Postboxer wrote:What speed does a beginner ride at, when they've just learnt to ride i.e. fast enough for balancing to become easier?
One of the problems I had when learning (at the advanced age of 19) was that to be at all stable you have to go at a reasonable speed, which takes courage when you're wobbly.
To be stable at low speeds takes much more skill in balancing, and more strength in the wrists. That makes learning awkward, as you have to get through the low speeds as fast as you can to faster speeds to get your 'sea legs', and have to pass back through the lower speeds on the way down to stop.
More than 30 years of cycling later, I have a speedometer. At 5mph I can just about stay upright on my narrow tyres on a decent surface for a short time. Anyone who thinks that a road bike is stable at that sort of speed needs their head examining, and needs to be made to try it for, say, a couple of miles on a rough, potholed and greasy surface.
I think the 'police' who said 5mph was the limit should be the first candidates. I'd almost pay a train fare to London to watch that.
Oh, and they ought to have to clip in too.