"Large shifts in behavior' during commutes create new problems" (notenough room on buses and trains for bicycles)

SMS

Interesting article in today's San Jose Mercury:
"http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9452185?source=most_emailed"

"The problem is more acute on Caltrain, where one in 15 riders wants to
bring a bike on board, according to a Caltrain survey. Three in five say
they've been bumped from crowded trains at least once in the past year,
and one in four former riders who used bikes said being bumped is why
they no longer take the train."

Of course there's a very simple solution--buy a folding bicycle and take
it on board. You can buy a folding bicycle that's good enough for rides
to and from the train station for $200 or so, i.e. the Dahon Yeah,
"http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=32200&src=SRQB".

alanstew@sbcglobal.net

On Jun 2, 5:27*pm, SMS <scharf.ste...@geemail.com> wrote:
> Interesting article in today's San Jose Mercury:
From which I cut this quote:
"Donna Williams of Sunnyvale and her husband, Jim. They purchased
scooters a year ago that get 80 to 90 miles per gallon.
They promised their teens they would be careful and not do anything
stupid - no lane splitting or riding to the front of a line of cars at
a red light."

It's nice they promised their teens they would be careful, what are
they going to tell them when they get smeared anyway? Assuming they
are still alive afterward.
Cheerfully,
ABS

Jym Dyer

> Of course there's a very simple solution--buy a folding
> bicycle and take it on board. You can buy a folding bicycle
> that's good enough for rides to and from the train station
> for $200 or so, i.e. the Dahon Yeah,

=v= How good is the "Yeah" model? Poking around the 'net, I
find that though it carries the Dahon brand name, it's built
by another manufacturer.

=v= I had a really cheap Dahon some years back, and the ride
was so bad I wasn't what you'd call encouraged to use it.
Dahon has improved greatly since then, but I'd hate to see
their good name dragged down by bottom-feeder models. :-|

=v= Personally, I've gone higher-end (Bike Friday), and I
can also give props to another cheapo model, DownTube.
<_Jym_>

Werehatrack

On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:48:11 -0700, Jym Dyer <jym@econet.org> may have
said:

>> Of course there's a very simple solution--buy a folding
>> bicycle and take it on board. You can buy a folding bicycle
>> that's good enough for rides to and from the train station
>> for $200 or so, i.e. the Dahon Yeah,
>
>=v= How good is the "Yeah" model? Poking around the 'net, I
>find that though it carries the Dahon brand name, it's built
>by another manufacturer.

Looks to be of the "okay to use occasionally" level of quality. I'd
put it somewhere just below the level of my old Boardwalk, which is
useful for the odd errand in (for instance) a situation where I need
the car for part of the trip but can bike around the vicinity where
it's required.

>=v= I had a really cheap Dahon some years back, and the ride
>was so bad I wasn't what you'd call encouraged to use it.
>Dahon has improved greatly since then, but I'd hate to see
>their good name dragged down by bottom-feeder models. :-|

Nearly every manufacturer seems to think that an "entry-level"
selection is a necessity, and some fail to recognize what will best
fill that niche without trashing their rep.

>=v= Personally, I've gone higher-end (Bike Friday), and I
>can also give props to another cheapo model, DownTube.

It's nice to see that folders are improving, but until I both need and
can afford a better one, I'll put up with the shortcomings of the old
Boardwalk.

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