Rockets

Who is a member of the Democrats 66 party, deputy mayor and is very much a politician (who has responsibility for traffic)......doh! Yup. Please see above about how fact checking is very important...ahem.. No. They are called Fatbikes. The clue is in their name but the suggested changes are for not just fat bikes but a whole range of bikes that are causing problems and injuries for their riders and others. Fatbikes are a particular problem. Is quite ridiculous. Yup but, you know, in your mind I clearly know nothing of the challenges posed by cyclists in the inner city and am just saying things to "agitate" and "troll". But you claim there are no challenges after a 30 minute run around the city and a check of StreetView. Right......

What on earth was he on about? Air brakes - but I doubt you need to be idling for a long time to get the pressure to a level where they will work.

There was an interesting chat about this on the budget The Rest Is Politics and they highlighted a challenge that taxation levels are now getting to Scandinavian levels yet our public services are nowhere near as good as theirs and the government is pouring money in to, for example, the NHS but people aren't seeing the improvement as (the politically dreaded) productivity is actually going down. They cited 20% to 30% more investments in nurses etc yet productivity is at around 7.8%. This is a big challenge for the government because if people don't feel the difference or feel they are getting good value for money they will turn on them very quickly.

It is factually wrong but very typical of your posts. There are plenty of examples of me supporting public realm improvements and local road safety measures throughout the many years of this on-going debate....I just think you're choosing to ignore them because you think it legitimises your attacks. You're wrong. Very wrong (and not for the first time). As I say, I am not the one acting in a troll-like manner here. Go take a look - I will await your apology. Absolutely 100% this. @march46 no-one has ever claimed that high-vis is the solution on this forum (I am not sure how some are getting to this conclusion but I think it is another case of putting words in people's mouths to suit their own personal narrative) but clearly high-vis certainly helps to be seen - I mean that's just commonsense. Granted, no amount of high-vis is going to help with a driver with their head in their phone and they are a scourge of our roads and I hate it if I see people doing this and glad that you were ok @march46. As far as I am concerned it should be a long driving ban for anyone caught using their phone whilst driving.

@Earl Aelfheah do you have anything constructive to add or just here for the name-calling - and the irony is you're calling me the troll...?! Never let the truth get in the way of a good story hey! 😉

@Raeburn no I do not think you have won anything - if that was your motivation then you have failed spectacularly. I am wondering when the penny will drop for you that the whole inner-city area being a nightmare due to cyclists is the catalyst for efforts by local authorities to reduce it being a nightmare. Anyway I am off to Google Street View to assess whether my experiences and views about Amsterdam, based on actually spending time there, are correct or not......... I mean a local politician is saying this: "I receive messages every week from Amsterdammers who say they no longer dare to go out on the road and who beg me to ban fat bikes. So I feel it is my duty to try everything within my power to address this problem,” Perhaps they need to spend more time on Google Street View to see what's really going on......

@Raeburn you seem to be trying to put words into my mouth - what I actually said was: You seem to have decided what I want this to be. What is driving this is, according to Dutch media reports, is the increasing number of injuries caused by, and to, those riding e-bikes - especially fat bikes. Apparently figures from Amsterdam hospitals show an increasing number of injury admissions to those riding e-bikes - especially in the younger age groups. Here is just one such story: https://nltimes.nl/2025/11/26/amsterdam-plans-fat-bike-ban-busiest-areas-city And lo, look what a local politician says in that article - reflecting exactly what I was saying about downtown Amsterdam - : “I receive messages every week from Amsterdammers who say they no longer dare to go out on the road and who beg me to ban fat bikes. So I feel it is my duty to try everything within my power to address this problem,” says traffic alderman Melanie van der Horst. “For 3 years, we’ve been asking the national government to introduce measures to deal with fat bikes. And in the meantime, the problems have only gotten worse, with more unsafe fat bikes on the road and more accidents, sometimes involving very young children.” And I provided my first-hand commentary - we clearly disagree but I suppose the difference is I didn't resort to a knee-jerk accusatory language and accuse someone of being an "agitator" and "troll" because I have an opinion that differs to theirs. Nor did I accuse them of posting "deliberate untruths". Pretty aggressive and inflammatory language don't you think - but it's a definite pattern displayed by many who won't hear a negative word said about cycling. Can you not see what you are all doing here? It's getting ludicrous. And this really is beyond laughable. Imagine if I had said that - can you imagine the pile on!?

Maybe that's because folks like you and I who actually stop are by far the exception rather than the rule....sorry, couldn't resist! 😉

Agitator and troll - they're two new ones I can add to the names I have been called! 😉 All because I dared offer an opinion that differs from yours. Ho hum - par for the course. Spend some more time there, maybe have a chat to the locals - I think you'll find they'll agree with me more than you! They'll probably tell you during the summer months, and especially during the height of the tourist season, that the inner-city is blighted by cyclists (especially tourists). Oh and if you drink beer avoid the Texels cloudy beer - it goes down like fruit juice but is lethal!!! 😉

I think we all are - you can't keeping putting words into people's mouths all the time. If we said it fine but if we didn't say it don't claim we did - it's not playing fair. Please try to refrain from doing that.

And you seem to be arguing with me based on a 30 minute run in late November.....ho hum....maybe chat to some of the locals about the joys of cyclists in the city centre (especially in the summer months). Interesting though that local authorities across the Netherlands are looking to ban certain types of bikes using cycle paths in cities....perhaps ask some locals about their thoughts on that too! BTW if you want any good restaurant recommendations I have plenty!

Imagine Singelgracht like a ring-road canal that encircles the inner city - it has an entrance/exit to both the north and the south of the city. My reference to that was that the area within the Singelgracht canal - the actual inner-city, is a nightmare because of cyclists. Outside of it everything works well but inside it is a cycle nightmare.

We will agree to disagree on that one.... Downtown Amsterdam is the thing of cycle nightmares. @Raeburn let me explain - Singelgracht is one of the main canals (so I doubt any bikes or cars will be using that! ;-)) and I was using that to say anything the other side of it towards the city is a nightmare. The other side is ok. Additionally, the potential banning of e-bikes, cargo bikes, fat tyre bikes etc in bike lanes is being considered for the whole of Amsterdam - in fact a number of cities in the Netherlands are considering similar bans. Can we just make this a standard automatic response?! If only it were true of course and not just a knee-jerk response anytime anyone reads something I post that they don't agree with! 😉

@Raeburn we will agree to disagree on that one - anywhere inside Singelgracht is a nightmare for pedestrians. Granted everything works nicely the further out of the city you get but inside it is an utter nightmare - it's why Amsterdam is looking at banning certain types of bikes from bike paths in the city (e-bikes, cargo bikes etc).

No I am not I am pointing out that you are putting words into my mouth and then trying to take us down a rat hole when I challenge you on it. It happens every single time anyone tries to debate something/anything with you. Why not? That's how reputation's are built and wrecked. As a cyclist who obeys the rules and is mindful and considerate to other road users (and actually knows the rules and guidance in relation to cyclists) it is of enormous frustration to me that I see growing numbers of cyclists who care not one jot for any other road users, who put themselves and others in harm's way because of their selfish attitude to the way they cycle. No-one notices the good behaviour only the bad. No I am not, I think I am reflecting the general perception towards cyclists which is being dictated by the growing bad behaviour by many cyclists. Some may be happy to to put their heads in the sand and defend cyclists and bad and inconsiderate cycling (after all cars kill far more people than cyclists - which seems to be the mitigation offered by many) but the perception is growing amongst the wider (probably non-cycling - given some cyclists seem to be a bit selective about what they see) public that there is a problem with cycling. It's a bit like estate agents - there are good estate agents but their reputation has been tarnished. If you want to see the manifestation of how bad things can get go to downtown Amsterdam where the frustration and anger towards cyclists is palpable. Closer to home it is interesting that the Mayor is closing Oxford Street West (a huge swathe of Oxford Street between Great Portland Street and Orchard Street) to cyclists as well as vehicles - clearly they don't want to mix pedestrians and cyclists. Why might that be?