321–330 of 415 posts
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Just put your bike on your renters or homeowners insurance. Mine is covered for theft with zero deductible.
If your bike is stolen and you actually make a claim, does that make your homeowners insurance more expensive going forward?
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... btw, since we know how to make locks that are harder to pick, why _don't_ we use them basically everywhere including houses. Are they a lot more challenging to manufacture?
I was working on adding a deadbolt to an exterior door. I started doing a lot of fine measurements to drill it out because I didn't want to crack the glass which was kind of close to the edge of the door. Which I then questioned what the hell am I doing adding a deadbolt to a door with a massive window. If someone wants to get in, they're gonna get in. The only thing that really keeps my family safe is the fact the v…
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Same issue with motorcycles and people just buy insurance, which you can do with bikes too.
I can pick up a bicycle and walk away with very little effort. They're usually less than 20lbs. My motorcycle is 500lbs wet. Close to 700 with full cases. Are you really suggesting it's just as easy stealing a 500-700lb bike as a 20lb bike?
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Training doesn't make bikes safe, especially when driving near cars.
It makes them safer, including when driving near cars. Lobby for no training if you want but don’t pretend like it doesn’t help.
Obviously more training can help. For example it would be useful to practice riding in the rain, ice, and wet leaves. But at what point does more training not help? When will you be safe?
Riding a bike next to cars is inherently unsafe. When a car hits you, you are ducked. There's a limit to how vigilant you can be and most riders accept it's a when and not an if.
Note motorcycles have mandatory training but still have 10x the death rate.
What are people's experiences with folding e-bikes? I'm most interested in the Gocycle, but it costs as much as a used car. This Siggi https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/siggi-unfold-everyday-lif... looks great and only weighs 13 kg but has all the risks of a crowdfunding project (massive delays and initial quality issues). It's the first I've seen with regenerative braking, and you can pedal backwards to charge it.
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I was working on adding a deadbolt to an exterior door. I started doing a lot of fine measurements to drill it out because I didn't want to crack the glass which was kind of close to the edge of the door. Which I then questioned what the hell am I doing adding a deadbolt to a door with a massive window. If someone wants to get in, they're gonna get in. The only thing that really keeps my family safe is the fact the v…
Actually it is probably easier to punch through the walls bypassing the door completely as opposed to breaking the glass. Though glass does break and so that is what someone will try.
Just further shows the futility of putting an expensive lock on a regular home door. If someone wants in, they'll get in. The lock is definitely more of a "please don't come in" than anything real.
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I can pick up a bicycle and walk away with very little effort. They're usually less than 20lbs. My motorcycle is 500lbs wet. Close to 700 with full cases. Are you really suggesting it's just as easy stealing a 500-700lb bike as a 20lb bike?
For most bikes and mopeds two guys and a truck is all you need to steal it. If you can lean it up after laying it out, theres probably a way for someone to leverage it onto a truck bed. Maybe just knocking it over onto a furniture dolly and pushing it up a ramp.
So you do agree with me, that it's a lot more work stealing a motorcycle than stealing a bicycle?
Coincidentally, this past week, VanMoof, the X3 discussed in the article, closed all stores and are on the edge of bankruptcy, with a lot of media attention in the Netherlands. Beautiful smart bikes, but the quality of components is horrible.
The lesson for the sector is clear - make the economics work because funding rounds need to be based in reality, at least for now.
(1) https://electrek.co/2021/09/01/most-funded-e-bike-company-in...
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I know people who can't get around without a car with GPS navigation. They do not know the way to the shops or their friends' houses. It's interesting to me that road rage is non-existent between cyclists and pedestrians. It seems to be a manifestation of the frustration of being reduced to a metal box with a monotone horn, a couple of lights and the ability to go forwards and backwards. On a bike you're still a pers…
If you are a tourist in a Dutch city you will quickly be disabused of the notion that there is no road rage between pedestrians and cyclists. Do not ever idly wander into a Dutch cycle lane, at any cost. You will be treated as invisible, people will cycle straight through you. Should they for some reason take notice of you, they will not slow down one bit, but swerve away imperceptibly, infinitesimally, from a collis…
It is possible to do something so monumentally stupid as a pedestrian that you get hit and nobody could have helped you. That thing is to start crossing a bike path and then suddenly go backwards because you got scared.
As long as you don't do that, you'll be fine.
And the cyclists aren't nearly as annoyed by pedestrians as they are by mopeds.