3 ms·
This is a better article than I thought it would be; it's a bit scattered in that it discusses buying an ebike vs retrofitting one, and then also the user exper
by cmurf 9y ago
This is a better article than I thought it would be; it's a bit scattered in that it discusses buying an ebike vs retrofitting one, and then also the user experience of being on an ebike: propensity to pedal rather than throttle, 1 gear being sufficient for flats, and 3 gears for hilly terrain, the comfort factor of biking faster when merged with traffic, and not being sweaty upon arrival when commuting.
I wish there were the political capital to put in more physically separated bike infra in American cities. Sharing infrastructure flat out does not work here, we are not mature or disciplined or standardized enough in our driving competency. A huge part of this is generational, my mom is all "This traffic sucks! Rip out the trees, rip out the sidewalks, put in more road lanes!" even though she bikes once a week to go play bridge with friends, and my dad won't even get on a bike. Millennials probably would like to rip out roads and put in more public transit and bike infra, and get rid of cars. I for sure would like to get rid of death by cycling, and single occupancy vehcicles. But there really isn't the political capital right now to do anything but piecemeal approaches.