London Cycling Awards 2016 – the winners

Last week the winners of the annual London Cycling Awards were announced at the opening night of Spin London. Who were the winners a runners up we hear you ask? Well, without further ado, here are the full results:

Best Cycling Project was won by CLOCS, which focuses on improving safety for cyclists and pedestrians around construction traffic. This is obviously vitally important in London as there are so many building sites and most road deaths are caused by lorries. The runners up were Roadworks Patrol and the Santander Bike Hire App.

Pro-Cycling Business of the Year was won by Mercedes-Benz Trucks. Again this is a project focused on improving visibility and cyclist safety around large goods vehicles. This is certainly a step in the right direction, and it is good to give it the recognition it deserves, but there needs to be an increase in improvements to trucks and reductions of the huge blind spots they have. The runners up in this category were Addison Lee and Crouch End Picturehouse.

Best Cycling Innovation was won by LiteLok, makers of a lightweight, flexible, Gold rated lock. I saw this lock at the London Cycle Show back in March and it is pretty cool. It is as strong as a U-lock but is made of cables and so is a lot lighter and more utilitarian as it has more flexibility so can adapt to the locking situation more. We will hopefully be getting our hands on one for review in the not so distant future to see what it is really like in practice. The runners up were Noke Bluetooth D-lock, Mando Footloose IM and Lumo.

Best Product was won but Mason X Hunt 4season Disc Wheelset. This category was one more for the techies amongst us. The wheel set was designed specifically for the Mason bikes and is a lightweight and highly spec’ed set of wheels which take disc brakes. Nice wheels but not something everyone will be super excited by I imagine! The runners up were: Schwalbe One road tubeless tyres, the Lezyne Hecto Drive 300XL, and Bern Allston/Melrose helmets.

Best Urban Cycle Clothing Range is more a category of interest to us and was won by Howies. The Howies range is affordable and mixes the styling of regular clothes with technical features and fabrics to generally make life a little more comfortable when cycling (or generally being aerobic around town without wearing lycra). They also have almost as many pieces in the women’s range as the men’s which adds to its appeal. We will have to get our hands on some of the pieces to give you our impressions in the coming months! The runners up were Giro, Madison and Levis.

Community Project of the Year was won by Brothers on Bikes, an inclusive cycling club with branches across the country who aim to get people out, being social and enjoying cycling regardless of  things like faith and initial fitness level. The runners up were This Girl Can BMX and Core Arts.

Best Borough Infrastructure Scheme was won by Tavistock Place in Camden. This is a heavily used stretch of protected bike lane through Bloomsbury which has recently been upgraded to double its size. The road has now become one way for cars and the lane has been split to separate riding directions and make it easier to use and increased its capacity. I used to use this lane daily before it was upgraded and it could get quite congested at rush hour. I have used it occasionally since and it is even more awesome now. The runners up were Lea Bridge Road in Waltham Forest and Portsmouth Road in Kingston.

Best Large-Scale Infrastructure Scheme was won by the East-West Cycle Superhighway, which opened a large section recently and is nearly complete. This superhighway travels along the Embankment and provides a nice, and often picturesque, route through the city. The runners up were the beleaguered North-South Cycle Superhighway and CS5.

Cycling Champion of the Year was won by Councillor Clyde Loakes, who is deputy Labour leader for Waltham Forest and was involved in the Mini-Holland planning in the borough. The runners up were Clare Rogers and Andrew Gilligan.

Best Cycling Event  was won by Cycle Revolution at the Design Museum, a particular favourite of ours. We visited this exhibition before Christmas and have to agree that it is truly excellent and well worth a visit before it closes in a couple of weeks. The runners up were Six Day London and Cycle Speed Dating.

Finally, Best Bike Shop was won by Brixton Cycles. This is one of our favourite bike shops in South London and has recently run a successful crowd funding campaign to secure funds to move premises after the old ones were slated for redevelopment. The new shop is bigger and better than the first and is the proud host to a snazzy Look Mum No Hands!  coffee shop. The runners up were Condor Cycles, Brick Lane Bikes and Sigma Sport.

So, do you agree with the selection of winners in each category? Are there projects, products or people you wish had won instead? Let us know with a compelling argument below!