If introduced, what could this mean for you as a consumer? Quite simply, at least, 25% increase in price. Again, it’s not approved as of now, but has a fairly high chance to become that, considering 25% tariff on e-bikes is already in place starting August 23, 2018.

What goods are included in tariff list?

Everything from entire assembled bikes to chains, pedals, helmets, lights to bike computers. Full list of bike-related HS codes and categories can be found here.

But will it affect all bikes?

We expect that tariffs will hit budget segment the most. Why? Let’s have a look at statistics first. Here are the facts:

• Of all bikes sold in the US, we import 99%, and that was about 17.8 million units in 2014
• Of that amount, 66% are imported from China, about 27% from Taiwan and the insignificant rest from other countries

Now, given that cheaper bikes are made in China and more expensive and higher-end models are made in Taiwan (not affected by tariffs), you have an answer.

What about accessories, we haven’t found exact stats as to what percentage can be attributed to China, but we expect it’s very close to the bicycle breakdown, with more technologically advanced accessories like computers and GPS units coming from places like Taiwan and more simple ones like tyres or lights coming from China.

Why are the tariffs proposed?

Simply put, to resurrect domestic bike production. Over the past decades, nike manufacturing has shifted almost entirely towards East.  However, it’s not as easy as it sounds. With a few exceptions (like Kent International with their new factory), bikes manufactured in the US are niche products, targeting certain demographic or priced extremely high. Vast majority of mass-market bikes are still imported. At the same time, components used in those US-made bikes, are all imported.

What can be done to oppose these changes?

Bike manufacturers are already doing their best to revert these tariffs. Even though it will largely affect smaller manufacturers who can’t make changes in their supply chain and move production to countries like Cambodia, bigger manufacturers like Trek are taking part in hearing about these new proposed rate hikes.

Private individuals are limited to contacting members of Congress and office of US Trade Representative. More details can be found on People For Bikes.

The post What new proposed bike tariffs could mean for you as a cyclist appeared first on Ride The City.

Here’s a map showing bike helmet laws by country:

As you can see, wearing a helmet when cycling is mandatory in Canada’s British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, Namibia, Australia and New Zealand. These are the places where you can actually get a ticket for not wearing a helmet. In a few other countries it’s also mandatory, but without any fines in case of non-compliance.

What is more interesting, in the most bike-friendly countries like Denmark and Netherlands it’s not even recommended, let alone mandatory. Why so? Because they have infrastructure in place which makes it safe to ride without helmets. Not only that, the motorists are used to nearby bicycles and any accidents are very rare. Here’s how a typical street looks like there:

Did you notice someone wearing a helmet? Still, these are two safest countries in the world to ride a bicycle.

You see, many governments try to fix the problem of accidents involving cyclists by enforcing usage of helmets, instead of creating infrastructure for cyclists, and that, we think, is a major problem here. What is worrying, more and more cities see it as an ultimate way to fix the issue. Of course, it’s cheaper compared to construction projects, separating traffic, educating motorists, etc. But is it a better way?

Enforcement of helmet use is often based on fear. You will see terrifying statistics of brain injuries, interviews with those who survived, etc. But, several new problems arise here.

First, people don’t usually like to be told what to do. Secondly, fear is a great tool to make people do what you want them to. Let’s take an average Joe trying to lose weight who considers cycling a new alternative way to commute to work. It’s a hard decision for Joe, but he’s almost ready to buy a bike. Next day, Joe’s city council passes a bylaw, under which it’s now mandatory to wear a helmet, or you’re getting a heft fine. Joe now thinks, well, they wouldn’t pass such a law unless there’s a threat to me, right? So cycling is now perceived as something dangerous and less appealing. Joe goes back to his car.

When mandatory use of helmets was introduced in Australia, the number of cycling commuters has fallen significantly. As a result, with fewer bikes on the road, cycling is becoming more dangerous for those who still ride. Motorists are becoming less accustomed to their two-wheeling neighbours and accidents happen.

In addition to that, a number of studies show that drivers seeing a cyclist without a helmet are tending to pass him closer or perform a dangerous maneuver. On the opposite, when a cyclist has no helmet, passing motorists will be more careful, slow, and pass with a bigger gap.

This angle becomes even more fascinating when you look at a public health from this standpoint. It’s a known fact that regular cycling helps prevent a number of diseases caused by inactive lifestyle. Now, if we compare a number of deaths caused by non-wearing a helmet and those deaths caused by non-cycling, the difference would be staggering.

What we think is the right approach, is enforcing helmet use by kids. First, because they can’t decide by themselves, yet. Secondly, because kids tend to be less cautious than adults when it comes to cycling.

The post Should You Wear a Bike Helmet? And Should It Be Enforced By Law? appeared first on Ride The City.

Even though bike sharing can be a way (not the only one, however) to make our life a little easier in large metropolitan areas, it faces lots of impediments on its way – from citizens opposing the concept in general to city authorities who don’t like the idea in general.

The reasoning they have to support their claims oftentimes makes sense.

Argument 1: If a bike sharing station replaces a parking space, it causes even more traffic congestion

That’s partially true, but let’s have a look at a bigger picture. How many passengers can a car carry? Well, usually four. However, when compared to bike sharing’s target audience, it’s fair to compare those who drive alone, and ride a bike alone, for that matter.

So instead of one car parked along the curb, we could place eight or even ten bikes on a rack. Oh, and at least the drivers are practicing perfect parallel parking skills, they need some space to enter and exit a parking spot, so that’s another eight bikes, easily.

By now the math tells us that one car parked takes space from approx. sixteen bikes.

Argument 2: Most of the time we see the bike sharing stations, they are stacked with bikes, no one is using them.

Well, that’s true for some periods of the day, but the same applies to cars, right? If you have a look at your city’s main highways or freeways in the morning and compare that to lunch break, these would be two completely different roads.

What’s interesting, sometimes you can see people oppose bike sharing in cities where these problems are critical, and whether a coincidence or not, these are the same towns that have the lowest percentage of bike commuters.

On the positive note, as opposed to car commuting, bike sharing is heavily used during weekends, thus boosting the economy of downtowns on less active days.

Argument 3: Bike sharing only make things worse – sharing stations are vandalized, bikes are damaged and thrown around

This indeed was a problem when bike sharing was a new phenomenon. Now, as we’re getting used to them, so are vandals, and as a result, less and less accidents like that occur.

Argument 4: Bike sharing companies are for-profit businesses, why do we need to share public space with them, not to mention tax-payer dollars?

Well, that’s a fair argument. It’s worth mentioning, though, that tax dollars are rarely spent on these initiatives, if any, at all.

The way these businesses keep working is largely because of private capital and investments, and they don’t make any money. Big funds and private companies keep pouring the cash in, hoping for future profit. But the latter never comes from the bike sharing itself, most often through other channels like ads on the rear wheel.

As for public spaces, that’s true. Even though the racks and stations are often placed with considerations of public comfort and in order to minimize the effect on business, that can cause inconveniences.

However, let’s imagine an ideal world where we commute by (mostly) bikes, at least in the most crowded areas. How much of that space occupied by cars could actually be reclaimed?

While these arguments above are certainly not the only disagreements you can hear related to bike sharing, they are the most commonly used.

And we need to trace why it’s actually opposed to the roots of the issue. It just could be that people oppose change, even if this change is the right thing to do.

Yes, it’s not encouraging to see images like this:

But, maybe, just maybe, the problem is not bike sharing or bikes in general, but the problem is us – not willing to give a new way of transportation a try on our streets?

The post Arguments Against Bike Sharing (and how to oppose them) appeared first on Ride The City.

Last updated on May 20, 2020

Best Apps for Cyclists

With so many apps available for today’s cyclists it’s hard to choose the right one. We have decided to help you here a bit. Below is a list of best apps, defined by categories, that each serious cyclist should have on his or her smartphone:

Navigation-Only

MAPS.ME

Google Maps

Tracking & Navigation

Strava

Map My Ride

Bike Citizens

Tracking & Navigation

ViewRanger

Komoot

Computer Apps

Bike Computer

Cyclemeter

Weather Apps

Epic Ride Weather

Dark Sky Weather

Misc

First Aid by British Red Cross

Bike Doctor

Relive

Bike Fast Fit

Strava

Strava is without a doubt today’s #1 workout tracker (not only for cyclists but for any kind of workout you can virtually imagine).

The application does not only have a fancy interface but what many similar services lack – a huge community of engaged and more importantly, contributing members. This huge social component places Strava way above the competition.

There’s a Premium version that allows you to integrate with 3rd-party devices like a heart monitor in real-time, set custom goals and much more.

Price: Free (there’s a Premium version, too, for $59.99/year)

Website: https://www.strava.com/

Map My Ride

Map My Ride is another great application for cyclists. It has not that appealing interface compared to Strava, but functionality is very similar. Routes library is probably even bigger.

On the downside, the free version is packed with ads. But still, for the cyclists just starting to track their workouts, it’s more than enough.

Price: Free (MVP version gives you more analysis opportunities and costs $29.99/year)

Website: http://www.mapmyride.com/

Bike Computer

Bike Computer does what any, well, at least basic dedicated bike computer will do – it provides real-time data about your ride in a sleek and accessible interface. Just make sure to get yourself a decent phone mount and you’re ready to go without buying expensive devices.

It can integrate with Strava for logging your workouts and external HR monitors to give even more data.

Another great feature is great-designed embeds for sharing on social networks with your friends.

Price: Free, with Premium version available

Website: https://bikecomputer.co/

ViewRanger

This the app for outdoor cyclists among us. ViewRanger has the best topographic maps in the world which are priced very reasonably for the level of detail they offer.

A great feature of this app is Skyline, an amazing implementation of augmented reality that shows your routes in real-time on your phone screen.

As of now, topography maps (for offline use) are only available in Canada, but hopefully, developers will add more countries soon.

Price: Free, detailed maps are extra fee

Website: http://www.viewranger.com/

First aid by British Red Cross

We hope you will never have a chance to use this app. However, it only needs around 60 megabytes of space on your smartphone, so just download and let it sit there, just in case.

What this app does, is self-explanatory. It has all the instructions you need to perform first aid.

Even better, it works 100% offline.

Price: Free

Website: http://www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/First-aid/Mobile-app

Bike Doctor

DIY cyclists who like to do bike maintenance and repairs by themselves will like this app. Those who would like to learn would love it too.

This app is another reminder that you should always have your essential toolkit for a basic bike-related job somewhere with you.

Detailed and well-structured videos on how to perform any bike-related job for only five bucks? We’re in!

Price: $4.99

Website: http://bikedoctorapp.com/

MAPS.ME

Maps.me (previously known as MapsWithMe) is an app that offers the most detailed offline maps for free. You can import your pins from Google Maps or any other app that supports .kml format.

The level of detail is very impressive. On this app, we were able to find tracks that were invisible on major (even paid) apps.

On the downside, search functionality could work better – even if specific POI is present on your downloaded map, there’s a chance you won’t find it via search.

Price: Free

Website: https://maps.me/

Komoot

Another great app for outdoorsy cyclists. It allows to plan your biking adventure, has offline maps and seamlessly integrates with other tracking devices and apps. Turn-by-turn navigation makes things so much easier on hard trails.

The app’s goal is to give you the best adventure possible, so don’t expect shortcuts and fastest routes.

The first region is free, extra ones available via in-app purchase.

Price: Free (first region), extra is paid

Website: https://www.komoot.com/

Relive

Relive app allows you to create a great-looking video of your ride by uploading data from tracking devices and apps.

Of course, once generated the video can be uploaded to your favorite social media or sent directly to friends.

You can have a look at the demo here.

Price: Free

Website: https://www.relive.cc/

Bike Citizens

This is quite an interesting try to combine local city guides (the app is available in 450 cities worldwide) with tracking and navigation.

One of the advantages is a growing community of contributing users.

The application is paid and costs anywhere between $3.99 and $4.99 per city.

Price: Free (first region), extra is paid

Website: https://www.bikecitizens.net

Bike Fast Fit

Amazing app for those who want to analyze their riding position from a scientific point of view.

It allows you to shoot the video of you cycling right from the app and after that, analyze it with mathematic precision – angles, etc.

You will need a trainer stand. Also, it’s only available for iOS.

Price: $4.99

Website: http://bikefastfit.com

Cyclemeter

Another bike computer app that is now available on Android (there was an iOS-only version before).

If you like to attach your phone to the handlebar while cycling, it provides plenty of detail about your ride.

The level of detail and all the graphs, maps and integrations it provides will impress even sophisticated cycling geeks.

Price: Free, in-app option to upgrade to Elite version

Website: https://abvio.com/cyclemeter/

Google Maps

Since Google allowed to download offline maps a couple of years ago, its app became quite popular.

Even when offline, the quality of routes is great, but when you have a chance to download data it becomes very hard to compete with Google Maps.

In combination with any other map that gives access to OpenStreetMap data, you will have the best possible coverage for all your map needs. Yeah, and it’s absolutely free.

Price: Free

Website: https://get.google.com/​

Epic Ride Weather

The Epic Ride Weather app is built with cyclists in mind. The idea behind it is very simple: you take your route from Strava or Runkeeper or pretty much any popular tracker on the market and feed it to the app.

In return, it provides personalized weather forecast specifically for your ride, updated in 10-minute increments.

We absolutely love the possibility to upload custom GPX or TCX files directly to an application without 3-rd party services and get a forecast instantly.

What is even better, the free version provides all the functionality you would probably need.

Price: Free, with Premium option

Website: https://www.epicrideweather.com/ 

Dark Sky Weather

Dark Sky Weather is not built specifically for cyclists. But, it will come very handy for those who don’t like those nasty rains (and honestly, who does?).

The app’s main feature in providing ultra-precise real-time assessment of weather conditions at your current location. When will the rain start? When exactly will it end? Those are questions Dark Sky will help you find answers for.

On the screen, you can literally see an animation of a rain cloud moving around you and make an informed decision about your ride.

Price: $3.99

Website: https://get.google.com/​

We hope you will find this selection of applications helpful. Do you think we missed something and another favorite cycling app of your should be included in this list?

The post Best Cycling Apps in 2020 appeared first on Ride The City.