The Independent's pro-cycling writers Simon Usborne, Simon O'Hagan and Jamie Merrill have tried the following bikes and have the experience of riding them. Click on each of them for their full review.

As the final series is about to air Hugh Montgomery examines an unlikely candidate for mass adulation

Now a weightless pastime, ballooning once made a solid contribution to science and to war

Eco City Vehicles, the supplier of the Mercedes Vito London taxi, took advantage of the fall into administration of its rival, Manganese Bronze, last year with sales of Vitos jumping from 331 vehicles to 561. It now claims four out of every 10 new cab sales in the capital.

A Christian-run NHS GP surgery has attracted criticism for posting a notice warning that some of its doctors refuse to prescribe the morning-after pill to patients on grounds of conscience.

The debate about which British region boasts the tastiest tap water has finally been settled with an unlikely winner: it comes not from “hard” northern or “soft” southern waters but from the middle of Britain – in Coventry.

Maxim Gorky wrote this play while in prison in 1905 in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, the shameful episode in which the Imperial Guard turned fire on a peaceful, unarmed demonstration in Petersburg.

David Gates is an image catcher. He hunts them down and fixes them to a point using pinhole photography and collage.

London Mayor Boris Johnson showed off his tailoring skills during a recent visit to a clothing factory in east London. Johnson sewed together two pieces of neon-coloured material which he described as a 'codpiece'.

David Palmer DVD/Blu-ray (100mins)

Comment

Dominic West's caddish news anchor, Hector, dominates Abi Morgan's still enjoyable 1950s-set drama.

A stuffy academic?