But when you think about it, what’s the benefit of driving? For reasonably short drives you don’t save much time with parking in cities and you don’t get any exercise.

Ah, in my case this is mostly replacing buses, so really not the biggest monetary impact either. Still, I will try not to let the excuse to be more active go to waste.

Air conditioning

And shielding from the UV index 11 sun.

Damnit, don't tell the secret to car-people. We want our bicycle paths not too-overcrowded :p

Hah, speak for yourself! I want 20x as many bikes out there.

Your car is much less likely to be stolen while you're shopping?

This is the answer. There's no equivalent of "grand theft auto" for bicycles, in fact... law enforcement simply doesn't care most of the time despite usage of things like AirTags or video evidence.

If bikes could park like cars and be safe, a lot more people would use bikes for errands. As it is I only use my bike (even my cheap one) when I can keep eyes on it from the store.

Yes, exactly!

I live in an area where I can very easily and quickly bike to just about anything. But I never do because there's nowhere to store the bike while I'm there so it will get stolen. So I either walk (if I have the extra 15-20 minutes) or feel silly driving a mile or less. I'd rather bike.

The other day I saw somebody go past on a cargo bike, with a big box on the front that in this case had 3 child seats in it. It looked pretty damn usable, and if I could get something like that with an e-bike, even Costco trips (with the steep up-hill return) become feasible.

But if you buy a $5k electric cargo bike and it gets stolen two weeks later, or you have to spend 10 minutes finding a secure place for it everywhere you go...

A bike is so much cheaper than a car that even if it gets stolen every 2 months you are still saving.

I don't think this figure is accurate, but even so this isn't something I would want to accept - regardless of a convincing calculation that it is a net benefit.

Just an example:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/total-co...

"For vehicles driven 15,000 miles a year, average car ownership costs were $9,666 a year, or $806 a month, in 2021, according to AAA"

VS https://bicycleuniverse.com/how-much-does-a-bike-cost/

So the figure is accurate.

So what? The costs are kind of meaningless when you walk out of the grocery store with a cart full of frozen food, only to find your bike was stolen. Normal people aren't willing to tolerate that level of hassle and uncertainty just for the possibility of some minor cost savings.

Rain

Solved by rain coat and rain pants

So you won't be wet from the rain, you'll be wet from your own sweat.

Modern rain gear is okay on that side but at great expense.

I ride like I'm getting paid for it, but that's just not really the case yet. Though it'll be amazing when some real innovation happens.

Even the highest end technical fabrics don't work very well when it's humid outside, which tends to happen a lot when it's raining.

If you're actually working hard, you'll be covered in your own sweat soon enough. Given the choice i usually just go with the rain instead.

Riding an ebike is a different matter, that's probably entirely doable with current tech.

What gear do you have? I use North Face futurelight and if I'm biking at reasonable to slower speeds I don't really sweat that much unless it's more than, say, 22C.

In Amsterdam rain, cold does not deter cycling.

The Dutch seem less interested in finding any excuse for their bad habits than we suburban Americans do.

Ssssssh don't let the car manufacturers hear you or you might disappear under mysterious circumstances.

avoiding the literally 105+ degree weather

I’ve started riding a bike for transportation during the pandemic; I think the desire to get outdoors more turbocharged cycling during the pandemic, and now people are probably realizing it’s a good way to get around too. So maybe a combination of both.

In any case, I think that’s a good thing! The oil crisis of the 1970s was one of the contributing factors to the Netherlands getting their now-excellent bike infrastructure.

I'm planning on getting a bike to commute to work. I don't have a car right now and also don't really want to buy one because it's a huge expense. My only regret is that it's much harder to get groceries with a bike so I might end up walking instead for that.

Yeah and don't forget that buying the car itself is just the start. Even if you don't get a loan you need to pay for registration, insurance, maintenance and gas.

Just get panniers

Or a bike trailer if you need to carry more. Some can detach and be used as a hand cart too, so perfect for grocery shopping!

I have a double kids trailer from Thule. Even with kids it has a ton of storage. It detaches easily and has 4 wheels. The shocks are also adjustable to make it easier on the kids with heavy loads.

Yeah this might be a good idea. Haven't looked into it yet but I might end up doing something like this. A sibling comment mentions a trailer and I like that idea as well

I used to do that, trying to load anything reasonable on a bike makes it handle like serious crap. It jackknifes and good brakes become very important.

A trailer would probably be a lot better.

If possible, spending a few years without a car can be a great way to save a lot of money.