Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles • Hacker News Board

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#111

Post by bluejekyll » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 4:36 AM UTC

u801e wrote: post #104

bluejekyll wrote: post #2

I bike around SF with my kids in a Cargo bike all the time. The bike is freeing in the city, and the kids love it. As they’ve gotten bigger and older, I had to put a motor on it for the hills. I hate that bikes are controversial in the City, as they are such a great way of increasing mobility around town. eBikes, are also amazing for this aspect of mobility. With all the new scooters and rental bikes though, it’s str…

> As they’ve gotten bigger and older, I had to put a motor on it for the hills. How steep are the ones you have to deal with? I take mine up a short 6% grade in my second to lowest gear without too much difficulty, but I imagine that if the hill was much steeper, I wouldn't be able to make it up without getting a granny gear on my bike's cassette.

it wasn’t really a capability, so much as a speed thing. I didn’t like being so slow compared to the cars when going up hills. With a bionix I we can cruise up minor grades at a much better clip.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#112

Post by pantalaimon » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:07 AM UTC

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…

The city of Berlin currently has an initiative where they refund 33% of the purchase price for cargo bikes, but not more than 500€ for an unmotorised bike or 1000€ for an electric one.

However the number of possible applications for this year has already been exhausted within the first couple of days of the program.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#113

Post by erric » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:46 AM UTC

The major problem with biking in the US, is cyclists are not first class citizens. Having lived in The Netherlands for two years and Portland Oregon (which has a fairly progressive bike culture) for sixteen years, there is no comparison.

There is no political or financial willpower to make the kinds of changes that would make cycling more pervasive and safe for both drivers and cyclists in the US.

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#114

Post by Fricken » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 2:05 PM UTC

mattrices wrote: post #79

Fricken wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I picked up a portage bag, which is a heavy duty waterproof backpack big enough to hold a dead body, but I use it mostly for groceries and other big hauls on a bike. It's basically just a big bucket you wear on your back. I suppose it's less comfortable than a trailer, but it doesn't require setup time, stores away nicely, and can hold 2 week's worth of groceries for 2.

Would you link the portage bag youre refering to?

This, except in black:

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5012-988/Pro-Pack

Re: Cargo bikes as symbolic markers of egalitarian gender roles

#115

Post by rabboRubble » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 6:06 PM UTC

Bromskloss wrote: post #105

rabboRubble wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing it's an EU thing to make the article easily discoverable for 3 main EU languages (how the English language thing will work after Brexit, no idea. EU may still have English as an official language for cross border communication). Many academic people speak English well enough to read the article. I'm guessing from my own struggles while Googling stuff in a different language, that is a different art.

What does the European Union have to do with this?

The publishing company hosting the article is headquartered in London. I wondered if the location might have something to do with the languages found in the abstract. The languages are an odd selection. If they were going for penetration, why no Chinese or Hindi? I tried to find guidance on their website if the presented languages were mandatory but could not. Other journal articles had the same 3 languages in the abstract so it appeared to be a convention for that site. I did find translation services, for a cost which explains why the article was not translated into those languages.

Edit: PS had an incredibly slow Sunday obviously :)