Cycle Show Mondays from 23 July on ITV4

[Redlight]

I really, really want a go at BMX now. And I think i'm slightly in love with Anna whatserface.

Anna "ride on the pavement" Glowinski.

Sadly, she is the weakest member of the presentation team and rather looks to be the token woman, which is a shame as she obviously is a genuine cyclist. She has potential and is comfortable on camera, but needs to slow down a little and learn to develop her own voice rather than, as it seems, try to recite the script. That's just down to age and experience. 

I suspect the research team is also pretty young - the item this week on the cycle park/gym place in Soho was introduced as if it were a completely new concept when, with the exception of the gym aspect, it has been around for a couple of decades to my knowledge (remember Bikepark in Covent Garden, anyone?).

[drossall]

... and, as AndyK pointed out, they also thought that cyclists' cafes were a new concept.

Didn't stop it being a good programme though.

[mattc]

FFS, nothing is really new in cycling. If you two were the editors they'd end up with a 30 second programme. Or just racing results. 

A more important whinge; the token blonde and almost everyone she spoke to had appaling cases of AQI. I would have hit delete if they hadn't switched to someone who knew how to talk properly.

[LEE]

I suspect the research team is also pretty young - the item this week on the cycle park/gym place in Soho was introduced as if it were a completely new concept when, with the exception of the gym aspect, it has been around for a couple of decades to my knowledge (remember Bikepark in Covent Garden, anyone?).

I wasn't aware that they existed.

[TimO]

... and, as AndyK pointed out, they also thought that cyclists' cafes were a new concept.

They're common enough now (at least in London), that Time Out has done a London's Best Cycle Cafes, instead of just London's Cycle Cafes!

To be fair, even in London, they aren't exactly around every corner, and I suspect a lot less common in other parts of the country.

Wonders about doing a Cycle Cafe Ride around London...

[fuzzy]

I really, really want a go at BMX now. And I think i'm slightly in love with Anna whatserface.

Anna "ride on the pavement" Glowinski.

Sadly, she is the weakest member of the presentation team and rather looks to be the token woman, which is a shame as she obviously is a genuine cyclist. She has potential and is comfortable on camera, but needs to slow down a little and learn to develop her own voice rather than, as it seems, try to recite the script. That's just down to age and experience. 

My bold.

Don't forget the cool calm commuter facet that is presented by another female- VeloGirl (or similar tag) the very fashion oriented black lady. A nice indication that it ain't all about the lycra.

[padbeat]

She seemed to be the most natural and eloquent presenter on the programme. The lead guy could really do with a bit of remedial interview training. It seems a bit like:
Interviewer asks general question and points it to guest A. Guest A answers, and recieves follow up question. Guest B is asked for their opinion, switch back to guest A just before guest B gets interesting. Guest A warms up a bit, interviewer cuts him off and we go to a break.

There's no flow and its all a bit clunky. God help me but he could do worse than watch Jeremy C interview Stars in Reasonably Priced Cars.

All this notwithstanding, I do enjoy most of the programme. Rob Hayles is quite good and doesn't seem to mind taking the piss out of himself.

[Notsototalnewbie]

I really, really want a go at BMX now. And I think i'm slightly in love with Anna whatserface.

Anna "ride on the pavement" Glowinski.

Sadly, she is the weakest member of the presentation team and rather looks to be the token woman, which is a shame as she obviously is a genuine cyclist. She has potential and is comfortable on camera, but needs to slow down a little and learn to develop her own voice rather than, as it seems, try to recite the script. That's just down to age and experience. 

My bold.

Don't forget the cool calm commuter facet that is presented by another female- VeloGirl (or similar tag) the very fashion oriented black lady. A nice indication that it ain't all about the lycra.

I’ve followed Lady Velo’s blog for a while now (to the extent that I almost said hello when I saw her pootling along the South Bank!) I’m glad they’ve picked her up because I think her presenting style is quite natural and she is a good example to illustrate that you don’t need heaps of special gear to get on a bike. The fact that some people will watch her pootling along looking lovely on her Pashley and think ‘I could do that’ is awesome – she also made a great case for seeking out quieter routes, something I had to struggle along with on my own using trial and error long before there were apps and things.

You can tell Anna isn’t quite comfortable with presenting, in fact her awkwardness reminds me of myself on the rare occasion I’m stuck in front of a camera, so I hope she’ll get better because I find her quite hard to watch at the moment.

We can sit and pick it to pieces all we like but overall I think this programme is a Good Thing. The ordinary member of the public won’t be aware that cycle cafes/cycle parks aren’t a new thing and anyway does it really matter – the main thing is they’re on the rise and that is also a Good Thing.

(what does AQI mean?)

[John Henry]

(what does AQI mean?)

Australian Questioning Intonation? When people turn every sentence into a question by making it go up at the end?

It's Anna's slight lack of naturalness in front of the camera that makes me think she's cyclist first, presenter second. And I rather like that, tbh.

[TimO]

... You can tell Anna isn’t quite comfortable with presenting, in fact her awkwardness reminds me of myself on the rare occasion I’m stuck in front of a camera, so I hope she’ll get better because I find her quite hard to watch at the moment. ...

I think it's just taking her a while to get used to presenting.  I don't think she's done it before, if you look her up, you realise that she's basically a cyclist, who has also designed clothes for cyclists, because she is "Ana Nichoola" clothes.

Overall the entire show is a little bit shaky, but that's no bad thing, because it's just trying to sort out what it's doing, and how it's doing it.  I think it's improving very fast.  There have been plenty of TV series that have been pretty awful for an entire series, before they got into the swing of things.

[clarion]

Does anyone else remember the first series of Top Gear? 

[John Henry]

Does anyone else remember the first series of Top Gear?

The one before James May joined? Yes. It was truly dire.

I'm not a massive fan of TG, but it seems to me as a non-expert that in its prime it was generally slick, confident and well-produced, despite a very shaky start. TCS has the potential to be excellent if they carry on the current rate of improvement - I reckon every episode is noticeably better than the last, at the moment.

[clarion]

I'm thinking of William Woolard and Noel Edmonds.  It took from 1977 to 2001 to achieve the current popular format.

[jogler]

Does anyone else remember the first series of Top Gear?

 

stay on topic,don't allow this thread to drift to that topic

[clarion]

I imagine it's the format and 'feel' that they are aiming for.

[John Henry]

Does anyone else remember the first series of Top Gear?

 

stay on topic,don't allow this thread to drift to that topic

Comparisons between TCS and Top Gear are inevitable, given the subject matter and format. I don't think it's irrelevant. The 'new' format of Top Gear has become very popular, but the first series was pretty bad. (I remember the older Edmonds/Woollard era, but I don't remember how popular it was.)

But we could talk about 'Men Behaving Badly', 'Blackadder' or 'Only Fools and Horses' if you prefer. Or a load of others. The point is that there have been a large number of programmes which have became very popular, but which struggled to find their feet in their first series. TCS has teething troubles, but my perception is that it's getting there.

[mattc]

(what does AQI mean?)

Australian Questioning Intonation? When people turn every sentence into a question by making it go up at the end?

It's Anna's slight lack of naturalness in front of the camera that makes me think she's cyclist first, presenter second. And I rather like that, tbh.

That's right? It's become very popular with the yoof today? Not only does it make them harder to listen to? But it  makes them sound uncertain of what they speak, which is unhelpful when they're presenting factual stuff for our consumption?

(It pleased me that the younger TeamGB riders - like Trotty - avoid it completely, even when all squeally and schoolgirly.)

Hopefully it's a symptom of inexperience in front of a camera; she'll get better, and I'd rather have cyclists presenting it than converted motoring journos 

[clarion]

Joff Summerfield has mentioned on FB that he will be on the next edition.

I must find it on the intertubes.

[Wobbly John]

Joff Summerfield has mentioned on FB that he will be on the next edition.

 

He did feature greatly in the trailers for the series.

[Hummers]

Definitelty better than the first episode in the series (although this is a relative term).

It does make you reailse that despite having a bike (and riding it), the sort of cycling you do is just one small part of cycling.

H

[Wobbly John]

Go Joffffffffffffffffffff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jogler]

Olympic Gold medalist comes 2nd to Joff

The programme  keeps getting better.
Lizzie Armistead came over really well.I reckon she has the necessary to do well in TV cycle media when she hangs her wheels up.
She's certainly switched on.

[LEE]

Comparison of folding bikes that didn't compare the folding procedures or price was a bit poorly thought out I thought. 

However I enjoyed the continual stream of odd people coming out of the cafe, caught in the glare of the camera whilst the interview was going on. I wonder if that toasted sandwich found its rightful owner.

[TimO]

Comparison of folding bikes that didn't compare the folding procedures or price was a bit poorly thought out I thought. ...

That was exactly my thought!

A Moulton TSR2 is probably more expensive than most Bromptons, and I have no idea how a Mezzo compares to either of those price-wise.

Most Moultons don't really fold, they'll come apart relatively simply with some tools, but not close to the sub-30 seconds that a Brompton can be folded or unfolded in.

[padbeat]

"No, Jeff, you don't need £6 million to run a Pro women's team. It's only £450,000. How about it?"

Well done that woman!

This week's was much improved. It's still not exactly slick, but the interviews were better and I think they're getting the hang of it.