Extreme city riding, very untypical which is why that video made it up onto youtube. Surely though most of the private cars that they pass in that clip (who almost undoubtedly are taking needless city trips) are never accused of "disrespectfull road usage". Look at those streets, littered with massive congestion, visual and atmospheric polution, isn't that downright dis-respectfull and anti-social? Take at look at Marlebone road, or any road in London and say to me honestly "cyclists are a problem" its utter, utter lunacy. The guys in the clip are being reckless but picking up on it is like so, so so-what in comparison to the enormity of the motorcar problem in London, a real problem not an invented one or one that exists on the very miniscule outer fringes and exists only then because the transport infrastructure has been so apallingly mis-directed in the belief that the car is king. Go to the corner of Charing Cross road and Oxford street and watch motorist after motorist take the illegal turn left because they feel they have a right to drive a private car down Londons main shopping street. Wake up to the real issues will ya!

no wonder Londoners get fed up with cyclists...

Incredible skills on display, these bikers show a true outlaw mentality that I grudgingly admire. London's streets are so dysfunctional, with baffling one-way systems, traffic lights that keep you waiting far too long (yes I am one of those bike-riding suckers that actually waits for a green light) and psychopathically negligent bus, taxi and car drivers that this kind of behaviour is entirely understandable: if you make cyclists feel like outsiders, why are people surprised when they act accordingly? I just hope Ken Livingstone doesn't see it, he'll rapidly abandon his pro-cyclist stance and go back to his oppressive plan of slapping registration plates on bikes.
Keep cranking you nutters - and the powers that be should start asking why people take these kind of risks (I'll bet the outtakes to that video are pretty gruesome) - could it have something to do with the fact that travelling through London - even by bicycle - is a monumentally frustrating experience?

> ...what happens when they knock over the 5 year old,
> e.g. on holiday from Europe, when travelling
> at this manic speed?

Well, lets see. Cyclists kill about 2 people a year in the UK, motorists kill about 3,000, 700 of them pedestrians and 200 of them children. I guess one could suggest in the rare event a cyclist did knock over a five year old the punishment should be the same as the much more common event of a motorist knocking over a five year old. So that will probably be a £30 fine then.

I like the taxi driver's response at the end as he is one of those 'who own the road'. Even in my city of Leicester cars go though main centre roads designated for 'buses, taxis and cycles' but are ignored by the police. These roads can be seen from the front of the police station. Their response on each occasion has been "we do not have the staff". They will have the staff when it gets closer to the end of the financial year. My complaints of being driven at as a pedestrian in these areas have not been upheld. So I have a respect for these riders. At my grey-haired age I have become dismissive of the politicised police and CPS.

Correction to previous posters - this is genuinely skillful riding [although some of it looks speeded-up]. I disagree with all comments about giving cyclists a bad name, etc. This is a film about how you can get around London even with all these criminals in their cars congesting our streets. Some criminal car facts: Every third car they pass is uninsured or illegal; 98% of the cars passed have broken the law [speed limit] that day; over half the drivers will talk on their mobiles while driving this week.

It's pointless trying to deflect criticism of the idiots on bike by referring to the sins of other users. The cyclists are behaving recklessly and I would argue that it is not a display of great skill but a display of total contempt for fellow road and pavement users. i would not be terribly upset if one or two of them became candidates for a Darwin Award and help reduce the gene pool of reprobates.

I do a lot of courier work in London, and also in Cambridge, and there is a road vibe that is essential to take in to account.

In Cambridge I am a far more considerate road user, and this is due to the drivers being so also, however, as congested and narrow the Cambridge streets are they are better managed, with genuine traffic flow enabling you to effectively green light the whole way across town.

Now london, the sprawling, evolving mass it is, is not like this. The congestion is beyond acceptable, and due to this the Red lights are everywhere, with traffic stopped on all four sides, this, combined with agressive road users who are fed up of crawling through london lead to a dog eat dog mentality.

As soon as I hop on my bike at Kings Cross I go as hard, as agressively and as fast I can, I weave, I jump lights, I narrowly avoid jay walking pedestrians, I ensure that anyone getting near my road space knows I am there and am not moving out of it.

Yes, this is dangerous, yes it is stupid but not to anyone but my own detriment, I've never hit anyone, and I am smart enough and skilled enough to avoid any disasters that appear. I have no shame in sacrificing a bike to ensure I survive, and nor do these guys.

Now, let us consider the number of drivers who, if making a mistake, can say the same. I see poor driving far more than I see bad cycling, I see risky cycling, but I never see the same level of stupidity, agression, thoughtlessness or wanton idiocy that the four wheel freaks display.

Let us not over-react. This is not big or clever, but it is certainly fun, and you don't half get a buzz out of it. When was your drive to work that much fun?

I reckon all where first day delivery parcels...

There is nothing skillfull about falling off your bike, riding on the wrong side of the road, nearly knocking over pedestrians, or squeezing between moving cars.

Give them a few years and these guys will be driving 4X4s in the same aggressive "I own the road style."