this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
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Murica (lemmy.ml)
submitted 14 hours ago by LifeLemons@lemmy.ml to c/greentext@sh.itjust.works
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[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 41 minutes ago

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.

[–] IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 hour ago

Green Mario's most loyal companion

[–] Vivendi@lemmy.zip 1 points 57 minutes ago

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

[–] LordCrom@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago

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.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 11 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

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

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 2 points 11 minutes ago* (last edited 11 minutes ago)

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.

[–] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 13 points 3 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.

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 15 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

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

[–] Karjalan@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

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

[–] kunaltyagi@programming.dev 9 points 3 hours ago

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

[–] yogaxpto@lemmy.world 16 points 5 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.

[–] jjagaimo@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 hours ago

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

[–] TDCN@feddit.dk 12 points 6 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.

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 1 points 8 minutes ago

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.

[–] SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 33 points 6 hours ago (3 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.

[–] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 6 points 2 hours ago

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

[–] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 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.

[–] TDCN@feddit.dk 6 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (2 children)

Nice graphic. ~~But it seems like it doesn't factor in kg of mass moved. A human and a bike is a lot lighter than a car or a horse. You could also argue that the vehicle weigh should be ignored but then again you could easily argue back that weight of goods move can possibly be a lot higher with a car if you load it up to capacity~~. Ignore that. I did not see it said 5 riders for the car

[–] SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I'm back with better data. I'm assuming the travel path is perfectly flat because I don't feel like modeling elevation changes. I'm being energy efficient (read: lazy).

For cycling, I'm using the global average human weight of 62 kg, assuming the cycle is 8 kg, and the pace is 10 kph, which is pretty relaxed.

For walking, I'm using the 62 kg person walking at 4 kph.

For driving with petrol, we'll use the same spherical 62 kg human and a 2024 Toyota Prius with a fuel efficiency of 4.8 L/100 km and a mass of 1570 kg. One liter of petrol is approximately 8174 kcal. Double the energy expenditure for an estimate for your typical SUV.

For electric, I chose a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N with an energy efficiency of 21.2 kWh/100km and a mass of 2235 kg. One kilowatt-hour is approximately 860 kcal.

Walking: 0.74 kcal•km^-1^•kg^-1^
Cycling: 0.34 kcal•km^-1^•kg^-1^
Driving(p): 0.24 kcal•km^-1^•kg^-1^
Driving(e): 0.08 kcal•km^-1^•kg^-1^

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 53 minutes ago

Wait so cars are more efficient than cycling now ?

[–] SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

It still doesn't give us kcal•km^-1^•kg^-1^ (or an equivalent), which is what I was looking for. We could do some math to get us some loose estimates, though. I'll do exactly that and report back shortly.

[–] TheButter_ItSeeps@lemmy.world 8 points 6 hours ago

I feel like 'total mass being moved' is irrelevent if most of that mass is useless (car motor/metal frame/plastic/etc).

Even if a car motor was more efficient per kg, most of the work is wasted on moving the actual car itself, regardless of the passengers & cargo.

Bikes clearly use less energy to displace 'useful mass' than a car, so they are more efficient in that sense.

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[–] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 33 points 8 hours ago (2 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.

[–] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 12 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I don’t know your limitations, but you’d be surprised at the number of ways cycling can be made accessible.

For example, there are handbikes that attach to a wheelchair. As with all assistive tech it depends on your specific situation what is possible.

[–] Cort@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago

I've frequently seen a couple of people with recumbent hand bikes on one of the popular trails near me. They're decently fast with the reduced air resistance, but road crossings are a bit of a hassle when you aren't tall enough to be seen by an f450

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[–] 96VXb9ktTjFnRi@feddit.nl 30 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

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.

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