Author Topic: I bought a bike instead of a car  (Read 2696 times)

SimpleCycle

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I bought a bike instead of a car
« on: December 16, 2017, 09:28:07 PM »
We’ve been thinking about replacing our car, but it makes no financial sense.  See here: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/car-suggestions-for-a-city-family-of-four/msg1777639/#msg1777639

Instead, I’ve decided to flex my badass muscles and bike as much as humanly possible instead of using the car.  I’ve been using our city bikeshare for $99/year, but I found a bike on CL for $150 and I looooove it.  Steel frame single speed with freewheel.

DW has not yet agreed to child transport on the bike, but we’ll get there eventually.

It’s pretty minor badassity, but a great alternative to the clown SUV everyone insists we need.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2017, 05:36:46 AM by SimpleCycle »

soccerluvof4

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2017, 03:52:03 AM »
The link didnt work for me but its badass if you can replace the car with a bike regardless!! big savings.

SimpleCycle

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2017, 05:37:54 AM »
The link didnt work for me but its badass if you can replace the car with a bike regardless!! big savings.

Link should be fixed now.  Thanks!

meghan88

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2017, 04:39:00 PM »
Good choice!!  Can't beat a second-hand bike for badassity.  Congrats.  Just remember to stay aware at all times, especially at intersections and driveways, and you'll be just fine.  Safe biking!

SimpleCycle

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2017, 07:57:24 AM »
Good choice!!  Can't beat a second-hand bike for badassity.  Congrats.  Just remember to stay aware at all times, especially at intersections and driveways, and you'll be just fine.  Safe biking!

Thanks. :)  I'm a pretty experienced cyclist, I've just gotten away from it the past few years.  I'm a little intimidated in downtown Chicago, but most of my bike riding is out in the neighborhoods.

Car Jack

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #5 on: December 18, 2017, 07:30:49 PM »
Nice.

Be careful of the 16 year olds too busy LOLing on their phones to bother watching out the windshield of the Wrangler they're driving. 

big_slacker

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2017, 07:13:53 AM »
Nice.

Be careful of the 16 year olds too busy LOLing on their phones to bother watching out the windshield of the Wrangler they're driving.

This is what I worry about when kid transpo comes up. Accepting your own risk is one thing, having the kids back there I'd personally never do, based on being hit on my road bike, haha!

Car Jack

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2017, 07:39:01 AM »
I bring it up because although I was a road racer from the time I was 14, I only had to dodge 18 wheelers who decided I shouldn't be on their road or drunks who thought it'd be fun to open their door into me.  My wife brought up the texting problem when I was about to buy an e bike.  I decided she was right and gave up on that one, sold my road bike and now only take the mt bike on trails.

big_slacker

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2017, 07:03:08 PM »
I bring it up because although I was a road racer from the time I was 14, I only had to dodge 18 wheelers who decided I shouldn't be on their road or drunks who thought it'd be fun to open their door into me.  My wife brought up the texting problem when I was about to buy an e bike.  I decided she was right and gave up on that one, sold my road bike and now only take the mt bike on trails.

No more road bikes for me either. I do ride my beach cruiser on errands and ride my hardtail MTB to work but a lot of side streets and bike trails.

For real rides, it's all on dirt. Totally cool crashing if it's my fault, don't want a 4000 lb vehicle hitting me though.

SimpleCycle

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2017, 08:34:25 PM »
Come on people, this is not the place for “you’re going to die”.  And texting causing more cycling deaths is not empirically supported.  # of trips by bicycle doubled between 2001 and 2009 (the last year trip data is available) while bicycle deaths decreased by 14%.  Deaths have increased since then, but so has the popularity of bicycling.

big_slacker

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #10 on: December 20, 2017, 10:50:56 AM »
Come on people, this is not the place for “you’re going to die”.  And texting causing more cycling deaths is not empirically supported.  # of trips by bicycle doubled between 2001 and 2009 (the last year trip data is available) while bicycle deaths decreased by 14%.  Deaths have increased since then, but so has the popularity of bicycling.

Statistics didn't keep me from getting hit, but I hope you have better luck. I still ride my bike to work FWIW.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2017, 10:54:11 AM by big_slacker »

JLE1990

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2017, 10:59:44 AM »
Having just bought an ebike kit and getting it all setup, I am definitely worried about getting hit by cars. My city is even very bike-friendly because of the university! My plan is to get extremely bright lights that look similar to emergency vehicles and spend most of my time on back roads. Also getting a motorcycle helmet. I've had cars turn into me, and narrowly avoided them multiple times and I'm still going to ride because it's way better than spending hundreds a month for car insurance.

Kmp2

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2017, 09:39:17 AM »
Biking with kiddos on board does take some getting used to, and you definitely take different routes and your biking changes a bit with them. That being said, drivers are amazing when they see little helmets. While this doesn't help the inattentive drivers, it does stop a lot of the crazy close fast punish passes I get when I'm alone. People are just less rushed to pass a kid/parent compared to just a cyclist.  You could hook an empty kids trailer up and see what I mean - I have been tempted to ride with one all the time just because it does make people think twice.

Salim

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #13 on: December 22, 2017, 11:08:57 AM »
Congratulations on moving up to a bike! I replaced my car with an electric cargo bike early in 2015 and retired that spring. The bike has mostly been a very positive experience, with few issues. Riding defensively is a top priority for me, including lights, rear-view mirror, and a bright orange helmet. I try to plan errands and appointments for the middle of the day when most people are at work and traffic is light. I also plan my routes carefully, sticking to the back roads as much as I can. Would it make sense to try to shift your work hours to help avoid traffic?

While putting up with people telling me I am going to get killed riding my bike is one of the issues to which I alluded above, an unpleasant statistic recently came my way on a consulting assignment for an insurance company that I feel compelled to share. “Approximately 400,000 people were killed or injured in texting-while-driving accidents” in 2016, meaning the roads are significantly more dangerous for everyone now. Everybody, please try to influence everyone you know to stop using their phones while driving.

osbornab

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Re: I bought a bike instead of a car
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2018, 06:57:16 PM »
If you're interested in hauling children consider a bakfiets such as https://urbantribecargobicycles.com/ or a Yuba electric cargo bike https://yubabikes.com/cargobikestore/spicy-curry-bosch
Attempt to buy used first; sometimes you can catch one on Craigslist.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!