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Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

forbes.com

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Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#521

Post by r00fus »

mikepurvis wrote: post #203
matsemann wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - might be impossible depending on work or children; The newer style of cargo bikes can for many families replace a car. Have two kids seated in the trunk of the bike and drop them off at kindergarten, then continue biking to work and pick them up on the way home. Those are a bit on the pricier side, though. Still cheap compared to a car, but people often look at them as something "extravagant" or "in addition" to…

As a parent myself who has always had a car but has aspired at times to go car-free, I think the whole "semi-frequent short term car rental" thing only really gets realistic when the kids are old enough to just need those tiny Mifold booster seats / seatbelt adjusters. Conventional UAS-attached car seats are just too bulky and troublesome to be installing and uninstalling all the time in cars you only rent for a few…

They even have inflatable ones you can easily fit in a backpack - I have one sitting in my garage from years ago when my tots needed them.

But yeah, if your kid is too small, it's a hassle to to carry around that bulky infant seat.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#522

Post by pastage »

xorcist wrote: post #380
nicehill wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating How do Europeans keep ice off bike lanes? Salt?

It depends. Salt only works until ten below zero. After that it only makes things worse. When it works the result can be magical if combined with sweeping. Trashes the drivetrain real bad though. There's a nice big picture how Oulu does it, halfway down the article.

It depends.. salt works down to -18C on cycle paths as long as you maintain it snow free and do not have big puddles of water. Brushing the snow away down to the asphalt is my preferred surface condition for cycling.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#523

Post by r00fus »

holoduke wrote: post #227
matsemann wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - might be impossible depending on work or children; The newer style of cargo bikes can for many families replace a car. Have two kids seated in the trunk of the bike and drop them off at kindergarten, then continue biking to work and pick them up on the way home. Those are a bit on the pricier side, though. Still cheap compared to a car, but people often look at them as something "extravagant" or "in addition" to…

You live in a city bubble. I have three kids and live in a suburban town about 40km away from the nearest big city. No way i can live without a car. I do have bikes and use them often to bring kids to school. But many friends and family are scattered arround the country. Many places i go to with my kids can only visited by car. And i find a car often very useful during a period of reconstruction of my house or garden…

I mean, no one is arguing to replace all cars with bikes. Just where appropriate and if you want to. Enjoy your suburban paradise.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#524

Post by r00fus »

em500 wrote: post #353
Rendello wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had my mind blown about Dutch-style cargo ebikes, bakfietsen . The cool thing is that you can use the bikes to haul cargo, or put three kids in the front in special harnesses when you need to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQhzEnWCgHA

Most Dutch parents don't bother with harnesses in cargo bikes. Or with helmets on normal bikes.

If they don't have to deal with cars, perhaps it's ok - but yikes. Helmets for everyone because even at 20kph someone could get a nasty/fatal head injury when they're yeeted out of the cargo area.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#525

Post by pastage »

tigeroil wrote: post #169
britzkopf wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't have to worry about theft?! Wow, Europe must be so different than North America. I'm much more worried about my biker being stolen (has happened about a dozen times in my life) than my car. If the former happens you get absolutely zero support, while if the latter happens the police will actually try to do something.

Indeed. Though to be fair, having a bike is so much cheaper than a car that even if it did get stolen it'd still be cheaper to replace it than run a car.

Having a bicycle stolen is actually a frequentl reason people stop cycling. Getting a new bike sucks.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#526

Post by Reason077 »

gambiting wrote: post #414
CydeWeys wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like your underarching problem here is housing costs.

Sure but like.........people always say that (for example) in London you can't live closer to work because houses/flats are too expensive. Ok, I mean that's true, but how are you going to solve that? It's a gigantic city which is already full to the brim, with literally 1000+ years of building on top of every single square inch of land available. You would probably have to demolish large areas of London and replace t…

> "You would probably have to demolish large areas of London and replace them with high-density housing to match demand - but obviously that's never going to happen."

Nah. There's still many areas of fairly low-quality, low-density housing near the centre of London. In fact, just about everywhere you look there are residential towers under construction: there must be hundreds of them going up right now! There is still plenty of scope to greatly improve the quality and efficiency of housing in London without sacrificing open, green spaces.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#527

Post by r00fus »

uoaei wrote: post #448
ulrikrasmussen wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also just put seats on a normal bike. I have two kids seats on my bike, front and back, and take my 3 and 6yo to kindergarten that way. It's cheaper than a cargo bike, and much less likely to get stolen.

I am dismayed but not surprised at just how much money people will spend on e-bikes to avoid exercise. There are literally millions of decent analog bike frames bouncing around in various corners of . Getting one up and running, and strapping a seat to the front and back as you have done, would be about 10% the cost of a new e-bike, and maintenance would be negligible. Plus, you get to eat whatever you want guilt-fre…

I loved biking into work when I lived close enough (7mi) but honestly I would never have done it if I didn't also have shower access (was a small company but the business park had a shared shower).

Doubly so if you're doing any hills with a passenger on board.

Sweat/stink is what they're avoiding.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#528

Post by ClumsyPilot »

bloke_zero wrote: post #404
lock-the-spock wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a bike with a big box in the front and parking has absolutely not been an issue for me. In the last six months I rode > 2600km in and around one of the densest European cities and parked in many different places. I have yet to find a place where I cannot park the bike . You can use regular car parking, but you will always find a dead corner, bike rack, big sidewalk, etc where you can leave the bike. And to be c…

Not easy at home in London. Our flat would not allow a cargo bike (1st floor) and there is no where outside to lock it safe and dry. 60,000 people on a 4 year waiting list for on street bike parking: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-cyclists-bike-...

London core requires a special solution -> bikes with folding handlebar stem, folding pedals, possibly a longtail if you need to transport two kids.

All of this stuff exists but the bike industry can't put 2 and 2 together.

Here is a link to a folding handlebar stem that is sometimes in stock: https://flatbike.com/product/thinstem/

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#529

Post by gambiting »

snozolli wrote: post #515
gambiting wrote: post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until you hit someone with that bike, in which case you will be found 100% guilty and in massive legal trouble.

How many times have you hit someone while riding a bicycle? I never have. How much harm do you suppose it would do, leading to "massive legal trouble"? Incidentally, 45kmh is 28mph, which I was just barely able to maintain on level ground on my road bicycle when I was fit. The "speed pedelecs" laws seem a bit silly rather than simply enforcing speed limits and penalizing reckless behavior.

>>How many times have you hit someone while riding a bicycle? I never have.

I suppose I should stop paying for car insurance then, since I never had an accident either. Or maybe more accurate example is that I shouldn't worry about the safety of my car, since I never actually hit anyone with it.

>>How much harm do you suppose it would do, leading to "massive legal trouble"?

There was a cyclist in london recently who ran into a woman on his modified bicycle, she tripped, hit her head on the pavement and died - he was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to prison for many years.

You could run into someone at 5mph, they could hit their head on something and die. There is another case exactly like this going on where a person hit their head on a bollard and left him permanently disabled for life.

The entire point is that if you are on a path specifically forbidden for cycles, and an accident happens while you are cycling, you will be found guilty and will have to face consequences, most likely much harsher than if you weren't doing something forbidden.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#530

Post by pastage »

margorczynski wrote: post #261
swexbe wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ”safer” your car is, the more dangerous it is for everyone else in traffic usually.

Yes. But that doesn't change the fact that given current reality the safety of moving in a car is higher than when using a bike. How it could and should be is a different matter.

Actually being in a car is statiscally more dangerous than doing your commute on a bike, because of health reasons. Accidents are not that important.
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