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The car-free teenager thread

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Living Car Free Do you live car free or car light? Do you prefer to use alternative transportation (bicycles, walking, other human-powered or public transportation) for everyday activities whenever possible? Discuss your lifestyle here.

The car-free teenager thread

Old 07-19-15, 11:58 PM
  #326  
Krieke
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Originally Posted by JamesEnglish111
I am also a competitive swimmer, my swim practice is about 15 miles from school. So if I bike to school on that day, I have to take two separate buses, which takes a little bit more then one hour (the bus has a bike rack) ...
If it takes you an hour to cover 15 miles on a bus, why don't you just cycle? That should be a lot faster.
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Old 07-26-15, 11:37 PM
  #327  
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Originally Posted by Krieke
Differing cultures indeed.

In my country (Switzerland) you have to be 18 for a driving licence. Kids walk or cycle to school here, even to kindergarden. And increasingly when kids turn 18 they don't bother with getting a driving licence anymore. Only 60% of the 18 to 28 yo. have a licence, and that is dropping every year. You can't text while driving, but you can while travelling on public transport...
Frankly the idea of someone so young owning a car is freakish. There's no reason to make a society that way. I'm glad that this problem is going away in your country now.
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Old 10-17-15, 03:27 PM
  #328  
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I'm 15, and I already have a car that my grandparents gave me. My friends think I'm crazy because I know for a fact that I'm gonna put like three times as many miles on bikes each week than on my car. I just like living life with excitement, and I already don't like sitting in a car for hours moving at a constant speed for hours, so I'm not very excited at all for driving. I have actually thought about maybe building a go kart or buying a motorcycle as an alternative to a car though, that would be fun. I want to get a vintage steel framed bike, put 700c wheels on it with cx tires, drop bars, a singlespeed kit and a bunch of homemade safety devices. I would add a rack and some panniers and a wood milk carton then I would be living the bike life.
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Old 11-18-15, 05:01 PM
  #329  
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Originally Posted by Bugstomper2000
I'm 15, and I already have a car that my grandparents gave me. My friends think I'm crazy because I know for a fact that I'm gonna put like three times as many miles on bikes each week than on my car. I just like living life with excitement, and I already don't like sitting in a car for hours moving at a constant speed for hours, so I'm not very excited at all for driving. I have actually thought about maybe building a go kart or buying a motorcycle as an alternative to a car though, that would be fun. I want to get a vintage steel framed bike, put 700c wheels on it with cx tires, drop bars, a singlespeed kit and a bunch of homemade safety devices. I would add a rack and some panniers and a wood milk carton then I would be living the bike life.
I'm not much older than you, but after I got my first taste of the 'standard 8-5 auto commute' a few years ago, I realized that I don't want anything to do with that lifestyle. I honestly don't know how people can take a car commute with traffic everyday for decades. This past summer I was able to do a 16 miles each-way commute 2-3 days/week while interning. It is possible to live an otherwise 'normal' life while cutting back on car usage. I don't think I'll ever be truly LCF though.
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Old 11-18-15, 10:49 PM
  #330  
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Originally Posted by Cute Boy Horse
Frankly the idea of someone so young owning a car is freakish. There's no reason to make a society that way. I'm glad that this problem is going away in your country now.
Things have changed so much. When I was a teen the idea of not owning a car was freakish. I get nostalgic for those times, yet I realize that this way is better.
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Old 02-10-17, 09:00 PM
  #331  
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Biking is a viable alternative to cars for sure. Problem is I've really come to love hardware stores and the things they have in them.
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Old 02-11-17, 01:27 AM
  #332  
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Originally Posted by pBFa1
Biking is a viable alternative to cars for sure. Problem is I've really come to love hardware stores and the things they have in them.
Welcome to the LCF forum!

Why is it a "problem" for you to go to the hardware store?
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Old 02-12-17, 11:03 PM
  #333  
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I buy long pieces of wood up to 12' long to build things with. It's hard to haul those on a trailer. I used to be of the mindset that if I had to pick up something like that, it was just mind over matter and careful preparation that would enable me to do that with car. But I also wasn't doing it then, so who's to know whether it was that easy.
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Old 02-22-17, 03:45 AM
  #334  
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Originally Posted by pBFa1
I buy long pieces of wood up to 12' long to build things with. It's hard to haul those on a trailer....
could always try a cargo bike, or bolt on a Burley Long Hauler, or even invest in a cargo-trike or cargo-quad!

XYZ CARGO

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Old 02-26-17, 11:39 PM
  #335  
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Originally Posted by jonescanada
I can't get over how many people mentioned that everyone in their school drives or they are the only ones who bike. I know I didn't grow up in the richest neighbourhood but not many people in my high school drove and almost none owned their own car. That was 8 years ago but still. The 4 people I can think of who owned their own car didn't go to University because they "didn't have the money". I should mention that in Southern Ontario you generally don't live more than a 45 minute walk away from your high school in an urban/suburban area. Where all these other kids got money to own a car at that age is beyond me. My insurance was about $4,500 a year when I got my own car at 20. My advice to anyone. Get your license right away because you might need it and the longer you have it the lower your insurance will be. ANd don't but a car until you have a career type job.
My thoughts nearly exactly.
I would like to add that car debt, like most debt, for a single person is a pretty foolish way to put your best foot forward. Cycling is a great way to leverage your meagre income to either be in less university debt later or start saving in early adulthood to buy other self-sustaining things for living that won't require your indebtedness, etc.

Dumpster diving, anyone else? Throughout university I didn't have paid work, but I strapped on a milk crate and would regularly bring home 2 weeks of food on the bicycle. So it was rent, salt and butter for me. I refused to buy looseleaf to write on when I could find piles of blank-side scrap paper in the library bins, and I found a lot of pens in the hallway, and didn't have wifi in my place because I lived in a rooming house.
A reliable, well-maintained bike with cosmetic anti-theft qualities is a good thing to have when you're worked for ete university and paying for it. Too anybody looking to cut costs and work less, I bring up bicycles, even though I'm not longer in that position.

I wish I was biking right now but I have a chronic crotch injury that flares up from cycling so that's a bit of an obstacle.
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Old 06-13-17, 08:17 AM
  #336  
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I think if I were to buy a car it'd be a truck, since I'd only need it occasionally for going somewhere far and helping someone move or something. If I'm gonna spend thousands of dollars on a car, it'd better be versatile.
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Old 07-16-17, 03:58 AM
  #337  
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Originally Posted by digitalmouse
could always try a cargo bike, or bolt on a Burley Long Hauler, or even invest in a cargo-trike or cargo-quad!

XYZ CARGO

Did you make one- or ride one? I made the one seater trike last year. I think for hauling thimber I would buy the long Surly trailer- or build a long trailer with this system. I am suprised that "nobody" is building these bikes (xyz).
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Old 07-16-17, 07:02 PM
  #338  
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His beard isn't grey. It would be more 'hip' I suppose. Like R. Crumb's "Keep On Truckin".
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Old 07-16-17, 07:04 PM
  #339  
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PS The 'teenagers' I know without cars are broke, lousy drivers or both.


I am an awfully old teenager and both.
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Old 07-18-17, 09:31 PM
  #340  
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Originally Posted by badmother
Did you make one- or ride one? I made the one seater trike last year. I think for hauling thimber I would buy the long Surly trailer- or build a long trailer with this system..
I built my own 'cargo quad / rickshaw' from my old Anthrotech trike and a used rickshaw I picked up cheap then welded them together.



The historical photo album of the rickshaw's build history can be found here: https://goo.gl/photos/gRFNGLoi9nJwpLZJ9

Originally Posted by badmother
...I am suprised that "nobody" is building these bikes (xyz)...
I would not say nobody. XYZ has made quite a few of these in various configurations already. I visited their shop this past winter and there were several frames up in jigs in various stages of completion. They have become quite busy this year.

And they are not alone! There are several companies building quad recumbents for all sorts of purposes. A model I am looking at is the Velove Armadillo from Sweden - their factory is a few hours away from Copenhagen by train. A short video of the model I am interested in:
and their main website talks about the flexibility of the platform for cargo use: Velove | Active mobility and last mile logistics for liveable cities.

As a cargo recumbent:

As a people carrier:

With a trailer:

Quite a versatile setup from the Swedes.

The Dutch and Germans also have similar offerings.

Last edited by digitalmouse; 09-27-20 at 09:50 PM. Reason: fixed missing photo
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Old 07-23-17, 01:10 AM
  #341  
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Great pics from Digital Mouse. Thanks!
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