@paul April 22, 2026, 12:56pm

Good to see the Irish Times promoting cargo bikes as car alternatives. I'm somewhat down on the "economic" motivation, because fuck that: there's so much else going on, but these things need all the promotion they can get. For sure people need cars, but I can believe that 80% of the 80% who default to their car could be biking, and Dublin would be so much better for it. https://www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2026/04/22/how-a-cargo-bike-can-save-you-a-fortune-in-motoring-costs/

7 replies

Joe Drumgoole April 22, 2026, 1:04pm
Its faff of bikes that get in the way of their use. The locking and unlocking, selecting the right gear, finding your panier, pumping tyres and of course puntures. I speak as a cyclist of 30 yrs.
Paul Campbell April 22, 2026, 1:11pm
I mean, I hear you on the faff, but I don't think it's that much of a put off. In Dublin I think it's more of a combination of inconsistent infrastructure and an over-prevalence of spandex cyclists with high-end road bikes. Also massive disrespect for cyclists from drivers. It's a bunch of stuff.
Joe Drumgoole April 22, 2026, 1:29pm
Yep, but the faff matters more for short trips
Rich April 22, 2026, 1:48pm
I’m lucky that I have a garage so it’s easy to put my bike away and get it out again, but for me it’s less faff to ride my bike to the shop than it is to drive.
Joe Drumgoole April 22, 2026, 1:51pm
If you have to bring a bike through the house or dig it out of external lockup (where in both cases the bike must locked) jumping in the car parked outside is always preferable unfortunately
Rich April 22, 2026, 1:53pm
Yep I can see that. Need to do more to make driving less appealing and cycling more.
Paul Campbell April 22, 2026, 4:53pm
I know I'm a counter-sample of 1, but I'm at the point where pulling the bike out is almost always my preference. But that's certainly a "whole mindset" thing, where I much prefer the overall feeling of cycling to that of driving.