
Geek Transportation Systems - vijaydev
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/06/geek-transportation-systems.html
======
arethuza
There is a chap who commutes through central Edinburgh every day on a
_unicycle_ \- including the cycling over the narrow Dean bridge and up the
fairly steep Mound hill between the New and Old towns.

~~~
joebadmo
I'm in Portland, Oregon, and, if this town is any sort of trend leader, I
think unicycles are the next fixed-gears.

------
Fargren
For less than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) I almost always walk, unless I'm in a
rush. It' s great habit to have, and my main source of exercise. For greater
distances, I generally use public transportation.

------
jgrahamc
I'm lucky enough to cycle to work across London (6 km/4 miles in each
direction) for my commute and I certainly wouldn't consider a folding bicycle
or a scooter. A normal bike works well and I can have paniers on the back for
carrying shopping, books, etc.

If you need to go geek then you can have all sorts of electronics on your bike
to track progress, add a Polar heart monitor, get an app for your phone...

------
dkarl
Those little tiny pedal arms on the Strida... they look like a lot of work and
not much velocity. I've gotta try one anyway, because it's just such a cool
concept.

P.S. Where would you ride something like the Strida? Surely not the sidewalk,
but can you ride fast enough for the street?

~~~
T-hawk
I have a Strida and I love it. I've used it as my commuting vehicle for years
- a mile to the subway, half mile from the subway to office. It's not any more
work to pedal than a larger bike, other than having only the one fairly low
gear.

Yes it rides fast enough for the street. The belt drive is so smooth that it's
pretty easy to hit 120-150 RPM on pedaling. (Most riders on a full-size
regular geared bike use a cadence somewhere between 70 and 90.) And the
excellent brakes, short stopping distance, and short wheelbase for
maneuverability make it an amazing vehicle for navigating city traffic.

I do even ride the Strida on sidewalks sometimes for a handful of blocks when
the road is too crowded. Its agility is almost more like a scooter than a full
size bicycle. An alert rider poses virtually no danger to pedestrians, and
they're usually caught by the novelty more so than mad at a cyclist on the
sidewalk.

------
shin_lao
Just wanted to know if I was the only one to have a motorbike as my preferred
means of transportation.

------
hcho
The ultimate transportation hack must be motorcycle and scooters. I was
surprised to see so few of these in my travel to California. Given the
climate, it should be a no brainer. Can anyone shed some light on why they are
not popular.

~~~
dkarl
I've been in four accidents. One was my fault, and the other three involved
people slamming into my car while it was stationary. Of the three where it
wasn't my fault, once my car had its front bumper, hood, and both fenders
crumpled, once it just slid six feet and had a tire blown out, and once it was
sandwiched between two cars and totalled. I wasn't hurt in any of those cases,
but I'm betting if I was on a motorcycle or a scooter, I would not be walking
right today if I was walking at all.

~~~
hcho
Is filtering through illegal in US? Motorbike riders in the UK generally
filter through and stop at the front of the quee, which reduces the risk of
stationary accidents.

~~~
billpaetzke
It's only legal in California.

I wish more people used motorcycles here too (I'm in LA). But traffic moves
much faster than, say, east Asia (where motorbikes are common). But those
bikes are like 100cc. Here you need 600cc or more to handle varying speed
conditions (0-75mph/120kph). And I could not imagine a lot of people I know
feeling comfortable with that much power on two wheels.

------
nanexcool
As of late, it seems to me that CO has turned into a blog where Jeff surrounds
Amazon affiliate links with sometimes semi-interesting stuff (SSDs, scooters,
his latest rig). Nothing against the guy though.

------
cturner
Has anyone tried a Brompton? They're popular in London. But London is quite
hilly - I'm interested to know whether you need the gears or not, nad whether
the extra weight makes them worthwhile.

------
davidw
You can't stand up and pedal? Sounds pretty sketchy to me.

~~~
davidw
Wow, downvoted. Not that I care too much about my Precious Karma, but whoever
downvoted that must know nothing of bicycles. I have never, ever ridden a
bicycle where you could not stand up and pedal it for a stretch. And that
includes crusty old around-town bikes that have seen their best days long ago.

Put in other terms, I find it hard to believe that the power output is that
different standing compared to sitting - if you have strong legs, you can sink
some serious power into a bicycle while seated.

