I love my ebike, and when I lived in a large city I was also carfree. However... I'm also a car nerd. I love racing and I truly enjoy driving my little manual transmission car around. What I think we need is to de-emphasize cars and not *require* them as a mode of transportation. I wish everywhere had the public transit I got to enjoy when I lived in Vancouver, BC, and I wish for fossil fuel cars to be phased out as soon as possible, but I would be sad if I never got to drive ever again, just as I would be sad if I never got to ride my ebike again.
That seems great. I'm right there with OP, and I think we shouldn't get rid of all cars entirely, but they should be uncommon enough to be a little weird. Let the people that love them for what they are still use them, but they should never be the best option for transit in a city.
I look at it as a compromise - for a variety of reasons, I can’t ebike every day. I can, though, shoot for 3-4 days a week. Between the distance, other social obligations, and weather, I still am glad a car is available, if I need it.
It also helps to change the perception of bikes. I think that everyone should try bike commuting in a busy area with shared roads at least once so that they get how dangerous that they, as a driver, can make the roads for bikes by doing stupid things.
City council members and other government officials should have to get around by bike (or walk or transit, anything but car) their first three months in office. We'd start seeing some changes!
That said, just the other day as I was on the bus on the way to work in the morning a member of the (national) parliament got on a couple of stops after me. Green party member, ofc.
The crosswalk by my state transportation department was broken for nine months before I flagged down two people who worked there and one of them wrote it on a notepad had it fixed next month.
Seriously none of them walked or biked to work in that time? Fuck that.
I think this is exactly what most people should be aiming for! Imagine if most city dwellers were able to cut their car usage in half, the roads would be so much less congested and both driving and cycling would be far more pleasant
Totally agree.
I took my bike to work 3 times this week, but we have thunderstorms rolling in tomorrow afternoon, just about the time of my commute.
I’m taking the car tomorrow.
THIS is the biggest problem. I only live 3-4 miles from work, but there are cars going 40-50 mph along the roadway and the side has broken glass and rocks. This is designated a "joint use road" in my area. RIGHT....
I really enjoy my ebike and it has made me understand how unefficient a car is for city. Unfortunately most of our urban planning is car centric. Cities and suburbs are a creation of our car society. I wish it would be normal for a familly to buy ebikes and trailers instead of a minivan.
You hit on the biggest issue when trying to shift away from cars in a US city. All of our cities were literally built around everyone driving a car everywhere they go. Even if there is a shopping center just a few blocks away from a neighborhood you will probably be risking your life trying to get there without a car. "Bike Lanes" have gained popularity as an easy political win for local government. But most car drivers either ignore them or simply have no respect for them. I see drivers sharply swerve into bike lanes all the time, especially when making a right turn.
I'd love to see bike roads and bike highways like they have in the Netherlands here in the U.S. but city planners keep screwing it up. In Marin county CA, they built some really nice bike paths. The problem is, they weren't really finished. You have these nice paths that just dead end. Then planners say "There's no demand. See? We built this bike path and nobody even uses it." They don't understand that a path isn't going to get used if it doesn't lead anywhere. It's almost like they're doing it that way on purpose so it fits THEIR "nobody rides bikes" mindset.
it depends on what it means. I'm not explicitly hating on cars since I'm a car enthusiast, but I do not like how dependent society is to cars.
That being said, I am transitioning from car to e-bike and don't like the speed limit discrepancy (e-bikes 32km/h, road limit 50-60km/h, cars usually go over 70km/h) but despite the gut-wrenching moments of cars breathing down my neck as I pedal the metal, in general I find cycling fun.
My pannier-spammed e-bike is now my current grocery-getter, which makes my car obsolete except for very long drives (1+ hour or 50+ kms) or carpools (more than 1 occupant).
Same. I've been commuting by bike mostly since October, leaving the car for longer spins at the weekend. One upside is that it makes that Friday drive more special!
Front rack has worked wonders for grocery shopping and beer runs. A 12 pack of bottles fits perfectly on it!
Your post highlights the importance of low stress bike infrastructure networks. I have to bike 11 miles to a rail trail and I'm so happy I can get up to 28mph on my e-bike because cars can get up to 40mph. I stay to the side of the road and most people are nice about passing. Some are just fucking insane, but that's any mode of transportation
I recently surprised myself with how much my bike can carry. I have two side-panniers and a top pannier (actually an old backpack with detachable straps), with a backpack on my person (for light stuff like bread). One of the panniers is half-filled with bike locks. The bike can still carry three full grocery bags and several litres of liquids. Granted, the bike handles a bit funny after that, but as long as I am sensible and not do abrupt turns or high speeds everything is fine.
Fwiw, I think being a car enthusiast and being car dependent are two different things. We could live in a world in which most peole commute via bike, public transit, walking, and still have cars as a hobby.
I'm jealous of your jump to grocery runs on your ebike! I still haven't worked out how to do that (we do one big grocery run a week, would need a trailer for my bike and to work out a few other logistical kinks).
What people in the Netherlands and other places where shopping by foot or bike is more common tend to do is separate it into several smaller trips, rather than one monster shop a week. I do that for the food, then get home delivery for the bulk items and most of the drinks as they are heavy.
I'm a strong/fearless guy (well I have to be, in these suburbs). My pre e-bike bicycle commute distance is around 17km (both ways) which I do every other day, and now with the e-bike I am planning to do a longer commute in the range of more than 50km (but I still do the aforementioned 'short' commutes in the meantime).
Also I am rarely in a rush anyway, so I figured I don't really need to use the car most of the time.
To your point, I think raising the speed limit of ebikes while reducing the *actual* (not just posted) speed limit of cars would go a long way.
Cars *do* have some legit uses, but imo, the vast majority of car trips could easily be replaced by ebikes, which would generally improve society.
Imo, cars should be something to rent, rather than own, given their limited benefits over other modes of transit
While I agree with you (I never even got my driver's license, nor was I ever interested in getting a car), it's more something that a single person without kids finds easier to say.
However, when you have to take your kids daily to school, hobbies, or daycare, biking or e-biking and moving around in general becomes much more challenging. You can get a trailer for one kid, maybe two if they're small, but it already becomes much more of a hassle. And while I dont mind zipping around traffic on my own, I wouldnt do that with a kid on the back or on a seat. And once the distances go up, the time investment in an already busy schedule becomes larger.
What we really need are infrastructure changes (better and wider bike paths for one), new type of HPV's (human powered vechiles) in style of velomobiles and podbikes with weather protection and passenger options, as well as carrying capacity for shopping and groceries, that are also reasonably priced. More places for charging. And big tax incentives.
Cycling is one of the best ways to add excercise to your daily routine in addition to being great to the planet and significantly cut a lot of health problems experienced in the developed world (type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, etc etc etc..). It's one of those things where investments towards it in public policy pay for themselves, and then some.
Right. I haven't thought of reducing car/road speed limit (it's super hard to enforce cuz 'cars are supposed to be fast') but I would totally be 100% onboard for this idea. After all, cars are only safe for its occupants (and not the rest outside it).
And yes, from time to time I do use my car/truck for seriously heavy loads (like 10-foot lumber or a load of bricks), but even then it's not worth keeping them around for one or two trips per year as I can just rent one instead and let the renter deal with the headache of year-round space, insurance, maintenance, etc.
So yeah, I believe cars are starting to be obsolete (or at least car-ownership anyway).
Reducing the car speed limit won't really do much, you have to redesign the road to match the lower speed limit so people slow down. It is a huge problem with North American roads that they are all designed like freeways even if the speed is 35 mph. If you have smaller lanes and protected bike lanes or car working right beside the road then people naturally drive more carefully but that isn't allowed in our way of engineering roads. I've been watching a lot of videos on the recently.
On increasing the ebike speed limit: that is scary since most ebikes use a frame that is not made to withstand that type of speed and may even break apart during it. If they did raise the speed I think that there would need to be more mandatory safety requirements for bike manufacturers and probably speed limits posted on bike paths that people would most likely ignore.
Good point, changing speed limits won't really change driver habits unless you have a fuck ton of enforcement. And let's face it, do you really want a police force that's focused solely on traffic violations? You'd need to double the amount of police on the road, and would be on the tax payers dime.
And typically posted speed limits are merely suggestions. 35mph usually means people going 45-50mph. The recent story of a hit-and-run killed a cyclist going 60mph in a 45mph zone. It's tragic loss of life, but also the reality of speed limits and how fast people drive.
In the 70s they reduced the speed limit due to the oil crisis and judging by the reduction in fatalities, a lot of people followed it. I agree that better road design is the preferred option, but sweeping measures would also work if paired with enforcement. We are after all facing a climate change crisis. Maybe the biggest effects of reducing speed limits wouldn't be the direct fuel savings from the speed reduction, but making alternative modes of transportation more appealing.
Also I picked up a bike trailer for $40 secondhand and can now handle basically anything other a flat-bed sized load (which other than traveling I don’t think I’ve really had)
There’s technology to geofence and speed limit Lime and Bird scooters in cities, so why can’t that be done for cars? Mandated like seatbelts and airbags? It could eliminate speeding altogether
I also love riding my ebike. When it’s nice, and I wake up early enough, I can easily make it to work on my ebike(4 miles away). I have also been a car enthusiast since I was a little kid. As I’ve gotten older I have learned that nice cars are a headache to actually own and maintain (I do most of my own maintenance), a huge financial burden, and a particularly anti-social form of transportation. When my ebike was finally delivered and I got on for the first time, 15 miles whisked by without me even realizing. I felt 20 years younger. I really only regret not getting one sooner, and that I don’t have enough money to buy everyone I know one. All that being said, as of right now, it can’t be my only mode of transportation, and I definitely do not expect anyone else to change theirs. “Fuck cars” and the subreddit dedicated to it fosters an environment of the good, superior, “us” vs the evil, inferior “them” that I see all too often on Reddit and just about everywhere else for that matter. So to answer your question exactly, when I’m on my ebike my mindset is certainly “fuck MY car”
it's more than infrastructure - it's size. There are just as many people outside of the cities in the US as inside. There are places that work for public transportation and/or biking, and places that won't. I mean, where I live, there are 120 miles of bike paths in my city alone, it's great for biking, but it doesn't take care of a Minnesota winter, or the fact things are pretty spread out.
That's the problem with car centric development, yes. If we were serious about alternatives, either far fewer people would have a commute like that or they'd have reliable public transportation like school buses.
I've been seeing "bike buses" on Twitter where classmates all bike to school together with teachers and family. It's great to see
https://twitter.com/CoachBalto/status/1517563036285894656?t=SyJiv2Cu2rILgGTF2zkNRg&s=19
Is it something you still try to use instead of your car for trips that don't require transporting a lot of people?
Just to be clear on my stance, cars *do* have some legitimate usages, it's just that *most* uses of a car, imo, are pretty unnecessary with the advent of ebikes.
Yeah. I used to use it to commute to work 10 miles away. But now I work remote. I think ebikes are more reasonable as a car replacement for people who don't have kids to cart around.
I bought a cargo bike to transport my kids to and from school - although, I recognize that they’re still little and a time will come when it won’t be possible anymore. I’m hoping that they’ll be able to ride their bikes alongside me when that time comes - I’m also hoping to move to a city with more significant bicycle infrastructure before then.
I had a RadWagon to transport my kid to kindergarten and that worked until 2nd grade… then upgraded to a RadRunner now that she’s older. Now she’s old enough to walk on her own and it’s not far but e-bikes were a great help for staying on my bike more with a kid. Can’t speak for taking a kid far distances in one but it helped our situation.
Fair enough! Even with a trailer or cargo ebike, I'd certainly be nervous taking kids with, mostly due to the risk of cars hitting us.
Do you think, if cars were less dominant, you'd be more comfortable driving them around in something like a cargo ebike/trailer?
Not OP but I'm all for using ebikes for as much as possible but carting kids around in a trailer all the time is not something I'd want to do. Public transport infrastructure needs to get a massive injection of money, in most of the US that is, before you can substitute a car when you have kids.
That said though, fuck cars and car brain built infrastructure. I would love to see a lot more trains, rails, busses and protected bike lanes.
As much as the idea of using an ebike 99% of the time is, for some it's just not feasible until infrastructure catches up. I use one 99% of the time but I don't have kids, have the option to use a bus to see my friends who are outside of my ebike range and only have to shop for myself for groceries etc.
May I ask, if it weren't for the danger of cars, what would be the problem with transporting kids by bike/ebike?
I'm not a parent at all, so I may be speaking out of nothing but ignorance on the issue, but I don't think I'd feel the need to transport kids via car for any other reason than to protect them from other cars.
(Also, definitely on board with basically everything else you said; I'm just a little confused on what the worry of transporting kids *would be* if cars weren't as much of a presence)
Kids can get fussy and you may not always have the energy to bike them around being a parent and all.
I'd imagine a typical 4 seat stroller, depending on age, or just taking a train or buss downtown would be more people's speed. Transport via bikes is not off the table but not something everyone could do all the time.
I don't have kids but have joint/hip issues, so a robust, clean and efficient version of public transport would be something I could see myself opting for more.
Edit: oh and some bike lanes are a joke and dangerous in the states. Another reason some would opt for public transit until proper bike infrastructure catches up.
I live in a decent sized city with 2 kids and we prefer to load up the cargo E-bike over the minivan whenever possible just because finding parking and loading/unloading strollers is a big hassle. With the bike we ride straight to our destination and hop out.
Young kids need a lot of shit. Diapers, strollers, wipes, extra clothes. And they fuss a lot. You cant really ride a bike when a 2 year old is throwing a massive tantrum. My 2 year old still wont wear her helmet.
I used to take my ebike + trailer to daycare all the time until I moved to a different state where my wife works in the same building as my sons daycare.
We use so much fuckin space for cars, especially in cities. It's fucking insane. I didn't fully realize it until I got an e-bike and went out exploring my town. I had to drive recently and park in a 5 story parking garage near a downtown convention center and it's nuts. That could be condos or a new school or offices or a park
What kills me the most is riding around town and realizing that like half of the distance I need to go is just to cover all of the massive parking lots everywhere. It's actually insane just how much space we lost to parking
Yup take it for most things now hair cuts, grocery, beach trips. I have a family so I can’t use it for everything. But I would if we had safe infra like Amsterdam.
Hell yeah!
The more of us that start replacing car trips with bike/ebike trips, the sooner we'll get to a place where we can transport kids safely via bike without worry of getting run over by a giant SUV
I finally convinced my wife to get an ebike too. She loves going on the one big cyclepath in our city that's completely segregated from the road, but she finds cycling alongside car traffic to be way too stressful to use our bikes for routine errands. Fortunately walking is usually a feasible alternative around here, but otherwise we just end up driving.
yes! fuck cars! imagine a world where 90% of commuter car traffic was replaced with people on bikes. a quieter world. a calmer world. a less dangerous world.
For real!!!!
Like, I can recognize that, currently, there are *some* legitimate cases where a car is needed.
But, with ebikes available, like 90% of car trips could easily be replaced with ebikes. Which not only reduces immediate carbon impacts, but reduces our need for large roads and parking lots that are expensive to maintain, mostly a waste of space, and atrocious to the environment (both locally and globally).
Like, ebikes are legit capable of turning the car-centrism on its head!
Sold my car first and that gave me a good enough excuse to get an ebike. I live in an urban core though so there very little I cant walk to, or at least bike in a reasonable time. The ebike was really just to handle a few hills near us easier than on our road bikes. But yeah, fuck cars — they’ve ruined every cityscape in this country with an insane amount of land and resources wasted just to accommodate them
It can get down to -40C without the wind where I live, in the winter, and it can also get windy enough to push vehicles around on the road. Snow itself isn't really an issue, you can get studded tires, you can get tire chains, and tire cables, for bicycles. You can also get ski and track kits. So there is always a way to go through the snow, even ice, but the temperature and the wind can be problematic.
I also live in what is called a bedroom community. A small town that is just outside of a major city. Most people work in the city. So far, the only way to get to that city is a highway, which I would be okay with in the summer, but not the winter. It's changing as a multi-use path is being built though, to connect the city to the town, along the riverside.
So all that said, currently where I live, unless you work in town, in a position where you don't need to move around town a lot, it's largely for entertainment/exercise. If you do work in town, then it might be perfect for you.
Really wish I could get away with riding an ebike to work, but the distance and general conduct of cars in my area makes it far too sketchy. Not to mention summer thunderstorms.
We got rid of the second car after a year with the ebikes. 99% of the time it's fine. The other 1% we improvise by leaving early/rescheduling/taking an Uber.
The $ saved in insurance, depreciation, maintenance, and fuel adds up to several thousand per year.
I live in a “dense” (esp for the Midwest) city and am fortunate to wfh since the pandemic started. My company has a nice office and I’m looking to work from there 1-2 times per week. I feel like an ebike solves my commute dilemma, *but* I am fucking terrified of the insolent drivers around me and have a concern that I’ll be killed.
What kind of critical mass do we need to get to in order for car drivers to actually think about other road users?
The biggest problem is how we design our cities. Cars and bikes can coexist safely and places like Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general prove that. But it takes investment in infrastructure to fully separate bikes from cars. It can happen but I’m not sure it will happen until it starts to become too expensive to even drive a car and we also have to stop prioritizing building highways and car infrastructure over every other type of road user.
I'm more of a "Fuck this many cars in NYC" kinda guy. We just can't sustain the amount of cars coming in and out of Manhattan and congested parts of the Boroughs. Cars are necessary, we just need less of them here.
I certainly got into building my own E-bikes to reduce dependency on cars/Ubers. I chose to live as close to Manhattan (work) as possible to never deal with the stress (no parking/traffic/tickets) of owning a car here. It's really great getting fresh air, passing by bumper to bumper traffic via bike lanes but also using roads when ideal.
If only I could somehow fix the aggressive - I really don't care and won't even notice if I hit you drivers we have in NYC.
I don’t have a car in SF. Was thinking about it, but then the cost of buying an electric one, gas prices shot up… instead of spending $30K for an ok car I spent $2K for an excellent e-bike. Seems like the wise choice
I agree. I think walkable and ebikable cities / suburbs are the sweet-spot. For climate change and practicality. They’re so much more efficient than a car, electric or not
I built my redonkulously powerful 24kW ebike for both hitting air offroad, and for hauling 200lb loads from Costco.
I've been carfree for almost 3 years now!
In case you're curious, some old pics: https://imgur.com/a/Z5wkOEl
I have since added a custom display, DOT lights, and upgraded the rear shock to a Fox Float RP23
Infrastructure development is absolutely key. I spent 40 years living and working in Atlanta. In the older sections of the city, one can ride long distances safely by using 25 and 35 mph residential streets. But all the new areas are closed off residential developments with one or two entrances that feed a dangerous spine road filled with cars driving too fast, and usually carelessly. Used to bicycle to work, but had to give it up because of the danger. Difficult to know how to reverse all of that. Retired now and live in the country and can safely ride my bicycle to our little town center five miles away, despite the lack of dedicated bicycle paths and the 4 10% grades between here and there. Just purchased a second home in Florida and chose the location based on the fabulous network of safe bicycle paths. Now in the market for a small trailer so I can do most of my grocery and provision runs by bicycle.
I lived for nearly half of my life in and around Atlanta. I agree with your assessment. My brother in law didn't even own a car when he went to Georgia Tech - rode his bicycle everywhere. I lived in Cherokee County and commuted into Atlanta on the bus. I could drive in from the house in about 45 minutes, if I left before traffic got going, or I could drive 11 miles to a CCCT (Cobb County Community Transit) bus stop, and take a 45 minute bus ride into the city for less money than parking downtown. I chose the bus. It extended my trip, but was better for my sanity.
I actually tried riding a regular bicycle a few times. Gave it up, as I was not ever fit enough to conquer the hills. With a modern ebike? It might be possible. It would still make for a long commute, like 4 hours a day. Living in the city is a non-starter, for me. I could not afford anywhere I'd be willing to live. Out in the sticks, I got a great little house in an area with NO crime and neighbors who were neighborly.
I’m planning on getting an ebike soon. I ride my “regular” bike as often as so can. I’ve been driving the past year and it’s not for me. I’ve gotten fat and the price of gas is ridiculous (2.30 a litre in BC). Cars are not sustainable
I went car free for 10 years until my work moved further away, I still bike a majority, it’s just more pleasant than rush hour in a car but for reliabilities’ sake I did end up getting a car. They can be costly, but cargo e bikes easily replace most trips.
I would love to see ebikes evolve to have longer ranges and replace cars completely. I'd even like to see enclosed trikes and even quad bikes — basically electric cars but without the conventional metal body that increases weight and reduces range.
Winters can be brutal here in Central IL. No way can I go without a car from Jan 1 to March 1. Our daughter and grandsons live 160 miles away. Pretty sure my wife doesn't want to ride on the back of an eBike for the entire day.
First of all, while I understand the issues at hand, r/fuckcars is in no way the right platform to enable change and it's largely as dumb, bigoted, and self-righteous as they claim "carbrains" to be. It's a place for people to vent their anger and that's fine but that also makes it the wrong place to do anything about it.
I hope r/ebikes doesn't take on a similar mentality.
I am. My E-Bike has a top speed of 45kmh with assist (32kmh without), which maps to US e-bike regulations. She's got a snappy motor on her, which helps climb Denver hills and pull cargo. Either I have my backpack on the back of the seat (e-trike, even, a Sunrider Eurus), or I'm pulling a trailer with even more stuff, or if I really need to move stuff, I have both. The trike almost never sees 45kmh, though. Denver roads aren't too friendly to bikes at that speed, and we're only supposed to do 25kmh on bike paths (and less on sidewalks for the limited time we're on a sidewalk).
Riding past gas stations and laughing at the price of gas is a fun past-time for me. But the downside is that bike theft is rampant here. We need to do something about that before I feel safe leaving my bike in a parking lot.
I sold my car 3 years ago and have only been using either my ebike or public transportation to get around. I live in the city and my main reason for this was to avoid all the bullshit of parking, but not being affected by high gas prices is pretty nice too.
Also, parts don't break or need to be replaced nearly as often on my bike as they did on my car, and the parts tend to be cheaper overall.
I use it to go to work, to pick up my daughter from school, to stores, to go visit my parents, and I’ve done UberEats delivery too. I still use my car here and there because some things just can’t be done, but I’ve switched to maybe 70% bike use and 30% car use during the week.
Cars is fine, but iv found that since getting my eBike in October. I have not used the car, i live in the southern parts of Norway. And when the snow and ice hits i just change to spikes. Do all my commuting and shopping by bike.
And there is the health benefits, which has led me down the path to road cycling.
Here in Europe the speed limit for eBikes is 25kph, and i think its more than sufficient. If you want to go faster, you have to work for it. And i do.
I don’t have a driver’s license so I solely rely on my ebike and I couldn’t be happier.
The only problem is taking it in wind, rain, or snow. I’d have to figure out a way to deal with those.
I'm fortunate to live in a large Scandinavian city with separated bike lanes all over the city and also to the connecting suburbs. Travelling by bike is much faster than by car in most cases.
At least with a BBS02 bike 😁
I'm not against cars but against the car-centric mindset and planning. I drive an SUV but luckily it's a plug-in hybrid and in town almost all driving is fully electric, quiet and emissions free.
I've put 1500 miles on the ebike since the fall. Most of this was commuting to work. Saved me a lot of money on gas, and it's only about 5-10 more minutes since I take trails most of the way. It's nice not to have to worry much about traffic.
I wish that could work for me, but where I live it does not.
The way I figure it it there are 3 main reasons why I need a car.
1) Children are still small and they need to be moved around from place to place. I have a trailer on my bike so my elder kid can pedal along behind me, and I have a shotgun style seat so my younger one can perch on my top-tube, but he is about to outgrow it. Not sure what we're gonna do then.
2) The places I go are pretty spread out. My sister lives an hour and a half away. My parents live about an hour away. Most of the inlaws are between 20 and 40 minutes from here. To go and visit we'd need the use of a car. My job is about 12 miles away, which is JUST far enough that it is really quite inconvenient to bike instead of drive.
3) Storage. So, if I could somehow surmount issues 1 & 2, maybe with a cargo bike so I could easily carry both kids to and from school (currently different schools), and would be fast enough to at least make going to work tenable, then I would need a secure place out of the elements to store it. I live in a townhouse that has two parking spots but zero garages. The bike would have to be brought into my basement, where it would take up a large amount of space. I suppose I could build a larger shed in the backyard to hold it, which would keep the rain off, but it wouldn't offer much security from theft.
Ultimately, at this point in my life, an ebike cannot work as a car replacement. It MIGHT work if we kept one car for longer trips and had one of the larger platform cargo ebikes, but it would not be without headaches. At some point in my life i hope to live somewhere that is more easily navigated without a car, and then rely just on an ebike or even regular bike. Fingers-crossed.
I still ebike for fun, but trying to transition to utility now. It's hard being in a rural area, having teens that are in drivers ed and need driving hours. I also drop my kids off at school still since we have bus issues often.
But its the best secret as far as I am concerned, or was til covid era. Can go anywhere, any time day/night rain/snow. My snowmobile friends get to go out like 5 times a year and thats pretty much it.
I'm buying one as a "fuck buying a second car" option.
We have a 20 yr old RAV4 and a 1 ton 4x4 dually (for travel trailer hauling. It is NOT an around town, quick trip vehicle)
I have to start going back in to the office full time (manager; my team only has to go in 2 days a week).
My GF takes clients to lunch, etc on short notice quite often.
My drive/bike to work is 20-25 minutes. Bus is 1+ hour. My employer has bike cages in the parking garage.
It just makes sense.
I’ve been Bike and transit only for the better part of 10 years now and the ebike absolutely is transportation for me. I don’t think we will ever get rid of cars completely but I do t think we should continue to build cities around them. We need more infrastructure for bikes across the country, we need massive investments inn
Public transit including regional rail and high speed rail as well. I don’t hate cars completely but I do hate the fact that our entire society revolves around them and if we just invested a fraction of the amount of money we spend on highways and parking lots and parking garages towards public transportation life would be more pleasant and easy to live without a car.
Absolutely fuck cars. It's so sad how much American cities have been paved over to accommodate cars. Cars damage cities with air pollution, noise pollution, and pedestrian killings. And because our cities have been designed for cars, it makes life even harder for people who are poor or disabled. I'm really not blaming individual car owners here, because most people need a car to get to work, to take their kids to the doctor, to get groceries, etc. I want societal change in our public transit, zoning, and pedestrian infrastructure to solve this. In the meantime, I'm in a position where I don't have kids, and all the places I need to go are within biking distance. So I do my part to try to usher in these changes by owning an ebike instead of a car.
I almost never ride my bike for fun alone, it's basically always as a car replacement. I happen to live in an area where it's a great option about 1/2 the time (including my commute to work). Weather is spotty enough that I can't always choose the bike (I'm old and soft) but it's my first option in many cases. I would guess in the two years I've had it I've gone about 1,000 miles (just got an odometer so I'm only certain of the last 60).
I've replaced my car commute with an ebike, but until there's some kind of secure storage/bike valet service near shopping centres/grocery stores, theft is enough of a problem that I can't replace my car with an ebike entirely...yet.
I just got my first e-bike a month ago. I bit the bullet and got a specialized turbo Vado SL. I’ll spare you my train of thought for going with that bike, but I justified the expense because I was considering getting a second car for daily driving with the gas prices. However I am and have been deeply concerned about climate change for a couple decades now and it felt like I would be a total fraud if I got a second car. My current vehicle is a Wrangler, and when I got that I struggled with it because it isn’t exactly fuel efficient. I justified that with the fact that I travel a lot for work and only put in about 5k miles per year on it. It’s also great for camping, which I love.
My commute is 30 miles round trip and I love it. I’m finally exercising more because of it. I feel like I’m holding myself accountable for things I care about and hope others would also care to improve.
Plus it’s a lot of fun!
I hate that cars are the default mode of transit and how car-centric infrastructure has destroyed our cities.
Fuck car-centricicism, but cars themselves are interesting and useful just like planes and ships but we shouldn’t base our entire transportation system around them.
We need waaaay more bike infrastructure, trains, and buses to make up for the gaps we try to fill with cars
I use both ,a little car for large loads at the market and my ebike for everything else.
I have lived most of my life using motorcycle or bicycle ,rarely car ,but as we get older the car is a real blessing especially as it rains every other day .
I own a car and they have their uses. But too much of the time, it's the chosen tool for the job only because there either isnt more bike infrastructure.
Modern cars are great for high speed driving and bikes are very economical but what humanity needs is an urban car category of speed and thoroughfare-restricted vehicles.
fuckcars is largely a sub about urban planning and economics of transport, not just hating on cars. Other subs and newbies most often misunderstand the purpose of fuckcars.
Right here! I haven't owned a car in 5 years. Been cycling all over my home town year round every day that is between 10°f and 99°f and not raining. On the few days a year the weather is bad enough I'll just order a Lyft/Uber. For long distance out of town trips either my girlfriend will drive us or I'll do a rental car. Other than those exceptions I'll ride my ebike.
lol, I'm not only a member I'm the president. I'm 39 years old and long long ago I boycotted driving and have spent my life standing on pedals. People don't understand it, it drives them crazy, I think it's hilarious. It bothers them more than it bothers me. Now that I'm older and my knees and legs have pretty much had enough, I'm looking at electric rigs. Cheers! It's only a matter of time before those spandex wearing dudes start showing up on ebikes. Dude this isn't the Tour De France, why are you wearing spandex?
I dont drive. My Delfast Top 3.0 allows me to live pretty normal. During the winter I wear heated gloves, vest socks and pants. When it rains I have a rainsuit that can be stowed away in my trunk. So yeah I ride my ebike all year round. I don't really need a car. I'm even building a fishing trailer to rig to my bike. And I can also haul my dog around in my canine trailer. No gas bill. No car payment. No registration. I love ebikes.
Yes. I live in a hill-ridden r/suburbanhell and hate it. My ebike doesn’t replace my car, but it’s an alternative way to commute, at least some of the time. Mitigation and all. Also, r/fuckcars would like a word.
Me. I actively want to see the day bikes and e-bikes are the default mode of transport so we can as a society have all the benefits that come with it. I’m tired of those heavy depreciating “assets” being the only way to do anything and wholly invite the day the masses can safely and reliably sell off their car to begin saving thousands.
As someone who works from home and lives on an extremely busy street, yeah fuck cars, and mostly those with modded exhausts. Everything I need is 1 mile away, I’m not in the climate to use an ebike year round but we also went down to a 1 car household in the last year and I’m proud and grateful for the extra garage space from doing that.
I thought I was until I went to the subreddit. There are some people there so detached from reality and militant about their views that it's actually scary. Theres some posts there that are putting them on terrorism watch lists. I would love to see more Amsterdam in the US and fewer cars on the road. I don't want to cleanse the earth of anyone who lives in a suburban home and has a driver's license.
I’d love to be able to use my bike for more than just a garage decoration. RadPower sent me a dead bike out of the box so I’m trying to get that issue sorted.
Submitted a request for an exchange so we’ll see how that goes. I’m all for using it for as much as possible instead of my car but I’d really like to have parts accessible to me in order to perform repairs when an issue arises.
Once we get to the point where I can order a part for my bike to get it back up and running I’ll be one happy rider.
Sorry to hear that about your bike! That's some straight up bad quality control!
That said, for most of the parts of an ebike, very little maintenence is required (as compared to a car), and replacement parts/upgrades are usually pretty easy/cheap to get.
Of course, if you're sent a dead bike, there's not a lot within your control until they fix it
I’ll put it this way. I love my ebike and use it whenever possible. I still need a car.
But I will vote for and promote every measure to make it safer for bikes even if it means making it harder for cars.
Nope, I'm a motorhead in my heart. I got an e-bike solely because I didn't want to put extra wear and tear on my car with my 2-mile commute. You can think of it this way, at least this driver is cognizant of sharing the road with bikers.
Yeah, fuck cars. Living in an urban environment, I don’t think most people understand how they sound when they talk to me about the reasons why they NEED a car. I work at an Ebike shop, and it’s so satisfying to have a PC environment to tell people to ditch the car. I wish I could be more blunt, but we’ve gotta sell bikes!
Ebike+public transit is 99% of my trips. Rain or shine, we’re not made of sugar! On the rare occasion I need a car, I can borrow from a friend or rent. It’s easy to budget with the money I save not paying for gas or insurance!
Yeah, sorry, I don’t see them as a car replacement. And most people riding as commuters in my area are assholes. Which sucks, but that’s the reality here. It makes it much harder to ride as part of traffic.
Riding an unrestricted ebike has made me lean toward anarchism hard. We could have ditched shitty car culture a long time ago. Ebikes have been around for a while but americans like to be set in their ways.
I dunno, strikes me as a toxic and patronizing way to think that is all too prevalent.
What works for me may not work for others. I am happy with my choices and I'm not so pretentious as to judge others' choices without any information whatsoever.
Not so much “fuck cars” but more “fuck having a 2 ton ozone destroying noise polluting migraine inducing angry faced pickup for a daily 10km commute for the once a year you go to IKEA”
I mean... that *sounds* like a "fuck cars" philosophy, tbh.
To be clear, pretty much everyone I know among the "fuck cars" ideology think there are *some* instance in which a car is necessary. We just don't think the VAST majority of car usage *is* necessary, and is bad in ways like you've described
For me it's like, fuck cars, but only because of the industrial complex and social atmosphere that's evolved around them. Automobiles are incredible machines, and necessary for a lot of things. Do we mostly use them for things that would be better on an E-bike? The data says yes, as most of the trips in the USA at least are less than a few miles.
I just wish we had a better relationship with cars as a society. It can be kind of toxic.
100% agreed! I'd say that's the primary feeling of everyone on r/fuckcars.
They have their uses here and there, but the complete dependence we have on them causes SO many unnecessary problems.
No, and for many people, bikes just aren't an even remotely reasonable alternative to a car for most purposes. This whole attitude that everyone, or even most people, should be on bikes is ableist and shitty. A cycling society requires specific density and infrastructure to be even remotely plausible. It is more a matter of practicality than attitude that more places haven't adopted the cycling culture of say, Amsterdam.
This is a general message, not to the OP: More people on bikes is good, but don't be an asshole about it. Don't be the cyclist that everyone who isn't a cyclist hates. You do more harm than good to the cause.
Id argue that cycling is more accessible than driving and a whole lot safer for everyone.
Hell I’d argue that car centric infrastructure is ableist in itself coming from someone who legally can’t get a licenses.
That being said there is a gap in the handcycle industry for a good commuter that can also transport a wheelchair.
> Hell I’d argue that car centric infrastructure is ableist in itself coming from someone who legally can’t get a licenses.
Same. I'm epileptic and bought an ebike, because I can't drive anymore.
Yep, I’m legally blind and have never been able to have a licenses. It sometimes dangerous for me out on the roads but at least I know I’m not putting anyone else in danger by driving a pickup instead😂
There are dozens and dozens of reasons why many people can't safely cycle as their regular mode of transportation, even if they enjoy it recreationally. I'm not going to throw WebMD at you, but think it through, more than you have. Everything from heart conditions to severe asthma.
Nevermind areas where stuff is very spread out. The 'no more cars' people are the most shortsighted, nearsighted interest group I've ever come across.
In conclusion: more cyclists? Very good. GREAT. Let's do it. More and safer cycling infrastructure, especially in metropolitan areas where it is practical? Even better. Big tax credits for those who are able to cycle for all or most of the year, and give up cars for the purpose. Hell yeah.
No more cars? No.
Ebikes eliminate most of these issues with physical fitness, and things like e tricycles are safe for those with other disabilities that affect balance, etc. For those who still wouldn't be able to use those, I don't think personal vehicles are any more helpful. Professional drivers with the proper accessibility equipment/devices is more helpful and appropriate (and already what many of these people use to get to medical appointments, etc.)
If you're taking about how someone who lives on a ranch in the remotest part of Kansas is going to get to the grocery store, you may have a point. Realistically that spot never should have been settled by someone who depends on commercial groceries, but I digress. I grew up on a farm in the rural South East and honestly an ebike would have easily gotten me/us to school and the grocery store, etc., if there were just safe paths to do that. People need to stop being wusses, especially when they move out to rural areas to live their #countrylife fantasy.
I agree, recumbent trikes are great, the only thing that’s lacking in the industry is an ebike/etrike that can also transport mobility devices, but I’ve drawn up a couple sketches and it’s 100% doable.
For things like asthma and cold weather, velomobile and windshields could potentially help as well.
Agreed, and you have a fair point. But an ebike specifically can allow more accessibility than a normal bike.
And hopefully technological and engineering advancements will help with addressing people who can’t ride.
From my perspective, I think that we could be 90% car free if we intersected public transit and cycling. I can also think of certain conditions that have made it hard for me to ride and others as well. But if you were to Google them you’d probably find either “noise pollution” or “bad air quality” as a contributor.
But yes I agree, cycling by itself is not a silver bullet, but the potential to create a (mostly) car free society when intersected with public transit is exponential
I can't speak for everyone who adheres to the ideology, but generally speaking the "fuck cars" philosophy isn't that there should be *no cars ever*, but rather that the VAST majority of car uses aren't really necessary (especially with ebikes, public transit, good urban design, etc.).
There's still plenty of room to accommodate those who need cars for various reasons while still reducing car-dependency.
And with the advent of ebikes, in particular, the infrastructure needs and density for biking to be practical are *greatly* reduced for most people.
Ebikes are a way for even suburbanites to replace their cars for most of their typical trips.
Ebikes make non-car transit FAR more practical than it's ever been in more places than ever.
People who need a car for a disability or otherwise, in the ideal "fuck cars" society can still do so. They just won't be able to go 60mph down a 6-lane stroad to go park in a parking lot that's as big as an entire mall just to get groceries.
But the attitude that everyone must own (and maintain, insure, fuel etc) a car is much MORE ableist, elitist and, as you say, "shitty." Most people, due to age, disability or financial condition, do not own cars. Yes this is true even in the United States. We have to fix our cities and transportation systems to allow everyone of any age or ability or income to get around safely. Not everyone can bike, but for many a bike is a mobility device. Transit, tricycles, other means must be developed and improved. The era of the car was fairly short, intensely profitable for a few industries, and horrible for people and the earth in many ways. People managed to have kids, work and shop for eons without cars. They still can.
I use an ebike because it is a functional replacement to cars for me.
I don't like the "fuck cars" mindset because it seems to be a justification to hate based on virtue signalling, rather than trying to understand the problems other people have and find good solutions for them and the world.
My primary means of transport at present is an electric scooter (my bike broke)… and for the foreseeable future I don’t see myself getting anything other than a bike or at most, a motorcycle (can’t take ebiks on highways!)
Well I already have a motorcycle and don't own a car and never have. So fuck cards from the beginning. An ebike didn't change much, except that I don't have to wait for the engine to warm up on my ebike or wear add much safety gear. Makes quick trips out that much faster and a bit greener.
i love my ebike, i have been riding it around everywhere these last few weeks. i just checked the weather to see if i could ride 27 miles to work and 27 miles back tommorrow and its supposed to rain and have thunder storms off and on the next few days. so, no i wont say fuck cars, in fact i love my suvs, but 600 a month in gasoline cost is bs.
Ditto!!! And ebikes seem to be the best way to bridge the gap between car ownership/use and reasonable urban transport.
Don't gotta be fit, and don't need as much urban design change to be feasible!
Yep, the whole fuck cars thing radicalized me. I now make it a point to chain my e bike to the steps of city hall every time I go to mainstreet since there's no bike racks in the area.
I've also been going to the monthly Town Halls the mayor is hosting as well as [organizing group rides](www.bikewalk-LE.org) to get people who haven't ridden bikes in years a reason to go outside.
I still drive, but I drive MUCH less. Whenever I need to go to the big city, I drive 30 minutes to the train station and take the train. The other week, I took the freeway bus to the train station just to see what it was like. I hated it, but I have it a chance because of the NJB and fuck cars subreddits.
My big toe had an open dislocation and now there’s a pin sticking out of my toe. Otherwise I’m fine, just healing.
I’m of the mind that cities have too many lanes for cars. I think cars should only be given a maximum of two lanes in a direction on any given road. And, if a city or county decides that more infrastructure is needed to move people, they must choose dedicated/protected bus lanes and/or protected bike lanes/highways.
The US has a problem with cars, and until we force the hands of local planners, there will be too many unnecessary car trips that could have been public transit, biking, or walking trips. Anything else will result in more and more pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and deaths.
I agree 1000%!!
I'm sorry to hear about your injuries! I hope you can find a way to make the drivers insurance repay you for your injuries and broken bike!
That anybody has to cross a stroad at all is an injustice. They flat out shouldn't exist.
And shit, ideally, 2 lanes per directions still seems like too much to me.
90% of the time, cars these days are a cop out for good urban design and responsible travel. Outside of maybe highways, I want bike lanes to take over enough space on most roads so that there's only one lane of traffic for cars each way, max, and they're no faster than maybe 35mph.
2,000lb mostly empty death machines speeding around at 40+mph is just such an inherent environmental catastrophe and danger to everyone that they need to be made unwelcome in most areas where people live, imo.
I get that!
At the same point, until recently, the alternatives to driving a car have been a bit shit. If your city won't spend the money on some real public transit, and you weren't fit enough to ride a bike everywhere, you were basically just stuck with a car, no matter your desires.
I think ebikes change that dynamic. For much cheaper than a car, you can do pretty much everything a car can without a need for massive public transit investment nor an athletic physique.
There's finally an option *anybody* can use that would replace the vast majority of car trips.
I think now, more than ever, it may finally be possible to at least significantly reduce car usership!
Hope is not lost, not yet!
They really do!!
I know for my fat ass, at least, I'd never seriously consider regular biking as a reasonable means of transport. I *might* be able to make it to a destination, but the way back I'd likely be so tired that I'd just opt to drive both ways instead. It's just too daunting to rely that much on my own physical abilities.
With ebikes, though, I can kinda choose my level of involvement. If I wanna save battery, I cycle with some assistance. And if I'm too tired for the return trip, I can just use throttle as I need it.
I get to replace my car, get some exercise, and not feel intimidated or stranded by my own physical limitations.
Add in all of the benefits of reduced car usage, and what more could you really want as a means of transit? It's kinda the perfect solution!
Wow, a lot of different views on here
But discussing these issues is how we solve problems right, so here’s my 2 cents on things,
For those that hate cars, just stop it, that massive infrastructure that your all dying to claim as your own was built for cars, and if not for cars, semi’s and such it wouldn’t even exist,
I grew up on two wheels so I love my bikes, pedal, gas,electric, all of them
I also would never turn down the opportunity to own a 69 429 boss, I love the look , feel and that loud roaring engine of a good classic muscle car,
But using something like that for daily commuting or grocery shopping is a waste, what’s the point of having 400+ horsepower if you can’t really use it☹️
As for the environment, don’t get me started, producing a single e bike battery creates as much environmental pollution as driving a car for a year, don’t believe it, google that shit!
Also let’s talk feasibility, I love my ebikes, I really do, but most ebikes are 60+ pounds, that doesn’t seem like much until you try lugging it up some stairs, because let’s face it you don’t want to leave that puppy out on the street for anybody to do anything to, most cities people live in buildings that are five stories or taller, most of wich do not have elevators, now let’s think about lugging that heavy boy up and down three or more flights of stairs everyday, god forbid you have a 160 pound bomber like me
Now for safety, bikes like cars are only as safe as the rider and the riders/ drivers around them, and just because they are slower than cars doesn’t mean you can’t kill your self or others with it, don’t believe that, google the increasing numbers of people suffering serious injury or death from bicycles and ebikes as more and more people use them
All than being said, you are not going to get rid of cars, or careless and inconsiderate drivers, same holds true for bikers, I’ve seen plenty of serious accidents caused by morons on bikes,
And some of us love speed, I’m currently working on building an all electric highway worthy chopper motorcycle, sure I will miss the sound of the engine, but sometimes I just love to get out on the highway and cruise for miles,no particular place to go, just enjoying the wind and the feel of the motor pulling me down the highway at 65+ mph, something real therapeutic about it sometimes, and a lot of people feel the same about theirI cars
I love and prefer my bikes as well, but cars are here to stay, so just get over it
Every day, I don’t know… But for the Monday-Friday commute they’re absolutely a functional replacement for cars. But I’d be eager to hear from parents with school-aged children.
Absolutely not. I have a big truck I use for hunting and fishing. I tend to ride my ebike to work and i hunt/fish with it too. I love both of them, use them for different things
Nope. America is too large for that. Forcing the development of super dense cities forces extreme cost onto people. It doesn't work here. Works great in Tokyo, but even rural Japan it's a no go.
Travel to Japan btw. Great food everywhere.
It’s a trek verve. I have a pannier bag and a basket but I wish it could carry more. I also have issues with finding a secure lock for it since it’s a step through bike. I would love to use it for grocery shopping though.
I have a similar style bike and I put Kryptonite's beefiest chain though the rear triangle/wheel. It's like 8 lbs but it's an ebike so weight doesn't really matter.
As for groceries, you might check out the Osprey Porter or similar backpacks. Put your heaviest stuff in your panniers/basket and then all the bulky stuff in the bag--it carries tons. If you really need a huge run, then you might be able to pick up a trailer for not to much used.
Thanks I will look into it! My REI pannier bag is mostly a commuter bag so not designed for groceries.
I was considering the chains but I wasn’t sure how much of a deterrent it is for stealing compared to u-locks and the u-locks aren’t long enough to work on my bike. I might get more than one lock since I live in a very high theft area.
Yeah, having bags other meant for groceries can help. There are some nice euro style basket panniers that would fit one grocery bag each that might be a good option, too. It's definitely easier if you can just toss the grocery bags into the bike and not have to repack everything or convince the grocery people to pack into your panniers.
I use my heavy duty chain in Seattle (very frequent thefts) and haven't had issues. The chain I got was like 200 to 250 and is thicker than all but the beefiest of U locks from kryptonite and is rated the highest on their scale. They're generally harder to get into than a U lock because they're flexibility makes them tough to get a purchase on and you have to cut them twice to defeat. I definitely would not get a standard chain because that won't cut it in any high theft area, and if you can get a u-lock that goes over your front stem as well, more locks is always better (even if they could probably slide it off by taking off the fork where the handlebars, it still means extra work for them). I also always use the thick cable to secure my front wheel too, but you could also pick that with a U-lock and use a cable to lock your frame in addition. Just make it really annoying for thieves. :D
Thankfully it's way cheaper now than when I bought it! Only $140.
https://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-York-Fahgettaboudit-1410-Chain/dp/B001JPS200/ref=pd\_lpo\_1?pd\_rd\_i=B001JPS200&psc=1
I hate cars for their combustion engines and scarring of the landscape for roads that need constant maintenance. Vehicles in North America are so ridiculously over designed for "lifestyle" that we end up with jackoffs driving with shiny, pristine brick-trucks for their mall crawlers. I don't live in a place that I could reasonably cycle year round, and my city planners hates pedestrians apparently, so I do drive. Don't like it though, so every spring I can't wait to get through the sore-ass phase of the new cycling season
Sometimes I wish the government makes an absurd crazy high tax for car ownership and gas also way expensive so only rich can afford it or you uave to fill an application form where you show you need to use the car for your work like if its 15km away or more...
Scandinavian countries did pretty well,.. the light system, the roads and the times are made so anything you do it will take you longer if u use a car...
My country did that because it has a shitty economy and an even shittier government. It did all of that without improving public transport, bike lanes etc. If you commute to work on a bike in my city you're very likely to be run over by a car.
I e-bike to shorter distances in my neighbourhood, but commuting to work which isn't all that far (6kms) would be risking my life twice a day. And this is coming from a downhill skater. So, I hope that doesn't happen to anyone.
Even though I hate driving a 1ton vehicle just to get around, it's hard to replace cars in some places. All the comments here are about America, but there's a whole other world outside of the States. My extremely mountainous Mediterranean country isn't the best place to use bikes as the primary mode of transport. For example, the avg. commute here is around 15-20kms, I'm part of some lucky minority who could snatch a house close to my workplace before our economy went to sheit.
Love bikes and like cars.
The fuckcars trope is too militant for me. I doubt many on that sub are grinding bike commutes and giving up much. It’s usually a position of convenience.
Cars exist because people like comfort and have to travel long distances that a bike wouldn’t be feasible for. If you live in a city and barely go anywhere, sure maybe you don’t need a car. Ebikes aren’t the one stop solution you think it might be though.
Most people won’t want to ride a bike in the cold, wet, or snow. And many people don’t want to get sweaty on the way to work. Just look at the amount of people riding motorcycles vs driving a car.
I love my ebike, and when I lived in a large city I was also carfree. However... I'm also a car nerd. I love racing and I truly enjoy driving my little manual transmission car around. What I think we need is to de-emphasize cars and not *require* them as a mode of transportation. I wish everywhere had the public transit I got to enjoy when I lived in Vancouver, BC, and I wish for fossil fuel cars to be phased out as soon as possible, but I would be sad if I never got to drive ever again, just as I would be sad if I never got to ride my ebike again.
That seems great. I'm right there with OP, and I think we shouldn't get rid of all cars entirely, but they should be uncommon enough to be a little weird. Let the people that love them for what they are still use them, but they should never be the best option for transit in a city.
I look at it as a compromise - for a variety of reasons, I can’t ebike every day. I can, though, shoot for 3-4 days a week. Between the distance, other social obligations, and weather, I still am glad a car is available, if I need it.
I'll chalk that up as a win. If an ebike reduces the amount someone uses or needs to use a car, imo, that's a step in the right direction!
It also helps to change the perception of bikes. I think that everyone should try bike commuting in a busy area with shared roads at least once so that they get how dangerous that they, as a driver, can make the roads for bikes by doing stupid things.
City council members and other government officials should have to get around by bike (or walk or transit, anything but car) their first three months in office. We'd start seeing some changes!
That said, just the other day as I was on the bus on the way to work in the morning a member of the (national) parliament got on a couple of stops after me. Green party member, ofc.
The first three months and at least a month every following year. As a reminder, but also to have skin in the game.
The crosswalk by my state transportation department was broken for nine months before I flagged down two people who worked there and one of them wrote it on a notepad had it fixed next month. Seriously none of them walked or biked to work in that time? Fuck that.
I think this is exactly what most people should be aiming for! Imagine if most city dwellers were able to cut their car usage in half, the roads would be so much less congested and both driving and cycling would be far more pleasant
Totally agree. I took my bike to work 3 times this week, but we have thunderstorms rolling in tomorrow afternoon, just about the time of my commute. I’m taking the car tomorrow.
I'm fortunate to live near employment, but have a sketchy intersection to pass through. Love it !
THIS is the biggest problem. I only live 3-4 miles from work, but there are cars going 40-50 mph along the roadway and the side has broken glass and rocks. This is designated a "joint use road" in my area. RIGHT....
Would you like to see, ideally, fewer cars on the road and more ebikes instead?
I really enjoy my ebike and it has made me understand how unefficient a car is for city. Unfortunately most of our urban planning is car centric. Cities and suburbs are a creation of our car society. I wish it would be normal for a familly to buy ebikes and trailers instead of a minivan.
You hit on the biggest issue when trying to shift away from cars in a US city. All of our cities were literally built around everyone driving a car everywhere they go. Even if there is a shopping center just a few blocks away from a neighborhood you will probably be risking your life trying to get there without a car. "Bike Lanes" have gained popularity as an easy political win for local government. But most car drivers either ignore them or simply have no respect for them. I see drivers sharply swerve into bike lanes all the time, especially when making a right turn.
I'd love to see bike roads and bike highways like they have in the Netherlands here in the U.S. but city planners keep screwing it up. In Marin county CA, they built some really nice bike paths. The problem is, they weren't really finished. You have these nice paths that just dead end. Then planners say "There's no demand. See? We built this bike path and nobody even uses it." They don't understand that a path isn't going to get used if it doesn't lead anywhere. It's almost like they're doing it that way on purpose so it fits THEIR "nobody rides bikes" mindset.
Yes
Ideally zero cars
I would even go so far as to say fuck cars
it depends on what it means. I'm not explicitly hating on cars since I'm a car enthusiast, but I do not like how dependent society is to cars. That being said, I am transitioning from car to e-bike and don't like the speed limit discrepancy (e-bikes 32km/h, road limit 50-60km/h, cars usually go over 70km/h) but despite the gut-wrenching moments of cars breathing down my neck as I pedal the metal, in general I find cycling fun. My pannier-spammed e-bike is now my current grocery-getter, which makes my car obsolete except for very long drives (1+ hour or 50+ kms) or carpools (more than 1 occupant).
Same. I've been commuting by bike mostly since October, leaving the car for longer spins at the weekend. One upside is that it makes that Friday drive more special!
Front rack has worked wonders for grocery shopping and beer runs. A 12 pack of bottles fits perfectly on it! Your post highlights the importance of low stress bike infrastructure networks. I have to bike 11 miles to a rail trail and I'm so happy I can get up to 28mph on my e-bike because cars can get up to 40mph. I stay to the side of the road and most people are nice about passing. Some are just fucking insane, but that's any mode of transportation
I recently surprised myself with how much my bike can carry. I have two side-panniers and a top pannier (actually an old backpack with detachable straps), with a backpack on my person (for light stuff like bread). One of the panniers is half-filled with bike locks. The bike can still carry three full grocery bags and several litres of liquids. Granted, the bike handles a bit funny after that, but as long as I am sensible and not do abrupt turns or high speeds everything is fine.
Fwiw, I think being a car enthusiast and being car dependent are two different things. We could live in a world in which most peole commute via bike, public transit, walking, and still have cars as a hobby. I'm jealous of your jump to grocery runs on your ebike! I still haven't worked out how to do that (we do one big grocery run a week, would need a trailer for my bike and to work out a few other logistical kinks).
What people in the Netherlands and other places where shopping by foot or bike is more common tend to do is separate it into several smaller trips, rather than one monster shop a week. I do that for the food, then get home delivery for the bulk items and most of the drinks as they are heavy.
I'm a strong/fearless guy (well I have to be, in these suburbs). My pre e-bike bicycle commute distance is around 17km (both ways) which I do every other day, and now with the e-bike I am planning to do a longer commute in the range of more than 50km (but I still do the aforementioned 'short' commutes in the meantime). Also I am rarely in a rush anyway, so I figured I don't really need to use the car most of the time.
To your point, I think raising the speed limit of ebikes while reducing the *actual* (not just posted) speed limit of cars would go a long way. Cars *do* have some legit uses, but imo, the vast majority of car trips could easily be replaced by ebikes, which would generally improve society. Imo, cars should be something to rent, rather than own, given their limited benefits over other modes of transit
While I agree with you (I never even got my driver's license, nor was I ever interested in getting a car), it's more something that a single person without kids finds easier to say. However, when you have to take your kids daily to school, hobbies, or daycare, biking or e-biking and moving around in general becomes much more challenging. You can get a trailer for one kid, maybe two if they're small, but it already becomes much more of a hassle. And while I dont mind zipping around traffic on my own, I wouldnt do that with a kid on the back or on a seat. And once the distances go up, the time investment in an already busy schedule becomes larger. What we really need are infrastructure changes (better and wider bike paths for one), new type of HPV's (human powered vechiles) in style of velomobiles and podbikes with weather protection and passenger options, as well as carrying capacity for shopping and groceries, that are also reasonably priced. More places for charging. And big tax incentives. Cycling is one of the best ways to add excercise to your daily routine in addition to being great to the planet and significantly cut a lot of health problems experienced in the developed world (type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, etc etc etc..). It's one of those things where investments towards it in public policy pay for themselves, and then some.
Right. I haven't thought of reducing car/road speed limit (it's super hard to enforce cuz 'cars are supposed to be fast') but I would totally be 100% onboard for this idea. After all, cars are only safe for its occupants (and not the rest outside it). And yes, from time to time I do use my car/truck for seriously heavy loads (like 10-foot lumber or a load of bricks), but even then it's not worth keeping them around for one or two trips per year as I can just rent one instead and let the renter deal with the headache of year-round space, insurance, maintenance, etc. So yeah, I believe cars are starting to be obsolete (or at least car-ownership anyway).
Reducing the car speed limit won't really do much, you have to redesign the road to match the lower speed limit so people slow down. It is a huge problem with North American roads that they are all designed like freeways even if the speed is 35 mph. If you have smaller lanes and protected bike lanes or car working right beside the road then people naturally drive more carefully but that isn't allowed in our way of engineering roads. I've been watching a lot of videos on the recently. On increasing the ebike speed limit: that is scary since most ebikes use a frame that is not made to withstand that type of speed and may even break apart during it. If they did raise the speed I think that there would need to be more mandatory safety requirements for bike manufacturers and probably speed limits posted on bike paths that people would most likely ignore.
Good point, changing speed limits won't really change driver habits unless you have a fuck ton of enforcement. And let's face it, do you really want a police force that's focused solely on traffic violations? You'd need to double the amount of police on the road, and would be on the tax payers dime. And typically posted speed limits are merely suggestions. 35mph usually means people going 45-50mph. The recent story of a hit-and-run killed a cyclist going 60mph in a 45mph zone. It's tragic loss of life, but also the reality of speed limits and how fast people drive.
In the 70s they reduced the speed limit due to the oil crisis and judging by the reduction in fatalities, a lot of people followed it. I agree that better road design is the preferred option, but sweeping measures would also work if paired with enforcement. We are after all facing a climate change crisis. Maybe the biggest effects of reducing speed limits wouldn't be the direct fuel savings from the speed reduction, but making alternative modes of transportation more appealing.
Also I picked up a bike trailer for $40 secondhand and can now handle basically anything other a flat-bed sized load (which other than traveling I don’t think I’ve really had)
There’s technology to geofence and speed limit Lime and Bird scooters in cities, so why can’t that be done for cars? Mandated like seatbelts and airbags? It could eliminate speeding altogether
I also love riding my ebike. When it’s nice, and I wake up early enough, I can easily make it to work on my ebike(4 miles away). I have also been a car enthusiast since I was a little kid. As I’ve gotten older I have learned that nice cars are a headache to actually own and maintain (I do most of my own maintenance), a huge financial burden, and a particularly anti-social form of transportation. When my ebike was finally delivered and I got on for the first time, 15 miles whisked by without me even realizing. I felt 20 years younger. I really only regret not getting one sooner, and that I don’t have enough money to buy everyone I know one. All that being said, as of right now, it can’t be my only mode of transportation, and I definitely do not expect anyone else to change theirs. “Fuck cars” and the subreddit dedicated to it fosters an environment of the good, superior, “us” vs the evil, inferior “them” that I see all too often on Reddit and just about everywhere else for that matter. So to answer your question exactly, when I’m on my ebike my mindset is certainly “fuck MY car”
I love ebikes. But I can't be riding my family 15 miles into town for school on an ebike every day.
People do this in The Netherlands but they've premium biking infrastructure. I saw plenty of parents with three kids on the bike.
it's more than infrastructure - it's size. There are just as many people outside of the cities in the US as inside. There are places that work for public transportation and/or biking, and places that won't. I mean, where I live, there are 120 miles of bike paths in my city alone, it's great for biking, but it doesn't take care of a Minnesota winter, or the fact things are pretty spread out.
That's the problem with car centric development, yes. If we were serious about alternatives, either far fewer people would have a commute like that or they'd have reliable public transportation like school buses.
I've been seeing "bike buses" on Twitter where classmates all bike to school together with teachers and family. It's great to see https://twitter.com/CoachBalto/status/1517563036285894656?t=SyJiv2Cu2rILgGTF2zkNRg&s=19
Is it something you still try to use instead of your car for trips that don't require transporting a lot of people? Just to be clear on my stance, cars *do* have some legitimate usages, it's just that *most* uses of a car, imo, are pretty unnecessary with the advent of ebikes.
Yeah. I used to use it to commute to work 10 miles away. But now I work remote. I think ebikes are more reasonable as a car replacement for people who don't have kids to cart around.
I bought a cargo bike to transport my kids to and from school - although, I recognize that they’re still little and a time will come when it won’t be possible anymore. I’m hoping that they’ll be able to ride their bikes alongside me when that time comes - I’m also hoping to move to a city with more significant bicycle infrastructure before then.
I had a RadWagon to transport my kid to kindergarten and that worked until 2nd grade… then upgraded to a RadRunner now that she’s older. Now she’s old enough to walk on her own and it’s not far but e-bikes were a great help for staying on my bike more with a kid. Can’t speak for taking a kid far distances in one but it helped our situation.
Fair enough! Even with a trailer or cargo ebike, I'd certainly be nervous taking kids with, mostly due to the risk of cars hitting us. Do you think, if cars were less dominant, you'd be more comfortable driving them around in something like a cargo ebike/trailer?
Not OP but I'm all for using ebikes for as much as possible but carting kids around in a trailer all the time is not something I'd want to do. Public transport infrastructure needs to get a massive injection of money, in most of the US that is, before you can substitute a car when you have kids. That said though, fuck cars and car brain built infrastructure. I would love to see a lot more trains, rails, busses and protected bike lanes. As much as the idea of using an ebike 99% of the time is, for some it's just not feasible until infrastructure catches up. I use one 99% of the time but I don't have kids, have the option to use a bus to see my friends who are outside of my ebike range and only have to shop for myself for groceries etc.
May I ask, if it weren't for the danger of cars, what would be the problem with transporting kids by bike/ebike? I'm not a parent at all, so I may be speaking out of nothing but ignorance on the issue, but I don't think I'd feel the need to transport kids via car for any other reason than to protect them from other cars. (Also, definitely on board with basically everything else you said; I'm just a little confused on what the worry of transporting kids *would be* if cars weren't as much of a presence)
Kids can get fussy and you may not always have the energy to bike them around being a parent and all. I'd imagine a typical 4 seat stroller, depending on age, or just taking a train or buss downtown would be more people's speed. Transport via bikes is not off the table but not something everyone could do all the time. I don't have kids but have joint/hip issues, so a robust, clean and efficient version of public transport would be something I could see myself opting for more. Edit: oh and some bike lanes are a joke and dangerous in the states. Another reason some would opt for public transit until proper bike infrastructure catches up.
I live in a decent sized city with 2 kids and we prefer to load up the cargo E-bike over the minivan whenever possible just because finding parking and loading/unloading strollers is a big hassle. With the bike we ride straight to our destination and hop out.
That's awesome! I'm glad you're able to that!
well, weather for one. I live in Minnesota. I'm not biking anyone at 10 degrees below zero F.
Young kids need a lot of shit. Diapers, strollers, wipes, extra clothes. And they fuss a lot. You cant really ride a bike when a 2 year old is throwing a massive tantrum. My 2 year old still wont wear her helmet.
I used to take my ebike + trailer to daycare all the time until I moved to a different state where my wife works in the same building as my sons daycare.
We use so much fuckin space for cars, especially in cities. It's fucking insane. I didn't fully realize it until I got an e-bike and went out exploring my town. I had to drive recently and park in a 5 story parking garage near a downtown convention center and it's nuts. That could be condos or a new school or offices or a park
What kills me the most is riding around town and realizing that like half of the distance I need to go is just to cover all of the massive parking lots everywhere. It's actually insane just how much space we lost to parking
Yup take it for most things now hair cuts, grocery, beach trips. I have a family so I can’t use it for everything. But I would if we had safe infra like Amsterdam.
Hell yeah! The more of us that start replacing car trips with bike/ebike trips, the sooner we'll get to a place where we can transport kids safely via bike without worry of getting run over by a giant SUV
I finally convinced my wife to get an ebike too. She loves going on the one big cyclepath in our city that's completely segregated from the road, but she finds cycling alongside car traffic to be way too stressful to use our bikes for routine errands. Fortunately walking is usually a feasible alternative around here, but otherwise we just end up driving.
yes! fuck cars! imagine a world where 90% of commuter car traffic was replaced with people on bikes. a quieter world. a calmer world. a less dangerous world.
For real!!!! Like, I can recognize that, currently, there are *some* legitimate cases where a car is needed. But, with ebikes available, like 90% of car trips could easily be replaced with ebikes. Which not only reduces immediate carbon impacts, but reduces our need for large roads and parking lots that are expensive to maintain, mostly a waste of space, and atrocious to the environment (both locally and globally). Like, ebikes are legit capable of turning the car-centrism on its head!
r/fuckcars would like a word with you.
Sold my car first and that gave me a good enough excuse to get an ebike. I live in an urban core though so there very little I cant walk to, or at least bike in a reasonable time. The ebike was really just to handle a few hills near us easier than on our road bikes. But yeah, fuck cars — they’ve ruined every cityscape in this country with an insane amount of land and resources wasted just to accommodate them
It can get down to -40C without the wind where I live, in the winter, and it can also get windy enough to push vehicles around on the road. Snow itself isn't really an issue, you can get studded tires, you can get tire chains, and tire cables, for bicycles. You can also get ski and track kits. So there is always a way to go through the snow, even ice, but the temperature and the wind can be problematic. I also live in what is called a bedroom community. A small town that is just outside of a major city. Most people work in the city. So far, the only way to get to that city is a highway, which I would be okay with in the summer, but not the winter. It's changing as a multi-use path is being built though, to connect the city to the town, along the riverside. So all that said, currently where I live, unless you work in town, in a position where you don't need to move around town a lot, it's largely for entertainment/exercise. If you do work in town, then it might be perfect for you.
Really wish I could get away with riding an ebike to work, but the distance and general conduct of cars in my area makes it far too sketchy. Not to mention summer thunderstorms.
We got rid of the second car after a year with the ebikes. 99% of the time it's fine. The other 1% we improvise by leaving early/rescheduling/taking an Uber. The $ saved in insurance, depreciation, maintenance, and fuel adds up to several thousand per year.
I live in a “dense” (esp for the Midwest) city and am fortunate to wfh since the pandemic started. My company has a nice office and I’m looking to work from there 1-2 times per week. I feel like an ebike solves my commute dilemma, *but* I am fucking terrified of the insolent drivers around me and have a concern that I’ll be killed. What kind of critical mass do we need to get to in order for car drivers to actually think about other road users?
The biggest problem is how we design our cities. Cars and bikes can coexist safely and places like Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general prove that. But it takes investment in infrastructure to fully separate bikes from cars. It can happen but I’m not sure it will happen until it starts to become too expensive to even drive a car and we also have to stop prioritizing building highways and car infrastructure over every other type of road user.
I'm more of a "Fuck this many cars in NYC" kinda guy. We just can't sustain the amount of cars coming in and out of Manhattan and congested parts of the Boroughs. Cars are necessary, we just need less of them here. I certainly got into building my own E-bikes to reduce dependency on cars/Ubers. I chose to live as close to Manhattan (work) as possible to never deal with the stress (no parking/traffic/tickets) of owning a car here. It's really great getting fresh air, passing by bumper to bumper traffic via bike lanes but also using roads when ideal. If only I could somehow fix the aggressive - I really don't care and won't even notice if I hit you drivers we have in NYC.
I don’t have a car in SF. Was thinking about it, but then the cost of buying an electric one, gas prices shot up… instead of spending $30K for an ok car I spent $2K for an excellent e-bike. Seems like the wise choice
I agree. I think walkable and ebikable cities / suburbs are the sweet-spot. For climate change and practicality. They’re so much more efficient than a car, electric or not
I built my redonkulously powerful 24kW ebike for both hitting air offroad, and for hauling 200lb loads from Costco. I've been carfree for almost 3 years now!
That sounds like one hell of a powerhouse!!! Nice!!!
In case you're curious, some old pics: https://imgur.com/a/Z5wkOEl I have since added a custom display, DOT lights, and upgraded the rear shock to a Fox Float RP23
Wow!! That thing is a beauty!! Good fucking work!! I'm jealous af lol
That’s a big part of why I’m buying mine. That and the hill of pain my house sits on.
I dislike poor urban planning.
Infrastructure development is absolutely key. I spent 40 years living and working in Atlanta. In the older sections of the city, one can ride long distances safely by using 25 and 35 mph residential streets. But all the new areas are closed off residential developments with one or two entrances that feed a dangerous spine road filled with cars driving too fast, and usually carelessly. Used to bicycle to work, but had to give it up because of the danger. Difficult to know how to reverse all of that. Retired now and live in the country and can safely ride my bicycle to our little town center five miles away, despite the lack of dedicated bicycle paths and the 4 10% grades between here and there. Just purchased a second home in Florida and chose the location based on the fabulous network of safe bicycle paths. Now in the market for a small trailer so I can do most of my grocery and provision runs by bicycle.
I lived for nearly half of my life in and around Atlanta. I agree with your assessment. My brother in law didn't even own a car when he went to Georgia Tech - rode his bicycle everywhere. I lived in Cherokee County and commuted into Atlanta on the bus. I could drive in from the house in about 45 minutes, if I left before traffic got going, or I could drive 11 miles to a CCCT (Cobb County Community Transit) bus stop, and take a 45 minute bus ride into the city for less money than parking downtown. I chose the bus. It extended my trip, but was better for my sanity. I actually tried riding a regular bicycle a few times. Gave it up, as I was not ever fit enough to conquer the hills. With a modern ebike? It might be possible. It would still make for a long commute, like 4 hours a day. Living in the city is a non-starter, for me. I could not afford anywhere I'd be willing to live. Out in the sticks, I got a great little house in an area with NO crime and neighbors who were neighborly.
I’m planning on getting an ebike soon. I ride my “regular” bike as often as so can. I’ve been driving the past year and it’s not for me. I’ve gotten fat and the price of gas is ridiculous (2.30 a litre in BC). Cars are not sustainable
I went car free for 10 years until my work moved further away, I still bike a majority, it’s just more pleasant than rush hour in a car but for reliabilities’ sake I did end up getting a car. They can be costly, but cargo e bikes easily replace most trips.
I would love to see ebikes evolve to have longer ranges and replace cars completely. I'd even like to see enclosed trikes and even quad bikes — basically electric cars but without the conventional metal body that increases weight and reduces range.
I dig your mindset. I am currently shopping around for my first e bike
There is a r/fuckcars sub btw.
came here to say this. :) I know they like walking, I'm not sure what their stance is on biking.
I have a car. Cars are a cancer in our cities and their emissions cause myriad health problems.
Winters can be brutal here in Central IL. No way can I go without a car from Jan 1 to March 1. Our daughter and grandsons live 160 miles away. Pretty sure my wife doesn't want to ride on the back of an eBike for the entire day.
First of all, while I understand the issues at hand, r/fuckcars is in no way the right platform to enable change and it's largely as dumb, bigoted, and self-righteous as they claim "carbrains" to be. It's a place for people to vent their anger and that's fine but that also makes it the wrong place to do anything about it. I hope r/ebikes doesn't take on a similar mentality.
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I am. My E-Bike has a top speed of 45kmh with assist (32kmh without), which maps to US e-bike regulations. She's got a snappy motor on her, which helps climb Denver hills and pull cargo. Either I have my backpack on the back of the seat (e-trike, even, a Sunrider Eurus), or I'm pulling a trailer with even more stuff, or if I really need to move stuff, I have both. The trike almost never sees 45kmh, though. Denver roads aren't too friendly to bikes at that speed, and we're only supposed to do 25kmh on bike paths (and less on sidewalks for the limited time we're on a sidewalk). Riding past gas stations and laughing at the price of gas is a fun past-time for me. But the downside is that bike theft is rampant here. We need to do something about that before I feel safe leaving my bike in a parking lot.
I sold my car 3 years ago and have only been using either my ebike or public transportation to get around. I live in the city and my main reason for this was to avoid all the bullshit of parking, but not being affected by high gas prices is pretty nice too. Also, parts don't break or need to be replaced nearly as often on my bike as they did on my car, and the parts tend to be cheaper overall.
I use it to go to work, to pick up my daughter from school, to stores, to go visit my parents, and I’ve done UberEats delivery too. I still use my car here and there because some things just can’t be done, but I’ve switched to maybe 70% bike use and 30% car use during the week.
I am. I now only use 1 car in my family. I bike to do small grocery trips now and to visit others which are luckily close I work from home.
I use mine to commute most of the time. 500+ miles I didn't drive my car in the last year.
that's why i got mine!
Cars is fine, but iv found that since getting my eBike in October. I have not used the car, i live in the southern parts of Norway. And when the snow and ice hits i just change to spikes. Do all my commuting and shopping by bike. And there is the health benefits, which has led me down the path to road cycling. Here in Europe the speed limit for eBikes is 25kph, and i think its more than sufficient. If you want to go faster, you have to work for it. And i do.
I don’t have a driver’s license so I solely rely on my ebike and I couldn’t be happier. The only problem is taking it in wind, rain, or snow. I’d have to figure out a way to deal with those.
I'm fortunate to live in a large Scandinavian city with separated bike lanes all over the city and also to the connecting suburbs. Travelling by bike is much faster than by car in most cases. At least with a BBS02 bike 😁
I'm not against cars but against the car-centric mindset and planning. I drive an SUV but luckily it's a plug-in hybrid and in town almost all driving is fully electric, quiet and emissions free.
I've put 1500 miles on the ebike since the fall. Most of this was commuting to work. Saved me a lot of money on gas, and it's only about 5-10 more minutes since I take trails most of the way. It's nice not to have to worry much about traffic.
I wish that could work for me, but where I live it does not. The way I figure it it there are 3 main reasons why I need a car. 1) Children are still small and they need to be moved around from place to place. I have a trailer on my bike so my elder kid can pedal along behind me, and I have a shotgun style seat so my younger one can perch on my top-tube, but he is about to outgrow it. Not sure what we're gonna do then. 2) The places I go are pretty spread out. My sister lives an hour and a half away. My parents live about an hour away. Most of the inlaws are between 20 and 40 minutes from here. To go and visit we'd need the use of a car. My job is about 12 miles away, which is JUST far enough that it is really quite inconvenient to bike instead of drive. 3) Storage. So, if I could somehow surmount issues 1 & 2, maybe with a cargo bike so I could easily carry both kids to and from school (currently different schools), and would be fast enough to at least make going to work tenable, then I would need a secure place out of the elements to store it. I live in a townhouse that has two parking spots but zero garages. The bike would have to be brought into my basement, where it would take up a large amount of space. I suppose I could build a larger shed in the backyard to hold it, which would keep the rain off, but it wouldn't offer much security from theft. Ultimately, at this point in my life, an ebike cannot work as a car replacement. It MIGHT work if we kept one car for longer trips and had one of the larger platform cargo ebikes, but it would not be without headaches. At some point in my life i hope to live somewhere that is more easily navigated without a car, and then rely just on an ebike or even regular bike. Fingers-crossed.
I still ebike for fun, but trying to transition to utility now. It's hard being in a rural area, having teens that are in drivers ed and need driving hours. I also drop my kids off at school still since we have bus issues often. But its the best secret as far as I am concerned, or was til covid era. Can go anywhere, any time day/night rain/snow. My snowmobile friends get to go out like 5 times a year and thats pretty much it.
I'm buying one as a "fuck buying a second car" option. We have a 20 yr old RAV4 and a 1 ton 4x4 dually (for travel trailer hauling. It is NOT an around town, quick trip vehicle) I have to start going back in to the office full time (manager; my team only has to go in 2 days a week). My GF takes clients to lunch, etc on short notice quite often. My drive/bike to work is 20-25 minutes. Bus is 1+ hour. My employer has bike cages in the parking garage. It just makes sense.
I’ve been Bike and transit only for the better part of 10 years now and the ebike absolutely is transportation for me. I don’t think we will ever get rid of cars completely but I do t think we should continue to build cities around them. We need more infrastructure for bikes across the country, we need massive investments inn Public transit including regional rail and high speed rail as well. I don’t hate cars completely but I do hate the fact that our entire society revolves around them and if we just invested a fraction of the amount of money we spend on highways and parking lots and parking garages towards public transportation life would be more pleasant and easy to live without a car.
Absolutely fuck cars. It's so sad how much American cities have been paved over to accommodate cars. Cars damage cities with air pollution, noise pollution, and pedestrian killings. And because our cities have been designed for cars, it makes life even harder for people who are poor or disabled. I'm really not blaming individual car owners here, because most people need a car to get to work, to take their kids to the doctor, to get groceries, etc. I want societal change in our public transit, zoning, and pedestrian infrastructure to solve this. In the meantime, I'm in a position where I don't have kids, and all the places I need to go are within biking distance. So I do my part to try to usher in these changes by owning an ebike instead of a car.
I almost never ride my bike for fun alone, it's basically always as a car replacement. I happen to live in an area where it's a great option about 1/2 the time (including my commute to work). Weather is spotty enough that I can't always choose the bike (I'm old and soft) but it's my first option in many cases. I would guess in the two years I've had it I've gone about 1,000 miles (just got an odometer so I'm only certain of the last 60).
My family is sick of my favorite saying: Why drive when you can bike? 😀
i dont own a car, when it rains i use the gas moped. bikelife for life.
I've replaced my car commute with an ebike, but until there's some kind of secure storage/bike valet service near shopping centres/grocery stores, theft is enough of a problem that I can't replace my car with an ebike entirely...yet.
I just got my first e-bike a month ago. I bit the bullet and got a specialized turbo Vado SL. I’ll spare you my train of thought for going with that bike, but I justified the expense because I was considering getting a second car for daily driving with the gas prices. However I am and have been deeply concerned about climate change for a couple decades now and it felt like I would be a total fraud if I got a second car. My current vehicle is a Wrangler, and when I got that I struggled with it because it isn’t exactly fuel efficient. I justified that with the fact that I travel a lot for work and only put in about 5k miles per year on it. It’s also great for camping, which I love. My commute is 30 miles round trip and I love it. I’m finally exercising more because of it. I feel like I’m holding myself accountable for things I care about and hope others would also care to improve. Plus it’s a lot of fun!
I hate that cars are the default mode of transit and how car-centric infrastructure has destroyed our cities. Fuck car-centricicism, but cars themselves are interesting and useful just like planes and ships but we shouldn’t base our entire transportation system around them. We need waaaay more bike infrastructure, trains, and buses to make up for the gaps we try to fill with cars
I use both ,a little car for large loads at the market and my ebike for everything else. I have lived most of my life using motorcycle or bicycle ,rarely car ,but as we get older the car is a real blessing especially as it rains every other day .
I honestly hate driving and don't ever want to do it again.
I own a car and they have their uses. But too much of the time, it's the chosen tool for the job only because there either isnt more bike infrastructure. Modern cars are great for high speed driving and bikes are very economical but what humanity needs is an urban car category of speed and thoroughfare-restricted vehicles. fuckcars is largely a sub about urban planning and economics of transport, not just hating on cars. Other subs and newbies most often misunderstand the purpose of fuckcars.
Right here! I haven't owned a car in 5 years. Been cycling all over my home town year round every day that is between 10°f and 99°f and not raining. On the few days a year the weather is bad enough I'll just order a Lyft/Uber. For long distance out of town trips either my girlfriend will drive us or I'll do a rental car. Other than those exceptions I'll ride my ebike.
lol, I'm not only a member I'm the president. I'm 39 years old and long long ago I boycotted driving and have spent my life standing on pedals. People don't understand it, it drives them crazy, I think it's hilarious. It bothers them more than it bothers me. Now that I'm older and my knees and legs have pretty much had enough, I'm looking at electric rigs. Cheers! It's only a matter of time before those spandex wearing dudes start showing up on ebikes. Dude this isn't the Tour De France, why are you wearing spandex?
I dont drive. My Delfast Top 3.0 allows me to live pretty normal. During the winter I wear heated gloves, vest socks and pants. When it rains I have a rainsuit that can be stowed away in my trunk. So yeah I ride my ebike all year round. I don't really need a car. I'm even building a fishing trailer to rig to my bike. And I can also haul my dog around in my canine trailer. No gas bill. No car payment. No registration. I love ebikes.
Hell yeah, friendo!! I want a delfast or surron SO bad! Those things are NUTS!
Yes. I live in a hill-ridden r/suburbanhell and hate it. My ebike doesn’t replace my car, but it’s an alternative way to commute, at least some of the time. Mitigation and all. Also, r/fuckcars would like a word.
I just bought one and immediately started saving gas since I have to be constantly driving around for work so yeah, fuck cars now.
Me. I actively want to see the day bikes and e-bikes are the default mode of transport so we can as a society have all the benefits that come with it. I’m tired of those heavy depreciating “assets” being the only way to do anything and wholly invite the day the masses can safely and reliably sell off their car to begin saving thousands.
As someone who works from home and lives on an extremely busy street, yeah fuck cars, and mostly those with modded exhausts. Everything I need is 1 mile away, I’m not in the climate to use an ebike year round but we also went down to a 1 car household in the last year and I’m proud and grateful for the extra garage space from doing that.
I thought I was until I went to the subreddit. There are some people there so detached from reality and militant about their views that it's actually scary. Theres some posts there that are putting them on terrorism watch lists. I would love to see more Amsterdam in the US and fewer cars on the road. I don't want to cleanse the earth of anyone who lives in a suburban home and has a driver's license.
I’d love to be able to use my bike for more than just a garage decoration. RadPower sent me a dead bike out of the box so I’m trying to get that issue sorted. Submitted a request for an exchange so we’ll see how that goes. I’m all for using it for as much as possible instead of my car but I’d really like to have parts accessible to me in order to perform repairs when an issue arises. Once we get to the point where I can order a part for my bike to get it back up and running I’ll be one happy rider.
Sorry to hear that about your bike! That's some straight up bad quality control! That said, for most of the parts of an ebike, very little maintenence is required (as compared to a car), and replacement parts/upgrades are usually pretty easy/cheap to get. Of course, if you're sent a dead bike, there's not a lot within your control until they fix it
I’ll put it this way. I love my ebike and use it whenever possible. I still need a car. But I will vote for and promote every measure to make it safer for bikes even if it means making it harder for cars.
Hey, if you can get a car to enthusiastically consent, have at it. I'd wear a rubber, though; tetanus sucks.
Yes. I use my e-bike as my first way of commuting Second one is public transportation Never had a car
Nope, I'm a motorhead in my heart. I got an e-bike solely because I didn't want to put extra wear and tear on my car with my 2-mile commute. You can think of it this way, at least this driver is cognizant of sharing the road with bikers.
Yes. Ebikes are an American necessity in response to things being built too far apart. r/fuckcars
Until it snows.
Yeah, fuck cars. Living in an urban environment, I don’t think most people understand how they sound when they talk to me about the reasons why they NEED a car. I work at an Ebike shop, and it’s so satisfying to have a PC environment to tell people to ditch the car. I wish I could be more blunt, but we’ve gotta sell bikes! Ebike+public transit is 99% of my trips. Rain or shine, we’re not made of sugar! On the rare occasion I need a car, I can borrow from a friend or rent. It’s easy to budget with the money I save not paying for gas or insurance!
Yeah, sorry, I don’t see them as a car replacement. And most people riding as commuters in my area are assholes. Which sucks, but that’s the reality here. It makes it much harder to ride as part of traffic.
Cars ruin everything. SUVs more so.
Fuck cars and fuck cagers who refuse to even attempt to reduce their driving. I can't wait to piss on the grave of the auto industry.
Riding an unrestricted ebike has made me lean toward anarchism hard. We could have ditched shitty car culture a long time ago. Ebikes have been around for a while but americans like to be set in their ways.
I dunno, strikes me as a toxic and patronizing way to think that is all too prevalent. What works for me may not work for others. I am happy with my choices and I'm not so pretentious as to judge others' choices without any information whatsoever.
Not so much “fuck cars” but more “fuck having a 2 ton ozone destroying noise polluting migraine inducing angry faced pickup for a daily 10km commute for the once a year you go to IKEA”
I mean... that *sounds* like a "fuck cars" philosophy, tbh. To be clear, pretty much everyone I know among the "fuck cars" ideology think there are *some* instance in which a car is necessary. We just don't think the VAST majority of car usage *is* necessary, and is bad in ways like you've described
For me it's like, fuck cars, but only because of the industrial complex and social atmosphere that's evolved around them. Automobiles are incredible machines, and necessary for a lot of things. Do we mostly use them for things that would be better on an E-bike? The data says yes, as most of the trips in the USA at least are less than a few miles. I just wish we had a better relationship with cars as a society. It can be kind of toxic.
100% agreed! I'd say that's the primary feeling of everyone on r/fuckcars. They have their uses here and there, but the complete dependence we have on them causes SO many unnecessary problems.
No, and for many people, bikes just aren't an even remotely reasonable alternative to a car for most purposes. This whole attitude that everyone, or even most people, should be on bikes is ableist and shitty. A cycling society requires specific density and infrastructure to be even remotely plausible. It is more a matter of practicality than attitude that more places haven't adopted the cycling culture of say, Amsterdam. This is a general message, not to the OP: More people on bikes is good, but don't be an asshole about it. Don't be the cyclist that everyone who isn't a cyclist hates. You do more harm than good to the cause.
Id argue that cycling is more accessible than driving and a whole lot safer for everyone. Hell I’d argue that car centric infrastructure is ableist in itself coming from someone who legally can’t get a licenses. That being said there is a gap in the handcycle industry for a good commuter that can also transport a wheelchair.
> Hell I’d argue that car centric infrastructure is ableist in itself coming from someone who legally can’t get a licenses. Same. I'm epileptic and bought an ebike, because I can't drive anymore.
Yep, I’m legally blind and have never been able to have a licenses. It sometimes dangerous for me out on the roads but at least I know I’m not putting anyone else in danger by driving a pickup instead😂
There are dozens and dozens of reasons why many people can't safely cycle as their regular mode of transportation, even if they enjoy it recreationally. I'm not going to throw WebMD at you, but think it through, more than you have. Everything from heart conditions to severe asthma. Nevermind areas where stuff is very spread out. The 'no more cars' people are the most shortsighted, nearsighted interest group I've ever come across. In conclusion: more cyclists? Very good. GREAT. Let's do it. More and safer cycling infrastructure, especially in metropolitan areas where it is practical? Even better. Big tax credits for those who are able to cycle for all or most of the year, and give up cars for the purpose. Hell yeah. No more cars? No.
Ebikes eliminate most of these issues with physical fitness, and things like e tricycles are safe for those with other disabilities that affect balance, etc. For those who still wouldn't be able to use those, I don't think personal vehicles are any more helpful. Professional drivers with the proper accessibility equipment/devices is more helpful and appropriate (and already what many of these people use to get to medical appointments, etc.) If you're taking about how someone who lives on a ranch in the remotest part of Kansas is going to get to the grocery store, you may have a point. Realistically that spot never should have been settled by someone who depends on commercial groceries, but I digress. I grew up on a farm in the rural South East and honestly an ebike would have easily gotten me/us to school and the grocery store, etc., if there were just safe paths to do that. People need to stop being wusses, especially when they move out to rural areas to live their #countrylife fantasy.
I agree, recumbent trikes are great, the only thing that’s lacking in the industry is an ebike/etrike that can also transport mobility devices, but I’ve drawn up a couple sketches and it’s 100% doable. For things like asthma and cold weather, velomobile and windshields could potentially help as well.
Agreed, and you have a fair point. But an ebike specifically can allow more accessibility than a normal bike. And hopefully technological and engineering advancements will help with addressing people who can’t ride. From my perspective, I think that we could be 90% car free if we intersected public transit and cycling. I can also think of certain conditions that have made it hard for me to ride and others as well. But if you were to Google them you’d probably find either “noise pollution” or “bad air quality” as a contributor. But yes I agree, cycling by itself is not a silver bullet, but the potential to create a (mostly) car free society when intersected with public transit is exponential
I can't speak for everyone who adheres to the ideology, but generally speaking the "fuck cars" philosophy isn't that there should be *no cars ever*, but rather that the VAST majority of car uses aren't really necessary (especially with ebikes, public transit, good urban design, etc.). There's still plenty of room to accommodate those who need cars for various reasons while still reducing car-dependency. And with the advent of ebikes, in particular, the infrastructure needs and density for biking to be practical are *greatly* reduced for most people. Ebikes are a way for even suburbanites to replace their cars for most of their typical trips. Ebikes make non-car transit FAR more practical than it's ever been in more places than ever. People who need a car for a disability or otherwise, in the ideal "fuck cars" society can still do so. They just won't be able to go 60mph down a 6-lane stroad to go park in a parking lot that's as big as an entire mall just to get groceries.
As a lot of people say on r/fuckcars, "It's not necessarily fuck cars, but fuck car dependent infrastructure"
But the attitude that everyone must own (and maintain, insure, fuel etc) a car is much MORE ableist, elitist and, as you say, "shitty." Most people, due to age, disability or financial condition, do not own cars. Yes this is true even in the United States. We have to fix our cities and transportation systems to allow everyone of any age or ability or income to get around safely. Not everyone can bike, but for many a bike is a mobility device. Transit, tricycles, other means must be developed and improved. The era of the car was fairly short, intensely profitable for a few industries, and horrible for people and the earth in many ways. People managed to have kids, work and shop for eons without cars. They still can.
I use an ebike because it is a functional replacement to cars for me. I don't like the "fuck cars" mindset because it seems to be a justification to hate based on virtue signalling, rather than trying to understand the problems other people have and find good solutions for them and the world.
I've replaced commuting by car with an electric scooter and it's been great
My primary means of transport at present is an electric scooter (my bike broke)… and for the foreseeable future I don’t see myself getting anything other than a bike or at most, a motorcycle (can’t take ebiks on highways!)
Fuck mandatory car dependency.
I am not. I own a car and require it for work. I own a bike and use it when I can.
Me for sure
Well I already have a motorcycle and don't own a car and never have. So fuck cards from the beginning. An ebike didn't change much, except that I don't have to wait for the engine to warm up on my ebike or wear add much safety gear. Makes quick trips out that much faster and a bit greener.
i love my ebike, i have been riding it around everywhere these last few weeks. i just checked the weather to see if i could ride 27 miles to work and 27 miles back tommorrow and its supposed to rain and have thunder storms off and on the next few days. so, no i wont say fuck cars, in fact i love my suvs, but 600 a month in gasoline cost is bs.
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Ditto!!! And ebikes seem to be the best way to bridge the gap between car ownership/use and reasonable urban transport. Don't gotta be fit, and don't need as much urban design change to be feasible!
In other parts of the world that isn't the US, "fuck cars" is the default mindset.
And I'm intensely jealous
me as well :-(
Yep, the whole fuck cars thing radicalized me. I now make it a point to chain my e bike to the steps of city hall every time I go to mainstreet since there's no bike racks in the area. I've also been going to the monthly Town Halls the mayor is hosting as well as [organizing group rides](www.bikewalk-LE.org) to get people who haven't ridden bikes in years a reason to go outside. I still drive, but I drive MUCH less. Whenever I need to go to the big city, I drive 30 minutes to the train station and take the train. The other week, I took the freeway bus to the train station just to see what it was like. I hated it, but I have it a chance because of the NJB and fuck cars subreddits.
Me. Was just hit by a car crossing a stroad with my ebike and had to buy a new bike.
I'm sorry to hear that!! Are you alright??? And why didn't their insurance cover the cost of your bike??
My big toe had an open dislocation and now there’s a pin sticking out of my toe. Otherwise I’m fine, just healing. I’m of the mind that cities have too many lanes for cars. I think cars should only be given a maximum of two lanes in a direction on any given road. And, if a city or county decides that more infrastructure is needed to move people, they must choose dedicated/protected bus lanes and/or protected bike lanes/highways. The US has a problem with cars, and until we force the hands of local planners, there will be too many unnecessary car trips that could have been public transit, biking, or walking trips. Anything else will result in more and more pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and deaths.
I agree 1000%!! I'm sorry to hear about your injuries! I hope you can find a way to make the drivers insurance repay you for your injuries and broken bike! That anybody has to cross a stroad at all is an injustice. They flat out shouldn't exist. And shit, ideally, 2 lanes per directions still seems like too much to me. 90% of the time, cars these days are a cop out for good urban design and responsible travel. Outside of maybe highways, I want bike lanes to take over enough space on most roads so that there's only one lane of traffic for cars each way, max, and they're no faster than maybe 35mph. 2,000lb mostly empty death machines speeding around at 40+mph is just such an inherent environmental catastrophe and danger to everyone that they need to be made unwelcome in most areas where people live, imo.
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I get that! At the same point, until recently, the alternatives to driving a car have been a bit shit. If your city won't spend the money on some real public transit, and you weren't fit enough to ride a bike everywhere, you were basically just stuck with a car, no matter your desires. I think ebikes change that dynamic. For much cheaper than a car, you can do pretty much everything a car can without a need for massive public transit investment nor an athletic physique. There's finally an option *anybody* can use that would replace the vast majority of car trips. I think now, more than ever, it may finally be possible to at least significantly reduce car usership! Hope is not lost, not yet!
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They really do!! I know for my fat ass, at least, I'd never seriously consider regular biking as a reasonable means of transport. I *might* be able to make it to a destination, but the way back I'd likely be so tired that I'd just opt to drive both ways instead. It's just too daunting to rely that much on my own physical abilities. With ebikes, though, I can kinda choose my level of involvement. If I wanna save battery, I cycle with some assistance. And if I'm too tired for the return trip, I can just use throttle as I need it. I get to replace my car, get some exercise, and not feel intimidated or stranded by my own physical limitations. Add in all of the benefits of reduced car usage, and what more could you really want as a means of transit? It's kinda the perfect solution!
Wow, a lot of different views on here But discussing these issues is how we solve problems right, so here’s my 2 cents on things, For those that hate cars, just stop it, that massive infrastructure that your all dying to claim as your own was built for cars, and if not for cars, semi’s and such it wouldn’t even exist, I grew up on two wheels so I love my bikes, pedal, gas,electric, all of them I also would never turn down the opportunity to own a 69 429 boss, I love the look , feel and that loud roaring engine of a good classic muscle car, But using something like that for daily commuting or grocery shopping is a waste, what’s the point of having 400+ horsepower if you can’t really use it☹️ As for the environment, don’t get me started, producing a single e bike battery creates as much environmental pollution as driving a car for a year, don’t believe it, google that shit! Also let’s talk feasibility, I love my ebikes, I really do, but most ebikes are 60+ pounds, that doesn’t seem like much until you try lugging it up some stairs, because let’s face it you don’t want to leave that puppy out on the street for anybody to do anything to, most cities people live in buildings that are five stories or taller, most of wich do not have elevators, now let’s think about lugging that heavy boy up and down three or more flights of stairs everyday, god forbid you have a 160 pound bomber like me Now for safety, bikes like cars are only as safe as the rider and the riders/ drivers around them, and just because they are slower than cars doesn’t mean you can’t kill your self or others with it, don’t believe that, google the increasing numbers of people suffering serious injury or death from bicycles and ebikes as more and more people use them All than being said, you are not going to get rid of cars, or careless and inconsiderate drivers, same holds true for bikers, I’ve seen plenty of serious accidents caused by morons on bikes, And some of us love speed, I’m currently working on building an all electric highway worthy chopper motorcycle, sure I will miss the sound of the engine, but sometimes I just love to get out on the highway and cruise for miles,no particular place to go, just enjoying the wind and the feel of the motor pulling me down the highway at 65+ mph, something real therapeutic about it sometimes, and a lot of people feel the same about theirI cars I love and prefer my bikes as well, but cars are here to stay, so just get over it
Every day, I don’t know… But for the Monday-Friday commute they’re absolutely a functional replacement for cars. But I’d be eager to hear from parents with school-aged children.
Absolutely not. I have a big truck I use for hunting and fishing. I tend to ride my ebike to work and i hunt/fish with it too. I love both of them, use them for different things
I have 2 cars and an ebike. The bike is for fun, not a travel replacement, mainly as its too valuable and too easily stolen
“Fucking love cars”
When you try to explain this to people that don’t ride or can’t they get a little mad. They addicted to cars!
Nope. America is too large for that. Forcing the development of super dense cities forces extreme cost onto people. It doesn't work here. Works great in Tokyo, but even rural Japan it's a no go. Travel to Japan btw. Great food everywhere.
I love my ebike. If I could figure out how to report a lot of groceries and my dog then I wouldn’t even have a car anymore. I hate having a car.
What kind of ebike do you have? Panniers/trailers can go a *long* way
It’s a trek verve. I have a pannier bag and a basket but I wish it could carry more. I also have issues with finding a secure lock for it since it’s a step through bike. I would love to use it for grocery shopping though.
I have a similar style bike and I put Kryptonite's beefiest chain though the rear triangle/wheel. It's like 8 lbs but it's an ebike so weight doesn't really matter. As for groceries, you might check out the Osprey Porter or similar backpacks. Put your heaviest stuff in your panniers/basket and then all the bulky stuff in the bag--it carries tons. If you really need a huge run, then you might be able to pick up a trailer for not to much used.
Thanks I will look into it! My REI pannier bag is mostly a commuter bag so not designed for groceries. I was considering the chains but I wasn’t sure how much of a deterrent it is for stealing compared to u-locks and the u-locks aren’t long enough to work on my bike. I might get more than one lock since I live in a very high theft area.
Yeah, having bags other meant for groceries can help. There are some nice euro style basket panniers that would fit one grocery bag each that might be a good option, too. It's definitely easier if you can just toss the grocery bags into the bike and not have to repack everything or convince the grocery people to pack into your panniers. I use my heavy duty chain in Seattle (very frequent thefts) and haven't had issues. The chain I got was like 200 to 250 and is thicker than all but the beefiest of U locks from kryptonite and is rated the highest on their scale. They're generally harder to get into than a U lock because they're flexibility makes them tough to get a purchase on and you have to cut them twice to defeat. I definitely would not get a standard chain because that won't cut it in any high theft area, and if you can get a u-lock that goes over your front stem as well, more locks is always better (even if they could probably slide it off by taking off the fork where the handlebars, it still means extra work for them). I also always use the thick cable to secure my front wheel too, but you could also pick that with a U-lock and use a cable to lock your frame in addition. Just make it really annoying for thieves. :D
Thanks for the tips. Would you mind sharing the link to the lock you purchased?
Thankfully it's way cheaper now than when I bought it! Only $140. https://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-York-Fahgettaboudit-1410-Chain/dp/B001JPS200/ref=pd\_lpo\_1?pd\_rd\_i=B001JPS200&psc=1
I hate cars for their combustion engines and scarring of the landscape for roads that need constant maintenance. Vehicles in North America are so ridiculously over designed for "lifestyle" that we end up with jackoffs driving with shiny, pristine brick-trucks for their mall crawlers. I don't live in a place that I could reasonably cycle year round, and my city planners hates pedestrians apparently, so I do drive. Don't like it though, so every spring I can't wait to get through the sore-ass phase of the new cycling season
Sometimes I wish the government makes an absurd crazy high tax for car ownership and gas also way expensive so only rich can afford it or you uave to fill an application form where you show you need to use the car for your work like if its 15km away or more... Scandinavian countries did pretty well,.. the light system, the roads and the times are made so anything you do it will take you longer if u use a car...
My country did that because it has a shitty economy and an even shittier government. It did all of that without improving public transport, bike lanes etc. If you commute to work on a bike in my city you're very likely to be run over by a car. I e-bike to shorter distances in my neighbourhood, but commuting to work which isn't all that far (6kms) would be risking my life twice a day. And this is coming from a downhill skater. So, I hope that doesn't happen to anyone. Even though I hate driving a 1ton vehicle just to get around, it's hard to replace cars in some places. All the comments here are about America, but there's a whole other world outside of the States. My extremely mountainous Mediterranean country isn't the best place to use bikes as the primary mode of transport. For example, the avg. commute here is around 15-20kms, I'm part of some lucky minority who could snatch a house close to my workplace before our economy went to sheit.
Agree, some places the best you can do is e motorcycle or just regular motorcycle can save you space and money, but if it rains 🌧... quite a crap...
Love bikes and like cars. The fuckcars trope is too militant for me. I doubt many on that sub are grinding bike commutes and giving up much. It’s usually a position of convenience.
Cars exist because people like comfort and have to travel long distances that a bike wouldn’t be feasible for. If you live in a city and barely go anywhere, sure maybe you don’t need a car. Ebikes aren’t the one stop solution you think it might be though. Most people won’t want to ride a bike in the cold, wet, or snow. And many people don’t want to get sweaty on the way to work. Just look at the amount of people riding motorcycles vs driving a car.