Seven days in cycling: Your weekly catch up service of the week's big news stories on road.cc

Welcome to our roundup of the week's cycling news on road.cc, where we reprise some of the stories that you loved (or loved to hate) the most over the past seven days. Click on any headline to read the story in full and join in our reader debates in the comments section.

Davina gets on her bike - and in a lake - oh and does a marathon too

We both kicked off the week on Sunday and brought it to a close the following Saturday with the television presenter Davina McCall - who found herself ‘close to collapse’ on the first day of her Sport Relief seven day triathlon challenge, with suspected hypothermia.

McCall, who has described herself as having been bitten by the cycling bug, is no stranger to endurance riding, having taken part in a relay in the Sport Relief John O’Groats to Land’s End Sport Relief Bike Ride in 2010.

With only 20 miles clocked up, McCall’s team tweeted: “In temps of just three degrees with a bitter wind chill, the medics say Davina is showing early signs of hypothermia.”

But, ever resilient, the star went on to cycle a total of 130 miles yesterday and may still be on course to finish her effort in the set deadline.

Then come Saturday we were able to bring you the happier new that McCall ran a full marathon as the last leg of her 500 mile Scotland to London dash.

The presenter has already raised more than £760,000 via her Sport Relief page, with the money going towards projects for maternal health in Kenya and charity in the UK.

Aussie company’s combined rear light + video camera goes on KickStarter
 

On Monday we brought you an innovation so perfect it’s hard to believe no-one thought of it first.

New Australian company Fly Lites is looking for AU$95,000 (just over £50,000) to fund an idea it hopes will be a “game changer”: a combined rear light and video camera, dubbed Fly6.

“As motorists become aware they could be recorded, they behave appropriately just as they do when they see traffic or speed cameras are ahead,” says Fly Lites CEO, Andrew Hagen.

In the accompanying video, Fly6 co-creator Kingsley Fiegert tells how he was shot with a slingshot by a car passenger. In considerable pain and struggling to stay on his bike, he didn’t get the car’s number plate.

Kingsley and Andrew’s answer is a rear-facing camera built into a bright rear LED light with a retail price of AU$169 (£92).

Andrew says: “[It’s] a device that cyclists of all persuasions, can afford to buy at $169(AUD) as well as it appearing as if just a tail-light. Making it easy to use, intuitive (given it is already a tail-light), affordable and cyclist friendly (long battery life & protected from the elements by nano-technology) it will be widely taken up. This wide spread use will soon find motorists being held to task for altercations with cyclists.

\“Media will love the video footage of incidents and run stories which will lead to more motorists becoming aware they are likely to be recorded by cyclists. They will behave accordingly, giving more space & respect to the cyclist on the road when they know they are being recorded.”

Trek Project One Voting opens - and it’s open until Friday

The road.cc/ Trek competition has been pretty divisive so far, and never more so than when voting opened on Tuesday - with readers invited to pick their favourite out of our shortlist of 25 designs for the Trek Project One competition.

Voting is still open till Friday, so have a look and have your say, using our handy guide:

1) Have a look at the 25 different designs (they're shown in a random order to give everyone a fair go)

2) Moan to yourself about how they're not as good as your design, and how they're too colourful/not colourful enough/etc (optional step)

3) Pick the ones you like best.

4) Click on 'Like' to vote for them. As many as you like.

Simple, eh? And the bike with the most votes when voting closes is the one that wins, and subsequently gets made.

South African track champ dies after keirin crash
 

Sad news on Wednesday when we learned that Jeanne Nell, one of South Africa's top track cyclists, had died in hospital from head injuries sustained when he crashed during a keirin race at the Bellville Velodrome in Cape Town.

Nell, who was the reigning national keirin champion and had won titles in other events including the individual sprint, represented his country at the Track World Cup in Manchester last year and was hoping to qualify as part of the men's sprint team for this summer's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Tributes were led by national governing body, Cycling South Africa, which described him as "a true gentleman and a true champion of the sport."

There’s still time to add your memories and condolences via the comments - just click the headline link through to our original article.

Conman blags four grand TT bike

 

A salutary tale on Thursday when police in Stevenage informed us about a cruel trick used by a conman masquerading as a potential buyer to steal a Trek time trial bike.

The owner had advertised the bike on a couple of second-hand sites, so when a man turned up at his house on February 8 claiming to be interested in buying it, it all seemed on the level.

In his ads, the owner said he had spent £6,200 on the 2011 Trek Project One Speed Concept bike and only raced it “a couple of times.” He said he was selling it because “I have a new addition to the family and I can't see myself doing any triathlons anytime soon.”

The thief asked to test the bike and gave the victim a laptop bag, which the victim assumed had a laptop inside. He didn’t return and after a short while the victim checked the bag, which he found contained books.

The offender is described as a man of ‘Mediterranean’ appearance, in his late 20s to early 30s who was around 6ft 1/2in tall with short dark hair and stubble. He was wearing a grey beanie hat, rectangular narrow glasses, a long grey tweed over coat and brown corduroy trousers.

Read the full article using the headline link to find out how you can protect yourself when selling a used bike.

London Bike Show previews one, two... and three

We’ve gone a bit tech crazy this week, having spent a whole day at the 2014 London Bike Show checking out some of the hottest and latest road bikes, components and accessories.

In fact we came away with so much great tech news that we ended up splitting our coverage into several articles, beginning with part one on Friday, featuring Parlee, Starley, NeilPryde, Cannondale, Singular and Primal.

And here, for your convenience, is our second installment of bikes that grabbed our attention, including Vitus, Beacon, Rose, Boardman and Aspire.

And in our third and final wrap-up from the show we featured Stevens, Canyon and Salsa. It's all there for you - click away.

Rio Gold fitting end to Wiggo’s career says Brailsford… if he can earn a spot

The week wrapped up on Saturday with the news that Sir Dave Brailsford was predicting track gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016 as "a fitting end" to Sir Bradley Wiggins' career.

British Cycling's performance director, who is also team principal at Sky, says Mark Cavendish's situation is more complicated, however, given his professional team's priorities.

Wiggins has won four Olympic gold medals, three of them in the velodrome as well as the time trial on the road at London 2012, that success coming less than a fortnight after he became the first British rider to win the Tour de France.

Sky team mate Chris Froome succeeded him to the yellow jersey last year and will once again lead the British WorldTour team's challenge when this year's race gets under way in Yorkshire in July.

That leaves Wiggins, who will turn 34 in April, chasing other goals as his career heads towards its conclusion, and Brailsford believes that the team pursuit in Rio, which the rider has said he would like to ride in, could be the ideal way for him to bring down the curtain.

Brailsford said: "That would be the end of Brad's career, I think, and if you think about a fitting end to his career, it would make a great last chapter.

"If Bradley can make the sacrifice, then, the athlete that he is, I can't see why he couldn't be selected. He would have to start thinking about it seriously a couple of years out and ride some world cups, but it is easily done.

"I think we would be in support of that, but just because he is called Bradley Wiggins doesn't mean he is going to be selected. It would be a tall order, but then he is exceptional."