10 Reasons to Not Get a Cargo Bike

Our Community › Forums › Family Biking › 10 Reasons to Not Get a Cargo Bike

Viewing 9 posts - 16 through 24 (of 24 total)
1 2
  • Author
    Posts
  • January 30, 2015 at 11:58 pm #1021880
    vvill
    Participant

    @jrenaut 107128 wrote:

    The hardest to quantify is my mental well-being. I’m in such a better mood when I bike. Even on the crappy days.

    Anyway, I don’t really have a point here except that it’s extremely difficult to quantify the exact difference between using the cargo bike and using the car or anything else. But my Xtracycle makes me happy, so I don’t really care.

    Yeah this is how I feel. I would love it if more people biked for transportation, utility, with family, etc. but I don’t think it’s for everyone, and cargo bikes will never have the same range/capacity as a motor vehicle. But if you enjoy it and can make it work then more power to you. I like to ride so I’m always happy to take the bike instead of car/metro, but at the rate I buy bikes/bike stuff it’s not likely to be much cheaper than a car. (That said, driving my car doesn’t count as a leisure/fitness activity, and most of my bikes/bike gear expenses aren’t geared towards transport/utility.)

    I also don’t really have a point here.

    January 31, 2015 at 12:10 am #1021882
    hozn
    Participant

    Yeah, GB is right; I spend a lot more than what I *need* to on my bike. My estimated $700-900/year was sort of “my minimum”. In reality I spend easily twice that on my bicycles, the other stuff is just discretionary — “oh, I want new shifters; I want to build new wheels, etc.”. And I hadn’t even thought about the clothing and other gear. — Good point. I have probably spent $1500 on winter cycling clothing alone over the past 5 years.

    I think Steve is right that you have to ride to make it worth it, but my understanding is that the $0.60/mile includes fuel. I believe the $0.10/mi for bicycle does not? I probably eat a little less than $0.50/mile, but not a lot less.

    And I’d replace cycling with other exercise, but realistically I wouldn’t be doing serious exercise for 12 hours a week. I love cycling, but I’m not doing it to save money. That said, the fact that I would otherwise pay like $7 !? in tolls does help me justify spending more money on my cycling transportation costs :-)

    January 31, 2015 at 12:14 am #1021883
    Raymo853
    Participant

    #11. Because you will get arrested if you pickup your kids with it from some schools:
    http://www.theurbancountry.com/2013/11/dad-arrested-for-picking-up-kids-at-school-by-foot.html

    January 31, 2015 at 4:44 am #1021896
    Steve O
    Participant

    @hozn 107136 wrote:

    I think Steve is right that you have to ride to make it worth it, but my understanding is that the $0.60/mile includes fuel. I believe the $0.10/mi for bicycle does not? I probably eat a little less than $0.50/mile, but not a lot less.

    I find that hard to believe. You rode about 7600 miles last year, so you are claiming you spent an extra $3900 on food? That’s an extra $10+/day above and beyond what you would already spend on food without riding.

    January 31, 2015 at 2:43 pm #1021904
    Anonymous
    Guest

    @Steve O 107151 wrote:

    I find that hard to believe. You rode about 7600 miles last year, so you are claiming you spent an extra $3900 on food? That’s an extra $10+/day above and beyond what you would already spend on food without riding.

    I bet that’s not too far off. This thread is making me curious[1], so… Based upon last year’s food spending, last year’s calories burned by cycling as estimated by cycling tracking app[2], baseline calories per day required by me estimated by diet app, I spent about $1400 last year on food to fuel my cycling. Yes that’s a lot less than $3900, but… I bet hozn weighs at least 150% what I do, 7600 miles is 140% more than I rode, so that’s $2940 for him. He’s also younger and more male (faster metabolism) and rides harder and faster, so those will up his calorie burning as well, which should bring him well into the $3k+ a year, assuming similar $/calorie expenditure as myself.

    Yeah, that’s a lot of back of the envelope comparisons and estimations, but it suggests to me his numbers are not too far out of line.

    [1] yes, when i get curious, i do math and stuff
    [2]which may be too low; I recently started riding w/ a heart rate monitor, and my reported calories burned per typical ride went up nearly 20%– if the HRM makes the estimate more accurate, most of my year’s riding underestimated calories– though i suppose it could make it *less* accurate, which would mean the last month or so would be overestimated…

    February 1, 2015 at 4:04 am #1021940
    vvill
    Participant

    Funny to read this, because usually when I buy lunch at work in DC I try to maximize my calories/$ (within reason – no soda refills, etc.) – firstly because I’m hungry enough, and secondly because I’ll use more fuel on the way home and feel less starving when I do get in the door. It’s something I’ve only really done since I’ve been commuting regularly (and actually when I first moved to the US I had trouble finishing even some of the lunch-time portion sizes here).

    February 1, 2015 at 4:13 pm #1021951
    hozn
    Participant

    Yeah, I think carefully about maximizing calories. In truth, I rarely buy lunch out and cook cheap carb-heavy food, so my costs are definitely less than the $0.50 I suggested. But if I were eating at Chipotle or drinking beer the ~1200 calories for 30 miles would be ~$8 or ~$10, respectively.

    February 1, 2015 at 11:38 pm #1021964
    dasgeh
    Participant

    So back to the original post… you shouldnt buy a cargo bike because you don’t want to be like the crazy people in the movies… af4c0da2bdbbe0b2fb317f823114dfd5.jpg

    August 19, 2015 at 11:42 pm #1036165
    OZ_D7
    Participant

    This is classic, i like the “i will burn to many calories…get an electric assist, less calories, more fun!

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 9 posts - 16 through 24 (of 24 total)
1 2
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.