Ian Harwood

You can hire them for sight-seeing tours in Paris.

I've had this discussion about cycling on the pavement before with people. I think they struggle with the concept if they live in city areas where there are always people walking. In the 'burbs at times it's perfectly safe to use the footpath for short stretches where there are no pedestrians, and if there are, you respect them by stopping and getting off. As for going through red lights that's got to be a no no under any circumstances. Get off and push round the corner if you're in that much of a hurry.

Off at a slight tangent, but still relavent I hope. Many years ago I cycled from near Altrincham to my sisters house in Warrington along the Bridgwater Canal towpath (even though I shouldn't have). All the way there with the canal on my left I felt very unsafe on the uneven, slippery and narrow path, yet on the way home I felt no unease at all. When I thought about it some more I realised that I was conditioned as a cyclist to having "safety" to my left and "danger" to my right.

I ride very defensively. I rarely make right turns at busy junctions, preferring to get off and push if necessary. I'll take to the pavement sometimes if it's safer when there's no pedestrians (fairly common situation on my commute, although some years ago I jumped up onto the pavement to get out of the way of a wagon, caught the kerb and landed in a hedge!) When I come up to T-junctions I always make sure i've got eye contact with emerging drivers before progressing.

I am a 48 year-old non-smoker with high blood pressure but I do have a dodgy knee. Seems i'm well qualified for this forum!

My cycling style is walking rather than running if you know what I mean, so i'm not concerned about low cadence speeds. As for the bumps and thumps I realise I would have to treat the bike with respect, although I would hope the designers take into account the fact not all roads are billiard table smooth.

I've been an electric biker in my heart for about three weeks now ever since I chanced upon Claude Butler's Urban model whilst surfing the internet for a new "proper" bike. I was bit appalled by that model's ugliness and the tacked-on look of it's electrical components, but I was delighted to eventually find 50cycles website with the model that has caused so much discussion on here recently - the Kalkoff Pro-connect. Here was a bike that looked a bit like my normal commuter bike (a low budget Raleigh Chiltern) without resorting to something that looks like a Pashley with a motor. A bit more surfing whilst waiting for my registration for this forum to come through has convinced me that (subject to a visit to Loughborough this week, and subsequent test ride) this is the bike I want to go for. My main concern about pedelecs is the robustness or otherwise of the components. Part of my commute is on bumpy uneven and broken asphalt (road and cycle track) and I do have a habit of riding trials-style up and down kerbs both when avoiding the busiest junctions and negotiating the dedicated cycle track section. I'm quite happy (if that's the word) to pay the premium to get quality, and now I have a job I don't need to drive every day to, I reckon the cost is less than six months petrol from when I was doing the old job. So the question is am I choosing the right bike?