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France offers each cyclist €50 for bike repairs once lockdown ends

cyclingweekly.com

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Re: France offers each cyclist €50 for bike repairs once lockdown ends

#2

Post by mytailorisrich »

This is one of those of those proposals that allows the pats in the back to go round, but which are in fact completely useless because in effect it is just a windfall for people who did not ask for anything and who did not need any help.

Re: France offers each cyclist €50 for bike repairs once lockdown ends

#3

Post by soperj »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #2

This is one of those of those proposals that allows the pats in the back to go round, but which are in fact completely useless because in effect it is just a windfall for people who did not ask for anything and who did not need any help.

because most people who bike are rich?

Re: France offers each cyclist €50 for bike repairs once lockdown ends

#5

Post by arrrg »

I don’t think TCO is an issue with bikes.

I would estimate the TCO of a bike to be somewhere between €15 and €50 a month†. That compares favourably to cars which would be somewhere up at €350 to €700 per month, so that’s an order of magnitude off.

If that payment can be an effective incentive to use the bike more that’s nice, I guess, but I’m not sure it can. Infrastructure would be the most important (and also most expensive) driver of bike usage if I had to guess. That’s not easily or quickly changed.

I mean, for us the cost factor definitely is relevant. We can save so much money by not having a car and there are so few situations where we would need one (if we really need one we can rent one once a year). So sure: Sometimes a car would be practical or nice to have but for that little tiny benefit it is too expensive. So, yeah, TCO does play a role – but I don’t think €50 per year change that calculus significantly if you have already decided that a car is worth it for you.

—

† Between €500 and €1,500 for the bike (used for five years), between €100 and €300 per year for repairs.

Re: France offers each cyclist €50 for bike repairs once lockdown ends

#7

Post by a3_nm »

> The French government is slowly bringing its lockdown to a close from May 11, with cyclists allowed back onto the roads for the first time since March.

To clarify, this is somewhat inaccurate: biking is permitted, and has always been permitted, during the French lockdown, as a judgment (in French) recently confirmed: https://www.conseil-etat.fr/actualites/actualites/le-gouvern....

Cyclists were just subject to the same restrictions as anyone else -- these restrictions were the same no matter the transportation means.

And yes, these measures should change by May 11, but the details are not confirmed yet.

Re: France offers each cyclist €50 for bike repairs once lockdown ends

#8

Post by Fricken »

arrrg wrote: post #5

I don’t think TCO is an issue with bikes. I would estimate the TCO of a bike to be somewhere between €15 and €50 a month†. That compares favourably to cars which would be somewhere up at €350 to €700 per month, so that’s an order of magnitude off. If that payment can be an effective incentive to use the bike more that’s nice, I guess, but I’m not sure it can. Infrastructure would be the most important (and also most…

I know enough people who don't ride their bikes because of some simple repair job they never get around to doing, often because they're mildly intimidated by it, and it's one of those jobs you can always put off until tomorrow. Money usually isn't the issue. Often it's the most trivial of obstacles that stand between people and their proclivity to adopt a particular habit.

Re: France offers each cyclist €50 for bike repairs once lockdown ends

#9

Post by GhostVII »

Do most people really need $50 for bike maintenance? I think I've spent about $15 on my beater bike over the last couple years, just to buy a new tube and maybe some wd40. For the vast majority of people I would imagine that they don't maintain their bike at all, modern bikes hold together pretty well.
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