Bike hangars are "woke" (apparently) as car parking row rumbles on; Parody Hot Fuzz police force dupes public over cyclist licence and mandatory helmets; Your reaction to Adam Blythe's gold Genesis; If the World Cup was pro cycling + more on the live blog

Someone told The Sun about the Brighton bike hangar row...

It's an 'exclusive' don't you know... I think that must mean a week later than road.cc and local press' coverage, with a couple of new quotes from locals. Sorry, I'll play nicely from now on...

> NIMBY locals "concerned and distressed" by "giant ugly" bike hangar

Anyway, the newspaper spoke to a couple of locals, one of whom called the bike storage hangars a "cynical ploy" by the "woke Green council".

"These hangars are a cynical ploy to raise more cash for council coffers. It is a perfect example of yet another pet project by our woke Green council that doesn’t make sense," Ellie Reid suggested.

Laura King added: "This seems to be another weapon in the Greens' aim to push motorists out of the city. These hangars are too large for the parking spaces, making them unsafe for pedestrians, especially wheelchair users and the visually impaired."

Interesting take there, Laura. If correct then presumably parked cars and larger vehicles would also be unsafe for pedestrians? 

Well worth the Procyclingstats digging into Movistar's 2019 season...

Does more expensive necessarily mean faster? Jamie and Liam real-world tested eight wheelsets to find out whether money can buy speed... 

> Are expensive carbon road bike wheels worth the money?

I've definitely missed the point of the feature if this is my main takeaway, but I'm most impressed by how much work went into the vid! Eight wheelsets set up with discs, tubeless and cassettes + eight efforts each (Jamie's at 300w in November). Fair play lads, we can't say you didn't put the work in...

Plenty of discussion in the comments this lunchtime about The Sun's woke bike hangar story...

Rendel Harris gets us started with some investigative work...

"Laura King's complaint about the hangars being 'too large for parking spaces' presumably refers to the fact that most of the designs have the nearside feet on the kerb to facilitate door opening; I've glanced at the one in our street and it takes about six inches maximum off the pavement.

"Our Laura also made it into the Daily Mail with the same story and complaints (I read it so you don't have to), adding 'They also have no reflective strips on them to make them visible at night making them dangerous for motorists.' If any readers happen to own large shiny metal green cars in Brighton, I suggest you find a private parking space for them because if Laura's driving around at night she won't see them when they are parked."

brooksby questioned the logic of the complaint: "If Brighton has a Green council then doesn't that mean that more people voted for the Greens? So, liked their policies? Isn't that how our democracy (currently) works, so why are people complaining?"

Pub bike: "Bike hangers are a symptom of a failed (and failing) planning system that hasn't ensured buildings have sufficient bike parking since the dawn of time.  Bikes and cycling are not new, and predate the motor car, so this is absentmindedness on a stick from our brain-dead local government.

"Sufficient cycle parking provision should have been and should be a planning condition on every S106, just like bin storage, fire access etc.

"So bike hangers it is then — a sticking plaster."

hawkinspeter: "Woke hangars? I can totally see how storing your bike in a semi-secure location is hitting back at systemic racism." You and me both, you and me both...

This is how motorists should give way to cyclists in the cycle lane when turning across it. pic.twitter.com/EVtf9XydHB

— CycleGaz™ (@cyclegaz) November 23, 2022

How is the round ball sport going? Please explain it to me in cycling terms.

— Belinda (@reallyspoketome) November 22, 2022

I get it... not everyone wants to watch one, let alone four football matches a day. And while many of you will probably have zero care for how the football World Cup is unfolding, here are the cycling comparisons that might just help you relate to the action...

Jumbo Visma (Argentina) lost the team time trial against your local Sunday cycling club

— Nico #HikikomoriAntesDePonerseDeModa (@debasermad) November 22, 2022

Wales was like Almeida, and they spent most of the time behind but ended up finishing at the same time as the GC group

— Generic Cycling Account (@GenericCycling) November 23, 2022

Ecuador was like a mid tier GC rider trying to win a 1 week but the only competition is Jakub Mareczko. They easily took some time early on in the race and then just held firm in the flatter back half.

— Generic Cycling Account (@GenericCycling) November 23, 2022

Oh, and poor Australia...

Australia attacked on the first climb and then got caught with 150k to go , dropped into a headwind and failed to finish inside cut off time

— Nicholas Arena (@onegoodsport) November 23, 2022

And for more round ball content...

> Footballers who cycle XI — the World Cup stars who love life on two wheels