Roll up... BSA has just...
Roll up... BSA has just added two wheels to its range: the 334 Tao and 367 Bullet. The five-spoke Tao (main image) comes in two sizes – 15-inch at ÷£61 or 17-inch at ÷£77 – while the eight-spoke Bullet costs ÷£77 for the 17-inch and ÷£86 for the 18-inch rim.
Consequently, I have...
Consequently, I have details of enough failures, delays, rip-offs, dangers and other scandals to fill a book. But since I only have limited space, I"ll concentrate solely on Thursday, 26 February. After a 45-minute, sub-zero, early morning walk from my house to the nearest railway station, my train arrived inevitably late, allowing me to step off the filthy and graffiti-stained platform on to a carriage in much the same state. There was barely room to stand, never mind sit, and bikes clogged up passenger floorspace, occupying much-needed room.
The 30-minute (on paper), one-way, and decidedly second-class journey cost í‚á£8 - that"s í‚á£16 an hour. And for what? To be sandwiched upright between a muddy mountain bike and a snarling cyclist who surely should have been in one of the subsidised, dedicated bike lanes unsubsidised car drivers simply don"t get.
If public transport of this calibre sounds expensive, what word would you use to describe the price of car-hating London Mayor Ken Livingstone"s Tube? To travel only one stop, which might last about a minute, you pay í‚á£2 - or, put another way, a rate of around í‚á£120 an hour. The words legalised theft and extortion almost seem inadequate.
Next, I was unlucky enough to be working in the Elephant & Castle district of the capital, which I reached by stepping off the overpriced London Underground, before worming my way through a series of enclosed pedestrian rat runs. The stench of urine, rubbish and seriously dodgy dossers left me feeling even more uneasy than I"ve felt on the streets of murderous Detroit and the ganglands of Compton, Los Angeles.
Then I had to get over the Old Kent Road using a pedestrian crossing. But despite the fact that I had the right of way, I was nearly run over by the driver of a number 172 bus. When I protested, I simply received a foul-mouthed response. On the train home, the windows were obscured by graffiti, and again I questioned how public transport can be this bad - especially as it receives billions in subsidies from tax-paying motorists.
My newspaper had some answers. One story told me about plans to run even older trains, cut maintenance, opt out of punctuality performance standards and raise fares further. Another talked about the Docklands Light Railway"s í‚á£150million handout. Then there was London Congestion Charge firm Capita reporting a surge in profits to í‚á£121million.
And to cap it all, I read about Peter Lee - the 51-year-old Durham Travel Services bus and coach operator and transport adviser to the Government - who blew í‚á£493,000 from his heavily subsidised firm on Tia, a í‚á£1,000-a-night call girl, plus a further í‚á£97,000 on two other mistresses. Although Mr Lee"s thieving has led to the collapse of his company and the loss of his employees" jobs, he backed State handouts and was regarded as a great bloke to work for. Tia could certainly vouch for that, I bet!