Also there’s the whole psychological thing about telling someone not to do something when it was previously largely automatic, making people do it more. Like having an itch or imagining insect bites.
It’s hard to find what is right on the internet though.
A virus has to achieve viral entry: it has to find a suitable host cell, and introduce its viral material.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_entry
Whether an aerosol hits your face, or you breathe air with suspended particles containing the virus, the virus has several challenges it needs to overcome (described in the link above). Its success is not guaranteed. An increase in virus particles improves its chance while a decrease improves your chance.
In theory, a single virus particle could achieve its goal.
edit: Sorry, didn't realize that link was subsequently truncated, here is the .pdf: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v...
If true, that changes how I want to get food to my elders. (I've already gotten them several months worth, but I don't see an end to this and would feel safer if they had more runway.)
It says surface -> hands -> mucous membrane "is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads".
But then again, the TTL of the virus on surfaces is still not certain, so, as also noted there "we are still learning how it spreads".
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v...
Being outside has to be better than in an enclosed space (a subway car) holding onto handles that dozens of people touched in the last hour.
The company I work for has sent everyone home until next month and you can have groceries delivered over the internet here.
make alcohol solution and wipe stuff you're about to touch
Here’s a typical example, it has an endurance geometry and has mounts for a rack: https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/road-bikes/gravel-b...
My commute would be almost six miles by bicycle. I'm not especially looking to replace the subway with a bike trip.
We cycled 8 miles to high school every day (so, 16 per day). Cycling 6 miles is not a lot, unless you have to stop every minute at a traffic light.
Up till 1.5 year ago (when I wasn't working remotely), I cycled 7 miles to work every single day (also through rain and snow). For good measure, I'd take an extra hilly route the way back twice a week for some extra exercise.
If you say so. It is for me. It's not only a long distance (google maps says 35 minutes, which I suspect is an underestimate), but also would be significantly inconvenient -- do I shower at work, and when I get home? What if I want to go somewhere after work -- leave the bike and come back for it?
I love the idea of biking, but I don't see it being useful for my commute.
Observation: those who bike fast and get sweaty or live far shower at work. It is typically quick shower. No idea what they do at home.
Slow people who dont sweat dont shower at work.
https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikesinbuildin...
Got a $200 bike shaped thing first thing when I got a job (technically Kmart but otherwise the same). Dumb mistake. The crank gear bent out of shape before too long, just from applying pedal power to climb a hill. On another bike, that’d be $20 in parts and $40 in labor maybe? On this one it was basically impossible as it was not designed to be replaceable or even serviceable and I had to throw the bike away.
My aluminum road bike cost me $600 new and I have four years of daily commuting on it so far. It's still in good condition and I expect to get many more years of riding out of it. At this rate I'm gonna have it for longer than the average car ownership period in the US (which is about 7 years).
The fears are being blown out of proportion.
I'd say it's just the other way around; disc brakes are most useful for commuters, and least useful for dedicated race bikes, because you just don't go out racing when it's raining a lot (and you're typically on a closed course besides so there's less braking).
I do use a touring bike (basically a racing bike that isn't quite as aggressive) and I've ridden that all year round.
Ignore this comment. Year-round commuting is the prime reason to buy a bike with disc brakes. Is it overkill not to burn through a set of rims each winter? Is it overkill to have decreased stopping distance in the rain?
Anyone want to go back to drum brakes on their “commuter” car? Yeah, didn’t think so.
From my experience, stopping distance is usually dictated by road conditions more than the brakes. This is with 34mm wide tires, and properly adjusted brakes (a lot of times when people complain about rim brakes, the issue is that they are not working properly).
Side note: fenders are a must!
I'd much rather have a brake system that out performs the rest of the equation than not have enough stopping power.
Fact is, rim brakes are inferior in every way to just about every alternative, save two: they’re inexpensive and lightweight.
This really says it all. When I am cycling to work, I am not trying out for the tour de france or trying to beat someone else's strava record.
> Fact is, rim brakes are inferior in every way to just about every alternative, save two: they’re inexpensive and lightweight.
It doesn't matter if they are inferior. My regular disc brakes on my Ford Focus is inferior in every way compared to whatever they put on a Ferrari. However they are perfectly is sufficient and safe for driving to work and back.
The best argument you can make for discs vs traditional rim brakes would be that the modulation is slightly better.
It really annoys me that a lot of cyclists seem to push very expensive kit that for the commuter is completely unnecessary.
Why because you don't agree with it?
> Is it overkill not to burn through a set of rims each winter?
I dunno how you are doing this. A set of brake pads last quite a while usually. I have rims from the 1990s I am still using.
> Is it overkill to have decreased stopping distance in the rain?
Your stopping distance is more about how much grip you got on the road from the tyres. You can easily lock the wheel with a rim brake, especially if you have a good set of dual pivot or V-brakes.
For commuting you don't need anything flashy or complicated (because it will be a magnet for thieves). I literally get a basic but decent bike. If the parts are basic and ubiquitous you can go to any bike shop and get it repaired or by the parts yourself. If you have fancy equipment, then it more difficult to buy a replacement.
When I was commuting on the bike still, I used an old 90s mountain bike with V-brakes and I converted it to Single Speed (the gears were knackered) and stuck some touring tyres on there. However I was cycling in Manchester which is mostly flat. It really depends where you are.
Also, even if they did. Replacing a 800 Euro bike once per two years is peanuts compared to owning a car or taking public transport.
Replacing a 2k usd bike every 2 years in addition to paying for car while I try to work into cycling is a big cost. I'm a big person, I've had pretty much every rim but velocity touring rims fail due to weight and stress, and rim brakes made this worse and fail faster, it's also real shady to have a rim crack while you're riding it. Discs completely remove that from the equation.
Cable discs, while better than rims, still suck. I feel unsafe riding anything but hydraulics, even on the road.