Trade in my car for a bike?

Alright, here's the deal...

I've been absolutely broke lately, making just enough money to scrape by. One thing that's certainly not helping is my car, which is a total POS. I bought it when I was a teenager, un-beknownst (is that a word?) to the fact that it had been wrecked and basically tottally re-furbished. This being the case I've sunken thousands into it over the last few years and it STILL keeps finding new crap to throw into the road while I'm doing 70 mph on the highway. There's also the fact that I have to dish out a ton of money each month towards car insurance that I've never even needed. Let's also not forget the awesome price of gas these days.

Now, I live in Austin Tx. of all places. Anyone who's been here knows this is a very bike friendly town, hell Lance Armstrong lives here. So why not just sell my crappy car and buy a bike? My only reservations are that while most of what I want to access is close by, there are things that are simply too far to bike to. Also, how the hell do you buy groceries? I know you can get those little baskets for your bike, but those hold what, like a gallon of milk?

If anyone has any input or experience in this matter, It'd be greatly appreciated.

How far is the grocery store? Because I just walk to mine and carry two armloads of stuff back to my place.

It's a bit too far to hoof. I'd say a good couple of miles. I'm sure I could figure something out though...

No really, this is the strongest case I've heard for buying a bike yet.

Dude... paniers (because saddle bags are gay).

Oooh yeah, we actually have a very good bus system here as well. Alright, I think I'm actually gonna do it!

I used one of those little bungie nets to hold groceries when I had a motorcycle. Although, the seat was big enough for two people.

I learned only to shop with a small basket at the store. Not a grocery cart.

Too much for the basket=too much for the bike.

Get a 1/2 gallon of milk?

You definitely don't need a car. Public trans in Austin is decent and, as you said, it is very bike-friendly. Buying groceries isn't that bad if you can resign yourself to going fairly often so that there's less to carry. Or, could you bum a ride with a friend occasionally for groceries? I bet you can make it work! Good luck!

Riding a bicycle has a higher mortality rate per person per mile than walking, or driving a car.

Thanks alot SirPsycho buzzkill. You do raise a good point though, I almost saw someone get run over the other day and I remember one of the members of Stereolab was killed riding her bike. Oh well, anything carries a certain amount of risk I guess.

Happy to help

To be fair, very experienced cyclists like those that belong to cycling clubs have a much lower rate than walking or cars.

But then again, so do safer drivers.

if you need bus advice, I'm your girl.

I know all about not riding the 331 after 9pm, east of congress.

I know that even though the 338 is a straight shot down lamar, its actually quicker to take the 331 to the 1 to head north.

I know that if you live south, the #3 will be your best friend ever.

Also, there is a guy on the 5 who will talk to you about the book DUNE non stop. Every day. For the rest of your life.

PurePhase, are there car sharing services in austin? for the times when you need a car, you could use a car from the pool.

indeed. one can carry quite a bit with a pair of panniers.

of course, PurePhase will need to have a rack installed on his bike in order to carry the panniers. for larger items, just use some bungee cords (or other securing material) to tie down the item to the rack. or he might even consider towing a trailer for those *very* large loads

also, it might be worthwhile to check out places such as the bike forums ("living car free" might be the most relevant to your situation, but be sure to check out the various other subforums as well) and the SG bicycle group.

you can minimize that risk by operating your bicycle carefully, riding in a safe, predictable manner. (read: use reflectors and lights at night--even during the day--and don't ride on the sidewalk or against traffic, nor run red lights or stop signs; be assertive and sure to follow the rules of the road).

Also, there is a guy on the 5 who will talk to you about the book DUNE non stop. Every day. For the rest of your life.

I knew Austin was the place to be.

Seriously I've been without a car since May, I'm not as glad now , the temp. was 17 the other morning , but, I can fit $20-30 worth of grocerys in my back pack. See if they have the bike racks on the front of the bus too.

i live in queens, NY, 30 minutes from NYC... this is a place where you do not need a car at all, this is whats around me: trains, busses, shuttle vans, two taxi cab companys, car pulls everywhere. Im 20 and i got my first car when i was 18, im on my second car right now... even though i live in the plubic transportation capitol I CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT A CAR, i dont know but i've always been like this

Me and my girlfriend ride bikes to work and everywhere else (or walk), but we live in a small town. Also if you asked her she'd rather we had a car, but we can't afford it, but I like biking anyway. One negative is between us we had 3 bikes stolen this summer.

Get a motorcycle. Better on gas, cheaper to insure (at least here in WA), and more flexiblity as far as going places than a bicycle. Also easy to get rock star parking than a car, and harder to steal than a bicycle.

motorcycles are by far the most dangerous form of standard transportation.

If you want to get a motorcycle but only do short city driving, (grocery store ect.) I suggest a small motor scooter. (like a small vespa type scooter) You can't drive them on the highway, but they are even cheaper to insure than a motorcycle, much easier to handle, and many are designed to carry large saddlebags like the size of two bags of groceries.
Many also get gas mileage in the 50-100MPG range.

Edit: They are much cheaper than motorcycles too, you can pick one up really on the cheap if you look hard enough.

[Edited on Nov 19, 2005 by SirPsychoSexy]

Get a used motorcycle.

Criteria:

about 3-6 years old, medium size (650 or so), not a sportbike, preferably with hard bags included. The big scooters are good choices too.

Insurance is cheap (~$200/yr), parking is easy, mileage is great (40-60 mpg) and a 500cc+ bike or scooter will be able to carry a passenger and still have enough power for highway use.

Suzuki SV650, GS500E, Burgman 500cc scooter, DR-S 400 (dirt/street and tall)
Honda 599, CB or Silverwing scooter
Kawasaki KLR650 (dirt/street and tall)

and many, many others. Craigslist is your friend, and have a moto mechanic check anything you're seriously interested in *before* you buy it.

safety:

Cars> Motorcycles> Scooters> pedal bikes.

I certainly won't be getting a motorcycle any time soon. They simply scare the shit out of me. I think I'm gonna stick with the Bike.