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The Rise of the Electric Scooter

blog.codinghorror.com

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Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#191

Post by Symbiote »

Goronmon wrote: post #186
molodec wrote: post #180

Ok, I understand that there is a lot of benefits to electric scooters. They are fun, convenient, and allow to navigate quickly, and great for the environment, or at least better than cars. Why not driving regular bicycles? Obesity is a growing problem, because people don't exercise enough. Mechanical bicycle is a great low impact activity for modern life. Also, bicycles aren't generally allowed on a sidewalk, but I h…

Why not driving regular bicycles? Where do you put the bicycle when you get where you need to go?

In Copenhagen, we just leave them outside. In the courtyard, in a bike rack, or somewhere along the street. Huge buildings might have underground parking.

It's just like cars in other countries.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#192

Post by chdhchd »

reneherse wrote: post #157
tick_tock_tick wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have the deal with the bike afterwords. Go for brunch in the mission and your friends are going back to the outer sunset with a scooter just fold it up and put it in the car with a bike either hope it's there when you get back, bike all the way, or go home then head over alone.

For people who are REALLY into bikes, a "rinko bike" helps with this. For general use however, I'm convinced about using a scooter as described above by the GGP.

Have you done much travel with a rinko-style dismantled bike in the US? I'm curious how trains and buses feel about the (still big and unwieldy) bag.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#193

Post by vel0city »

eldenbishop wrote: post #79
tick_tock_tick wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have the deal with the bike afterwords. Go for brunch in the mission and your friends are going back to the outer sunset with a scooter just fold it up and put it in the car with a bike either hope it's there when you get back, bike all the way, or go home then head over alone.

This exactly: bikes require planning and strategy and are not good for improvisational day-to-day things like you described. Bikes make walking easier but all other forms of travel like bus, train or taxi/uber/cars more difficult or impossible.

IRT bicycles in relation to buses and trains, mass transit can be designed with bikes in mind. Dallas is not exactly known for having the best mass transit system around, but DART buses have easy to use bike racks on the front and the light rail trains have handicap accessible cars with flat loading platforms and hooks to hang your bike to keep it somewhat out of the way.

Your points on other forms of travel, such as regular cars + bicycles, are definitely true.

https://www.dart.org/riding/bikeracksonbuses.asp https://www.dart.org/riding/bikesontrains.asp

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#194

Post by aveni »

umvi wrote: post #176
eldenbishop wrote: post #38

I rode a non-electric kick scooter (Xootr) for three years working in downtown SF. It is by far the best form of transitional transport there is and superior to bikes for 99% of actual real world travel. It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking and more importantly suddenly made the entire city open due to how insanely efficient it was for "glueing" together various forms of public transport. I could hop from tran…

> It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking I can walk a mile in 20 minutes which is 3 mph. This implies these scooters can maintain 12-15 mph? Am I just underestimating how fast you can get going on these things? That seems kind of fast unless you are going downhill both ways.

I ride an electric scooter approx. 4 mi each way Caltrain work everyday. I regularly maintain 15mph+ trip average.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#195

Post by dredmorbius »

jdavis703 wrote: post #91
eldenbishop wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This exactly: bikes require planning and strategy and are not good for improvisational day-to-day things like you described. Bikes make walking easier but all other forms of travel like bus, train or taxi/uber/cars more difficult or impossible.

> bikes require planning and strategy What? I don't plan or strategize any more or less than someone getting in a car might think about the optimal rush hour route.

A car can be parked on the street (at least in theory, I'm aware SF's parking may be less amenable), and has a high likelihood of being there and intact when you return.

Without bike-parking infrastructure -- ubiquitous racks -- bikes are far less likely to be found where left, and far more likely to be damaged, vandalised, and/or have components nicked.

I've lived where cycling was well-supported and routes and racks reasonable. And where not. For SF, hills, parking, and traffic all work against cycling.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#196

Post by higginsc »

umvi wrote: post #176
eldenbishop wrote: post #38

I rode a non-electric kick scooter (Xootr) for three years working in downtown SF. It is by far the best form of transitional transport there is and superior to bikes for 99% of actual real world travel. It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking and more importantly suddenly made the entire city open due to how insanely efficient it was for "glueing" together various forms of public transport. I could hop from tran…

> It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking I can walk a mile in 20 minutes which is 3 mph. This implies these scooters can maintain 12-15 mph? Am I just underestimating how fast you can get going on these things? That seems kind of fast unless you are going downhill both ways.

They top out at 15 mph in SF. I wish they went faster. I am a cyclist and usually maintain close to 20 mph (not counting lights). It's kind of maddening not to be able to go 20 or 25 on them.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#197

Post by realdlee »

mikestew wrote: post #160
mturmon wrote: post #27

Honest question: How do people lock these things if visiting a shop for a half-hour? (Edited to add: Sorry for confusion! I'm talking about an owned model like the one in OP, the Xiaomi Mi M365 - I looked at some product imagery and it wasn't clear if this was possible.)

Depends on the scooter. On the Xiaomi in question, yes, I've found it to be problematic. The solution is the Masterlock handcuff lock. One end around the tube between deck and bars, the other end around a post. The Boosted Rev I have now has exposed frame rails so you can use your favorite bike lock.

how do you like the Rev?

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#198

Post by scarejunba »

Symbiote wrote: post #190
eldenbishop wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This exactly: bikes require planning and strategy and are not good for improvisational day-to-day things like you described. Bikes make walking easier but all other forms of travel like bus, train or taxi/uber/cars more difficult or impossible.

In Copenhagen it's often the opposite: the rest of the group came by bike, they're within 20m of the current bar, the person on foot will have to turn up later. Or we all walk. (Also, the suburban trains and taxis carry bikes for free.)

What's bike theft like in Copenhagen? I have two bikes but I drive to brunch because I'm afraid of losing my bike to a thief and parking is easier to deal with than having to carry my lock.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#199

Post by aaron695 »

Electric bikes are a hundred years old.

(oil powered bikes are also that old)

These have not taken off.

On a bike a battery/motor weights doesn't really matter and costs are low.

Explain why scooters will work when bikes don't?

Even in many developing countries motorcycles won. You don't see any bikes of either sort in a place were practicality win.

Scooters are a fad. When the fad wears off they are not sustainable.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#200

Post by outworlder »

Goronmon wrote: post #186
molodec wrote: post #180

Ok, I understand that there is a lot of benefits to electric scooters. They are fun, convenient, and allow to navigate quickly, and great for the environment, or at least better than cars. Why not driving regular bicycles? Obesity is a growing problem, because people don't exercise enough. Mechanical bicycle is a great low impact activity for modern life. Also, bicycles aren't generally allowed on a sidewalk, but I h…

Why not driving regular bicycles? Where do you put the bicycle when you get where you need to go?

> Where do you put the bicycle when you get where you need to go?

Aren't there any light posts close to where you need to go? Not even talking about dedicated bike spots or racks – which may be available on your location. If you are not a bicyclist, you may not have noticed them even if they are present.

If you are commuting, surely there is some place at your place employment where you can leave it?

More worrying is multi-mode transportation. If you location's public transport doesn't provide space for bikes, then it is a big problem.

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