France offers each cyclist €50 for bike repairs once lockdown ends • Hacker News Board

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

#261

Post by Too » Sat, May 02, 2020, 5:50 AM UTC

Jenda_ wrote: post #235

karatestomp wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the only reason I don't ride anymore. I don't get why my complex car full of caustic liquids and burning them to drive a bunch of parts super fast can go tens of thousands of miles with nothing but oil changes and nothing breaks or doesn't work almost-like-new unless I run over a nail, but bikes? Ugh. Every time I go to get on it, something's broken. Flat tires constantly. Changing them sucks and takes foreve…

Regarding flats, try tires with Kevlar reinforcement. Flats went completely away since I switched to Maxxis Overdrive Maxxprotect. They are a bit heavy, but I think not having to care about flats is worth it.

Most flats come from not having enough pressure in the tire, causing friction between tire and tube when the inside deforms, especially when riding over curbs. Bad quality tubes and tires plus improper installation also contributes a lot.

Reinforcement in forms of kevlar and such might provide some additional protection but these types of penetrating punctures are rare in the first place. It obviously doesn't make things worse so for peace of mind and some extra protection could still be worth it anyway. Just the fact that these are high quality tires to begin with will help a lot.

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

#262

Post by mb7733 » Sat, May 02, 2020, 5:52 AM UTC

karatestomp wrote: post #211

cultus wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't get enough attention in cycling promotion. One of the absolute biggest reasons that people aren't on their bikes is maintenance. Wheels go out of true, shifting gets wonky, and it starts to look like an unreliable form of transport. Sturdier commuter bikes help a lot with this, but every commuter seems to think they need a bike with super-light wheels and a thin, weak 12-speed chain.

This is the only reason I don't ride anymore. I don't get why my complex car full of caustic liquids and burning them to drive a bunch of parts super fast can go tens of thousands of miles with nothing but oil changes and nothing breaks or doesn't work almost-like-new unless I run over a nail, but bikes? Ugh. Every time I go to get on it, something's broken. Flat tires constantly. Changing them sucks and takes foreve…

If fixing a flat takes a long time, I might suggest that your technique could be improved. Even though it seems like a simple task there really is a "right way" and many "wrong ways". There are great videos/articles online.

It really shouldn't take longer than 3-5 minutes.

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

#263

Post by abyssin » Sat, May 02, 2020, 6:00 AM UTC

wutwutwutwut wrote: post #259

abyssin wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the motor is in the hub, then I can believe wear on the chain and cassette is minimal. And if you use brakes very sparingly, they could also last for a long time. I'm interested in the brand of your pads, I need those! I have to change mine every 1000 kilometres.

> If the motor is in the hub, Is this referring to motor as in an electrical bike? I am not using that.

Sorry, I mixed up with a different comment indeed. On electric bikes with the motor in the wheel hub, the transmission sustains little effort.

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

#264

Post by Auracle » Sat, May 02, 2020, 6:08 AM UTC

michaelcampbell wrote: post #207

djrogers wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People in this thread are getting really hung up on the idea that someone with a bike == cycling enthusiast. I’m an American, and literally everyone I know owns at least one bike, and it’s rideable. I’m not even in a big city - in fact I live closer to cows and sheep than to anything resembling a skyscraper...

> I’m an American, and literally everyone I know owns at least one bike, and it’s rideable. You are, far and away, an outlier.

I’m in a rural place and it’s the same for me - everyone has a bike, or even multiple bikes.

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

#265

Post by Too » Sat, May 02, 2020, 6:13 AM UTC

markus92 wrote: post #147

simlevesque wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't buy cheap air pumps. Those things need to be strong to last. They handle a lot of pressure. A 10€ air pump will break at the first fall and most have small bases so they tip easily. And when they break you must buy a new one. If you really use it, a 25€ pump will cost you way less over as little as 3 years.

If you need to put 8 bars in your quick speedy bike? Absolutely. For a simple urban commuter bike? No difference, you aren’t going to put in more than 3,5 bars in those fat tires anyways.

Commuting with 8 bars is way more convenient than 3.5. Having the right pressure is much underrated. On my way to work i roll by lots of other struggling commuters without even pedaling, looking at their poor almost flat tires.

Bike pump is one of those items where you will be happy you invested a few extra bucks, a good one lasts a lifetime and you will enjoy it every time you use it, instead of being frustrated to have something that is just barely good enough. I used to have a bad one and it was so frustrating i only pulled it out once the tires were desperately flat, got a good one and now i regularly pump up my tires because it's so effortless.

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

#266

Post by bobthepanda » Sat, May 02, 2020, 6:28 AM UTC

Zenst wrote: post #231

bobthepanda wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least in the Parisian context, moving people to bikes is probably the most cost effective way to green transport, since the trains are all packed to the gills and getting some people on bikes is a cheaper way of making space than spending billions of euros on new lines (which they are also doing, but it's good to have more than one arrow in the quiver.)

I was thinking more about buses, had a look and https://www.ratp.fr/en/plan-bus More useful in replacing cars in many area's, as using existing infrastructure, unlike trains.

Buses are good short term but suck long term.

Where I live, in Seattle, the bus system has been wildly popular over the past several years and the transit system has had high ridership growth (in total rides and as % of commutes) in North America while most of the peer agencies have seen total declines. The problem is that they stopped scaling:

- For a while Seattle has been unable to hire enough drivers to run the schedules, because there is simply more demand than supply of bus drivers in the entire US

- Seattle has also run out of space to store buses, and for various reasons people do not like having a bus depot located in their neighborhood (parking lots are unsightly, the bus depot generates traffic and lots of diesel buses are unpleasant; electric is not mature enough for widespread fleet replacement and it would be a massive capital cost)

- the amount of buses being run is now so high that buses get stuck in bus congestion, even with a whole four lane road dedicated only to buses in the downtown area, and several more bus lanes on parallel roads

So now we are hurriedly spending $50B to replace buses with rail, because

- trains carry more people in one vehicle and with one driver

- trains have full or mostly full separation from traffic, which means higher average speed and thus better fleet utilization and running less vehicles for the same frequency

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

#267

Post by CalRobert » Sat, May 02, 2020, 6:32 AM UTC

ogre_codes wrote: post #66

CalRobert wrote: post #11

People are focused on the relatively small amount here, and that's valid, but I suspect that some of the incentive here is to keep momentum in cycling going (from people avoiding transit, enjoying temporary bike infra, etc.) and trying not to lose that progress. There might be a lot of people for whom that €50 means a tuneup that gets them to take the bike out when before it would've just rusted. I mean, data would b…

Bikes tend to degrade slowly over time if you don't do regular maintenance. Most people don't notice the slow decline until it's quite bad when suddenly it feels like an unreliable POS. Giving people who are just a little frustrated with their bike might go a long way to helping keep people from getting to that point at least once.

I have a problem with spokes getting loose myself. Would love tuffwheels but for adult bikes.

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

#268

Post by turowicz » Sat, May 02, 2020, 6:45 AM UTC

But first you’d have to get to France...

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

#269

Post by tomcooks » Sat, May 02, 2020, 7:12 AM UTC

loeg wrote: post #236

tomcooks wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where you live probably. Cycles 13k+ km and had no problem with second inner tube, it's pretty common. Your mileage might, literally, vary. It's not about the money but about recycling, feel free to buy more if you like the market, cheers

> Where you live probably. Nah; I buy them shipped internationally for that price. (This doesn't help on the environmentalism angle, but IMO the impact here is pretty low, especially if it offsets car miles.) They've gone up in price somewhat but still are pretty cheap: https://www.wiggle.com/lifeline-road-inner-tube/

Please let me know where you get such amazing prices, because with wiggle you have at least 8$ plus in shipping within the UK (where they are located). I can only imagine outside EU.

I also believe you are wrong if you think that sourcing internationally is anywhere within the "low impact" range.

Happy cycling, to each one her own.

[0] https://www.wiggle.co.uk/h/option/international

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

#270

Post by jerome-jh » Sat, May 02, 2020, 7:47 AM UTC

French and cyclist and only discovering this :)

Cyclists in France are mostly middle-upper class. Lower classes have been excluded from town centers at distances where it is difficult to commute by bike. And their work is typically in another suburb, where bike infrastructure is poor or non existing.

I'm not impressed.