The Missing Middle of Biking

[ysabetwordsmith]

This article looks at how hard it is for people to afford a good bicycle, and the problems when they can't. The suggested solution is to offer long-term rental. Other options include:


* Something that was touched on in the article, but not fully developed, was comparing the cost of a bike to a car that could be bought on payment plan. This would be an excellent approach to more expensive bikes, like cargo bikes that can run into the thousands of dollars.

* Companies could simply buy a fleet of citybikes like they do other vehicles, available for employees to use. The benefit to the company is that athletic employees have much lower health costs.

* Universities could institute a biking program that provides free bikes to students who take a class on biking benefits and maintenance. The benefit would be improved student health and performance, along with educating people about bike use and thus promoting its expansion.

* Smaller towns that can't afford a bikeshare with new bikes could instead obtain used bikes and refurbish them. Either provide these free to individual citizens, or leave them around town for everyone to share for free. Many versions aimed at the youth market allow people to refurbish bicycles and earn points toward claiming one of their own. Such programs work and are active across a variety of places.

* Other countries that view biking as transportation are not clogged with cheap crappy bikes and expensive sport bikes. They have affordable, damn sturdy citybikes get people to and fro reliably. They also have a splendid selection of more expensive cargo bikes for people who wish to forgo cars, in which case the bike costs a lot less. If it can be done there, it can be done here. Someone could start building affordable, reliable bikes.

Comments

[caera_ash]

I wish that I felt safe enough to bike. I used to bike a lot as a kid, and we have good used bike places nearby that I could probably get an acceptable bike at if I saved up a bit, but even though there are more bike lanes now than there used to be I don't feel safe enough sharing the road with cars. I've had too many near misses as a pedestrian, and that's when I'm being a bit obsessive about where I choose to cross and such.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Sadly, that is a common problem. Many towns don't have good bike infrastructure. If people don't feel safe biking, they won't do it. But the main thing that makes biking safer is ... more bikers!

Conversely, if the infrastructure is badly designed, it repels both bikers and drivers. Towns here have put bike lanes on streets that really don't have room for them, making a cramped and nerve-wracking experience for everyone. So we tend to avoid those streets, which is the opposite of helpful.

[(Anonymous)]

Most of the bikes I deal with are apparently the crappy low quality ones, according to the price range in the article. (Advanage: scruffy bikes and cars may be less likely to get stolen!) I used to pick up cheapo bikes at thrift stores, yard sales, etc and fix them up for a charity organization I used to work for.

There was an inexpensive brand of light I'd slap on them -lights are required for after dark riding in our state- and I'd clean, tighten, loosen, oil, and test all the various parts.

Always test the brakes/gears before seriously riding! Especially the brakes! You want to know exactly how the bike will handle before riding on roads.

I'd also note if I thought something might need repairs in the future, even if they weren't neccesary /now/.

Eventually I got the reputation of the Bike Fixing Person, which won me the wonderful prize of taking a fancy sports bike to an actual bike shop so someone could show me how to reinflate the tires with their fancy nozzle...

I also at one point wrote out instructions so a less-mechanically inclined* relative could fix up a garage-sale bike without hauling it across town and paying ~$100.

*I do not consider myself mechanically inclined, but I can fix some things when they break, and know how to check other things to see if they are broken. This link seems to have decent instructions (just skip the 1st section):
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wikihow.com/Buy-a-Used-Bike%3famp=1

And I didn't have a car for the first three years of college, so I did most of my shopping by biking a couple of miles to the store and returning loaded down like one of those folks who carries supplies for mountain climbers.

I had bags on by handlebars, and tied to my backpack, and tied to the outside of my full rear bike basket! This really confused my classmates, given that we're in America, land of the automobile.

Later in life, I'd add a granny cart tied to the back of my rear basket. (The only disadvantage I found was that my bike tended to fall over when overloaded and left on the-standard- kickstand.)

Overall it was a decent amount of space for the weekly shopping for two people, and it had the advantage of discouraging impulse buys or overbuying.

Note: My bike was/is a non-cargo hybrid that I've had since I was a teen. A bit heavy, but it serves me well, and I make sure to give it a going-over every spring.

Thoughts:

- Fenders are a necessity if riding in the rain. (I wonder if there's a halfway decent way to McGyver them out of stuff around the house...?)

- Offering free / low cost repairs or even having access to a stash of tools / parts /supplies can really lower expenses.

I was mostly using my own repair supplies / tools. Such supplies are pricier as an initial investment, but the cost is negligible if calculated as a per-fix expenditure.

If you already have household bikes, or a friendly neighbor who has household bikes and maintenance supplies, the cost goes down.) As long as I didn't have to buy tons of new parts (inner tubes are pricey!), the free repairs were mostly a time investment.

I would however advise people to stash stuff to fix a flat tire if they can, as the bike isn't really useable /at all/ in that state. And is a pain to transport, too (well, unless you have a big car car / bike rack). (A tire patch kit -keep it updated, they do expire- or inner tube plus tools to remove the tire and a pump to reinflate it).

- Some people can't afford $500 - hence the donated inexpensive and fixed-for-free bikes at the charity. A free bike is still cheaper than a car, and possibly cheaper/ more convenient than bus tickets. (People in the 'getting on your feet' phase often couldn't afford bikes /or/ bus tickets, hence the organization handing them out.)

- Save old inner tubes - the rubber is very useful for cushoning, adding traction, etc. (One such use is to put it around a heavy metal chain which can then be given a padlock and used as a bike lock - or an anything-else lock, but the tube might trap water if left outside in the rain.)