Cycling the forgotten joys
Cycling - the forgotten joys!
CYCLING - FORGOTTEN JOYS! BRITS SHUNNING BIKES IN RECORD NUMBERS
Call for Brits to fall back in love with cycling as new research reveals 14 million adults haven’t ridden a bike since childhood
- 28% of British adults haven’t ridden a bicycle since childhood
- It’s been a decade or more since one in three (35%) last cycled
- 30% blame a lack of safety/fear of traffic on the roads for lack of cycling
- Over a third (34%) of women haven’t ridden a bike since they were children, compared with a fifth (21%) of men
April 2014: Despite producing some of the greatest riders in the history of cycling, Britain’s bicycle habits still have a long way to go before achieving European standards as new research reveals more than one in four (28%) British adults haven’t ridden a bike since childhood.
The study, commissioned by Jyrobike, suggests we’re a nation that’s falling out of love with cycling despite the huge success of British cyclists like Sir Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Victoria Pendleton and Sir Chris Hoy. The figures also reveal that a further one in three (35%) Brits haven’t saddled up for more than a decade.
Women are much less likely to have ridden a bike since childhood when compared with men. Over a third (34%) of women haven’t ridden a bike since they were children, compared with just one in five (21%) men.
The biggest obstacles stopping British adults from cycling are a perceived lack of safety/fear of traffic on the roads (30%) and a lack of balance on a bicycle/mobility issues (21%).
The research was commissioned as part of a wider study into British cycling habits as part of the development of Jyrobike, a new bicycle that uses gyroscopic technology to teach kids to ride in the quickest and easiest way possible and keeps adults riding for longer.
The magic behind Jyrobike is located within a unique ‘Control Hub’ found in the front wheel, which uses gyroscopic technology to keep riders upright, even when they tip or wobble. This makes the bicycles stable and comfortable to ride, even for those who’ve never been on a bike.
Robert Bodill from Jyrobike said: “We wanted to get an understanding of Brits’ cycling habits away from the glitz and glamour of road races and the track and talk to ordinary people of all ages, regions and abilities. Most people don’t think of themselves as a cyclist, but the truth is, if you have ridden a bike in the last 5 years you are. We were really surprised with the findings.”
“Riding a bicycle is one of the most exhilarating things we do as kids and it’s a real shame that one in four of us haven’t got back on a bike since we were children. A lack of balance is one of the main obstacles to more Brits cycling and that’s something we’re working to address at Jyrobike with the launch of our new Auto Balance Bicycle that uses patented gyroscopic technology to teach kids how to ride in a single afternoon and helps adults ride for longer.”
1 Based on 28% of the 52,082,034 15-100+ year olds living in Britain during the 2011 Census
2 Research of 1,304 adults aged 16 to 65+, conducted by TNS Global
ABOUT JYROBIKE
Jyrobike is a British company with offices in Belfast and New York. Jyrobike design and manufacture Auto Balance Bicycles with a patented Control Hub built into the front wheel.
The Control Hub is a battery-powered, rechargeable, motor-driven invention that intelligently drives a spinning flywheel at high RPM’s. When turned on it acts like a gyroscope or gyro and provides a stabilising force, working just as gyros do to keep helicopters stable in the air, boats stable at sea and spaceships stable in orbit. The result is an Auto Balance Bicycle that keeps riders upright and stable, even when a rider starts to tip or wobble.
Jyrobike addresses a global need, helping children and adults learning to ride and people of all ages who lack confidence in their balance and mobility skills.
Take a look at www.jyrokike.com
HOW IT WORKS
For many observers this functionality has a magical quality, however the technology is actually based upon the basic and well-known scientific laws found in all gyroscopes or flywheels.
The Control Hub, behaves according to standard gyroscope rules and resists any angular force acting about its transverse axis. That is why it is able to resist toppling caused by gravity.
Furthermore the principle of gyroscope precession dictates that counteracting the handlebar movement that follows any lean action will in turn generate a counter force to that of gravity and correct the lean to restore the bike upright.
The result is kids can learn to ride in a single afternoon and adults can ride for longer.
Jyrobike will launch globally via a Kickstarter campaign in June 2014 Content credited to: Jyrobike Ltd April 2014
