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I love my cargo bike, still I can't help but smile when I think about how we're complaining about too-big-cars and are switching to bigger and bigger bikes inst

I love my cargo bike, still I can't help but smile when I think about how we're complaining about too-big-cars and are switching to bigger and bigger bikes instead. For good reason but still... An electric cargo bike is a long shot from its protoplast.

jeffbee 2y ago
As a person who was way ahead of the trend in America, having had a (non-electric) family cargo bike 15 years ago, I have come to agree. When you see any kind of vehicle, whether a pickup truck, SUV, or cargo bike, just try to imagine what will happen if the most clueless person you know buys one. These days in my town the bike parents ride their ebikes right up to every place and leave them there, so a playground or park is totally surrounded by parked bikes now. Say what you will about SUV drivers, but at least they had to leave them parked on the street, instead of parking them on the actual park. It is easy to think it's going to work when only the 1% most socially conscious people are riding them, but you have to create a system that continues to work well even when average clueless American is participating.
- morsch 2y ago
  Continues?
- patall 2y ago
  I see it the other way around. Yes, I am annoyed by some cyclists (like the lady with a cargo bike carring a full crate of beer trying to get it in the tram). But then, I always imagine that the same person could (and would instead) have been in a 3t tank. People exist and often do stupid things, so I prefer for them to do this in the least destructive way.
duskwuff 2y ago
> I love my cargo bike, still I can't help but smile when I think about how we're complaining about too-big-cars and are switching to bigger and bigger bikes instead. At least there's a bit more friction involved (some of it literal!) in choosing to ride an unnecessarily large bicycle.
Animats 2y ago
Electric "cargo bikes" are getting larger.[1][2] Those things do not belong in a bike lane. They're almost as big as a tuk-tuk. [1] https://electrek.co/2023/11/08/cargo-electric-motorcycle-pny-ponie/ https://electrek.co/2023/11/08/cargo-electric-motorcycle-pny... [2] https://www.allterrainmedical.com/pet-electric-cargo-truck-wc https://www.allterrainmedical.com/pet-electric-cargo-truck-w...
- rich_sasha 2y ago
  It's the combination of power, weight, no barrier to entry and overall lack of imagination/consideration in the general public that concerns me. Still, I find cargo bikes are cumbersome enough that people tend not to ride them too quickly. The "SUV" bikes and electric mopeds pretending to be bikes that concern me more.
  - lantry 2y ago
    "electric mopeds pretending to be bikes" is a very apt description, and they make me pretty mad as well. I have to keep reminding myself that, egregious as they are, it's one less person in a car and one step closer to a critical mass of "bike culture", where biking is normalized. Biking will look very different once we reach that critical mass, but we'll all be better off overall.

jeffbee 2y ago

As a person who was way ahead of the trend in America, having had a (non-electric) family cargo bike 15 years ago, I have come to agree. When you see any kind of vehicle, whether a pickup truck, SUV, or cargo bike, just try to imagine what will happen if the most clueless person you know buys one. These days in my town the bike parents ride their ebikes right up to every place and leave them there, so a playground or park is totally surrounded by parked bikes now. Say what you will about SUV drivers, but at least they had to leave them parked on the street, instead of parking them on the actual park. It is easy to think it's going to work when only the 1% most socially conscious people are riding them, but you have to create a system that continues to work well even when average clueless American is participating.

morsch 2y ago
Continues?
patall 2y ago
I see it the other way around. Yes, I am annoyed by some cyclists (like the lady with a cargo bike carring a full crate of beer trying to get it in the tram). But then, I always imagine that the same person could (and would instead) have been in a 3t tank. People exist and often do stupid things, so I prefer for them to do this in the least destructive way.

duskwuff 2y ago

> I love my cargo bike, still I can't help but smile when I think about how we're complaining about too-big-cars and are switching to bigger and bigger bikes instead. At least there's a bit more friction involved (some of it literal!) in choosing to ride an unnecessarily large bicycle.

Animats 2y ago

Electric "cargo bikes" are getting larger.[1][2] Those things do not belong in a bike lane. They're almost as big as a tuk-tuk. [1] https://electrek.co/2023/11/08/cargo-electric-motorcycle-pny-ponie/ https://electrek.co/2023/11/08/cargo-electric-motorcycle-pny... [2] https://www.allterrainmedical.com/pet-electric-cargo-truck-wc https://www.allterrainmedical.com/pet-electric-cargo-truck-w...

rich_sasha 2y ago
It's the combination of power, weight, no barrier to entry and overall lack of imagination/consideration in the general public that concerns me. Still, I find cargo bikes are cumbersome enough that people tend not to ride them too quickly. The "SUV" bikes and electric mopeds pretending to be bikes that concern me more.
- lantry 2y ago
  "electric mopeds pretending to be bikes" is a very apt description, and they make me pretty mad as well. I have to keep reminding myself that, egregious as they are, it's one less person in a car and one step closer to a critical mass of "bike culture", where biking is normalized. Biking will look very different once we reach that critical mass, but we'll all be better off overall.