Commuter Cycling : ' Fixie' or Scooter?

My son was in the mood for a means to get to and from a place of likely employment. The option being railwaying and riding the distance there and back.

In Queensland bikes are not allowed on trains during weekday peak periods -- morning and   afternoon -- unless  they folded and  bagged.

Between 7:00am - 9:30am towards the CBD
Between 3:00pm - 6:30pm outwards from the CBD

So what it the best tool for the job?

I was thinking through this as a problem solving exercise  and for my money scootering with a folding Mibo  came ahead of  the usual standard bicycle options.

That's how I'd rule on such a commuter  challenge: getting from 'a' to 'b'. So let's look at the principles I think are important for commuting as the properties relate to both bike and scooter.

#1 Light Cycling

If you are going to be using public transport you want to travel light. You'll need to not only carry your machine up stairs and in and out of carriages, but you'll need to support it while the train is in transit. So lighter is so much better than heavy.

#2 Shaped to Fit

If you are going to carry your machine on public transport you want to keep a low profile. So  the smaller your 'bike' the better. The smallest packaging is gonna be folded of course, but if you aren't folded keep your length down if you can. Nonetheless, the most cumbersome feature of cycling the railroads is the bike peddle which can be a weapon in crowded carriages. Peddles stick out to scrape passing heels -- and if bikes were more train friendly they wouldn't have peddles (hint: they' be scooters).

#3 Function Rules

If you are  going to commute how far are you going to ride? It's not worth the extra weight and outlay if you are going to be riding for less than 10 km. Don't overdo it. You won't be mountain biking or negotiating the Tour de France. Consider that what you want to do is get to work quicker than walking or some other transport option. So hone in on your basic needs and keep it simple.

#4 Price and Value for Money

Bikes can be expensive items to purchase, especially light ones. If you can spare yourself the hype the core fact is that you want value for money and a machine that won't be so attractive 'parked' that its going to be stolen while your working your shift at the coal face. If your bike is a theft option would you prefer to lose $1300 plus or $350? I paste up my scooters with stickers so that they are marked goods, less re-salable and more easily identified. But you don't want to be driven crazy by anxiety if you fear your expensive machine is a theft waiting to happen. Better to keep your outlay in the low figures so that you can keep going from 'a' to 'b'. It may happen that you don't ride your bike home from work one day and want to instead 'store it' by locking it up nearby. You want the confidence  to be able to walk away from your bike  knowing that (a) it's cheap enough not to be big time theft bait; and (b) it's cheap enough that you can wear the loss, and replace it, if it is solen. 

#5 Footpath or Road?

I really appreciate the ease with which a scooter can mount and transit  the pavements as well as the roads.Maybe it is because I'm not confident in traffic and a scooter has such slow pickup. But my travelling style is always opportunist as I utilize road and pavement to get around. Bikes can do this too except the jumping on and off isn't so straightforward and with the larger wheel diameter maneuvering on footpaths isn't as easy as scootering can be. With scooters dealing with foot traffic issues are simple: you hop off the scooter and walk around the pedestrian obstruction in your path, then hop back on again.

#6 Gears are for Whimps

As I say: keep it simple. Unless you are pushing great distances or climbing the Alps gears are extra weight you'll need to carry around on your bike. If you want to get exercise then the gears are going to make your life too easy for sweat.  Take up the purity challenge and ride your ride in the raw without these indulgent extras...luxuries.

So weighing up he evidence I think that if you don't want to scoot your best commute option is a  Fixed Gear Bicycle -- a "Fixie". 

• Light
• Cheap
• Simple
• Reliable
• Less prone to theft
• It's exercise plus
• Does the job: gets you from 'a' to 'b'.
• ...and it is ever so cool to be seen in the company of a fixie. Coolest dam thing on two wheels.

Click on image to enlarge view

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VIDEO Bicycling Culture can rule us all if we try: Copenhagenizing Beachmere

Where I live now -- in Beachmere -- the asphalt roads are broad with generous two metre wide strips along each side for bike riding. People walk these strips too in preference to the contours on the footpaths next door.  The foot or bike traffic along these pathways goes either way as they are broad enough to allow for two way traffic.

So Beachmere is a bike and scooter town. Every kid has a skate board or micro scooter or BMX bike and to or from primary school it is push wheel transit. The skatebowl is the juniors social hub.

Because of the significant number of retirees  here another primary user of the bikeways are electric scooter users -- people who have conditions that inhibit their walking mobility.

So on an evening you'll see aged electric scooter owners taking their dogs for a walk, battery driven,  just as early in the mornings the streets are occupied by the get fit cycling crowd.

Some women in their seventies who I know peddle their tricycles to the dog park each morning with their mutts on board.

That Beachmere is only 6 kilometres long is the main drawback and the two roads in are not cyclable -- unless you want to die: narrow, pot holed, with high car speeds allowed.

Within the town, these special conditions (and no cop shop) encourages cyclists not to wear helmets -- so a lot of us don't.

But  the rich cycle  culture of Beachmere -- a product only of the way the roads were built and the flat terrain-- suggests what could be possible if a more conscious program of cycle friendliness was engineered as a matter of course across the urban envionemnt.

Like in Copenhagen. This great video says it all:

Cycling Copenhagen, Through North American Eyes from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

AUDIO:On road cycling

With a dramatic increase in cycling, comes a plethora of new safety issues on the roads. Doctors, politicians, planners and cyclists agree it will mean changing the way we design, govern and use our roads. Reporter Diane Martin.

On road cycling -Background Briefing

Original audio source (bbg_20100131.mp3)

Bicycle NSW CSA 2008

Dutch bicycle culture

From a press release published here on Derek Wall's blog that deals with bike culture in the Netherlands:

Quick Facts:
In Britain, under 2% of all journeys are made by bicycle. In the Netherlands the equivalent figure is around 30%.

In Britain, most journeys under 2 miles are made by car. In the Netherlands, more journeys under 5 miles are made by bicycle than by any other means.

In the Netherlands, older people are also mobile. Over 10% of cycle journeys are made by over 60s.

Virtually all Dutch school-children cycle to school.

The links below are well worth reviewing as there is a lot of information about the cultural promotion engaged with and some images of the Dutch bicycle infrastructure network:

• English language articles about the Dutch cycling infrastructure
• Dutch cycling facilities.

QUOTE:

If often seems that the English speaking world does not understand how the Dutch have been so successful with their cycle promotion. Why is it that the Netherlands has a cycling rate which is so far ahead of the rest of the world, and growing ?

It is also quite often assumed that Dutch drivers must be far better behaved than those in the UK and other countries in order that cyclists can have such a good degree of safety. Or the reason is put down to the country being relatively flat. However, these things couldn't possibly explain why the Dutch cycle for 20x as many journeys as people in English speaking countries do.

It actually comes down to a single point. Generally when you cycle in the Netherlands you are not sharing space with cars. This makes cycling very pleasant and relaxed. It reduces conflict with motorists and it leads to much greater safety. What isn't necesarily so obvious to outside observers from locations with less advanced cycling infrastructure is that it also leads to cyclists having journeys which are more direct than those of motorists. As a result, cycling is a much more appealing form of transport.

Flatness doesn't necessarily help. It results in very strong headwinds. Also, the Netherlands can be very cold and wet in the winter. However, the convenience of cycling wins out over these problems.

For more sources on Dutch bicycling(and the source of the media release I referred to) and information about study tours go here.