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Renting a cargo bike is my default option to haul something bigish from ikea nowdays. Rich people love them, as you can put all your three kids and go haul them
by Muromec 2y ago
Renting a cargo bike is my default option to haul something bigish from ikea nowdays. Rich people love them, as you can put all your three kids and go haul them to school 300 meters away much easier in this thingy compared to both car and walking.
- toomuchtodo 2y agoWhat are the challenges facing more rapid uptake and availability of cargo bikes for the general public in your opinion?
- _Microft 2y agoI‘d wager it‘s cost.
- xnx 2y agoWhere do apartment dwellers store them?
- the_mitsuhiko 2y agoProbably depends on the crime in the city and location. Here (Vienna, Austria) a lot of people just store them outside. We store ours on one of the parking spots we have (since we only have one car) together with some of our other stuff. They do take space, but I'm not sure if that is the main challenge with cargo bikes. Personally I think it comes down to cost and availability. They cost around 5000 Euro if not more, and they take sometimes months to be delivered.
- rglullis 2y agoIn Europe? In the building's designated areas for bicycles, or you just use the bike share systems like cargoroo.
- leipert 2y agoWe rented a parking spot in our underground garage.
- Muromec 2y agoThey don't. You need to be rich, then you keep it chained near your front door or in backyard or wherever. You can't put them into the bike shed and people who have them also have a car, so parking spot is out too.
- masklinn 2y agoSome flats have boxes or full garages in the basement.
- abyssin 2y agoInitial cost (6000 euros buys you a decent second-hand car), storage cost (to protect it against weather and thieves), maintenance cost (bike mechanics get paid the same as car mechanics), limited usefulness. I have owned multiple cargo bikes and I believe they're a status thing.
- bikezen 2y agoThe mechanics may be paid the same, but the maintenance efforts are exponentially different, thus also exponentially reducing the costs. You need to remove zero parts to do just about all forms of maintenance on a bike, truing a wheel is probably the most effort part and thats still less time than a typical oil change.
- abyssin 2y agoNot sure about the exponential part. Sure the maintenance is different, but with a bicycle it has to happen more often, and the parts aren’t as cheap as one might expect. It’s cheaper, but it has to be balanced with the limited utility of the bicycle.
- Doxin 2y ago> but with a bicycle it has to happen more often This depends heavily on the bicycle. If you get a bicycle with hub gears and coaster brakes you'll likely be riding it until the chain literally breaks in half. If on the other hand you get a bicycle with a derailleur you'll be fiddling with it every quarter if you want to keep it operating nicely. I got a new bicycle two years ago. It hasn't had any maintenance other than inflating the tires and replacing the bell because nincompoops keep pulling the hammer off when it's parked. Still rides like new.
- SmellTheGlove 2y agoI'm in Seattle - I have a car and an e-bike. What I've found is that you can surprisingly get to many places using trails. For instance, you can get to the Costco in south seattle from places like Ballard or Interbay largely on separated lanes. The thing that stops me from getting a larger bike and doing that is the fact that I have no idea where to park my bike securely if I need to make another stop. Your shit is getting stolen in this city if you're not careful.
- Doxin 2y agoIdeally you'd have at minimum a frame lock, and a beefy chain lock. When using the chain lock make sure the chain passes through the rear wheel and the read triangle of the frame, then back the other way outside the triangle of the frame. Lock the chain to something immovable. Ideally park somewhere there's other bikes as well. Personally I've added a motion activated alarm on top of that, but that's mostly because I got tired of people fiddling with my bike and breaking shit. Doing the above should get most thieves to try and steal the next bike over instead of yours. Still might be worth getting theft insurance though, depending on how bad it is where you live.
- pjerem 2y agoIt’s 100% that they cost as much as a decent used car. Also they are easier to steal and also I wouldn’t trust my insurance in case it’s stolen. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to buy and use one. But it’s still too expensive to be a rational investment, especially if you are on a budget.
- pg314 2y ago> It’s 100% that they cost as much as a decent used car. Apples and oranges. You can get cargo bikes second hand too.
- Muromec 2y agoThey are pretty useless unless e-powered, so the cost is like 5k upwards and it's kinda only useful on occasion. They are big and you have to store them somewhere. They are also kinda single-use once in a while. So target user groups are either deliveries, where it's a special kind of cargo bike or above mentioned rich people who have a spot on a pavement to park them. You don't really need a cargo bike, but it's a nice to have.
- vidanay 2y ago> haul them to school 300 meters away ?
- rychco 2y ago(Clearly not North America)
- loloquwowndueo 2y agoSpeak for your rural or suburban self. I’m in North America, kids school is 420m from home.
- vidanay 2y agoSpeak for your dense population area self. 418m gets me to the end of my rural driveway. Kids school is 8.3 miles (13.4km).
- Muromec 2y agoYes ?
- Toutouxc 2y ago