I’m now a few days into using an electric cargo bike (a Tern GSD) as my primary form of transportation. It’s…awesome.
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the bus lane enthusiastreplied to Paul Cantrell last edited by
@inthehands no personal experience, but i've heard good things about this brand: https://sunseeker.bike/
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@inthehands my dad has an e-trike! You do have to learn how to ride it, it’s different than a twowheeler. But it’s given him so much independence back. (He hasn’t been allowed to drive a car for decades because of traumatic brain damage and he was getting insecure on his two wheeler and staying home because of that.)
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@inthehands complete aside, but 111 miles this last week? That's excellent, must be doing wonders for your health.
I haven't regularly ridden since I was a late teen. I'm in a similar middle aged boat and I should really treat myself to that new bike I've been threatening for years. It can't replace the car, we pay lip service here by "sharing the road" with bikers, which I'm astonished doesn't cause more injuries to cyclists. But we've got miles of trails I need to avail myself of.
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Paul Cantrellreplied to the bus lane enthusiast last edited by
@t54r4n1 From recumbent e-trike to golf-cart-like vehicle, I think there are a lot of light electric vehicle options that could work for folks like them — particularly if they had very comfortable seating / posture and good weather protection — if only there were more routes available to them truly protected from car traffic.
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@venite That’s really awesome! Thank you for bringing up the “independence” factor. It’s huge. And it’s not only a source of incredible harm for people who have to stop driving, but also a factor that keeps people in cars when they really should not be. My dad has ordered me to tell him when he’s not driving safely anymore. If that day comes, it’s going to be a tough conversation, even though he did ask.
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@tehstu I mean, yeah, it does have me feeling fresh — but also 111 miles with electric pedal assist feels much more like “I got 30-45 minutes of walking in every day” than “I did a tough workout every day.”
I •can• ride it with low or zero assist if I want a real workout, but in practice, having the low-effort ride is what gets me on the bike in the first place, especially when I’m groggy and tired and in a hurry and just moving sounds hard.
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@inthehands I pedaled 8 miles to work and 8 miles back for years. But I was in my 30s. Eventually I shifted to the bus, then retired. Did drive the farm truck for awhile after that, but finally gave it away. I seldom get off the premises now. But the garden keeps me moving. For travel, there's Mastodon.
A friend who is in his 80s has one of these and loves it, but the company is always on the brink of going belly up.
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@shonin That looks awesome! I wish we had more choices in that kind of range — and more infrastructure that favored them.
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@inthehands are these a thing in the US? (Mobility scooters)
All over the UK. Pavement legal. Top speed varies between 4-15mph depending on various things.
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@inthehands just seen the electric trike elsewhere in the thread and that looks way better though
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the bus lane enthusiastreplied to Paul Cantrell last edited by
@inthehands yeah; again with the 20-50 year timeframe on that.
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there are neck "shades" for hiking. to follow on your ask/request, does anyone make one of those neck shades that can attach to a helmet?
(i'm also in the "i only use 70 SPF or higher" club)
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@inthehands photos?
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@cxj Eventually!
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@paul_ipv6
The brand I mentioned above does: https://dabrim.comCan’t find a place here to try one in person, thus the online ask.
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@catch56 Yes, they’re a thing in the US — but stigmatized, I’d say, and much more common that the e-trikes, though the latter seem more practical to me.
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@inthehands Academic question: how many miles can you drive the Civic before it exceeds the GHG involved in making/shipping the bike?
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the bus lane enthusiastreplied to the bus lane enthusiast last edited by
@inthehands okay I exaggerate; there are a few quick fixes that could be implemented next week, but the political capital to implement those quick fixes is what's missing.
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@cxj I don’t know. My casual research suggested that the sunk carbon cost of the bike is so much lower than a car that I didn’t need to get too specific.
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Paul Cantrellreplied to the bus lane enthusiast last edited by
@t54r4n1
100%. Movement on this is happening at the city level, where in some cities, some portion of the political capital •does• exist. I’d say that good bike infra is…maybe like a 55-45 issue in very progressive Mpls right now.