What's faster across one of the busiest cities in the world - the bike or public transport? James and Rupert use pedal power to try and beat Will in a race from Herne Hill Velodrome in South London to the Lee Valley Velodrome in Stratford in East London.
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00:00We're here at Herne Hill Velodrome today and we're going to ride to the Leigh Valley Velodrome
00:21in London, two iconic London cycling destinations to show you the merits of riding your bike
00:28in the city.
00:29Now to take on this challenge I'm using this, the beautiful Ribble Hybrid ALE, something
00:35with a little twist because it does use a little motor.
00:38And I've chosen Cannondale's Topstone Tiagra as my bike of choice here.
00:42And we're going to be using Komoot to plan our route from Herne Hill all the way to Leigh
00:46Valley.
00:47Well, we'd better get on with it really, haven't we?
00:50Hang on.
00:51Morning boys.
00:52What are you doing here?
00:53There was a memo last night, did you not see it?
00:56The boss said we're going to spice this video up and make a race of it.
00:59I'm going to use my two legs and you guys are going to use your two bikes and we're
01:03going to see who gets to the Velodrome first.
01:05There is a catch though.
01:06The memo clearly stated that you guys have to go via the third most iconic cycling destination
01:10in London, the Mall.
01:11Alright, well that's not fair because that is so out of the way.
01:15To make this fair again, you have to take three different types of public transport.
01:20Okay, alright, you're on.
01:23Sounds fair?
01:24Sounds fair.
01:25Three, two, one, go.
01:26Come on.
01:27Oh, got to clip it.
01:28Andrew, come on.
01:29We haven't got time.
01:30Let's go.
01:31Let's go.
01:32Come on.
02:03So we've just arrived at Herne Hill Station, just checking the live tracking here.
02:22They're already about to cross the bridge, so they're getting really close to the Mall.
02:26We've got about a ten minute wait here before we get going up to London Bridge, so I think
02:29this could be a tight race.
02:37For today's challenge, I've chosen to give myself the best chance of winning as possible
02:43by using an e-bike.
02:45This is Ribble's Hybrid ALE, and it looks like a beautiful, sleek hybrid bike, but with
02:51a difference.
02:52It uses an e-bike motion system that's tucked in the rear hub of the wheel.
02:58Now that gives me 250 watts of support in three different levels, which means you can
03:03tune the ride to exactly how you want it to be.
03:06It comes with all of the other fittings that you would expect on a commuter bike, including
03:10mudguard mounts on the front and rear, a pannier rack to carry all of your goods, and wide
03:16tyres.
03:17The Ribble Hybrid ALE is going to give me that liquor speed I need to win today's race.
03:24Well, James, we've just crossed over Vauxhall Bridge, which is just over there, past the
03:44MI5 building.
03:45Oh, very exciting.
03:46It is.
03:47And we're about to go through Parliament Square, beautiful, but notoriously a very difficult
03:53place to cycle through.
03:54Yes, however, we've got this really cool blue superhighway.
03:59Can't miss it, can you?
04:00No, no.
04:01We've just been on CS5, which has brought us down from Herne Hill, and then we've ridden
04:06that through Vauxhall, and now we're on to this one going through Parliament Square.
04:10Yep.
04:48James, where are we?
04:49Well, I think this is quite a famous building here on the left, Buckingham Palace.
05:02Well, we're here.
05:03We're at the Mal.
05:04Made it to the Mal.
05:05So the third iconic cycling landmark of London.
05:08So we've achieved our challenge.
05:10Now it's just time to crack on.
05:12But what a journey we had down here.
05:13It was pretty good, actually.
05:15You know, obviously, riding in London is quite an experience anyway.
05:19Lots of traffic.
05:20But the cycle highways are so good.
05:24They're just really well marked out, and actually navigating was good, and we saw some great
05:28sights as well.
05:29Hang on a minute.
05:30What's that?
05:33Oh, I've got a message from Will.
05:34Oh, yeah?
05:35Yes.
05:36Where is he?
05:37Hi, boys.
05:38You can see I'm at the Tube, second mode of transport.
05:42Where are you guys at?
05:45I think I'm in the lead right here.
05:46Here comes my train.
05:47Oh, he's on the Tube.
05:48So Elephant Castle.
05:50He's quite far along.
05:51Yeah.
05:52We better actually go.
05:53We better go.
06:14Could there be a more perfect bike to take on the streets of London than Cannondale's
06:18Topstone Tiagra?
06:19It is a gravel bike, but it's way more than just that.
06:22A gravel bike is actually perfect as a commuting weapon, purely because it's got such great
06:28versatile features.
06:29The first feature that makes it great as a commuter is the riding position.
06:33It gives you a much taller, much more commanding position when you're riding in traffic.
06:38And it's also got what Cannondale call their out front geometry, which puts the front wheel
06:43further forward than on a normal road bike, meaning it's way more stable.
06:48Now with the road surfaces that we have around here, that is definitely a plus point.
06:53Then going hand in hand with that geometry, you've got those tyres.
06:57There's big, chunky tyres on this bike that are still fast rolling, but they'll take on
07:02the potholes and all of the cracks and everything that the roads can throw at you.
07:06With a DNA of a road bike, this bike is definitely fast and nimble, and we'll make sure that
07:11today we will come out on top.
07:31Right, so we've made it to London Bridge.
07:33I've got to find another mode of transport, but I've got an idea.
07:36Come with me.
07:41Let's go.
08:12Tower Bridge.
08:13Tower Bridge.
08:14We were coming by and we just felt like we had to stop, really.
08:17Yeah, it's not an iconic cycling spot, but it's an iconic spot altogether, really.
08:21It is, isn't it?
08:22Oh, hang on.
08:25I've got a text.
08:27Hi boys, hopefully you can hear me okay on the boat.
08:30I think to level the playing field, you guys should take on another challenge.
08:35Hi boys, hopefully you can hear me okay on the boat.
08:37I think to level the playing field, you guys should take on another challenge.
08:41You keep banging on about how good your commuter bikes are and how they're so versatile.
08:46How about you try some off-road on the way to Stratford?
08:49Let me know what you think.
08:50So we need to hit some off-road before we get to the Velodrome.
08:53Some off-road?
08:54In London.
08:55Is that possible?
08:57Yes, on the canals.
08:59So East London's full of canals.
09:01I see the Zurich Tower Bridge.
09:03We should be able to...
09:04We're pretty close.
09:05We can cut up through Limehouse, I would have thought, and on to the Regents Canal.
09:09Cool. Program it in, mate.
09:11Let's plot it in.
09:13We're just coming under Tower Bridge.
09:15I've got a sneaky suspicion on the live recording.
09:17They're just over there.
09:19There they are.
09:24There they are.
09:25Oh, look.
09:27There they are.
09:30That's so funny.
09:32We've just seen them go by on the boat.
09:35We'd better get going.
09:36Yes.
09:43Go, James!
09:57Good luck!
10:10I think we should go and ask the captain if he can put his foot down.
10:21I think the captain got our message.
10:23Full gas.
10:25Full gas!
10:55All right, we're almost there, so literally just there.
11:26I think he's just round the corner.
11:28Is he by?
11:29He's coming round the corner.
11:30Look, there he is.
11:31So there's us.
11:32Oh yeah.
11:33And he's right there.
11:34Welcome.
11:35Easy.
11:36How did you do that?
11:37How did you do that?
11:38We have these.
11:39Bicycles, my friend.
11:40We don't have to then rely on other forms of transport to get here.
11:41We can do it all ourselves.
11:42London Transport is like the best in the world.
11:57Yes.
11:58No doubt.
11:59But no transport is more efficient than the bicycle.
12:01Well, well done.
12:02Well done.
12:03Well done.
12:04Fair and square.
12:05I'll give you that.
12:06It was a good challenge.
12:07It's not bad.
12:08You weren't too far behind.
12:09But it's still...
12:10What was the place number?
12:11Second place, first loser and all that.
12:12loser and all that isn't it yeah thanks guys yeah well sorry will it was a good
12:17challenge but here we are iconic Lee Valley velodrome behind us and that's a
12:23that was a good challenge it was I think the one thing that stands out more than
12:26anything else for myself it's just how small London becomes when you're on a
12:31bike definitely everything is just so close like all of a sudden one minute
12:35you're like oh we're here yeah so good so I've just been thinking the cost of this
12:40trip versus what you can get one of these bikes on the cycle to work scheme
12:43it's really quite impressive I think within you know it's pretty good so
12:46you're commuting five days a week within six months you could you know you could
12:49get your money back really it's really impressive easily yeah but that does end
12:53this challenge and what a challenge it has been but if you've enjoyed it then
12:58please do like and subscribe to the cycling weekly YouTube channel and if
13:01you have any tips for riding in the city do let us know in the comment section
13:05below and likewise if you're interested in the route that we took across London
13:10we'll be putting a link to that in the description box underneath this video
13:13but until next time we'll see you then I'm off to get a Boris bike