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This has been the wettest 7 months in ages here in the pacific northwest. There are a few die-hard cyclists out though. I've often thought about something lik
by DigitalJack 9y ago
This has been the wettest 7 months in ages here in the pacific northwest. There are a few die-hard cyclists out though.
I've often thought about something like this for my around town type errands.
- awjr 9y agoI've always thought there is no such thing as the wrong weather, just the wrong clothes ;) In all seriousness, an eBike lets me get anywhere I need to in 20 minutes or so. As long as I wear a rain coat, only the front of my trousers get wet. My bike has mudguards and panniers. I've gone with the Ortlieb classic panniers as they 'roll' at the top. Between two I can get one layer of a large supermarket trolleys worth of goods into them. Although the last minute pack of 9 loo rolls was more of a challenge but because the tops unroll you can just wedge them in. It's very 'sensible' practical bike aimed squarely at the function of 'living without a car in a city'.
- manmal 9y agoI've contemplated buying a moped that counts as an e-bike where I live, because it can only go 25 kph. Do you see any downsides to such an e-Moped vs buying a classic e-bike? (Besides the fact that I can't tread if the battery is empty)
- Symbiote 9y agoIt's probably less appropriate to ride it while drunk. Cyclists don't seem to like them, as they're bigger and tend to be driven without much consideration. I live in Copenhagen. (I haven't seen any e-mopeds here, only petrol ones.)
- flippyhead 9y agoThe benefits of exercise are pretty significant. Even assisted biking is still more biking than none.
- Kluny 9y agoAs a cyclist I'd personally ask you to go with an ebike rather than a moped, just because they take up less space on the path. With enough mopeds, the bike roads can be almost as scary as the car roads.
- awjr 9y agoIn the UK you can drink and ride an eBike ;) However the key is that cycle paths are legally off limits to mopeds (in the UK). You'll also find parking a lot easier with a eBike.
- icc97 9y agoBelgium allows mopeds and small engined motor cycles on cycle paths and I think it makes sense to do so. It doesn't really increase the likelihood of killing cyclists but it does lower the likelihood of killing moped riders who are typically younger people
- schtitt 9y ago> I've always thought there is no such thing as the wrong weather, just the wrong clothes ;) So you're saying you're Norwegian?
- unwind 9y agoCould be Swedish too, that's very close to an idiomatic expression in Swedish: "there is no bad weather, only bad clothes" ("det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder", it even rhymes in Swedish).
- ido 9y agoUnfortunately, while this works for too cold- it does not for too hot.
- Gravityloss 9y agoI wonder if a special outfit could work for that? Shade the head and shoulders, ventilate maximally otherwise. The airflow is useful for cooling, though stops working after a certain point, then you need evaporation.
- Coincoin 9y agoI agree but only partially. I noticed most people who complain about hot weather dress very badly. The trick is ample light colored linen clothing that covers as much skin as possible. It might seem counter intuitive to cover your whole arms and legs, but linen is actually very good at evaporating your sweat and keeping you cool while protecting you from the sun.
- fovc 9y agoAmsterdam is as rainy a city as any (though not too many torrential downpours) and people bike around through the weather. With the proper attire it's easy to bike through it. You'll sometimes see bikers with an umbrella, though I don't know if that would work at e-bike speeds People are also extremely crafty about carrying all sorts of improbable objects (I saw a dining table once!) in a way that wouldn't be out of place in Indonesia. It's very refreshing to see some 3rd world ingenuity in the 1st world.
- akvadrako 9y agoI hope that as e-bikes become more popular people keep the speeds low; otherwise it will become unsafe. For reasonable speeds, like that of a city bike in high gear, an aerodynamic umbrella works plenty well: https://www.senz.com/en/ https://www.senz.com/en/
- himlion 9y agoThat's pretty clever. I wonder how much of a difference it makes.
- blawson 9y agoThey work great. I cycled regularly with one in Amsterdam. It's like a sail - it stabilizes itself in the correct vertical position as you ride. Holding one gets pretty effortless.
- awjr 9y agoI just bought one. Looks perfect.
- usrusr 9y ago> People are also extremely crafty about carrying all sorts of improbable objects (I saw a dining table once!) in a way that wouldn't be out of place in Indonesia. I find it easier to carry heavy objects while cycling than while walking, because the upper body can be much more stable, less bobbing. The speed difference is negligible though, because you really don't want to outrun your severely encumbered braking.