Cycling in Waterloo Region

[ac3r]

Well, we COULD. :'P The entire European Union told Apple to piss off with their proprietary USB cable, for example. It just takes some political will power. But...yeah...that won't happen over here. We love proprietary systems and planned obsolescence.

[danbrotherston]

Here's a good article on how bicycle manufacturing is not - at the moment anyway - sustainable. Note, the website uses solar power and may go offline at times.

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/0...again.html

Interesting. But pulling CO2 numbers from different studies (with different methodologies) does not provide a valid comparison.

In addition, he is focused on high-end road bikes (carbon fibre etc) rather than the commuter/hybrid variety that is by far the most common in the world.

Proprietary components? Yes, increasingly so. But the same thing has happened with cars, with phones, sound systems and so on. I don't think one can prevent that from happening.

I remember reading this article, I think it was posted in the NJBs subreddit, it seemed to be pretty weak...bicycles as remarkably efficient. Even the most wasteful bike (carbon fiber ebike) is going to be vastly better than a car, and as you say, those bikes aren't car replacements, they're toys, bicycles which replace cars are generally sturdy aluminum or steel bikes.

As for proprietary parts, yes and no...they don't have the best standardization, but there is no vendor locks (outside of ebikes from Bosch) and replacement parts are readily available. The idea that bicycles have a repair-ability issue also seemed very silly.

Honestly, it seemed like the author was being...a bit...reactionary...probably cycling is now a bit too mainstream for some counter culture folks (and a server powered by solar with no grid connection just screams counter culture)

[Acitta]

Interesting. But pulling CO2 numbers from different studies (with different methodologies) does not provide a valid comparison.

In addition, he is focused on high-end road bikes (carbon fibre etc) rather than the commuter/hybrid variety that is by far the most common in the world.

Proprietary components? Yes, increasingly so. But the same thing has happened with cars, with phones, sound systems and so on. I don't think one can prevent that from happening.

I remember reading this article, I think it was posted in the NJBs subreddit, it seemed to be pretty weak...bicycles as remarkably efficient. Even the most wasteful bike (carbon fiber ebike) is going to be vastly better than a car, and as you say, those bikes aren't car replacements, they're toys, bicycles which replace cars are generally sturdy aluminum or steel bikes.

As for proprietary parts, yes and no...they don't have the best standardization, but there is no vendor locks (outside of ebikes from Bosch) and replacement parts are readily available. The idea that bicycles have a repair-ability issue also seemed very silly.

Honestly, it seemed like the author was being...a bit...reactionary...probably cycling is now a bit too mainstream for some counter culture folks (and a server powered by solar with no grid connection just screams counter culture)

The author advocates buying old, uncomfortable road bikes from the 60s and 70s. I bought a bike like that when I was 19 and rode it for around 20 years. I switched to a recumbent in '92 and have continued to own a recumbent, except for a 4-year period when my second one got stolen. 3 years ago, I switched to an e-bike and just bought a new one with a bigger battery. I basically stopped riding my recumbent because the e-bike is so much faster than the recumbent, especially going uphill, even though I love riding a recumbent. I turn 70 next month, and there is no way I would go back to the kind of bike that the author thinks people should ride. I don't want to compete in the Tour de France. I don't want to be hunched over perched on a narrow ball crushing seat. I want to sit upright on a bike that is easy to get on and off. I use my bike for practical reasons, for transportation, for shopping and for recreation, not for racing. While there may be some merit in the author's discussion of the sustainability of bicycle manufacturing, the technology of bicycles has considerably advanced since the 1960s. Buying a bicycle today is not like buying one 40 years ago.

[dtkvictim]

Just a few random photos/thoughts...

1) The Water St bike lane just short of Duke St has been torn up for what feels like months at this point (I can't remember for certain). Recently it's been taped off and is impassable, hopefully at least to be repaired judging by the formwork.



2) No photo, but recently 3 or so blocks of the Spur Line Trail were blocked off for resurfacing of the rail crossings. No detour or early warning signs were put up, the trail was very busy, and basically everyone ignored the closure. The same day I noticed a ton of detour signage on the IHT because there was a closure on the Henry Sturm Greenway, so it is possible.

3) Sydney St MUT (I wish the connection from the IHT to Nyburg St was a little smoother)



4) Former Delta St

[danbrotherston]

To be blunt, the right thing to do is to ignore the closure when no detour is provided. That is the way to incentive every level to actually do closures properly. The problem is when the they do detours, but they're poor, but you don't know how bad it is until you get there.

[SF22]

The former Delta St MUT is gorgeous! I want to see the city turn Floral Crescent between Doon & Rockway into an MUT too - there's no homes that front onto it, it could draw more people to Rockway Gardens, and a 100m MUT on Floral could connect it to the Delta path to make a continuous 0.8km MUT.

[tomh009]

3) Sydney St MUT (I wish the connection from the IHT to Nyburg St was a little smoother)

I wish they had put in a few gentle curves into this MUT rather than making it totally straight. However, am still very happy that it was done.

[dtkvictim]

3) Sydney St MUT (I wish the connection from the IHT to Nyburg St was a little smoother)

I wish they had put in a few gentle curves into this MUT rather than making it totally straight. However, am still very happy that it was done.

Why? If it's for boredom, the path is only about a 20 second ride, so I wouldn't worry about that.

[tomh009]

I wish they had put in a few gentle curves into this MUT rather than making it totally straight. However, am still very happy that it was done.

Why? If it's for boredom, the path is only about a 20 second ride, so I wouldn't worry about that.

Not boredom, more for nicer visuals. It has substantial greenery on both so it could have looked a bit more nature-like rather than a miniature highway. Just my personal preference.

[Bob_McBob]

[cherrypark]

Just immediately call the bylaw line when you see this. They are fairly responsive with wait times on the phone, though not sure on actual follow up. Its the only way this routine garbage gets corrected.

[ac3r]

It's fine, they put up traffic pylons!

[clasher]

They've re-paved the cycle track in front of the Bell building at Water/Duke. Part of it is blocked off because it looks like something big scraped a pair of deep gouges into the new asphalt, so I imagine it'll get fixed again but it's passable right now.

[KevinL]

The shed on the IHT just off West Ave has been declared surplus by the City, and they are soliciting proposals for community re-use. https://kitchener.bidsandtenders.ca/Modu...48ee53f06f

[Acitta]

The shed on the IHT just off West Ave has been declared surplus by the City, and they are soliciting proposals for community re-use. https://kitchener.bidsandtenders.ca/Modu...48ee53f06f

The document misspells The Henry Sturm Greenway as "Strum".