4 ms·
Geek Transportation Systems
- davidw 15y agoYou can't stand up and pedal? Sounds pretty sketchy to me.
- davidw 15y agoWow, downvoted. Not that I care too much about my Precious Karma, but whoever downvoted that must know nothing of bicycles. I have never, ever ridden a bicycle where you could not stand up and pedal it for a stretch. And that includes crusty old around-town bikes that have seen their best days long ago. Put in other terms, I find it hard to believe that the power output is that different standing compared to sitting - if you have strong legs, you can sink some serious power into a bicycle while seated.
- arethuza 15y agoThere is a chap who commutes through central Edinburgh every day on a unicycle - including the cycling over the narrow Dean bridge and up the fairly steep Mound hill between the New and Old towns.
- joebadmo 15y agoI'm in Portland, Oregon, and, if this town is any sort of trend leader, I think unicycles are the next fixed-gears.
- hcho 15y agoThe ultimate transportation hack must be motorcycle and scooters. I was surprised to see so few of these in my travel to California. Given the climate, it should be a no brainer. Can anyone shed some light on why they are not popular.
- younata 15y agoscooters: because cars and motorcycles exist. Why waste human power when we can waste gas? motorcycles have the whole "one accident and you pretty much die" thing going against them. Of course, this changes around places like mountain view, where there are a lot more people on bicycles.
- hcho 15y agoSorry, by scooter I meant this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_%28motorcycle%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_%28motorcycle%29
- tseabrooks 15y agoIn the states we'd probably call that a moped (At least in the area of the country I'm from)...
- hcho 15y agoThis is scooter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_%28motorcycle%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_%28motorcycle%29 This is moped: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moped http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moped So what do you call the latter, if you call the former scooter?
- fossuser 15y agoDon't know if that would even be street legal in the states.
- davidw 15y agoScooters are great in San Francisco - I had one and found it was a great way to get around, given the climate and difficult parking. However, outside of SF, they're not so good. For example, you couldn't even get from SF to Oakland because they're connected via a freeway, and so you can't go there with a low-powered scooter.
- dkarl 15y ago
- Fargren 15y agoFor less than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) I almost always walk, unless I'm in a rush. It' s great habit to have, and my main source of exercise. For greater distances, I generally use public transportation.
- nanexcool 15y agoAs of late, it seems to me that CO has turned into a blog where Jeff surrounds Amazon affiliate links with sometimes semi-interesting stuff (SSDs, scooters, his latest rig). Nothing against the guy though.
- jgrahamc 15y agoI'm lucky enough to cycle to work across London (6 km/4 miles in each direction) for my commute and I certainly wouldn't consider a folding bicycle or a scooter. A normal bike works well and I can have paniers on the back for carrying shopping, books, etc. If you need to go geek then you can have all sorts of electronics on your bike to track progress, add a Polar heart monitor, get an app for your phone...
- dkarl 15y agoThose little tiny pedal arms on the Strida... they look like a lot of work and not much velocity. I've gotta try one anyway, because it's just such a cool concept. P.S. Where would you ride something like the Strida? Surely not the sidewalk, but can you ride fast enough for the street?
- sdfjkl 15y agoIf it's like most folding bikes, it should be fine on the street, not that different from a full-size bike. You see lots of both here in London.
- T-hawk 15y agoI have a Strida and I love it. I've used it as my commuting vehicle for years - a mile to the subway, half mile from the subway to office. It's not any more work to pedal than a larger bike, other than having only the one fairly low gear. Yes it rides fast enough for the street. The belt drive is so smooth that it's pretty easy to hit 120-150 RPM on pedaling. (Most riders on a full-size regular geared bike use a cadence somewhere between 70 and 90.) And the excellent brakes, short stopping distance, and short wheelbase for maneuverability make it an amazing vehicle for navigating city traffic. I do even ride the Strida on sidewalks sometimes for a handful of blocks when the road is too crowded. Its agility is almost more like a scooter than a full size bicycle. An alert rider poses virtually no danger to pedestrians, and they're usually caught by the novelty more so than mad at a cyclist on the sidewalk.
- cturner 15y agoHas anyone tried a Brompton? They're popular in London. But London is quite hilly - I'm interested to know whether you need the gears or not, nad whether the extra weight makes them worthwhile.
- shin_lao 15y agoJust wanted to know if I was the only one to have a motorbike as my preferred means of transportation.