Originally I wanted to write a video essay about this, then I realised I’m sick of video essays and I don’t want to make something I wouldn’t watch. When this reddit comment got out of hand, I realised it was becoming the blog post I should have written in the first place.
The cycleways that have gone in in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, and the promise of more in the future, gave me the push I needed to invest in a good e-bike, and it has changed my life for the better.
Cost
My costs have been:
~$5800 initial purchase. This includes:
the bike itself
rear rack + panniers
helmet
bike pump
bike lock + frame lock
3 pre-paid services
I calculated that this, versus half-price public transport and the occasional rideshare, would take less than 3 years to pay off.
You can see the model here for the list of features.
~$200 in parts/service due to user negligence
I tried to wheel my bike up/down a narrow ledge instead of just carrying it, and it broke off my kickstand (twice), and bent my derailleur (once).
~$90 in consumables I jumped the gun on and haven't even opened yet
~$210 in replacement parts and consumables I have actually used
These consumables, and those above, will last years.
$20.XX/month insurance
~50c/week electricity
This is based on assuming I fully charge the battery ~5.5 times a week.
Over the time I’ve owned it (~7 months), my operating costs (that is, everything except the initial purchase cost) have averaged ~$22/week. I won’t be replacing those consumables for a long time, and I won’t be making the same expensive mistakes again, so that average will go down over time. I plan to update here over time as I re-crunch those numbers.
Unfortunately, I don’t have $6k sitting around. Fortunately, I am privileged to be able to borrow money.
My transport costs were ~$30/week (public transport fares have increased significantly since). At the time I was putting $50/week away into savings (it would be less now because everything’s more expensive).
I’ve been paying back the bike at $75/week, which has been kind of brutal; but it’s going to be well worth-it once it’s fully paid off and I’m back to paying just ~$20/month in insurance and a negligible amount on electricity.
Plus I guess it’s less than what petrol would cost; but I’m too gay and poor to drive.
The choice was between:
trying to save $6k at $50/week to buy the bike, or
borrowing the money, paying a little interest, and starting to save immediately.
I think I made the right choice.
My pros and cons of buying a bike
Pros:
It saves me energy.
I find walking really exhausting, and there's still a lot of it involved in taking public transport. Despite all the exercise I'm getting on the bike, I find myself less exhausted at the end of the day than I used to be, and when I go a day without it I remember what things used to be like for me.
I want to be really clear what I mean here—my bike is not just a vehicle; it’s a mobility aid.
I'm getting exercise.
I’m saving money, and will only save more with time.
I even get to claim a % of the purchase cost on my taxes. Self-employment FTW!
I can go anywhere in and around Wellington for almost nothing (and if I'm so inclined I'll usually cycle at least one of the ways out to Silverstream to see family, or halfway to a closer station).
It saves me time.
In the time I would have spent just waiting at the bus stop, I’m already most of the way there.
I can get around on my own timetable.
I can make stops on my journeys super easily.
I can carry more stuff, more comfortably.
It's fun to do (I didn't plan for this).
My ass and thighs look even better than they did before.
I go out more.
I get more fresh air.
Cons:
I can't take passengers.
I'd need to pay another couple grand for a model that can do this, and those don't go as fast. But it's sort of irrelevant as I switched from public transport, not driving.
I think my helmet looks silly.
A cooler-looking helmet wouldn't keep the sun out of my eyes and would provide more resistance, which matters when you're barrelling downhill at 45km/h+.
I have to tuck long skirts and dresses into themselves, and be careful not to flash anybody if I'm not wearing leggings.
My wet-weather gear is not 100% waterproof.
Honestly, it hasn’t been a big deal so far. I won’t melt.
I’m saving money, but I’m not putting anything into savings because it’s all paying off the initial purchase (I have about 13 months left to go). Also because
It’s way too easy to just get on my bike and run down to the store for a little treat, and spend the money I’m supposed to be saving.
Good for local businesses, not so good for me.
However getting medicated for ADHD (finally) is helping get my impulsive spending under control.
The main cycling thoroughfare in Wellington is a shared walking path (the waterfront).
I always feel paranoid when I park it on the street.
Dangerous motorist behaviour.
One time the wind blew my low-cut top down and a boob fell out.
Behaviour on the roads
Rude or dangerous motorist behaviour I have experienced (non-exhaustive):
Getting punish passed.
This happens whether or not I'm going the speed limit. This is the most common one I experience.
Getting yelled at.
This has actually only happened once. I was 4km/h over the temporary 30km/h limit (sue me), and someone drove in the median strip alongside me to yell at me before speeding off.
But he probably didn’t see them posted speed limit, given he had presumably been looking at the phone he had in his hand while he was leaning over to yell at me.
Getting honked at for just being on the road, or for not giving way when I had right of way.
Speeding up to overtake on my right when I indicate to turn right.
Turning across a cycle lane to enter a left-hand turning lane or driveway; either without looking, or incorrectly assuming they had right of way.
This happens all the time at the Bowen St/The Terrace intersection.
Speeding, almost constantly.
Lambton Quay and The Terrace are 30km/h zones; but if I follow the speed limit, I get my ass ridden.
Buy me dinner and shout me a sesh first.
If I speed-match cars in 30km/h zones I’m usually going at least 38. I don't know why people do this—all you're doing is getting to the red light faster.
To be fair, the posted speed limit may be 30km/h, but they clearly aren’t designed as 30km/h zones.
Parking over the cycle advance box.
Overtaking when I’m going at/slightly below/slightly above the speed limit (usually a punish pass), only to make me stop when they can’t manoeuvre around a parked or parking vehicle.
Rude or dangerous cyclist behaviour I've witnessed:
Running red lights.
Almost always it's at empty pedestrian crossings or intersections, but being predictable is important (I’ll come back to this).
Also, I wouldn’t accept this from motorists so I can’t accept this from cyclists without being a hypocrite, even if the stakes are different.
The exception to this is some lights just won't detect you. I've waited ridiculous amounts of time before accepting that the light won't change until a car comes up behind me, which it won’t in the dead of night, so I usually duck in through a pedestrian crossing.
I'll cop to running yellows—sometimes it's just safer than slamming on the brakes at high speed.
I once witnessed someone shoulder-check a pedestrian on a waterfront bridge rather than make any noise at all to indicate they were coming, or slow down and wait, or pass on the left.
I have to thank her though—it helped me get over my fear of ringing my bell making me look like an asshole.
Swerving in between rows of parked cars.
This reduces your visibility and makes it harder to merge back into traffic.
I move slightly to the left in these cases, so I’m giving more room to overtake but am still visible.
Riding too fast, too close to pedestrians.
In my experience, when I witness this sort of cycling behaviour, it’s from people wearing all the kit. I don’t know if some people think hi-vis makes you invulnerable, or gives you right of way, or what.
Rude or dangerous pedestrian behaviour I’ve experienced:
Walking several-abreast in cycle lanes.
Usually the opposite direction of the lane.
I’ve been yelled at for saying “look out! you’re in the cycle lane”.
Not looking, and stepping out into road directly in front of me.
Looking in my direction, seemingly right through me, and stepping onto the road right in front of me anyway.
I genuinely think “nobody uses the cycle lanes”/”nobody rides bikes” rhetoric has conditioned people, on foot or in cars, not to see cyclists.
Walking several-abreast on narrow sections of shared pathways (namely, the waterfront).
Sometimes they’ll move over to let someone pass who’s coming their way, then immediately move to fill that space again. This is something that has always bothered me as a fast walker.
Using the bike section of pedestrian/bike crossings.
I think this may be a design issue, because almost without fail if there is a pedestrian and bike crossing, people on foot will wait in/cross at the cycle section.
One bit of pedestrian behaviour that makes me really sad is when they give way to me when they clearly have right of way.
When people hesitate before crossing at a green person, or give way to me when they have right of way, I know it means they’ve probably experienced someone on a bike blasting through when they should have given way, and they’re expecting me to do the same. This is that predictability I was talking about earlier. It’s much like how it only take a few close calls from cars to shake your confidence on your bike, even if most drivers are fine.
Conclusion, final thoughts
All in all, I’m really happy with my decision to get a bike, and the bike I did. There was a brief moment between purchasing it and receiving it where I was worried it might be overkill, but it gets heavy use, and has been good for me in more ways than I anticipated.
The worst part about the dangerous driving isn’t that I’ve ever actually been hit; but that it makes me paranoid, spoils my mood when something does happen, and makes me feel pressured to go faster when I’d rather just ride at a relaxed pace. But I’m working on this radical acceptance thing, and even though I’ve only been doing it a short while it has definitely helped.
Plus the more cycle lanes and cycleways that go in, the less of an issue it will be.
TL;DR: bike good; asshole driving bad.
Great article - Exactly my experience cycling through Wellington. It frustrates me that in the city my options are to either risk being hit by a car on the city streets or risk hitting a walker on the waterfront. Poor walker bahviour on shared paths is frustrating, but is an issue of poor infrastructure choices rather than an epidemic of bad walkers. The risk from hostile driving to cyclists just gets redirected onto walkers on shared paths rather than actually being dealt with.
If we all had dash cams on our bikes I think the footage gathered would be a real wake up call to how poor the conditions are on the roads in Wellington. Serious accidents are invetable.