Bikes, bikes, bikes

[markbarbera]

Why are the bikes coming from China? It would have been nice if the bikes would have been more locally sourced, like from Quebec manufacturer Devinci. I believe they manufactured the bikes for the Montreal system. Made in Canada is a much more palatable option.

[drpgq]

"Hamilton councillors approved spending the money with Hamilton Bike Share in December 2013 with the expectation that the program would be operational in March 2014."

That seems ludicrously optimistic.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Re China.

Have we reached the point where we can't even supply the population with something as basic as a bicycle? What's wrong with us? Why have we given up? Where is the entrepreneurial spirit? Where's the pride in a made-in-Canada product? Our dependency on the rest of the world to provide us with manufactured goods is shameful. This country needs to take a good long look in the mirror and ask itself what it wants to be because what it is now, ain't pretty.

Insane rant complete.

[beanmedic]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

Re China.

Have we reached the point where we can't even supply the population with something as basic as a bicycle? What's wrong with us? Why have we given up? Where is the entrepreneurial spirit? Where's the pride in a made-in-Canada product? Our dependency on the rest of the world to provide us with manufactured goods is shameful. This country needs to take a good long look in the mirror and ask itself what it wants to be because what it is now, ain't pretty.

Insane rant complete.

The oversimplified answer to your oversimplified question is that Econ 101 tells us that specialization and trade provides the most efficient outcome. We can produce bicycles, but we are better off letting somebody else do it so we can funnel our resources into something else.

[mattgrande]

I think the reason they were made in China has more to do with the "onboard computer" aspect, than the "bicycle" aspect.

[coalminecanary]

Devinci's high end frames are made in quebec but the "affordable" stuff comes from overseas, and all of the parts come from china/taiwan for all price levels. Devinci also got government funding to tool up for bixi production I believe. It's easy to lament the loss of local production but in the end it's all of our fault as end users. Everyone shops for the lowest price and not very many people are willing to pay the true cost for living wage domestic production. The same people who want Hamilton's bike share bikes to not come from china are the ones who would scream bloody murder if we paid twice as much for the system, which is what it would cost. Or more.

[oldcoote]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

Devinci's high end frames are made in quebec but the "affordable" stuff comes from overseas, and all of the parts come from china/taiwan for all price levels. Devinci also got government funding to tool up for bixi production I believe. It's easy to lament the loss of local production but in the end it's all of our fault as end users. Everyone shops for the lowest price and not very many people are willing to pay the true cost for living wage domestic production. The same people who want Hamilton's bike share bikes to not come from china are the ones who would scream bloody murder if we paid twice as much for the system, which is what it would cost. Or more.

this

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

The same people who want Hamilton's bike share bikes to not come from china are the ones who would scream bloody murder if we paid twice as much for the system, which is what it would cost. Or more.

I am sometimes preoccupied with purchasing from Canadian manufacturers (this is getting harder and harder to do) with my own money, but would question why a government needs to purchase from a Canadian manufacturer with other people's money when a cheaper alternative exists.

NAFTA actually precludes government procurement from favouring Canadian suppliers over U.S.- or Mexico-based ones. If you have to open it up that far, why not search the world over for the best value for tax dollars?

[markbarbera]

Call me a Pollyanna, but I am more of the mindset that government policy should be weighed equally between cost efficiency and maintaining a living wage and domestic job security. I don't mind paying more if the job is being done right, on time, and without exploiting the disadvantaged.

[lucasmascotto]

I don't want to get into a political debate here, but I can shed some light on the bicycle's. Starting in October the McMaster Geography Department in conjunction with Geographers Without Borders held a six week certification course that included guest speakers from various governmental and private agencies/corporations including Google. One of the lecture series was hosted by a young urban planner working for the city who's also been working with SoBi to implement their bike-sharing system. The bikes are stored a warehouse in Hamilton and I've seen them myself after asking for a tour. The only problem now is receiving permission to use the tracking devices over the airwaves. Also, the city decided not to go with Bixi because of the myriad of financial issues they were recently under and the permanency of the parking stations which would have been a hassle to remove in the case that it did not work out.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by beanmedic

The oversimplified answer to your oversimplified question is that Econ 101 tells us that specialization and trade provides the most efficient outcome. We can produce bicycles, but we are better off letting somebody else do it so we can funnel our resources into something else.

I loathe the word efficient.

Not to be overly repetitive, but I find it a terrible shame that we have essentially stopped 'doing' and instead are content to simply 'be.' Yes, I lament an earlier, more industrious age and, yes, perhaps I'm totally out of touch with the realities of global economics but there will come a time where we will have to step up once again and start to make things ourselves and I worry that we will no longer have the expertise to do so.

[palace1]

Originally Posted by lucasmascotto

Also, the city decided not to go with Bixi... and the permanency of the parking stations which would have been a hassle to remove in the case that it did not work out.

I can see the advantage of having the GPS/WiFi unit on the bike with the ability to track if stolen or to leave the bike anywhere and offer users an incentive to return it to an official station.

Why are Bixi / BikeShareToronto stations a hassle to remove? I think they only accept credit cards so there's no cash to steal and no need to anchor them more securely than SoBi Hamilton.

Shared bicycles are noticeably different from regular bikes and would be difficult to resell or sell to a scrapyard so they don't seem to be a target for thieves?

[beanmedic]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

I loathe the word efficient.

Not to be overly repetitive, but I find it a terrible shame that we have essentially stopped 'doing' and instead are content to simply 'be.' Yes, I lament an earlier, more industrious age and, yes, perhaps I'm totally out of touch with the realities of global economics but there will come a time where we will have to step up once again and start to make things ourselves and I worry that we will no longer have the expertise to do so.

The reason we can't is that there exists a production-possibility frontier. We cannot produce everything that we need independent of other countries (either at all, or at a reasonable cost).

In the more industrious age, manufactured goods were much less sophisticated and complicated to produce, and there was much less variety in the marketplace.

Excuse me for being pedantic. I'm just trying to give you a helpful response to your post.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^I get it and I appreciate the response.

I just happen to hate what the world has become from an economic stand point. And I wish Canada's economy were a little more industrious and innovative. Yeah, not working within the realm of reality here, I know.

[HillStreetBlues]

You should start the Hamilton Awesomesauce Bicycle Manufacturing Concern.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^It's a fine idea and, yes, it has crossed my mind. There will come a day...

[jeicow]

Originally Posted by palace1

Why are Bixi / BikeShareToronto stations a hassle to remove? I think they only accept credit cards so there's no cash to steal and no need to anchor them more securely than SoBi Hamilton.

Bixi stations require a boom truck to pick-up and move. The big challenge is with systems that don't operate in the winter, where each station needs to picked up. Since most boom trucks can only handle 1-2 stations at time, there's lots of back and forth between picking up one up and then having to drop off off at a warehouse. It's a time consuming process, though not the end of the world.

This doesn't apply to Hamilton's year-round model, however I'd say Hamilton BikeShare's stations would be far easier to pickup and transport compared to Bixi's.

[thistleclub]

The Building Blocks of Bike Culture: Social Engagement and Promotional Strategies
(Spacing, George Poulos, Dec 22 2014)

When it comes to building a bike culture, we here in Canada often look upon the “live-work velodromes” of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and the like with considerable envy. So well ingrained are the quirky intangibles that make up a vibrant bike culture that not even a Københavnere (resident of Copenhagen) would be able to tell you what makes it so – it just is.

While we may not be so fortunate as to have ultra flat cities laid out on quaint medieval templates, many dedicated individuals, professionals, and interest groups have succeeded at defying the common refrain that cycling “just won’t work here”. Indeed, cycling is on the rise in Canada’s cities.

And yet, rather than taking on board and supporting the multitude of social changes which have lead to this growth, the larger narrative surrounding the prospect of more urban cycling has largely been pigeonholed into a debate over “bike lanes” and other grudge matches over rights to public space.

That growing cities with the means to accommodate active mode shares should be exploring strategies to tap into latent demand for cycling is an idea that is gaining more and more traction in Canada. Undoubtedly, the business case for investing in active transportation is very compelling.

And, while many municipalities (such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary, etc.) have succeeded in implementing designs to respond to growing cycling demands, they have largely done so through infrastructure based strategies alone (with a few exceptions). Certainly, no municipality could ever hope to sustain a growth in cycle mode shares without providing an attractive, safe, and convenient means of travel for cyclists. However, limiting efforts to strictly infrastructure build-outs is to leave some very powerful tools on the shelf.

Of particular focus here is the rather marginal attention often given to “social engagement and promotions strategies” within Canada’s cities.


Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

Dundas café bids farewell with New Year’s Eve bash

(Hamilton Spectator, Amy Kenny, Jan 1 2015)

At least one of Krys Hines' neighbours threatened to beat him up if he closed the doors of Café Domestique.

Despite this, the cycling-themed coffee shop said farewell to its regulars at a New Year's Eve party.

"This is a decision that was come to a couple years ago really. I'm just kind of slow," said Hines, who opened the Dundas café in 2010.

The problem, he said, was that Domestique had too much of a good thing – business.

Located in a house on Miller's Lane, capacity for the café (which served coffee, snacks, sandwiches and beer) was 12 in the winter and 40 in the summer when the patio was open. The space wasn't big enough to meet demand.

Scanning the crowd at the NYE party, that much was obvious. Horns sounded intermittently. The café was crammed with well-wishers, most in street clothing, at least one in lycra, a helmet and a cycling jacket.

Ancaster residents John and Kim Rasmussen sat on the porch eating sandwiches from Jonny Blonde food truck, which was parked behind the café. For $40, the beer was all-you-can-drink, but John didn't plan on overindulging.

He had a 40 km New Year's Day ride planned, though he didn't know where he was going to go for his post-ride coffee. There are plenty of places to get a cup, he said, but not a perfect cup.

It wasn't just the coffee though. Community is a word that came up again and again. John said it was through the café that he met other cyclists including Shelly McKee, who nearly cried when she heard about the closure. McKee recently moved to Cambridge from Dundas, but still regularly cycled to Domestique for coffee.


Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

The Year of the Bike Commuter
(Next City, Rachel Dovey, Dec 31 2014)

From cycletracks to helmet laws, 2014 has been a big year for bikes. No longer the domain of the hemp-wearing Portlandia set, bike lanes have been crowd-funded, sponsored by businesses and rolled out across the conservative Midwest. Meanwhile, bike-shares are proving great data sources to track who is riding where — raising questions of equity and safety — and helping to shape policy along the way. In the New Year’s Eve spirit of looking back, here’s a roundup of trends, studies, and controversies that have made headlines over the last 12 months.

Read it in full here.