to be so irritated by cyclists doing wheelies?

They think they are invincible.

Round here they also do it at night, cycling around wearing all black clothing, hoods up covering most of their faces etc so they are practically invisible until you're almost on top of them on an unlit road.

The ones on mopeds and bikes are no better, though they are usually lit..

I saw some footage of a motorbike tribute ride following some kids funeral.....

Half the kids there were doing wheelies down a main road, not wearing leathers, putting other road users at risk... exactly how their mate died!

The stupid is so strong with them.

Call me evil but when I see these antisocial rats doing wheelies on busy roads I long for them to be injured .

I did some today.... I’m 34 and I’m a girl!
Sorry fun police

In regard to teenage boys being PITAs on the public roads...

On my way home tonight, just a street or two away from the train station, a car full of teen boys/very young men beeped at me to walk closer. I ignored that, obviously. Then one of the passengers called out of the window, "Excuse me, how much do you charge?"

Bloody motorists, eh?

I genuinely believe the way I ride on the roads ie. wheelying, manualling, hopping kerbs, playing around and most important of all smiling and making eye contact with, thanking and greeting pedestrians and drivers when passing raises my image out of the “cyclist” group stereotype and humanises me more to onlookers.
It definitely gets me compliments and smiles back.
I don’t consider myself a cyclist. Just someone who loves riding bikes and does it a lot.
On my commute each way I jump 19 red lights, ride 4 pavements and hop on and off a few more and on the way in I ride one quiet one way street (Lane) the wrong way.
All of the above is done safely. No one is ever in danger from my actions and no one is inconvenienced in the slightest.
blindly obeying the law when the law is stupid, ill thought out and actually more dangerous than not obeying it.
Cycle lane planning is a complete joke here and quite a few are just plain dangerous if you stick to the advised cycle lanes/filters etc.

Maybe. Knife crime is a huge issue where I live in SE London and I wouldn't be surprised if most of these boys know someone who has been affected or even murdered.

I can't help but feel that these are kids with nothing to live for. Sooner or later they will get killed by a motorist who simply won't see them. But they may well feel they could get knifed at any minute so who cares.

I think it's probably the opposite actually, that they feel invincible and never really think that the worst could actually happen.

This really drives me mad. They do it in busy car parks by me too.

The day after my step dad got knocked down and killed, a lad at the school on the road I live on did this and swerved in front of my car. I don’t know how I missed him.
The head teacher saw it and came running out to find him. He had been expelled from my daughter’s school so she knew his name and eventually he came back. He tried to deny it, and I must admit I eventually swore at him. I wasn’t proud of that but my emotions were very high.

I feel very sorry for the poor drivers who will end up killing these idiots because of their lunacy.

They aren’t cyclists. They are silly teenage boys doing what many teenage boys have always done - take risks and generally do stupid shit because they think they are death proof at that age.

When I was a teenager some of the boys used to hold on to the back of cars on skateboards. Doing wheelies and not holding onto handlebars was also a thing.

The thing that really bother me the most is how invisible these kids are, dressed in black head to foot and doing this in the dark - even with ubiquitous street lighting I haven't been able to see them until the last minute.

I can't help but feel that these are kids with nothing to live for. Sooner or later they will get killed by a motorist who simply won't see them. But they may well feel they could get knifed at any minute so who cares.

We have it in SW London too. Including the slowing buses down by doing wheelies in front of them. I can't bear to watch. And also worry that any accident might involve innocent bystanders. No police ever to be seen, of course. I last saw some PCSOs on the beat about 5 years ago.

It's such a shame that they don't put their skills to positive use. If they put their minds to it some of these kids could be the next Danny MacAskill.

Same in our area, recent thing too. It's causing mayhem they are even doing it on the dual carrigeway.

They've all got parents, presumably. Their parents must see them leaving the house without a helmet, probably in dark clothing.

There's a trend near where my mum lives for teenage boys to cycle on the roads (no helmets) do wheelies and then sometimes veer in front of cars forcing them to suddenly stop suddenly. Incredibly dangerous and there have obviously been accidents.

But I know what you mean. I wasn't part of a gang who did it. I just cycled around an awful lot, mostly on my own, and never in the way of traffic like described.

I always wonder where the girls are. Have they been discouraged from mucking about on bikes in the evening by their parents, or are they staying inside because they find the boy gangs intimidating?

Or is it as simple as a question of bike frame weight? A lot of teenage boys can manually lug about a cheap steel framed bike from street corner to street corner as a leisure activity in itself! Doing that just for the sake of doing occasional wheelies for attention is no problem at all, but a petite teenage girl would find it much more cumbersome. If she's going out with a bike, she needs to be actually using it the whole way. If any of her friends in the group are walking, she might as well leave her bike at home too, rather than put up with wheeling it along.

I agree with PP, they are not cyclists, they are silly little boys showing off in front of their mates.

They are not cyclists, just children on bikes indulging unfortunately in stupid behaviour on public roads/pavements.

I really wouldn't class kids messing around on bikes as 'cyclists'.

Doing wheelies isn't the point, slowing down traffic and being a nuisance is. If they weren't doing wheelies, it would be something else. If you're in SE London, I've possibly seen those lads, as witnessed the same cocky stupidity!

There's no cure for idiocy, but hope that they grow out of it.

I’ve just had 3 teenage lads come flying down the centre of traffic, front wheels in the air. Rush hour traffic too! Absolute idiots. If they don’t end up dead, they’re at least gonna end up scratching some poor sods car when they lose control.

I was a girl who did wheelies.

But I know what you mean. I wasn't part of a gang who did it. I just cycled around an awful lot, mostly on my own, and never in the way of traffic like described.

Shame it takes a fatality or an incident from them, to stop it.

I think it's a thing teenage boys have done since bicycles were invented. They'll grow out of it. Or have an accident. Whichever comes first.

I’ve recently moved from London to Warwickshire. As well as the wheelies (up and down the high street so cars can’t pass) so many cyclists use pavements. Grown ups too. Just come flying towards or behind you and expect you to jump out the way. The roads aren’t particularly busy (although they may be avoiding the wheelie kids) and pavements are narrow. It’s so weird!