most surprising thing is specialised apologising. If I filmed my 3 mike commute I would see something worse by a driver every single day.

I watched the video. Is that it? It's not exactly wild, reckless, and aggressive behaviour, just some people calmly riding bikes.

I don't know the rules, there may be a technical infringement at a stop sign. I would say the complaint is made by someone who gets angry about other people riding bikes, for reasons I don't fully understand. Maybe some people have an ego which is so fragile, that they can't deal with not being able to overtake a person on a bike immediately, or being overtaken by people on bikes?

Blimey they're hardly Hells Angels are they? Tearing up the streets..

Worst sin of all is that they're crap at riding on wheels. Lots of space.

I guess not much happens round there. What an idyllic town?

Lives in Georgia for while many years ago. The sheriff of the particular town I was in practised a zero tolerance in regards to the stop lines. If your vehicle didn't come to a complete halt he would ticket you even if you were the only vehicle on the road. His favourite trick was to pull up and sit and watch you negotiate the junction. The most bizarre situation I experienced was when 4 of us rolled up at the same time. No one knew who to go first. After what seemed an eternity we deferred to the eldest driver out of courtesy to age!

Very docile group of riders riding 2 abreast using the cycle lane. Ok they overlap at a corner and slowly glide through a stop sign but what are they supposed to do with an empty junction - stop in pairs each time?

Love the radio as saying 'Now's the perfect time of year to be riding a bicycle.' If only the car driver would.

Know your law: many countries have laws that riders in groups (e.g. >10 in Switzerland for instance) are treated as a single entity. This means that if the lead rider goes through a green light, the rest of the group can follow them, even when the light has changed. The group is also freed from single-file rules, for instance. It's an anachronism, but enshrined in law in many European countries.

With the exception of a few riders not being within the confines of the cycle lane, I really can't see what there is to complain about?

Is it a US law that you MUST stop at every stop sign without fail? Even when the road ahead and to the sides is completely clear and safe to proceed. I'm not entirely sure why the car stopped when the road was clear.

Quote:

Do you live in this town and have you witnessed this kind of behaviour?

I'm willing to guess "No" on both counts.

As you seem to be a local, what is your first hand experience of this group?

Ah yes, car drivers complaining about cyclists taking over the road....

They ran a stop sign. I don't know the rules in the US, so I cannot comment with how bad that is, but there was no problem with the rest of the riding (only moving out of the cycle lane to avoid parked cars or to turn)

This is just insane. Looks like the most docile group ride I've seen in years!

I wonder how many drivers have been complained about doing the same?

Cyclists use cycle lane - shock horror.

I cannot see any antisocial riding there

Two stop signs they don't stop at
Riding more than two abreast
No looking before changing lanes on the approach to the stop with the left hand bend

Some of this is dangerous, some of this is illegal, some of this is just rude. Generally they're not riding in a decent line and it has the tone of a closed road sportive.

I occasionally jump reds and stop signs but I'd never suggest that this was anything other than against the law and if I get pulled over by the police for it I won't be trying to pretend it's somehow okay for me to ignore the law because I'm on a bike rather than in a car.

when large groups of cars drive through a town, some of whom jump red lights, don't give right of way, speed near to children (usually far in excess of 24mph) and shout abuse at other road users, it's just seen as 'driving'

If all those groups of cars are from the same place and drive that way regularly there'd be a massive outcry. Around here there's a company that does a home-help type service for the elderly and they have over a hundred cars. If they went out as a pack and were ignoring traffic laws, it'd be front page news.

I cannot see any antisocial riding there, except during a turn. and if the bike lane is the one on the right of that road, it was constantly blocked by parked cars!! nobody said anything about the parked cars!!

This is priceless:

“many of the bikes being ridden are prototypes that must be tested in race track conditions so they are not required to obey traffic controls.”

In other words, we will use the public highway as a "race track", their breath taking arrogance is not surprising considering their past record

And then blaming part of the problem on "foreigners" (that they employ) is even more hilarious

Bearing in mind the huge pot of cash Specialized sits on, which helped them build their own wind tunnel, can they not build their own "race track" so their prototype bicycles (which may or may not be road legal) can be safely tested without endangering the public and their own employees / testers

I can see little wrong in the video.

- The group have to move out of the marked cycle lane to go around cars that are parked in it. This means they move into the lane the car is in.
- The driver has to give way to the group at the junction because the group is turning left. Both car and cyclists could have made it around that junction with plenty of room.
- They don't stop at the 'Stop' sign but slow massively, checking it is clear before proceeding.

Sounds like some people are just trying to create trouble

I'm not going to comment on issues that aren't in the video... but there's nothing in the video that looks wrong to me (riders only pull out of cycle lane when there's a car parked in it & they slow at the stop sign and then proceed 'cos there's nothing there), i'm more concerned about a driver who's more focused on filming than driving.

I'm not going to comment on issues that aren't in the video... but there's nothing in the video that looks wrong to me (riders only pull out of cycle lane when there's a car parked in it & they slow at the stop sign and then proceed 'cos there's nothing there), i'm more concerned about a driver who's more focused on filming than driving.

While the behavior of the group isn't great, it's interesting to see just how quickly a complaint about cyclists gets escalated (and action taken by their employer, when large groups of cars drive through a town, some of whom jump red lights, don't give right of way, speed near to children (usually far in excess of 24mph) and shout abuse at other road users, it's just seen as 'driving', when some cyclists behave in a similar way it's in the local news pretty quickly.

While not supporting the group, especially if they're from a company who are as litigious as Specialised, when the car drivers in the town can demonstrate that they all do nothing wrong, then they can complain about lack of police involvement.

Wow, so there are still people surprised by Specialized's people behaving like bullies? Gosh, being bullies is an integral part of their corporate strategy!

Clearly the journalist has no knowledge about cycling. That alone is enough for him to receive a lawsuit from Specialized.

I'm not surprised. The CEO often sets the tone of the company, and if Mike Sinyard is anything to go by I am not surprised they act like thugs. I will not buy any SSpecialized products because of his litigious and antagonistic behaviour to the rest of the cycling industry...