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Comment by thebigjewbowski | Hacker News Reader

I surely can’t be alone in just not picturing myself on a bike…

I walk, take public transit, Uber, etc but will often drive myself places a little too far to walk despite the inconvenience of parking when I get back because of it.

All it might take to adjust to this is starting to do it… anyone go from bike-curious with an aversion to biking in general to a full blown biker?

Also, anyone living in a city with an e-bike: is this very expensive, easily stolen item you have to park outside of a store often stolen?

Edit: just to clarify I know you are supposed to use a bike lock but … bikes and tires and whatnot regularly get stolen regardless. Just curious if e-bikes are more of a target.

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Yeah, I wasn't exactly sceptical but didn't really bother because we didn't have anywhere to lock them up. I would say dockless e-bikes were my gateway drug. We lived somewhere the docked (Boris Bikes) scheme didn't go, so suddenly being able to get around with low effort really opened our eyes.

Once we got access to a street lockup here in London, my wife and I both bought e-bikes (these ones https://analogmotion.com/). We have good insurance and a couple of gold rated locks and so far have managed 2 years with them in London, a city notorious for bike thefts.

I don't do everything on the bike, and I don't take it out if I'm going out normally - though the times I have it's been fine/not stolen. It's great. We haven't owned a car in the 7.5 years since we moved here and can't imagine going back to a way of life where we have to.

It's a long game. The right thing to do is to start to shift toward bike-friendliness and bicycle-centric programs and infrastructure projects. Then get the kids on board. Part of this will probably require a rethinking of neighborhood schools vs bussing. Then make it easy for people to live near their jobs, and create incentives for self-propelled & mass transit commuting options. It's a decades-long process.

> All it might take to adjust to this is starting to do it…

Nailed it. For a long time, I was an avid user of public transport and I couldn't imagine myself on a bike (nor in a car.) Then life forced me onto the bike and it became the most natural thing in the world.

I also had a period where I couldn't imagine taking the car anywhere, but life has forced me to take a car more often now than in the past, and I'm starting to get used to it. So now I use the bike for shorter distances and the car for longer ones, generally.

That said, I haven't taken public transport in ages, and I can't picture myself doing it now. (Much to my wife's annoyance.)

If you think a bike lock is not enough just get two. More work for thieves and they'll steal the bike next to yours. For you tires and seat avoid the quick clamp. And have an insurance just in case. And I do bike, but also walk and take public transport. You don't need to be hardcore. They can even be combined.

What do you mean you can't picture yourself on a bike? Why not just try it?

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