this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
964 points (97.4% liked)

Greentext

5232 readers
1619 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 minutes ago

Where are you all buying bike that don't hurt your wallet to replace? I guess there are Walmart bikes but I've literally had a huffy fall apart while in motion.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 32 minutes ago (1 children)

That freedom comes at quite a cost. Both to the driver and society. Riding a bike puts the "free" in freedom

[–] [email protected] 1 points 22 minutes ago* (last edited 21 minutes ago)

Taking a vacation road trip from Florida to the Grand Canyon with three kids with only bikes also comes at quite the cost. Bikes are great, but in many practical scenarios they are slow. Not all of us live in Manhattan, or a dense city, or even a well connected and safe to traverse suburb.

Bikes cost time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago (3 children)

My city has extreme height changes on almost every road -- you'd have to be a seriously beefy rider to commute with a bike

[–] [email protected] 1 points 34 minutes ago

Lol same. You can't jog in my neighborhood, well some can. Even walking around is quite difficult going up some streets.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 34 minutes ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 35 minutes ago

Pedal assist bikes exist, source am heavy ass bike commuter that has to go uphill to work.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

Green Mario's most loyal companion

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Make no problem with bikes in Florida, when you arrive you are so drenched in sweat you are no longer presentable and stink to high heaven.

Biking to work if you have an office job is out of the question.

Biking to my gym or KungFu school.... Perfect.

Just need the right tool for the right job.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 33 minutes ago

In europe most modern offices have showers is this just not a thing around you?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 59 minutes ago* (last edited 59 minutes ago) (1 children)

Danish citizens cycle in rain with no issue.

Of course the workplaces accomodate for that.

You just need the whole society to revolve around bike transport, and it will become normal to ride in the rain.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 18 minutes ago* (last edited 18 minutes ago)

Yeah… pretty sure Denmark doesn’t get regular thunderstorms or hail storms.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 hours ago

Picking up a week's worth of shopping for a family, whilst taking your baby with you, in the pouring rain, and you live up a steep hill, and you have joint pain, and a sudden work meeting across the other side of town in an hour...

I'd love a city designed round bicycles (Cambridge, UK is quite good like that in the centre) but man, despite the downsides cars are amazing things.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 hour ago

Yes, but have you considered this extremely selective list of positive features for bikes?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 hours ago

For this, bike friendly cities have good public transport (bus/tram/metro) and bike shares

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 hours ago

Thats why I have a bike-sled team to pull my horribly inefficient sled across the asphalt

[–] [email protected] 34 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

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.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 hours ago (4 children)

Someone can probably do the math, but i have a hunch that humans are technically not very fuel efficient if you look at calories burned pr the total mass being moved along.

But whatever it is biking is awesome, but being technically correct is even better.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 56 minutes ago (1 children)

You couldn't be more wrong. Bicycle is the most efficient way of moving.

If you account manufacturing energy, then in a short time it is overcome by walking.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 34 minutes ago

Interesseret. It just feels so counterintuitive, but as o wrote, it was just a hunch and apparently many telle me now its not so. Do you have any numbers or sources to back up the claim that I can use for future fun facts sessions to annoy my family?

[–] [email protected] 33 points 7 hours ago (7 children)

Humans are actually unusually energy efficient for mammals when walking and even more so when cycling. Here's a little info graphic showing a breakdown.

One thing to keep in mind if you have a dog is they're less energy efficient than humans. While dogs can run faster, a reasonably fit human can easily out distance an equally fit dog when walking or distance running.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 hours ago

Also, I love the units. Using miles on one axis and km on the other.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 hours ago

This is very useful. My four friends and I will have to stop swimming to work, and take the car instead.

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›