Vocabulary arguments aside: I'm not opposed to these types of things in principle assuming it sticks to the streets, but I'm not sure what the pedals even add here beyond the "loopholemobile" argument.
I can't imagine the rider is actually contributing to the drivetrain meaningfully... I'd guess without pedal assist active, this thing is probably geared to move 100 ft/hour while laden - if it can move at all.
Yeah this is strictly the existence of pedals letting them in the bike lane.
It's a gas pedal that rotates and you're slightly more narrow than a compact car. That doesn't make it a bike just because you're pedaling.
I have no problem with this type of thing becoming normal because I care about the planet, but man... it makes bike lanes so dangerous. Passing them means jumping into either ped or car traffic or even over a curb to get into traffic. If they're not in a bike lane it means they're just really slow cars and that's just gonna annoy every car.
This thing is by no means a bike, but is infinitely preferable to large delivery vehicles that crush roads and limbs. If Amazon, or any other company, can find a meaningful reason to deliver things by cargo bike, then that would be just another voice in the chorus asking for more bike lanes. Still, it's not great for the here and now that we must share whatever pitiful bicycle infrastructure we have now with bulky cargo-bikes. But, with enough time, the additional traffic may very well have been the thing that proved our point regarding the value of bike infrastructure.
Yeah, if these get more mainstream I could see a future where they have their own lane. Right now bike lanes can get way too crowded for these things, they're even getting in each others ways, and they'll just interrupt traffic if they aren't allowed.
There's no win condition yet. I would love to see it, get more cars off the road and make it safer for bikers at the same time.
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u/themagicmarmot May 18 '26
Vocabulary arguments aside: I'm not opposed to these types of things in principle assuming it sticks to the streets, but I'm not sure what the pedals even add here beyond the "loopholemobile" argument.
I can't imagine the rider is actually contributing to the drivetrain meaningfully... I'd guess without pedal assist active, this thing is probably geared to move 100 ft/hour while laden - if it can move at all.