One of the things that improved my life most after moving to SF was buying a good bike and using it for nearly all my transportation needs. More fun, less stressful, and much healthier than driving or public transit. You want a road bike, not a mountain bike, here, since extra weight makes a huge difference going up hills.
Strongly in favor of the mountain bike, I’ll bet 50 bucks Kalium is just assuming the road bike is better without ever having the option, or he lives in a really flat area and is a very fit person. I’ve been biking for 8 years around the city, in a huge city.
1) First goal should be don’t die. Thus you should actually use the sidewalk as often as possible (regardless of whether that is legal, or is the law worth all your future experiences?) Bikes are incredibly dangerous, but awesome fun.
2) Second goal should be don’t strain your back and feel constant pain. Keep an upright posture with a mountain bike, you will (a) see more of the world around you (b) get more delicious wind in your face (c) require a lower activation energy to decide to bike, since you won’t need any special biking shorts, gloves or things other than a helmet.
3) Third goal is exercise. It goes without saying that a heavier bike (which you will never, ever notice because no options will be there to be compared, so no hedonic onus) will exercise you more.
4) Fourth goal is look good: an upright posture will help you with that.
This may seem counterintuitive, but the riding a bike on the sidewalk is more dangerous than riding in the road. The reason why is that drivers tend not to check the sidewalk for fast moving traffic. Your probability of being hit in intersections increases greatly. See the “right hook” diagram on this website for an illustration. There are a number of studies that confirm this, for example, this 1992 study showed that cyclists riding on the sidewalk have 1.8 times as great risk as cyclists riding in the road.
Upvoted. A lot of cycling safety is counterintuitive. Being hit from behind is not as big a risk as people think while cycling, and behaving as predictably as possible (ie like a car) will keep you alive.
You mean what kind of idiot driver wouldn’t check the sidewalks, right? Sarcasm aside, you get places a lot faster if you’re part of traffic and don’t have to wait until all the cars are past to go through an intersection.
Also by riding on the sidewalk you’re being kind of a huge dick to pedestrians.
I don’t think it’s simply an issue of the cyclist looking, though that is probably a large part. I’ve been nearly hit by drivers who clearly weren’t paying attention when I was being very careful. In particular, drivers breaking the law can easily catch you off guard. The worst near-hit I’ve had was from a driver who ran a red light, and my brother was hit riding a bike while he was coming off the sidewalk into the crosswalk from a driver who ran a stop sign. Also, cars are much faster than bikes, so you could easily be surprised by a car that seemingly comes from nowhere.
With that being said, I do think that you can ride on the sidewalk in a way that minimizes your risk. Being careful near intersections would do that. However, given that the accident rate on straight segments of road is pretty low (not really higher than that riding on the sidewalk, as I recall, though I should verify), you can probably get more benefit by riding where you are most visible (in the road) and being careful. Doing other things to improve your visibility like using flashing lights or flourescent yellow helps too.
There’s also the issue of being a dick to pedestrians by riding on the sidewalk, as mentioned by kalium.
So, about that bet. Was that meant seriously, and if so what evidence would I need to supply that I either (a) have tried both a mountain bike and a non-mountain bike or (b) either (i) live somewhere not really flat or (ii) am very fit?
No, I actually brought a mountain bike with me when I moved to San Francisco this summer. It was a pain in the ass so I bought a road bike.
Riding on the sidewalk is incredibly dangerous and stupid. Despite being obnoxious about bike paths and such, the vehicular cyclists are right about a lot of things.
I do like my upright handlebars. More wind resistance but very comfortable. You can get these for a road bike. Though if riding a road bike with standard handlebars gives you constant pain you’re probably doing something wrong. The distance between handlebars and seat, or the angle the seat, may be incorrectly adjusted for your body size. (Edit: So I guess my bike, which I bought used so I don’t know as much as I should about it, might not be quite technically a road bike. The tall stem seems to be the only really non-road-bike-like feature though. And I certainly appreciate that it weighs about half what my mountain bike did.)
I don’t want a heavier bike for more exercise. I want to get places quickly and comfortably and not arrive smelly or sweaty.
I’m actually arguing for tall stem mountain bikes (yes there are many of those). I am also in favor of the European ones and would use the same arguments, thanks for the reminder. Stem being the part where your hands go (which I didn’t know 5 minutes ago).
One of the things that improved my life most after moving to SF was buying a good bike and using it for nearly all my transportation needs. More fun, less stressful, and much healthier than driving or public transit. You want a road bike, not a mountain bike, here, since extra weight makes a huge difference going up hills.
Strongly in favor of the mountain bike, I’ll bet 50 bucks Kalium is just assuming the road bike is better without ever having the option, or he lives in a really flat area and is a very fit person.
I’ve been biking for 8 years around the city, in a huge city.
1) First goal should be don’t die. Thus you should actually use the sidewalk as often as possible (regardless of whether that is legal, or is the law worth all your future experiences?) Bikes are incredibly dangerous, but awesome fun.
2) Second goal should be don’t strain your back and feel constant pain. Keep an upright posture with a mountain bike, you will (a) see more of the world around you (b) get more delicious wind in your face (c) require a lower activation energy to decide to bike, since you won’t need any special biking shorts, gloves or things other than a helmet.
3) Third goal is exercise. It goes without saying that a heavier bike (which you will never, ever notice because no options will be there to be compared, so no hedonic onus) will exercise you more.
4) Fourth goal is look good: an upright posture will help you with that.
This may seem counterintuitive, but the riding a bike on the sidewalk is more dangerous than riding in the road. The reason why is that drivers tend not to check the sidewalk for fast moving traffic. Your probability of being hit in intersections increases greatly. See the “right hook” diagram on this website for an illustration. There are a number of studies that confirm this, for example, this 1992 study showed that cyclists riding on the sidewalk have 1.8 times as great risk as cyclists riding in the road.
Upvoted. A lot of cycling safety is counterintuitive. Being hit from behind is not as big a risk as people think while cycling, and behaving as predictably as possible (ie like a car) will keep you alive.
Who in the world would not check for traffic while moving fast on a crossroad? Jeez I keep forgetting how stupid people are.
I wish there were statistics only with people who care about living and think.
Thank goodness the “average person” is a 1st year harvard/Mit/Oxford psychology student.
You mean what kind of idiot driver wouldn’t check the sidewalks, right? Sarcasm aside, you get places a lot faster if you’re part of traffic and don’t have to wait until all the cars are past to go through an intersection.
Also by riding on the sidewalk you’re being kind of a huge dick to pedestrians.
I don’t think it’s simply an issue of the cyclist looking, though that is probably a large part. I’ve been nearly hit by drivers who clearly weren’t paying attention when I was being very careful. In particular, drivers breaking the law can easily catch you off guard. The worst near-hit I’ve had was from a driver who ran a red light, and my brother was hit riding a bike while he was coming off the sidewalk into the crosswalk from a driver who ran a stop sign. Also, cars are much faster than bikes, so you could easily be surprised by a car that seemingly comes from nowhere.
With that being said, I do think that you can ride on the sidewalk in a way that minimizes your risk. Being careful near intersections would do that. However, given that the accident rate on straight segments of road is pretty low (not really higher than that riding on the sidewalk, as I recall, though I should verify), you can probably get more benefit by riding where you are most visible (in the road) and being careful. Doing other things to improve your visibility like using flashing lights or flourescent yellow helps too.
There’s also the issue of being a dick to pedestrians by riding on the sidewalk, as mentioned by kalium.
So, about that bet. Was that meant seriously, and if so what evidence would I need to supply that I either (a) have tried both a mountain bike and a non-mountain bike or (b) either (i) live somewhere not really flat or (ii) am very fit?
No, I actually brought a mountain bike with me when I moved to San Francisco this summer. It was a pain in the ass so I bought a road bike.
Riding on the sidewalk is incredibly dangerous and stupid. Despite being obnoxious about bike paths and such, the vehicular cyclists are right about a lot of things.
I do like my upright handlebars. More wind resistance but very comfortable. You can get these for a road bike. Though if riding a road bike with standard handlebars gives you constant pain you’re probably doing something wrong. The distance between handlebars and seat, or the angle the seat, may be incorrectly adjusted for your body size. (Edit: So I guess my bike, which I bought used so I don’t know as much as I should about it, might not be quite technically a road bike. The tall stem seems to be the only really non-road-bike-like feature though. And I certainly appreciate that it weighs about half what my mountain bike did.)
I don’t want a heavier bike for more exercise. I want to get places quickly and comfortably and not arrive smelly or sweaty.
You are arguing for what Wikipedia calls a “European city bike”. Mountain bikes are quite different and, in particular, you don’t ride them upright.
I’m actually arguing for tall stem mountain bikes (yes there are many of those). I am also in favor of the European ones and would use the same arguments, thanks for the reminder.
Stem being the part where your hands go (which I didn’t know 5 minutes ago).