elfs | Vime's Theory of Electric Bicycles

Commuter transportation leads to negative returns when it admits, anywhere in the system, speeds much above those reached on a bicycle - Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality

Vimes Theory of Boots is a popular exerpt from Men At Arms by Sir Terry Pratchett in which Captain Samuel Vimes explains that the rich are rich because they spend less money:

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

Vimes doesn't delve into the side effect of the poor man's boots "leaking like hell," but consider them: Wet feet become tender and can suffer from infections. The rich guy with the ten-year boots also walks further and gets more done in a day because his boots aren't slowing him down. He doesn't suffer from wet, gross, painful feet; he doesn't experience the sharp rocks and cobbles of Ankh-Morpork. The rich are richer not just because they can buy stuff that lasts, but because they can buy stuff that doesn't get in the way of their business.

I bought a $1500 electric-assist city-commute bicycle recently. That's four times more money than I've ever spent on a bicycle, and ten times more expensive than a routine commuter bike you might find on Craigslist. Vimes' Theory of Boots applies to this bicycle. This bike is built like a tank, will probably last ten years, comes with kevlar-lined puncture-proof tires, and fits neatly into that niche between a weekender sports bicycle and an automobile.

But more than that, it lets me get things done in a way I couldn't before. It gets me out of my car and away from the fumes. (Of my car; I can't do anything about the other cars.) It exposes me more to the sun and the weather, which I contend are actually better for us than spending all day inside our caves. And because it's an electric assist, I still have to pedal-- this bicycle lets me, a 50-year-old middle-class dude, maintain a solid daily cardio routine that's more than jumping in place in front of a TV screen while at the same time protecting my knees from the ravaging effects of hard starts and murderous hills.

Yes, I spent $1500 on a bicycle. That will pay back itself back in better health, lower gasoline and automobile usage costs, and a better feel for my neighborhood. Without markedly slowing me down. Over five years, the gas costs alone will be recouped enough to justify the expense.