Are we daft or what? Bikes without mudguards/fenders.

Judith is a member of the CTC, the British national cycling charity which is not as its name suggests an organisation collecting energy bars to enable poor cyclists to take part in day trips, but is better described by its original name "Cyclists' Touring Club". The original name is not fashionable anymore, as it was felt that that modern day cyclists could not grasp the concept. The club carries out a range of activities, not all of which of which are perhaps not directly connected with touring, but I do have the impression it was change for change's sake. The club wanted to move beyond mere touring, although the latest edition of "Cycle" the club's bimonthly magazine, has an off-road cycle touring theme. I checked the advertisements and of the twenty five advertisements with photographs of bicycles 60% showed bikes without mudguards and only 40% showed bikes with mudguards. (When tidying up the office I found another edition of "Cycle" and the ratio in that copy was 63% without and 37% with mudguards. This suggests the figures are reasonable representative.) Now I have not lived in Britain for 40 years, but I have visited the country practically every year during this time. It still rains there and frequently. It was actually suggested that some of the bikes without mudguards/fenders could be used for commuting.
Commuting? If it rains the road gets wet and road surfaces are dirty. As you ride over these surfaces your wheels throw up mucky water. If you have a bike with mudguards most of this spray is collected and drips back onto the road. If you've  not got mudguards, the muck and wetness collect on your lower limbs and clothing. You turn up to the office looking like a drowned rat and dirty with it. No way will I do this.
Obviously it is in manufacturers' interest to propagate the idea that either a bike does not need mudguards or that these are an added uncool extra. They can sell less bike for the same money or perhaps fit better components and keep the bike cheaper. However how much component quality you can get for the couple of quid that mudguards cost when bought in large quantities, I am not too sure. No mudguards are OK for sports machines where you can decide when  you go out, but for using the bike as a means of transport, forget it. Mudguards are absolutely essential.

Bicycle Leasing in Germany

A number of major German companies have latched onto the concept of offering their employees a company bicycle rather than a company car. The employees can use the bicycle as though it is their own, keep it at home, commute to work and use it for shorter trips for the company. This has been made possible by changes in German taxation law in 2012. The company leases the bicycles from dealer or from an agency that sources the bicycles from one or more dealers. The employee pays a monthly leasing rate, which is taken from his salary before he or she pays tax, unemployment or health insurance, i.e. he pays less tax and social insurance. After three years he or she can buy the bike for 10% of its original price. Over three years this yields a saving of over 40% of the original price of the bike.

The advantages for the employer are:

• It has been found in studies in the Netherlands, that employees who cycle to work enjoy better health than those who commute by car or public transport.
• It improves the green image of the company.
• It is cheaper than a company car, but at the same time it makes for a cool image, especially these days where employees who live in city centres have difficulty parking cars.
• There is less need to provide car parking which can be expensive to provide and maintain.
• In cities a bicycle is fast, if not faster than a car up to about 5km, because there is no need to find a parking slot at the end of the journey which cuts down wasted time.

Over 400 German companies some of which are blue chip companies offer their employees subsidised bicycles:

• DHL, logistics
• Bayer, chemical industry
• Deutsche Telekom
• Allianz, insurance
• Weleda, a multinational company that produces both beauty products and naturopathic medicines. Both branches design their products based on anthroposophic principles.
• LBS, building society
• Commerzbank

In addition many local utilities, town councils and tradesmen take advantage of the schemes.

Bring, buy or maybe hire

Tim Burleigh, a friend of ours who writes and publishes the excellent BicycleGermany web site on the joys and possible pitfalls of cycle touring in Germany wrote to us recently about some new ideas for the website. It would appear that some airlines are demanding $250 for the one way carriage of a bicycle from the USA to Europe or vice versa, i.e. return costs of $500. At the present rate of exchange $500 is about 370 Euro. For this sum of money you can hire a 21-27 gear trekking bike for about 3 weeks. However you will need to take the bike back to the hire company, which even after a short linear trip like the Romantic Road from Würzburg to Füssen will cost you the better part of a day which for two people and bikes will cost at least 25 Euro each.
It may be more convenient and even cheaper for a longer trip to buy a cheap bike at the start of the trip and get rid of it at the end. If you have family or friends in Europe this is an easy option, otherwise it could be difficult. You could always give the bike to a church or a charity. Obviously if you are planning to come back the year and have no relatives or friends in Europe after you can try to find a bike shop to leave the bicycle there for the winter. Various of the supermarkets in Germany like Aldi, Real or Lidl, the coffee roasters Tchibo and DIY stores sell their own brand bicycles for prices that one can hardly believe. You can buy a bike for less than 200 Euro. They have one major snag however. Most bike shops won't touch them if repairs become necessary or will charge you serious sums for the privilege of repairing the bike. The best option is to buy a Pegasus bicycle from a purchasing cooperative called ZEG. They sell these bikes through local bicycle shops in Germany, not all but a lot and in the Stadler chain of bike supermarkets. These bikes can normally be obtained for between 300 to 500 Euro.