I wonder who these bikes are supposed to appeal to. If you are a cyclist then you have your own bicycle, or you have a choice of bicycles. You don't leave the d

I wonder who these bikes are supposed to appeal to. If you are a cyclist then you have your own bicycle, or you have a choice of bicycles. You don't leave the door with your bike left behind so you can take the heavier, possibly vandalised, possibly unavailable public transport bike in order to get to your destination later. Sometimes when catching the train I cannot take a bicycle. In theory I could hire a bike at the far end and just leave my bike at the start station. However, this I never think to do. I might think of getting a bus or even a taxi but I would never think to get a hire bike. Even though there is a rack of them outside the station. Out of my non-cycling friends, the people that drive to work or just walk, these people have not taken their bicycles out of the shed for many, many years. They are no likely to re-orient their entire commuting experience around some hire bikes as they decided a long time ago that being on the streets with no crumple zones was not for them. I do know people that do get about on Boris bikes once in a while, as a fun way to get around London with friends on a weekend, but not as part of a serious commute. There are better ways to get bikes on the road, the bike to work tax free scheme being one of them. This has got a lot of people cycling in the UK. It is also about time that normal bicycles are a bit more legally sensible. With cars we no longer allow 1970's standards (e,g, no seat belts). I am not saying we add airbags to bicycles but we could update the law so bicycles have to have lights the minute they get put in the showroom, mandatory and part of the bike. LED lighting makes that doable. Similarly, tyres could be made to be 'road legal' with some puncture protection made mandatory. There could also be a small tax benefit for bicycles designed for utility purpose, taxed differently to the sport bikes that have no mudguards. With a lower tax on 'utility' bikes a subtle shaping of bikes sold could result in safer roads with more people riding year round, mostly for commuting reasons. People would be able to pay the extra for their carbon fibre road bikes that don't have the lights, mudguards and sensible lock, that would be standard VAT, not the bargain 'utility' rate. A defined 'utility' bike that is personally owned could be insured very differently to a 'sports' bicycle, perhaps more affordably, with reasonable third party cover. Meanwhile 'fixies' such as that one that was involved in a tragic accident killing a pedestrian, those bikes would not be as cheap to ride or likely to be so prevalent on the roads.