Cardiffians gear up to cycle through spring thanks to repair campaign

‘Cycle ready for spring’ events feature free bike repairs, security tagging and we ask if the council is doing enough for cyclists.

Andrew Burns repairing bicycle

The Cardiff council launched the ‘cycle ready for spring’ campaign this month with an aim to encourage cycling, curb bicycle crime and foster the city’s cycling community.

The campaign is part of the council’s ‘Cardiff Cycling Strategy’ plan which aims to double the number of cycle trips in the city by 2026. As part of the campaign, locals could enjoy free basic bike repairs, security tagging and engage with various cycling organizations and clubs in the city.

One of the main attractions of the event was the free security-tagging of bicycles provided by South Wales police. Statistics suggest that Cardiff has the highest number of bike thefts in Wales.

Ali Abdi with campaign pamphlets next to a signboard that says "Step into Spring"
Ali Abdi wishes to start a new cycling club in Grangetown with the help of Whitchurch Cycling Club.

PCSO William Davies from the British Transport Police was the official in charge of providing the bike tagging service at the event in Grangetown. “It’s a prevention technique,” said officer Davies. “We add a number that’s unique to your bike, and people give us their details. If we ever recover a stolen bike, you can search that number and reunite that bike with its owner.”

Officer Davies reports that cycle crime is on the rise in the city. “Think of it like organised crime. A big one is people using bicycles to transport drugs,” he said.

“Cycle crime in Cardiff has rocketed,” said Chris Roberts, member of Cardiff Cycle City, one of the largest campaigners for cycling safety in the city. “If people are worried about having their bikes stolen, they won’t use them… We want more places for bikes to be left securely.”

PCSO William Davies attaching security tags to a bike.
PCSO William Davies says teaching the highway code in schools can keep children safer while riding their bikes.

Along with theft, vandalism is also on the rise. Nextbike, a bike rental service, temporarily suspended operations in the city in November 2021 due to bike thefts and vandalism. 300 Nextbikes were reported stolen and a further 260 were vandalised, according to the company.

The service was recontinued and expanded in January 2022.

“We used to rent bikes, like Nextbikes, but they took them away because of vandalism,” said Joanna, a Romanian casual cyclist who has lived in Cardiff for nine years. “We were so disappointed because that was our only chance for children to have their own bikes. For us, it was a major pullback.”

Joanna and Antonia
Joanna says her daughter Antonia’s school promoted the council event.

Officer Davies suggested the use of better theft prevention measures by the owners to discourage crimes. “I always recommend the use of heavy D-locks to secure both front and back wheels; small chain locks are easy to break with just a pair of wire cutters,” said officer Davies.

“I’d always keep cycles in sheds in a well-lit area if you have got good CCTV coverage, like the ones that the university uses. They need a code to get into the sheds and they are really high security,” said officer Davies.

The council has also expressed interest in increasing bike security in the city. “The council and the Welsh government have backed a new development in the city centre, where a social enterprise is taking an old shop and converting it into bike storage, where people can pay a fee for bike storage for the day,” said Chris Roberts.

Infographic about Cardiff's bicycle crime problem.

Ali Abdi, the partnership manager of Community Gateway [a Cardiff University initiative] was one of the organizers of the event held in Grangetown. “This event came about through the council’s ambition to make Cardiff an easy, accessible place to cycle,” said Abdi.

“The council reached out to all the partners who are here today,” said Abdi. “I’m really pleased that today we have a really good turnout… we all have to change our habits for a better world.”

The campaign also offered free bike repairs in partnership with Cardiff Cycle Workshop. Andrew Burns, the founder of Cardiff Cycle Workshop, was at the event to offer repairs.

“It’s often just a small thing that needs doing and it makes a massive difference in the bikes,” said Burns. “It’s just minor repairs and it reaches a wide audience, and the people are happy to come because it’s free!”

To get a bike ready for spring, Burns went over a few basic checks and repairs: “If you get your bike out of the shed, and it has been there over winter, the tires in all likelihood will have lost some air. So, you want to make sure the tires are well popped up.”

“I suppose a bit of rust might have gone through the cables, so you want to check that the brakes are working. The gears should also be working okay. If your bike was stored somewhere nice and dry all the chains and cables will be great,” said Burns.

Chris Roberts next to a Cardiff Cycle city standee that says "Join the Movement"
The goal of Cardiff Cycle City is to make Cardiff the best city for cycling in the UK, says Chris Roberts.

The event was also attended by members of the Whitchurch Cycling Club, one of the most successful cycling organizations in the city. They are running an outreach program to start a new club in Grangetown.

“Our aim is to diversify and attract members from different backgrounds and different parts of the city by encouraging them to get on their bikes”, said Anne-Marie Lawrence, a member of the club.

The people present at the event think that while the situations have improved a lot for cyclists, especially in terms of educating people, more needs to be done. Educating children about bicycles and providing school children also received a lot of praise from the attendees.

“We are working closely with the council,” said Chris Roberts. “We had a meeting with Caro Wild, the counsellor in charge of transport in Cardiff… things are really looking up. The council has this new bike fleet project where instead of children having to bring their own bikes to school, they can use these new bikes.”

“Not all kids can have bikes, some parents can’t afford them but now everybody has bikes of good quality… We’ll see things improving quickly, but right now things are taking a long time,” said Roberts.

“In the past, it used to be horrible, especially with young children. But now we have cycling lanes so it has definitely improved,” said Joanna.

“The lockdown has really progressed things,” said Andrew Burns. “I think the council’s plan of setting speed limits of 20 miles an hour everywhere is really good because the traffic moves slowly. That will make cycling much safer. One of the things the council can do is educate people more about bike safety. Statistics show once someone gets a bike stolen, they might stop cycling. But it takes time.”

Members of Whitchurch Cycling Club high-fiving
The Whitchurch Cycling Club has been active since 2016 with the goal of getting as many people to ride bikes as possible.

The next events as part of the campaign will take place in Victoria Park, STAR Hyb and Cardiff Castle over the next 2 weeks. More information can be found on the council’s newsletter website.