The five biggest Dutch cities are urging the government to let them ban fatbikes, e-scooters and other motor-powered vehicles from cycle lanes to prevent “total chaos,” the Telegraaf reported on Wednesday. “Cycle lanes should be a safe place for all cyclists, not just the biggest, strongest and fastest,” the cities’ transport chiefs said in a joint statement to parliament’s infrastructure committee, which is debating road safety on Thursday. Local authorities have long warned that cycle lanes are overloaded and were...
  • Cort@lemmy.worldEnglish
    101·
    24 days ago

    What’s the issue with fat tire bikes? If I change my wheels & tires to skinnier options, that saves like 2kg weight. Is there something im missing?

    • pdqcp@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      7·
      24 days ago

      Maybe they just consider fatbikes as a synonym to electric fatbikes now, but from the debates I’ve seen, it’s specifically electric fatbikes, e-scooters and LEV (Light eletric vehicles), due to their heavier weight and faster acceleration provided by the electric motor

      Perhaps they should mention it directly as e-fatbikes or something, like e-scooter, ebike, etc

      • Cort@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        24 days ago

        Whether fatbike means electrified or not doesn’t matter. Switching an ebike from 26x4.0 wheels/tires to 27.5x 2.5 results in a negligible weight difference.

        Are they talking about banning all ebikes regardless of tire size, and just referring to them as fatbikes?

        • phant@lemmy.worldEnglish
          61·
          23 days ago

          I visited Europe recently and 90% of the fat bikes I saw there were the illegally high powered kind. So I dont think they have a problem with the tyre size, just that the majority of those bikes are not suited to bike lanes. Unfortunate association.

          When I was in Copenhagen there were even petrol scooters using the bike lanes and overtaking cyclists within the lane. Sketchy shit.

          • Pup Biru@aussie.zoneEnglish
            41·
            23 days ago

            When I was in Copenhagen there were even petrol scooters using the bike lanes and overtaking cyclists within the lane

            in Antwerp, AFAIK that’s legal (with low speed limits)… could be the same in Copenhagen?

            • phant@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              23 days ago

              Yeah, maybe. Was surprising to see, but no one I saw really seemed to care, so yeah, could be legal~

    • Wahots@pawb.socialEnglish
      71·
      23 days ago

      If I had a nickel for every time I’ve seen someone jam their skinny tires on a group ride, I’d have 10-15 cents. Not a ton, but skinny tires get eaten by tram tracks and cracks in concrete panels that make up roads here. Unfortunately, one of them was not okay. She seriously rung her bell, even with a half face helmet on, and ended up being hospitalized. :P

      Anything under 2in wide in a city setting is a no go, especially with legacy storm drains being a bike-unfriendly width too.

    • Camelbeard@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      23 days ago

      In the Netherlands basically all fatbikes are electric ones. Young adults/teens ride them and also hack the software so they go much faster.

      In the Netherlands an ebike should only work when you actively use the pedals and should go 25 km/h or slower.

      Otherwise it’s a scooter with different rules (license plate, scooter driver license, insurance, etc).

      Many kids (and even some adults) turn them into a scooter, ride the bicycle roads and cause accidents.