Hey, that's my city! I'm sad to say that I'm not overly surprised. I don't know if it's an everywhere thing, but there's a vocal minority in Victoria that have a real stick up their ass about bike lanes.
there’s a vocal minority in Victoria that have a real stick up their ass about bike lanes.
What's their actual concern/problem? Bike lanes keep bikes out of car lanes and off sidewalks, and they make things safer for everyone while making roadways faster for motorists.
Pinkbike is getting so pathetic. Instead of trying to farm outrage for clicks, maybe do something to actually promote something. Cheap bitches didn't even have an advent giveaway this year. Fuck outside, and fuck Pinkbike for selling out.
Do the same on back and be amazed how clean your back/neck/helmet stays too....it feels like whenever there is some crap on the roads/paths existing mudguards are just that little bit too short to be worth a damn
No joke at all! Bike trailers come as child trailers, cargo trailers, and even pet trailers! So many brands make them, and they work with just about any bike😀
Honestly, I don't want to track my bike down. A thief who is sophisticated enough to get past my lock is probably sophisticated enough to look for a tracking device, so if I find it, it's probably already parted out or tossed in a ditch somewhere. I'm not going to personally track my bike down (seems dangerous), and the police are unlikely to make it a priority. And if I felt the tracking device would help, I'd probably let my guard down because I have a backup plan.
Instead, I make my bike unappealing to steal. I use a high quality lock, avoid parking where thieves are likely looking, and cover up anything that could indicate any sort of value.
I do the same. I’d add; make it a little more difficult/ time consuming to take than the next one. I use a chain lock and a u-lock for different bits of the frame. Hopefully a potential thief doesn’t want to spend twice as long on my bike and leaves it alone.
My area has low crime, so a ulock is an order of magnitude better than the micro-cable locks most people use. I also lock my bike to cart returns at stores if the bike rack is insecure.
So yeah, just be a little more secure than the bike next to you and you're probably good. Thieves are lazy.
Register your bike, with the police and a registry like 529 Garage.
The fact is, police recover hundreds of thousands of stolen bikes, but can't return them to the rightful owner because it hasn't been registered.
FWIW, I use two locks, and a hidden motion alarm when I park my bike. I only have a tracker on the keys for the locks/alarm, but will likely put a Tile somewhere on the bike this year.
Also, keep in mind that thieves are scumbags and will steal anything off your bike: lights, saddle, pedals, accessory mounts, etc.
Do your best. Unfortunately, a motivated thieving scumbag will still try, and if they can't steal your bike, they'll try to damage it.
Literally the only criticism I have about my longtail cargo ebike is that the bike shop culture is still dreadful about them. Many flat scoff and tell you they refuse to do ANY kind of work on any ebike that they didn't themselves sell. It's so ridiculous. I went to my local shop after accidentally popping a piston out and did a surprise full bleed during a brake pad change and asked if they could just top of me off or loan me a funnel, and they went on a whole rant about "insurance" because of the battery (which is removable you dumbasses) and how "specialty mechanics" tools were needed for that kind of thing. Nope, it was just a $20 kit from Amazon and some mineral oil.
Other than that it is a dream. Fits four fullly-loaded grocery bags in the panniers and could easily be expanded with a front/tail basket, cargo net, passenger/child seats, etc.. Easily takes me around town, typically with shorter trips than driving thanks to it being uncongestable and my full comfort with the Idaho stop. I also don't need to find and pay for parking, aside from the occasional place that makes it remarkably hard to lock up your bike through unintentional hostile design choices.
Anecdote aside, I can basically do all necessary service work on it myself, in the climate controlled living room. And the good eBike brands have very responsive customer support, in my experience.
For $2 grand all in, I have a vehicle that serves me better than the car rotting in my driveway. I often go months between cranking the ignition on it. I'd even be able to get lumber on the ebike if I got a cargo trailer if not for the fact that you have to take sidewalks for much of that route because it's on an insane stroad.
I have been into bikes for nearly 30 years now and in all that time I have only ever found 1 bike shop that isn't up its own arse. Even if I go in an speak in a knowledgeable way about exactly what I want I will nearly always get condescending answers in return. They all act like this clique that you are not a part of and so look down upon you as an inferior.
So your experience doesn't surprise me in the slightest. On forums and the internet in general people bang on about your LBS and supporting your "local bike shop" and all that trash but why would I want to support a bunch of cunts who think they are better than me and actively go out of their way to try and prove that in every interaction.
Yeah, I got a racing bike from a local brand that was mainly known for cheap supermarket bikes. However, they did sell small series of high quality bikes directly out of the factory as well. My racing bike is one of those. It was a lucky, heavily discounted grab at their outlet shop sitting there for ages due to the horrendous colour combination of Telekom magenta and sperm white (great theft deterrent 😋).
In the almost 30 years I own this bike now, every bike shop I went to scoffed at the brand and refused to work on it. The only exception was a bike shop at my university town specialising in buying scrap bikes and building new Frankenbikes out of them for the students.
He took one look at my bike when I brought it in, smiled, immediately identified it as a factory bike. He complimented the quality and ease of maintenance, congratulated my purchase (on a 15 year old bike lol) and said he's looking forward to working on it. Save to say he had a loyal customer for the whole time I was living there.
The closest production bike available in the US similar to omafiets would be the beach cruiser. They're available as a single-speed with/without coaster brakes, or internally geared, have wide handle bars, step-through or stylish but still easy mounting frame, and often have color-matched basket and rack options.
Careful with what you wish for. Omafiets and cruisers work where there aren't significant hills. Heavy single speeds really suck when you're faces with even a moderate 4% grade. Practical urban bikes in the US really need some gearing.
It also sounds like it's a situation that even a human driver wouldn't have been able to avoid. Until the tech can see around corners and through solid objects, this kind of thing is still likely to happen regardless of who or what is driving.
Can we get the hyperbole out of here? If OP had actually read (and understood) the article they would have seen it was one of those confluence of events that no one could see coming. As soon as the car detected the cyclist it hit the brakes and the cyclist had minor injuries.
Basically, this car didn't mow anyone down and did exactly what it was designed to do and attempted not to hit anyone.
As soon as the car detected the cyclist it hit the brakes and the cyclist had minor injuries.
Had you read (and understood) the article, you would have seen that police have no details about what caused the crash, so you're basing your assessment entirely on what the company said happened.
They have a certain level of damage-control to contend with, so no doubt they won't be admitting negligence.
I think the cyclist only walked away with minor injuries because of the low speed of the accident (the car was allegedly coming off a stop sign) and vehicle type. But I also think it should have it seen or anticipated the cyclist and stopped sooner, especially at such low speeds.
Unless, of course, the claim is that the cyclist hit the car, and not the other way around.
To be fair, the article is trash. There's details in other publications, like Reuters:
"Waymo said its vehicle was at a complete stop at a four-way intersection when a large truck crossed the intersection in its direction. At its turn to proceed, the Waymo car moved forward.
However, the cyclist, who was obscured by the truck which the cyclist was following, took a left turn into the Waymo vehicle's path. When the cyclist was fully visible, the Waymo's vehicle braked heavily, but wasn't able to avoid the collision, the company said."
Drafting through an intersection is not very safe (I really should stop doing it myself) because of this exact visibility problem. Heck, it seems our cyclist friend cut left because they couldn't see the waymo car either.
Watch out when crossing busy intersections, folk! Cars are bulky and opaque. Yield when encountering busy intersections.
You need to be better. The article says there was a passenger in the car, I'm sure they can and will testify as to exactly what happened.
Again. This wasn't a mowing down of anyone and it was a situation that even human drivers wouldn't have been able to avoid.
I'm accepting that statement from waymo at face value until given reason not to. There are likely witnesses including the aforementioned passenger. Waymo is the one who called the cops. You need to take a breath and stop letting your hatred of vehicles larger than a bicycle color your take on things. It's not healthy and it will lead to stress based health issues down the road.
Can't wait until a guy that loses the ability to use their legs because they got demolished by a self driving cat has to defend themselves against corporate lawyers for daring to exist next to their infallible automated driving car.
Get a strong chain or a beefy cable. Fuhgeddaboutit locks are very reliable (they also make a fine weapon in a pinch). Make sure to wrap the chain/cable so that there is as little free space to get a set of chompers around it as possible. Make sure to include at least front wheel, if not both wheels, in the wrap. Lock should ideally wrap around the post, front tire, and frame. Try to make sure yours is either better secured or less valuable, or both, than your neighbor's. Install a discreet gps locator. Don't leave valuables attached to the frame while it is not directly in your custody.
Be careful not to include another's lock/frame/chain in your wrap. Not only is it extremely inconsiderate and inconvenient, it is a common tactic for thieves to lock someone's bike and come back to it later on the expectation that someone who doesn't know better will assume good faith and come back tomorrow, by which point the thief has had all night to work.
Back wheel is costlier to replace (due to gearing, assuming it's not a fixie/single speed), so I prioritize locking the back wheel if I can only do one.
If you have quick-release axles and don't want to worry about having your wheels stolen, most bike shops have security axles, which have a special key to loosen the axle. I've used them in the past for some extra peace of mind. Just dont lose the key(s)!
EDIT: if you get a LONG, beefy chain lock, you can carry it around your torso like one of those ammo belts. Convenient to not need a backpack or pannier for short trips. Be prepared to spend some $$ on a good lock. It's a great investment.
College campuses are like buffets for bike thieves. Outside of that, most bike theft is a crime of opportunity, and just being locked better than the bikes next to it is enough. But on campus (and other places with heavy use, like outside museums), lock both wheels to the frame and the frame to a rack, and lock the seat, too.
Never lock your bike to street signs if you can help it. They're easy to disassemble. Use a proper rack.
Swap out any "quick release" mechanisms for the kind that use tools.
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