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Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

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Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#31

Post by justinator »

1over137 wrote: post #14
kaitai wrote: post #4

This is a really interesting read for me, as I'm considering the purchase of a cargo bike. Apparently, I fit the stereotype pretty well -- highly-educated urban coffee-drinker (no yoga, no vegetarianism, though). The cargo bike would solve the problem of hauling hardware-store purchases home with kid and sans car. But they're expensive! 1.5 or 2 thousand dollars! So for now we're making do with the bus and the stroll…

Expensive compared to a regular bike, but cheap compared to a car.

Cheaper to own once bought too, yes? No gas or insurance, parking tickets, etc.

Get rid of your gym membership, too!

Food bill may be slightly higher, but you can haul bags of rice by the 10kg bag!

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#32

Post by maxerickson »

bluejekyll wrote: post #16
1over137 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Riding in the centre of a lane is illegal in many places.

Where? In CA a cyclist has as much right to the road as a car. A mistake I often see cyclists make is to allow themselves to be stuck in a very narrow space between the center of the lane and the edge of the road/curb/parked cars. When the road is too narrow, and there isn’t a safe place for a car to pass you, it’s important to consume the space in a way that makes it obvious to cars that they should not attempt to p…

Michigan has a keep right except when necessary law. So you can take the lane to turn left or if you believe keeping right is dangerous, etc.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#33

Post by monkeywork »

whatshisface wrote: post #11
TomK32 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, they are expensive, but once you have a cargo bike you can carry home a tig welder, alu pipes and all the other stuff to build a cargo bike :D No seriously, they are expensive but if you look at craigslist and similar, they keep their value if you take care of your bike. and regarding road safety, ride in the right tire-mark left by the cars. you'll be safe from dooring and cars have to slow down and change lane…

> ride in the right tire-mark left by the cars. If you're going to do that, why not just ride in the center of the lane like a motorcycle?

This is often very illegal to do on a bicycle.

On a motorcycle lane position is very situational... however very very rarely if you are in motion is being in the middle of the lane a good idea. Generally speaking you should only be in the middle of the lane when you are fully stopped at a stop sign or light to keep cars from trying to squeeze by you.

On a normal two lane road (one each direction) you want to stay in the left hand side of the lane. This is so people over taking a car behind you spot you and don't force themselves in putting you in a dangerous spot.

On a four lane road (two lanes each way) you would hold the same position as previously mentioned if you were in the right lane however if you are in the left lane you would want to stay to the right side of that lane... this way again someone merging in from the right lane would see you.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#34

Post by monkeywork »

bluejekyll wrote: post #16
1over137 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Riding in the centre of a lane is illegal in many places.

Where? In CA a cyclist has as much right to the road as a car. A mistake I often see cyclists make is to allow themselves to be stuck in a very narrow space between the center of the lane and the edge of the road/curb/parked cars. When the road is too narrow, and there isn’t a safe place for a car to pass you, it’s important to consume the space in a way that makes it obvious to cars that they should not attempt to p…

https://losangelesbicyclelaw.com/california-bicycle-laws-ove...

"When there isn’t a bicycle lane, try to stay near the right curb. Unless you are moving faster than vehicle traffic, passing another bicycle, or making a left turn, you should typically stay close to the curb or road’s edge."

http://www.calbike.org/bicycling_in_california_sharing_the_r...

"The law says that people who ride bikes must ride as close to the right side of the road as practicable except under the following conditions: when passing, preparing for a left turn, avoiding hazards, if the lane is too narrow to share, or if approaching a place where a right turn is authorized."

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#36

Post by monkeywork »

st26 wrote: post #17

Does anyone know why dads riding these are called "soft"? I've never ridden a cargo bike, but it takes strong legs & constitution to regularly tow a kid or utility trailer more than a few miles. Is it just that whole notion that fathers who are involved with their children are not masculine?

Never heard anyone call anyone soft for being involved with their kids nor for riding a bike ... ignore and move forward.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#37

Post by double0jimb0 »

justinator wrote: post #30
noelwelsh wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you haven't considered it already, a bike trailer is likely to be a cheaper alternative to a cargo bike. I've had a bike trailer for years. Mine is a Croozer 2. I transported my kids to nursery in it, and did supermarket runs etc. The tradeoff is it is an extra thing you have to worry about. It's much less convenient to park / lock-up than just the bike on its own. Regardless, I'm looking forward to getting it out…

Check out this invention my buddy made - it turns ANY bike into a cargo bike! https://argobikes.com/

Backed Kickstarter for the Argo and the delivered product exceeded all expectations.

I hope they catch on, the Argo is 1/3 the price of the fancy euro cargo bikes.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#38

Post by kevinschumacher »

monkeywork wrote: post #33
whatshisface wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ride in the right tire-mark left by the cars. If you're going to do that, why not just ride in the center of the lane like a motorcycle?

This is often very illegal to do on a bicycle. On a motorcycle lane position is very situational... however very very rarely if you are in motion is being in the middle of the lane a good idea. Generally speaking you should only be in the middle of the lane when you are fully stopped at a stop sign or light to keep cars from trying to squeeze by you. On a normal two lane road (one each direction) you want to stay in…

> [riding in the middle of the lane] is often very illegal to do on a bicycle.

Where are you from? In the few major US cities I've lived, this is legal. The road laws here typically treat bicycles the same as other cars (with exceptions).

IME, in urban, US east-coast cities, if you are toward one side of the lane, cars will try and pass you (even on the right... and yes that pushes the cyclist into oncoming traffic). It's a common opinion that you should take the whole lane, and let faster vehicles pass you as they would a slower car.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#39

Post by btrettel »

monkeywork wrote: post #34
bluejekyll wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where? In CA a cyclist has as much right to the road as a car. A mistake I often see cyclists make is to allow themselves to be stuck in a very narrow space between the center of the lane and the edge of the road/curb/parked cars. When the road is too narrow, and there isn’t a safe place for a car to pass you, it’s important to consume the space in a way that makes it obvious to cars that they should not attempt to p…

https://losangelesbicyclelaw.com/california-bicycle-laws-ove... "When there isn’t a bicycle lane, try to stay near the right curb. Unless you are moving faster than vehicle traffic, passing another bicycle, or making a left turn, you should typically stay close to the curb or road’s edge." http://www.calbike.org/bicycling_in_california_sharing_the_r... "The law says that people who ride bikes must ride as close to th…

"If the lane is too narrow to share" can legally be invoked in most cases from what I understand, because most lanes cyclists ride in are narrow enough.

https://www.bikeleague.org/content/traffic-laws

> Bikes can share the same lane with other drivers. If a lane is wide enough to share with another vehicle (about 14 feet), ride three feet to the right of traffic. If the lane is not wide enough to share, “take the lane” by riding in the middle.

In Texas, 14 feet is explicitly written into the law. As a cyclist I frequently point this out to aggressive drivers. From what I understand there's often case law establishing this in states without an explicit law, but as I said, I live in Texas, so I'm not entirely familiar with other states' laws.

Quotes from Texas' law:

http://www.biketexas.org/en/infrastructure/texas-bicycle-law...

> (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person operating a bicycle on a roadway who is moving slower than the other traffic on the roadway shall ride as near as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway, unless:

> [...]

> (4) the person is operating a bicycle in an outside lane that is:

> (A) less than 14 feet in width and does not have a designated bicycle lane adjacent to that lane; or

Also, in the US, my understanding is that cyclists can ride whereever they want if they are at or near the speed limit. Still doesn't stop some drivers from almost killing me because they think 20 mph in a 15 mph zone is too slow.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#40

Post by kevinschumacher »

monkeywork wrote: post #34
bluejekyll wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where? In CA a cyclist has as much right to the road as a car. A mistake I often see cyclists make is to allow themselves to be stuck in a very narrow space between the center of the lane and the edge of the road/curb/parked cars. When the road is too narrow, and there isn’t a safe place for a car to pass you, it’s important to consume the space in a way that makes it obvious to cars that they should not attempt to p…

https://losangelesbicyclelaw.com/california-bicycle-laws-ove... "When there isn’t a bicycle lane, try to stay near the right curb. Unless you are moving faster than vehicle traffic, passing another bicycle, or making a left turn, you should typically stay close to the curb or road’s edge." http://www.calbike.org/bicycling_in_california_sharing_the_r... "The law says that people who ride bikes must ride as close to th…

> "people who ride bikes must ride as close to the right side of the road as practicable except under the following conditions: ... avoiding hazards, if the lane is too narrow to share, ..."

IME in urban cycling on US east-coast cities, if you're on a two-lane road with parking (one each direction), "as close to the right side of the road as practicable" means the center of the lane.

If you stray to the right, you're putting yourself in danger of car doors being opened, or pedestrians deciding to step into the street without looking (it happens a TON more than you'd think)

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