Pros / cons of riding a bike?

From a European perspective (I use car/bicycle/train/longboard), a few pointers rather than a pro-con/list

• The more people use a bicycle, even casually, The more it put pressures on local politician to do something

• For short distances (<5km) in town, it's faster than the car

• Gloves are more important than helmet, on the couple of fall I got, gloves protected my hands, while my head didn't hit. However, if you're in a severe accident a helmet can make the difference so I still recommend one.

• Beware of your clothe, if you wear black, at night, without lights, you call for problem, and I can see how even good faith motorists can hit you.

• Paint isn't infrastructure but at least remind the motorists that you have the right to be there. I can see how the mayor call the infrastructure director and ask them for bike lane without any budget, but it sucks

• Be a bit agressive, and look for eye-contact before passing between car, keep distance from parked car, they can open a door, If you don't think a car can pass you with a safe distance (small urban streets) stay in the middle of the road, and stop to the side when you can to let the car pass you.

• A backpack, or bike pack helps a lot carrying groceries, not really an excuse

• The problem isn't that much the winter (unless you live on a really cold place) but the rain, good clothe can help, but still.

Rebuttals to a few of the cons:

• don’t dress like an ‘annoying dork’- unless that’s your vibe, no need to change anything to ride a bike.
• you don’t ‘have’ to wear a helmet. Though there are some less bulky, big, or wherever this cons comes from. Probably best to wear one.
• no need to go fast and work up a sweat, or e-bike as other have mentioned. There may be financial rebates available. Other commuter tips include: bring extra clothes, and wet wipes to clean up once getting to.
• until a matter transporter comes along, it takes time to go anywhere.
• you get to find new routes. Find new shops, new neighborhoods, new parks. Feel like a part of you community. Not locked in a metal box or tube.
• bone conduction headphones, or other non noise canceling headphones
• there are bikes, racks and bags in any combination that can carry all sorts of groceries.
• no bad weather, only bad gear. I’d say heat of summer is worse than winter.

I wear the same clothing when I am biking and not biking. The clothing is by no means a requirement.

Bikes are a scam perpetuated by big tire. Run at full speed for all of your travel.

Pros:

• Green (non industrial footprint)
• No bike to get stolen
• Harkens back to primitive man chasing gazelles
• Fantastic for heart health
• Just as fast as biking if you run as fast as you bike
• No need for safety equipment (raw)

Cons:

• Others will be intimidated by your presence
• May require barge poll to fend off potential suitors

pros:

• I don't sit in a cage in the middle of a traffic jam 2+ hours a day
• When I get to work, I'm awake and in a good mood, when I get back home, I've left the work stress behind
• I'm actually faster door to door than in a car in rush hour traffic on my 8 mile commute
• It keeps me fit even if I don't do any other sports
• It's fun
• I can fix everything myself with a toolbox I bought for 40€
• My bike cost 1000€, 4 years ago, and I think I spent another ... 30€ on it in all that time, for lube and tubes

cons:

• It can't fully replace a car. Around once a week I need public transit for longer routes. Around once a month I have to rent a car, too.
• Bike lanes don't exist or aren't usable everywhere. In places without them you need some thick skin to deal with the incoherent rage of strangers who feel like your choice of vehicle threatens their entire lifestyle.
• Biking has become a political statement for some reason

From your con list, the only one that is actually true in my opinion is:

• little meaningful protection against severe injury
  (which is mostly a problem due to cars on the road)

All the other ones either simply aren't true, or are only an issue if you're starting out and haven't figured out what's important yet.

Electric bicycles are much less tiring to use and go faster / further. Quite a game changer.

With pannier bags and a backpack you can carry quite a lot of groceries.

Music: use bone conduction headphones

Pros

• cheap
• fun
• doesn't pollute
• much lower chance of accidentally killing someone compared to driving

Cons

• might get killed by someone
• get wet if it's raining
• hills

You have the elitist weekend cyclists on 15-20k bikes and the casual commuter folks all rolled up in one list. Not the same crowd.

wow. just wow. what an american hot take. tell me the cons of fresh vegetables please.

Get an ebike. I wear normal clothes. Lycra is for fitting in to fitness biking groups, most don't wear it.

I just use my ebike as a car alternative so I don't have to fight for parking at popular spots in the city or pay for $5/gal gas unnecessarily (unless I'm actually going to a remote place, then I use my car). Gets me to my destination in roughly the same amount of time due to traffic lights and bad traffic. I've actually beaten friends in Ubers because the bike paths are much more direct, typically.

Recharging costs pennies, and I'm usually down to half a battery 45 miles in as long as I'm going in hybrid mode where I'm still pedaling. Gets you stupidly into shape as a side benefit, since you are always pedaling and you can turn the battery off if you want a 67lb exercise bike that also goes places.

Throw some panniers on and you can carry or tow a decent amount of stuff since the bike is electric.

For rain and stuff in the Netherlands (we have some rain) you can get a rain suit I causing pants you can just wear over your normal clothes to work.

Make sure the rain suit has reflector strips or patches.. your lighting and reflectors are key in Beiing seen.

Depending on the commute distance getting an Ebike helps keep your speed up without becoming massively sweaty. You can still exercise but you do it at a steady 25kph.

For groceries you can get cargo bags for on the back of the bike. Depending on the type you get they can store a lot.

Listening to music.. put in one earbud only and have the volume low. But in the Netherlands we have mostly separate bike infra (protected bikebanes and such) so this might still be dangerous if there is no good bike infra.

Lastly, you can choose other routes that would normally not work by car. If you find a cut through somewhere, you maybe can avoid the dangerous stroads all together.

If you're going moderate or short distances in a city, odds are it will literally be faster to bike, even at a no sweat/leisurely pace.

Average speed of commuter traffic in cities is sub 20 kph.

I tried biking in a city awhile back, and someone actually tried to hit me with their door.

Any city that thinks its a great idea to share the road on a bike has never personally tried it.

Pro:

• Look this shitload of money you don't have to pay for insurance, parking and gaz

Con:

• Look this shitload of time you've spent to "fix just this another thing"

I have many friends in the Seattle area, which is supposedly relatively bike friendly compared to other places in the US. Of those friends, only 2 bike to commute. In the last year, both of them have gotten hit by a car and hospitalized.

I know that's just anecdotal, but I don't see bikes as a safe way of travel US unless there is significant change in infrastructure for them.

I'll just comment on the con list

• look like an annoying dork (esp w neon - which also hurts the quaint factor)

You don't have to wear Lycra to bike commute. Comfy shorts, T-shirt and trainers is fine

• have to wear a helmet (^)

Get a decent helmet, it's way less annoying when the helmet is breathing well and sits on your head properly.

• getting sweaty, potentially "unpresentable" for work

Yeah this is pretty annoying. Best advice I can give is to have your stuff sacked into a bag attached to your bike (handlebar bag, pannier, etc). Backpack prevents the airflow in your back and causes ton of sweating

• still have to find safe parking

No comment on this one, as European I've never found myself in a situation where parking a bike is anything but fine

• still takes a while

May take longer but is 267% (I measured) more fun than a car

• have to find new routes to places

This should be a pro

• can't listen to music or might die

Headphones with transparency mode on are great for cycling

• little meaningful protection against severe injury

I'm pretty sure I've seen seen studies suggesting bike commute lowers the chance of injury on average due to the health gains. Or something, not bothering to search for it now. Also I think this might be a bit eurocentric, since the bikelanes are not that great on many other places

• can only carry so many groceries/etc

If you plan on carrying a week worth of groceries for a family of 3, then cargo bike might just be for you. Otherwise, daily shop visits for what's needed are fine with bicycle bags or basket

• sucks in winter

Attitude issue. I love cycling in winter

Just to add, if you go with a bicycle, you do not need to forgoe cars altogether. For those days you need to haul around a bunch of items, you can rent a car through a car sharing service. You can rent them for a few hours.

I've been riding bikes for more than 50 years and never wore a helmet. Now I got an ebike - and a helmet. And I actually like it. It provides a bit of shade, the airflow is still good (it has many air holes), and it keeps almost all sweat from running down my face.

Have a look into E-Bikes, theres a great Micromobility community on Lemmy.

My dad has one with saddlebags and says its more like owning a small motorbike. Sure he has to pedal but he never has to pedal hard. If you're worried about looking like a dork Mercedes make ones that look cool AF.

cargo bikes are getting really practical if thats your bigger worry.

Buy a good lock and put an air tag on it though.

apparently my city literally literally banned public rail funding

How to say you’re in America without saying you’re in America

Con: not suitable for elderly or hanicapped people.

look like a dork

Just dress like a BMXer and not those dorks that do the Tour De France. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Even their helmets are cooler.

One con not mentioned: Exposure to the elements. Being able to ride a bike comfortably in the weather depends on where you live. Prolonged exposure to the sun even with sunscreen is not good. Also, air pollution.

Edit: Lol at the downvotes. I invite you all to bike in my state in the almost 5 months of sweltering heat in our summer. I'm not anti bike at all and I wish more people would do it. I just wanted to remind people that you also have to be equipped for the weather of the place you will be biking at. Also, I do not like melanoma.

Get an ebike. It solves several of your cons at once.

No need to wear spandex or neon to ride on an ebike (or any bike honestly I bike everywhere and the only neon thing I own is my rain pants) just put lights on your bike and don't dress all in black.

Can't help you with the helmet, that one's pretty important but there's lots of nice looking helmets out there.

No getting sweaty on an ebike unless you want to, because you can crank the pedal assist if you're starting to sweat.

Have literally never had an issue finding somewhere to park my bike. Sure have an issue finding car parking though. At the downtown garage I park at, cars are $20 an hour but bikes are free.

You'll probably go faster than the cars if there's lots of traffic. We've done a car vs bike race a few times when we had both starting the same place and going to the same place and the ebike always wins or is like 10 minutes behind at most.

Bluetooth speakers and transparent headphones both solve the music issue.

Many ebikes have extra cargo capacity, so grocery runs are easier. If you've got a large family then you might need a cargo bike or to rent a car periodically for large trips.

The only real downside imo is the weather if you live somewhere extremely cold/hot and the safety from riding near cars. The rest is easy to get over once you're zipping down the road at 20mph getting those sweet, sweet biking endorphins.

Bone conduction earphones will let you listen to music without occluding external sound.

https://lectricebikes.com/products/xpedition-dual-battery

I have the extra large crago bags for this and I have brought home a week's worth of food from the store up and down a mountain near where I live. It is still a bit of a struggle but pedal hard. I use it to go to work 2 miles away (I know, I'm VERY lucky) and I use it to replace driving anywhere over 10 miles away from home. The charge on the batteries last forever since I use only lvl 2-3 on pedal assist since I prefer to pedal.

There are solutions

Legit medical issue for men, doing it too often can negatively impact your performance in bed, IIRC especially if you ride on unpaved terrain a lot.

little meaningful protection against severe injury

This is why I'm an advocate for seatbelts for bicycles.