BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news

Simon Starling was last night awarded the prestigious Turner Prize, pocketing £25 000. Previous winners of the British art prize have included Damien Hirst and Gilbert & George. One of Starling's works is Tabernas Desert Run 2004, an improvised electric/fuel cell bicycle. The fuel cell and electrics were supplied by Glasgow bike shop Kinetics and the secondhand Raleigh bike was supplied for £75 from Common Wheel, also of Glasgow.

The aggrieved parents of some face-planted kids filed suit against Wal-Mart and Dynacraft earlier this year and have subsequently started a 'stop hurting our kids' anti-Wal-Mart website. Their case started today in Marin County Superior Court. The children who crashed were riding on bicycles that had front wheels badly secured by incorrectly used QR fasteners. Dynacraft says the QRs were not faulty but the parents blame the supplier and the retailer, not for flagging the fact that QRs need to be fastened correctly but for selling "dangerous bikes". A case of bike trade deja vu?

CTC has today welcomed government proposals to spend £1.2m encouraging landowners to voluntarily dedicate their land for public access.

Robert F. Bruner, the dean of Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, has told a Chinese newspaper that Formula One drivers don't like to ride bikes, as if the 'humble' bicycle is too lo-tech for the likes of Britain's David Coulthard or Australia's Mark Webber. In fact, both drivers are mad keen cyclists and many other F1 drivers are owners of high-end road bikes that you almost need F1 wages to afford...

The top spot went to HSE wallahs (wearing flak jackets and helmets just in case the ceiling caved in). The awards were presented Wednesday night by ITN's news anchor Trevor McDonald.