Love this website, the layout is great and the explanations are simple and straight-forward.

  • @alphabetsheep
    6•1 year ago

    Good resource thanks for posting! It seems like they really went out of their way to avoid mentioning EBikes. My experience has been that for folks with disabilities EBikes are a game changer as they allow people to put in as much effort as comfortable but not go past that. I also think the section about it getting sweaty could have mentioned EBikes as a potential solution. I understand they don’t want to piss off cycling purists, but I think it’s important to recognize the positive impacts these new technologies have.

    Finally, I get their stance on helmets and agree that helmet mandates aren’t ideal. That said, I think it’s disengenuous to say that helmets are useless. It’s true that those studies looking at city helmet use found no difference in safety overall, but I’m not convinced that wearing a helmet wouldn’t improve my personal safety. I’ve absolutely wrecked a helmet riding on the street, and I’m very glad it wasn’t my head instead.

    • @[email protected]
      1•1 year ago

      I agree 100%.

      Ebikes are great, especially for basic transportation. Regular bikes are also great, especially for exercise and bike trecking (do hybrid ebikes exist?). They have different use cases and are not fantastic ways to get around.

      Likewise with helmets, I hate mandates, and they’re rarely enforced anyway, so they shouldn’t exist. But I wear a helmet every time I ride (well, maybe not down the street to my neighbor’s house), and I make my kids do the same. However, if you’re riding pretty slow and on well kept, segregated bike paths, there’s really no benefit. My brother wrecked pretty bad while wearing a helmet (car hit just under the helmet), and I’ve wrecked pretty bad without my helmet helping (I was able to avoid hitting my head in an unplanned dismount).

      I haven’t gone through all the advice, but I’m sure there are plenty of similar things where more options would be welcome.

        • @[email protected]OPEnglish
          1•1 year ago

          Not sure if any exist. Recharging by pedal would require adding resistance to the pedaling. The added resistance is fine in a car because they’re so heavy and fast that it’s barely noticeable downhill. But it’d be very noticeable to someone on a bike.

        • @[email protected]
          1•1 year ago

          I mean pedaling would recharge the battery. So you could go for a longer ride (say cross country) and alternate between charging and depleting the battery, just like in a hybrid car.

            • @[email protected]
              1•1 year ago

              Ebikes are great for climbing, and I’d be willing to recharge a bit on the flats or downhill if it was reasonably productive. I just don’t know how productive they could be.