Illegal e-bike use won’t be stopped by banning cycling in cities, it’ll just inconvenience those who want to make our urban areas a better place

Birmingham City Council is considering closing off parts of its pedestrianised centre to bikes, but the real issue is electric motorbikes

Cyclists in a UK city
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Adam Becket
Adam Becket

News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com - should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.

Imagine, if you will, that you are a commuter who has established that cycling through the middle of a British city is the easiest way for you to get to work. It’s probably one of the cheapest methods, the greenest, the easiest, the best for you. Most of it might not be on specific bike infrastructure, because that hasn’t been built, so you have to share the road with cars.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Adam Becket
News editor

Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.

Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.