On my occasional commute into London, I’ll always pick up one of the free papers which if nothing else, helps while away the boring journey. However, yesterday there was one article that caught my eye more than most.

Buyers of property in London are increasingly seeking dwellings with access to secure bike storage and/or are close to a number of bike-dedicated paths and route ways. Nothing wrong in that I hear you say. What made me laugh in all of this was a spokesperson for Knight Frank, the upmarket property agent, saying that it’s an increasingly popular request of buyers to want the storage facilities because bikes cost anything between £4,000-£7,000 these days. £4-7K! It’s not only their properties that come at a premium then?

I know the cost of bikes have increased markedly recently, but can you imagine the conversation. “I’m thinking of buying a new bike Darling”, “Are you dear, that’s nice, how much?” “Well the base models starts at £4K.” “Go on, knock yourself out Darling. I tell you what let’s get two while you’re at it”.

It just so happens that in this month’s WMB, they have a preview of Cannondale’s new Flash hardtail, possibly the lightest MTB on the market and narrows the gap to pro tour road bikes to just 1lb. And the cost for the Carbon Team version? A cool £6,999.

With a whole bunch of City types cycling through the smog on that bad boy, the prospects for British cycling have never looked rosier.