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Bye-bye Boris Bikes – hello Sadiq Cycles as next-generation hire bikes launched in London (+ videos)
The second generation of London’s Santander Cycles public hire scheme bicycles have been officially unveiled in the heart of the capital this morning.
Made in Stratford-upon-Avon by iconic British bike manufacturer Pashley, the bikes are lighter than the original ones that they will gradually replace in the scheme’s fleet.
“It’s great news that the first of our brand-new cycle hire bikes have arrived on London’s streets,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
“Tens of thousands of Londoners and tourists enjoy using the bikes to get around our city every single day, so by making them more comfortable and manoeuvrable we’re hoping they’ll be even more popular. That’s good for our health, our air quality and for tackling congestion.”
Today’s launch of the bikes has been accompanied by a video from Santander featuring brand ambassador and former Formula 1 world champion, Jenson Button.
Features of the new bikes, which incorporate a technology platform called CyTek designed by Blaze, which also supplies the lights including its award-winning projection of a laser image of a bicycle, include:
- Accelerometer and Bluetooth to reduce maintenance costs
- Brighter lights, even in the daytime, thanks to a new 180 degree system designed by Blaze
- A new rear light that gets brighter when you brake
- Smaller wheels for faster acceleration from a standing start – handy for city riding
- Puncture prevention with an Aramid belt and internal puncture protection layer
- Lower bottom bracket and easier step-through height makes for a more comfortable ride for smaller cyclists
- Tougher mudguards that provide better protection in the rain
- A comfier gel saddle
- One handed seat clamp so it’s easier to adjust the saddle height
- Upgraded Shimano brakes for better stopping performance.
Speaking at the launch this morning at Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, London’s Cycling & Walking Commissioner Will Norman said: "The bikes have been designed and built by England's longest established cycle manufacturer, Pashley Cycles, as part of an all British industrial team assembled by Serco.
“The bikes feature technological capabilities such as Bluetooth and the capacity for GPS technology, which will allow Serco to track the performance of the bikes."
Adrian Williams, CEO of Pashley, said: “I am immensely proud of our team’s achievement in successfully developing a completely new bicycle for London.
“It is a bicycle of exceptional quality, designed with the rider’s safety and enjoyment in mind, whilst ensuring that maintenance and operating costs are kept to a minimum. It has been produced and delivered within a very challenging timescale."
Cycling author and BikeBiz executive editor Carlton Reid was among the first to try out the new bike when he visited Pashley in Warwickshire recently.
Here’s a video with his initial impressions, plus a gallery of pictures taken by Reid during his factory tour.
According to Reid, writing on BikeBiz, the new bike – called the Pashley Prospect – “is a big improvement on previous models. It is quicker, slicker and features 24-inch wheels instead of the existing 26-inch wheels – this improves the bike's acceleration from a standing start.
“The bike is assembled in Stratford-upon-Avon by Pashley. The bike's aluminium frames are shipped in from Asia, and some are given a polyester coating and top lacquer in the Pashley paint-shop.
“Pashley is patenting the bike's headstock (existing ‘Boris bikes’ suffer from wobbly front-ends because of problems with the current headstock.
“The new lighting system is better positioned, brighter and more effective, says Pashley.
“The new design provides increased comfort and safety for smaller riders, with a lower bottom bracket and frame step-through height.
“The new mudguards have lower ‘tails’ and more of the rear wheel is covered, providing better protection for the rider in the wet. The wheels are shod with new-style lower-profile tyres with an Aramid belt and a 4mm internal puncture protection layer.
“The new bike has a signature new ‘sound’ because of the new wheels and the slimmer tyres.
"Saddle adjustment is now much simpler with a new one-handed seat clamp.”
Reid has also devoted an episode of the Spokesmen podcast to the factory tour, which you can find here.
Serco, which has operated the scheme since its launch, will continue to manage it including servicing the bikes, which have been designed to be easier to maintain than their predecessors, meaning less downtime and more bikes being available to hire.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- giff77 41 min 26 sec ago
I would have expected the organisers when doing their recon to have flagged issues to the road authorities and to have hazards that were concerning...
- OldRidgeback 51 min 35 sec ago
If he'd been able to get hold of one of the rarer five speeds, it would've had a better choice of ratios. You can see it's got proper brakes, a big...
- David9694 1 hour 1 min ago
But whAT aboUT thE disable d? (Foreground left - pretty faded)
- belugabob 1 hour 9 min ago
If that's their bag...
- Rendel Harris 2 hours 9 min ago
On the other hand presumably those hoops are pretty sturdy so they could prove just the ticket for securing one's machine with a U-lock or chain...
- Rendel Harris 5 hours 21 min ago
Wasn't her quote something like "Any man who takes the bus after the age of twenty-five [maybe thirty?] is a failure?...
- andystow 8 hours 12 min ago
Based on my experience with the Hunt wheels, I might do a review on their durability in three or four years.
- Destroyer666 12 hours 39 min ago
"...the beeswax-based covering magically shuns off whatever might be lurking in the corners. Even after multiple rides, when the bars rattled about...
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23 comments
The consensus is larger wheel, slower acceleration, higher top speed for the same amount of power input.
Why does this myth of (smaller) lighter wheels = better acceleration refuse to die? Lift your front wheel off the ground a few inches and you will find that you can spin a heavy wheel & tyre to a high speed with a single push with your hand.
The incremental effort per pedal rotation while you accelerate from the lights is negligible.
Because it's simple physics. If you want an accuracte comparison of effort you should be spinning the bigger, heavier wheel the same radius from the axle, not the tyre. Else you're just demonstrating how the larger cog on your cassette makes riding uphill easier.
I see what you are saying, but that's not what I mean.
What I mean is the simple physics described in this article: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Why_Wheel_Aerodynamics_Can_Outweigh_Wheel...
The maths are done with higher power than the average Sadiq Cyclist or Boris Biker would have, but the wheel weight maths is still are relevant.
You will also find that you can easier spin a lighter wheel and tyre to a high speed because there is less inertia to overcome. Not neccasarily any quicker when you get going and other factors come into play.
Now we have something we can build Boris Island out of.
The current distribution. Has anyone done a "visit every docking station in a day" challenge, similar to the "every tube station in a day" challenge?
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Interesting idea!
I think my record is 9 hires in one day with the shortest distance being about 300m! Yes, I was too lazy to walk.
I just did the maths - you'd have to visit a dock roughly every 2 minutes to get them all done in 24 hours, which isn't possible. Still, leaves the door open for a "fastest time to visit every docking station" record...
A couple of years ago there was a (completely unsanctioned) "race" around Tube Stations by bike - it was all a bit hush-hush but basically turn up at Trafalgar Square and you were given instructions for the game (race...) involving points for all stations on a particular line, all stations in a Zone etc
It would be an entertaining idea to extend that a bit to encompass use of the hire bikes with points for getting to all docking stations in Zone 1 or a particular postcode or a prize for the furthest apart docking stations on one <30 minute hire.
Sounds like something Geoff Marshall might do - All The Docking Stations... I bet Vickys up for it.
Nice to see Pashley's getting the business, they used to be a customer of mine years ago when I used to be a field service engineer.
The smaller wheels are an interesting idea. I assume they have thought about dock compatibility - it would be a complete farce if they needed different docks, given that they are to be phased in gradually!
I don't think the aesthetic design is nearly as nice as the current Boris bikes, but I'd probably take that for reduced weight.
I enjoy riding the current bikes, but they have a few querks that sometimes bother me...
I wonder if the gear shifter will still rotate in a counter-intuitive direction? It's the opposite of all other twist shifters I've used including Shimano revoshift, SRAM/Gripshift and Microshift.
I don't know if I am imagining it, but the brakes seem to have got noticeably worse on current bikes over time. Better brakes would be good.
I hope they can fit bells that won't end up wandering all over the place too!
Is it just me, or are the Blaze lazers pretty much invisible in the daytime?
It looks to me as if the triangular metal docking 'key' above the front wheel is at the same height as the old bikes.
Everytime I've ridden one I've shifted the wrong way but learned the hard way and soon been pulling away from the lights and leaving regular commuters behind.
I rode one along the mall in August and shamefully left tyre marks on the road when I realised I found one with decent working brakes
The only time I've seen the Blaze lazer when riding a Boris Bike was in Blackfriars underpass.
Do the Sadiq Cycles have Khantilever brakes?
Interesting re the GPS functionality they're talking about - think Strava heat maps. However, would have been nice to have seen something functional and perhaps a little different like Smart Halo installed https://www.smarthalo.bike/, especially as would allow people to find different routes around the city and, more practically, find a docking station without having to refer to the maps on the full docking stations or getting your phone out and fiddling around with google maps
Thank goodness they've improved the brakes though, Khantilever or not. I always try to pick a bike with the flat-top grips, as the levers tend to be much better and they stop a little faster
Boris bikes are the best thing to have happened for public transport in London in the twelve years I've lived here. I just wish they'd extend them a bit further north rather than assuming that nobody wants to ride them over the Hampstead Heath/Highgate Hill/Crouch Hill/Queen's Wood ridge.
I wish they would expand them further south as well. They would work well in the boroughs I tend to cycle in due to the large number of cyclists. Then I could get rid of one of my bikes.
What is this strange concept you speak of?!
...further east...
This is the most shameful sacreligious statement I have ever read on road.cc - get rid of a bike
Looks like a decent propostion for a short A-to-B ride. Nice work Pashley.