Why don't you own an electric bike?

[oracleslave]

But for day to day use around town and getting to work, they're a complete hassle. Certainly compared with a bike.

Yes.

Weather. Far too variable in the UK. End up soaked in sweat and soaked by rain on the same journey. Don't want to sit at the clients smelling of BO or sitting in wet clothes.

Not very business like either. "Here's our top IT consultant. As you can see he can't afford a car on his £800/day and sits in Lycra all day."

Also, have to carry laptops and the like. One tumble and that's that gone for good.

Roads are lethal here too.

I want luxury. I want heated seats that massage me, climate control, top end sound system.

For all the reasons the prawn mentioned count me out.

[TheBigYinJames]

Do you really find driving to be about freedom?

You can compile an equally hideous list of things you have to put up with when you are a cyclist.

The main difference between a car and a bike is that in a car, most of the hardships are financial. Witgh a bike, most of the hardships are physical. Choose your poison. Since I'm relatively wealthy, I don't mind the financial downside of a car, no matter how much money I have, being soaked in a rainstorm 4 miles from home is not something I would choose voluntarily.

[dang65]

You can compile an equally hideous list of things you have to put up with when you are a cyclist.

Go on then.

What have we got so far?

1. You get wet. This is very, very rare, certainly on the ride in to work. People would not cycle every day if they were getting soaked on a regular basis. It just doesn't happen. And I live in the North West of England where we get a pretty good share of the world's rain.

2. It's dangerous. So is pretty much every activity we do. I've been cycling to work for 20 years now and have been hurt once, when a van hung a left without any warning and swiped me off at full speed. Something like that could have happened if I was driving or if I was walking.

3. Hills. Once you've got a few weeks' cycling out the way and stopped aching and loosened up a bit, you'll go looking for hills. "Hills" are built in to the programs of exercise bikes. They're the bits that give you the real buzz FFS.

4. Punctures. Modern cycle tyres with kevlar lining (actually what kevlar was originally developed for) almost eradicate punctures. They can still happen, but it's so rare that it's probably more common to lose your car keys or something.

What I mean is, the cons of cycling are myths once you get into it. The cons of driving are genuine and happen all the time. I do have a car, so I do know. Even if you completely exclude the financial aspects because you're loaded, you still get stuck in traffic, and you still have hassle finding parking spaces, you still have to monitor your speed and speed cameras, you still have to stop and fill up with fuel every few days.

Cars are the winner over long distances, certainly, but we're talking about the daily commute here. Even Top Gear has proved that bikes are way faster on a couple of occasions.

[oracleslave]

Go on then.

What have we got so far?

1. You get wet. This is very, very rare, certainly on the ride in to work. People would not cycle every day if they were getting soaked on a regular basis. It just doesn't happen. And I live in the North West of England where we get a pretty good share of the world's rain.

2. It's dangerous. So is pretty much every activity we do. I've been cycling to work for 20 years now and have been hurt once, when a van hung a left without any warning and swiped me off at full speed. Something like that could have happened if I was driving or if I was walking.

3. Hills. Once you've got a few weeks' cycling out the way and stopped aching and loosened up a bit, you'll go looking for hills. "Hills" are built in to the programs of exercise bikes. They're the bits that give you the real buzz FFS.

4. Punctures. Modern cycle tyres with kevlar lining (actually what kevlar was originally developed for) almost eradicate punctures. They can still happen, but it's so rare that it's probably more common to lose your car keys or something.

What I mean is, the cons of cycling are myths once you get into it. The cons of driving are genuine and happen all the time. I do have a car, so I do know. Even if you completely exclude the financial aspects because you're loaded, you still get stuck in traffic, and you still have hassle finding parking spaces, you still have to monitor your speed and speed cameras, you still have to stop and fill up with fuel every few days.

Cars are the winner over long distances, certainly, but we're talking about the daily commute here. Even Top Gear has proved that bikes are way faster on a couple of occasions.

Couple of questions:

1) Do you have a shower when you arrive at work before donning a suit and tie?

2) Do you cycle with a laptop, briefcase etc etc?

3) Do you go into the same office, sit at the same desk, have the same routine every day?

[TheBigYinJames]

Go on then.

Cars are the winner over long distances, certainly, but we're talking about the daily commute here. Even Top Gear has proved that bikes are way faster on a couple of occasions.

And there's the rub. As contractors, we don't have a fixed place of work, every few months we go somewhere else, and the chances of a large proportion of them being within cycling distances are small.

In fact I'd go so far as to include "cycling to work" as an IR35 indicator

[Moscow Mule]

And there's the rub. As contractors, we don't have a fixed place of work, every few months we go somewhere else, and the chances of a large proportion of them being within cycling distances are small.

In fact I'd go so far as to include "cycling to work" as an IR35 indicator

If you cycle to a metropolitan area, you'll undoubtedly be near a gym - leave you're sweaty cycle gear there, have a shower and walk to your temporary assignment all fresh and lovely...

[Moscow Mule]

Couple of questions:

1) Do you have a shower when you arrive at work before donning a suit and tie?

2) Do you cycle with a laptop, briefcase etc etc?

3) Do you go into the same office, sit at the same desk, have the same routine every day?

1) In the gym, or temporary location if available

2) Yes, get a rack on your bike - two panniers allows you to carry everything you'll need for the day

3) Irrelevant?

[Churchill]

Do you really find driving to be about freedom? You get stuck in traffic, have to endlessly watch your speed, have to pay enormous amounts of money before you've even moved an inch, and even more if you do move an inch, you have to hunt for somewhere to park your mobile sofa and then you have to pay for the privilege. You have to take a test to be allowed to drive, you have to register your vehicle, you have to insure your vehicle, you have to have your vehicle tested every year, you have to pay duty on your vehicle and display the disc, you have to stop and fill up your vehicle every, what, 300 miles or so?

You've got a bizarre idea of freedom.

Sure, for odd trips to the countryside, or to see relatives a couple of hundred miles away, cars are way more convenient than public transport. But for day to day use around town and getting to work, they're a complete hassle. Certainly compared with a bike.

Do you really deny that cars cause congestion, noise, danger, smell and CO2 emissions? Do you really believe that you shouldn't pay for that? Why should the thousands and thousands of people that don't own a car, or only use theirs on rare occasions, have to put up with your stink with nothing in return? No one's stopping you having your "freedom", but you have to contribute something to the coffers in return.

OK, how much of an impact are either of my cars producing on the environment and atmosphere?

I own a Range Rover 4.2SC and an Audi R8. I can only drive one vehicle at a time.

Point out the little bunny rabbits that my exhaust emissions are killing.

Also, before you start harping on about CO2, just remember that the CO2 produced by a vehicle is a lot higher because it has a catalytic converter!

[dang65]

Couple of questions:

1) Do you have a shower when you arrive at work before donning a suit and tie?

2) Do you cycle with a laptop, briefcase etc etc?

3) Do you go into the same office, sit at the same desk, have the same routine every day?

1) Yes, I have a shower. And I have a locker to keep my work clothes in. I don't wear a suit at work and haven't done so for the entire 25 years of my working life. Occasionally wear a tie, but not if I can possibly avoid it.

2) I have a backpack and/or panniers. I carry clean clothes when required, pack lunch, foolscap notebook, phone, mp3 player, couple of other things. I have carried a laptop in the past but don't need to at the moment.

3) Most the time I am in the same office at the same desk. Again, that's applied for most of my working life in all sorts of different jobs. I'm not a salesman or repairman. Why would I need to move about, apart from the odd meeting in another building or something?

[dang65]

OK, how much of an impact are either of my cars producing on the environment and atmosphere?

I own a Range Rover 4.2SC and an Audi R8. I can only drive one vehicle at a time.

Point out the little bunny rabbits that my exhaust emissions are killing.

Also, before you start harping on about CO2, just remember that the CO2 produced by a vehicle is a lot higher because it has a catalytic converter!

Every time we have this discussion I specifically don't harp on about CO2 or "Global Warming" or little bunny rabbits being killed by exhaust emissions.

The impact your vehicle is having on the environment (the world directly around you) is in noise, dirt, smell, congestion and danger to others.