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I wonder if the flatness of the country plays a part? I live on a hill and am surrounded by hills. A 3km ride in any direction and back is hard work. Lots of e-

I wonder if the flatness of the country plays a part? I live on a hill and am surrounded by hills. A 3km ride in any direction and back is hard work. Lots of e-bikes here, and lots of mountain biking. But when I suggested getting a bike to my SO for her to get to the closest bus stop faster, the hills were the reason why she’d rather walk.

seanmcdirmid 2y ago
I rode a bike in Lausanne, which was a primarily 3D city. T was a bit of a struggle to get up the hill in the morning though, you could coast back down at night. Before that I lived in Seattle which wasn’t as extreme, but if you lived on say Queen Anne hill instead of Ballard, I could see where that wouldn’t work out. Maybe that’s why Minneapolis has better cycling infrastructure than Seattle.
- loa_in_ 2y ago
  The best part of biking uphill is that you can just walk alongside your bike if you want to take a break and you lose nothing
- Reason077 2y ago
  e-bikes are getting pretty popular. Solves the hill problem.
  - robertlagrant 2y ago
    Yes, super-recent developments may obviate hills, but 40 years of city design have already happened. The Netherlands case was easy mode, and they leaned into it while extending their cities. That's not useful for almost any other country. Also e-bikes are expensive and heavy, of course, so they're a good gentrification measure, if you're into that sort of thing, but they aren't for everyone.
    - GateCrasher 2y ago
      Alot cheaper and less heavy then a car.
      - robertlagrant 2y ago
        And cheaper and less heavy than a space shuttle. But neither will seem that relevant when it comes to parking and securing your electric bike when you live 5 floors up.
        Reason077 2y ago
        Lack of parking can be a barrier to adoption with any type of bike. Nobody wants to lug any bike up stairs. But it's a solvable problem. Newer apartment buildings in London must provide secure cycle parking for residents and visitors. For older buildings that lack such provisions, London councils often provide secure (covered, lockable) on-street cycle storage facilities. 1 or 2 car parking spaces can be converted into parking for many bikes! [1] [1] https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycle-parking https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycle-parking
tfourb 2y ago
This is almost completely solved by e-bikes. You can convert practically any bike to an e-bike and while it does cost money, it is cheaper than the costs associated with driving a car or the bus by orders of magnitude over the life time of the bike. Walking is fine as well, though. No real reason to play off walking and cycling against each other.
- richardw 2y ago
  > Walking is fine as well, though. No real reason to play off walking and cycling against each other. Reason 1: a 6 year old who would like more time with an overworked mother who can’t move from her job (yet) due to visa reasons.
- dncornholio 2y ago
  E-bikes are at least 5 times more expensive. Not everyone can afford one.
  - Filligree 2y ago
    Far cheaper than cars though. But compared to walking, yeah.
WalterBright 2y ago
A local nurse told me they had a lot of victims of "Lime Disease" in the hospitals, i.e. people who rode those Lime bicycles without a helmet.

seanmcdirmid 2y ago

I rode a bike in Lausanne, which was a primarily 3D city. T was a bit of a struggle to get up the hill in the morning though, you could coast back down at night. Before that I lived in Seattle which wasn’t as extreme, but if you lived on say Queen Anne hill instead of Ballard, I could see where that wouldn’t work out. Maybe that’s why Minneapolis has better cycling infrastructure than Seattle.

loa_in_ 2y ago
The best part of biking uphill is that you can just walk alongside your bike if you want to take a break and you lose nothing
Reason077 2y ago
e-bikes are getting pretty popular. Solves the hill problem.
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  Yes, super-recent developments may obviate hills, but 40 years of city design have already happened. The Netherlands case was easy mode, and they leaned into it while extending their cities. That's not useful for almost any other country. Also e-bikes are expensive and heavy, of course, so they're a good gentrification measure, if you're into that sort of thing, but they aren't for everyone.
  - GateCrasher 2y ago
    Alot cheaper and less heavy then a car.
    - robertlagrant 2y ago
      And cheaper and less heavy than a space shuttle. But neither will seem that relevant when it comes to parking and securing your electric bike when you live 5 floors up.
      - Reason077 2y ago
        Lack of parking can be a barrier to adoption with any type of bike. Nobody wants to lug any bike up stairs. But it's a solvable problem. Newer apartment buildings in London must provide secure cycle parking for residents and visitors. For older buildings that lack such provisions, London councils often provide secure (covered, lockable) on-street cycle storage facilities. 1 or 2 car parking spaces can be converted into parking for many bikes! [1] [1] https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycle-parking https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycle-parking

tfourb 2y ago

This is almost completely solved by e-bikes. You can convert practically any bike to an e-bike and while it does cost money, it is cheaper than the costs associated with driving a car or the bus by orders of magnitude over the life time of the bike. Walking is fine as well, though. No real reason to play off walking and cycling against each other.

richardw 2y ago
> Walking is fine as well, though. No real reason to play off walking and cycling against each other. Reason 1: a 6 year old who would like more time with an overworked mother who can’t move from her job (yet) due to visa reasons.
dncornholio 2y ago
E-bikes are at least 5 times more expensive. Not everyone can afford one.
- Filligree 2y ago
  Far cheaper than cars though. But compared to walking, yeah.

WalterBright 2y ago

A local nurse told me they had a lot of victims of "Lime Disease" in the hospitals, i.e. people who rode those Lime bicycles without a helmet.