Greentext

Don’t forget that maintenance is super cheap AND most people, with only the most basic tools, can do the work in their living room or even just on a sidewalk. And if I don’t get it right and the brakes don’t work perfectly I probably won’t fuckin’ die.

Hi, car owner here. I do all the work myself and it requires a fair bit of knowledge, expensive tools, space, and a childhood where I was never told I couldn’t do that work if I was thoughtful about it. That’s a high fuckin’ bar and requires a whole lot of privilege-oh there it is, too many people with privilege like to shit on those without and most of North America has dogshit for public transit or bike infrastructure and the “freedom of movement” with a car is all there but heavily artificial. Thanks auto industry and their lobbyists.

Bikes were and still are a revolutionary technology. There's a reason suffragettes were often associated with bicycles.

Cop pulls you over on a bicycle:

"Drivers License and registration please"

"I don't need those, I'm not driving this bicycle, I'm travelling on it officer. Private conveyance. I don't contract with DMV."

"Right you are sir, have a nice day!"

Why haven't the sovcits cottoned on to this loophole?!

Cuz putting on a raincoat or some warm clothes is too much for these weak ass people.

Rain, ice and severe cold are a removed. I like bicycles, but driving to work in a heated car looking at that poor cyclist riding somewhere at 6 in the morning at -6°C, sorry, no, I'm gonna go with a car.

I'm disabled in a way that means I can't use one, but can use a car, which kinda sucks.

Fortunately bike infrastructure usually helps me in my chair, so I'm all in favor of wider bike adoption.

Welcome to the Netherlands. If there's anything that fills me with pride it's our cycling culture. Most people have a car too, but I don't, and I do everything by bike and public transport.

Cars are the ultimate symbol of freedom because you just get in and go wherever to do whatever.

Pick nanna up? sure. Go buy her groceries? Sure. In the pouring rain? Ok. Pick up her dog from the vet? Yep. Drop by the garden store and grab 50kg of fertilizer? You bet.

You can do all of those things with out any planning or notice. You just get in and go wherever the day takes you.

I'm a bit bonkers about bikes. I have a cargo e-bike. It absolutely could do all of these things in separate trips. Doing all of them together would be a challenge but I am 100% here for that so long as nanna is. The main difference is planning. You need different gear, like a bike trailer for example. You're also probably going to pick the right time of day, like early before it gets too hot or too windy, provided that it's not raining.

Not probably, a human riding a bicycle is the most efficient way to convert energy into movement. No other vehicle or animal can be as efficient.

A bicycle gives you freedom of lightweight activities within a few miles of your home. You want to play baritone sax in the band 25 miles away? It's not happening with a bike.

car go further faster, and car more useful when not in big city.

because conservatives are fat

Bikes are awesome. I would love to experience the joy of waking up in the morning and riding a bike to work. No traffic, healthy and all that good shit. I live, however, 40min away from my work by car and 3 hours by bike, one way. I dont see this changing in the foreseeable future so my idea of freedom has to be something different.

A related question: why is the "big tough guy" image a guy in a truck?

Like, you push a pedal with your foot to make your vehicle go vroom vroom. A granny could do that.

Surely a tough guy is a guy who is straining huge muscles to make a bike hit 50 km/h. A skilled guy is one who can maneuver his bike down a narrow mountain-bike track.

Imagine looking back in history and seeing a dude being carried around in a sedan chair and thinking that was the ideal image of masculinity, rather than the surely jacked dudes carrying him.

Bikes dont contribute to climate change

Anyone who has ridden in rain and adverse weather would know one reason cars are more popular.

I dare you to travel on your own bicycle in the depths of winter across the USA in the same timeframe as a car.

Because showing up to a client meeting dripping in sweat on a 103 degree day is considered to be poor form. Because I got a new job and don’t have an extra two hours in my day to ride a bike back and forth, and moving isn’t in the cards. Because I have to carry a couple kids and all the crap the goes along with them.

Arrive to work soaked in sweat because it's been 100+ degrees every day for the past 8 weeks.