As a recovering roadie and simple equipment enthusiast, I too have long taken it for granted that roadies have been ruining cycling and ruining bikes. Just because wider tires are in style doesn’t mean that the ethos of road riding is suddenly about comfort, convenience, and compatibility. If anything road bikes are more proprietary and less accessible than they’ve ever been: frame “modules” with dedicated stems and seatposts; internally routed brake hoses; dainty fittings that strip if you so much as breathe on them without a torque wrench.
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But I started commuting regularly again after a long break. I saw extent to which motorized contraptions have taken over the bike lanes, and my attitude started to change. Sure, the plastic blobs with remote control shifters we persist in calling road bikes may seem far removed from the metal bikes with metal cables I cherish so much—but at least the roadies are still on human-powered bikes. For everyone else, pedaling has become a formality, and in turn more and more people seem to be abandoning the bike entirely in favor of various forms of “micromobility,” which is the word we use to pretend this miscellany of e-scooters and e-motorcycles and e-skateboards and e-shoes (oh, they’re coming, just you wait) makes any kind of sense.
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Now, to be clear, I begrudge nobody their preferred form of transport, whether it be a 19th century pennyfarthing or a 21st century electric unicycle. It’s just that I happen to be a cyclist, and as such I have a vested interest in the continued existence of the traditional bicycle, as well as the network of dedicated lanes, paths and trails that has developed around it. So when I’m riding through the bike lanes of the city with all these contraptions whizzing by me like I’m in some sort of Jetsons hellscape, the Pas Normal-clad broadie on his Cervélo who looks like he’d rather be in a wind tunnel than on the bike path seems positively quaint—and therefore endearing—in comparison.

EXTREME PERFORMANCE: This electric unicycle one wheel is specially designed for professional riders, having a powerful 2200W motor boosting up to 31mph max speed and a climbing power for slopes of up to 35-degree, as well as a high-capacity 1500mAh battery with a range of 75 miles.

Bidding au revoir to what has become a divisive sight on our streets, Paris officially banned rented electric scooters (or e-scooters) from September 1, becoming the first European city to do so five years after being one of the first to adopt them.

A rising number of injuries and three fatalities spurred on a public vote in April in which 90 per cent of those who took part (only 8 per cent of those eligible to take part) voted in favour of a ban.