Bikes gain popularity in London

Londoners are getting on their bikes as the fear of more terrorist attacks on public transport rises.

Sales of bikes - from foldaway models to multi-gear machines - have rocketed in the few days since Thursday's bombings.

"It was just one person after another coming in out of desperation," said Grant Young, the owner of Condor Bikes, the oldest bike shop in the city.

It sold about 50 bikes on Friday NZT, compared with the normal 15.

Some Londoners are too frightened to catch an Underground train or hop on a bus, and some have dusted down old bikes or invested in new ones to sample a different kind of commuting.

Evans Cycles, the biggest independent bike retail chain in Britain, sold four times as many bikes as usual at its nine outlets in central London on Friday - some 400 bikes - and had another busy day on Saturday, said director Mark Evans.