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Car culture, as another poster said, is a rite-of-passage in the US. When you turn 8 years old or so, you typically get your first bicycle. And this lets you

by chiph 11y ago

Car culture, as another poster said, is a rite-of-passage in the US. When you turn 8 years old or so, you typically get your first bicycle. And this lets you exert some independence from your parents - you're able to ride faster than they can run and catch you for the first time. Later, you might get a better bike and be able to ride even faster and further. You can spend an entire day away from home on the weekends, visiting friends that you'd otherwise have to ask mom for a ride to go see. But the downside to a bicycle is that when it rains, you're probably going to be stuck wherever you are. And then you turn 16 and get your learner's permit. Now you're able to go faster and farther, and travel when it's raining. So it's part of the process of the little bird leaving the nest and becoming an independent person.

SerLava 11y ago
>And then you turn 16 and get your learner's permit. Now you're able to go faster and farther, For many people, that's the first time you can do anything at all. When I was growing up, my bike could get me absolutely nowhere - there wasn't even passable terrain on the side of the highway. You could maybe push and carry a bike for an hour then ride for another 20 minutes to get into town or to where other people lived.
- kuschku 11y ago
  The issue is probably just infrastructure. "Germany builds another new bike highway in the European bike highway grid allowing anyone to bike from any point in the EU to any other point in the EU easily". "Average age for kids to get a bike goes down even more to below 3" Infrastructure and culture over here in Europe are very different – you can easily bike to another country and back, without ever having to worry about finding somewhere to bike. You can literally bike or walk anywhere. A lot of that obviously because walking and biking infrastructure in Europe has existed for millenia on these scales.
takno 11y ago
My bike still worked in the rain
- chiph 11y ago
  If you had the wheel-rim brakes¹, stopping was a challenge. Plus you got wet. :) ¹ Biggest improvement to bike technology in the last 25 years: Disc brakes
  - edabobojr 11y ago
    You could also just use better brake pads. Then add full fenders with a rain cape. I only get wet from about mid-shins and down.

by chiph 11y ago

SerLava 11y ago

>And then you turn 16 and get your learner's permit. Now you're able to go faster and farther, For many people, that's the first time you can do anything at all. When I was growing up, my bike could get me absolutely nowhere - there wasn't even passable terrain on the side of the highway. You could maybe push and carry a bike for an hour then ride for another 20 minutes to get into town or to where other people lived.

kuschku 11y ago
The issue is probably just infrastructure. "Germany builds another new bike highway in the European bike highway grid allowing anyone to bike from any point in the EU to any other point in the EU easily". "Average age for kids to get a bike goes down even more to below 3" Infrastructure and culture over here in Europe are very different – you can easily bike to another country and back, without ever having to worry about finding somewhere to bike. You can literally bike or walk anywhere. A lot of that obviously because walking and biking infrastructure in Europe has existed for millenia on these scales.

takno 11y ago

My bike still worked in the rain

chiph 11y ago
If you had the wheel-rim brakes¹, stopping was a challenge. Plus you got wet. :) ¹ Biggest improvement to bike technology in the last 25 years: Disc brakes
- edabobojr 11y ago
  You could also just use better brake pads. Then add full fenders with a rain cape. I only get wet from about mid-shins and down.