How people in 100 cities ride bikes differently | The Shifter Global Bike Culture Index

It's here! The first-ever Shifter Global Bike Culture Index, which compares the culture of cycling in more than 100 cities around the world - and it all came from viewers of this channel. And the results are endlessly interesting.
The background: A few months ago, to mark 100,000 subscribers, I asked all of you to help me compare the different cultures of cycling around the world. I had no idea if this would work, because it involved a big request: Asking viewers to record a 20-minute video of cyclists in their city, then tallying up things like types of bikes, clothing, helmet use and demographics. But I was overwhelmed by the response. More than 100 cities from four continents are represented. And this video is all about the results.
Here's a map I made with the data (the icon in each city represents the most common type of cycling in that city): www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mi...
Want to explore the anonymized data yourself? Here is it. If you do something cool with it, please share: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
For the record: This data isn't scientific, so don't read too much into it. It's just a fun exercise. And I apologize in advance for those cities whose names I mispronounce and for any errors that may have emerged from the data -- this was a big project and I did my honest best.
0:00 Intro
0:40 Check out my new wall ornament!
2:30 Representing this data in pictures and maps
3:41 Global data
4:11 The bikes we ride around the world
12:21 The clothes we wear while riding bikes
15:27 Helmets
18:26 Demographics
20:33 Questions and surprises
24:02 Thanks to those who contributed
#cycling #bike #commuting
Big thanks to Two Wheel Gear for being Shifter’s bag and pannier sponsor. Not only are their products great, but they are also amazing people who care deeply about urban cycling. They support me, so please support them: www.twowheelgear.com/
Buy my book Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling: rmbooks.com/book/frostbike/
I don’t really do proper product reviews, but here are some products that I’ve tried on this channel that I like. (Of course you don’t need anything fancy to ride a bike, other than a bike, but these are Amazon affiliate links, and I get paid a small commission if you buy them 😉)
• Here's the winter bike I'm riding these days: bit.ly/2PhqUqF
• Cliq Smart Bike Light (nice rear brake light): amzn.to/39lfqwo
• RedShift Acrlight Smart LED Pedals (clever lights for your pedals): amzn.to/3NL1Npg
• Aftershokz Titanium bone-conducting headphones (if you want to listen while you ride): amzn.to/3e9Tofa
• JBL CLip 4 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker (for your party-pace group rides): amzn.to/3pcMLPm
• Crane Bicycle Bell (the ding is sublime): amzn.to/3OwfZCu
• Ibex Merino Wool clothing (good for summer and winter): bit.ly/3xXkbEd
• Bicycle Cargo Net (why did it take so long for me to buy one of these?): amzn.to/31s1Ovu
• Vaude Cover II Rain Poncho (for higher-end, try Cleverhood or People’s Poncho): amzn.to/3jLkift
• Kryptonite U-Lock (your bike is going to get stolen eventually, sigh, but at least make it hard): amzn.to/3tPWcGi
• Peak Design phone case (the one I use, paired with the Peak Design phone mount): amzn.to/3HGM0FU
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[@jasonschubert6828]

The Japanese bikes are called Mamachari, literally mummy bikes, and I was amazed that _everyone_ there rode them, kids, mums, men in business suits, old fishermen. It was honestly great to see. Note that Japan has rules where if a car hits a cyclist or pedestrian, they are pretty much going to jail, no ifs, buts or maybes. It definitely changes the dynamic.

[@OfTheGaps]

Actually, Mamachari are _literally_ "Mama Chariots", but I agree with the points you've made. I commute on a pedal-assist Mamachari daily. When it's cool, I wear normal clothes. When it's hot, I wear shorts and shower at work. Drivers here are almost too polite sometimes. I often come to a crosswalk and stop, only to have a driver slam on their brakes and nearly cause an accident just to let me cross in front of them. Most times, it would have actually been faster and safer to just keep going, but I do appreciate the gesture. Also, it's acceptable to ride on sidewalks here. Where I live, the streets are too dangerous, but the sidewalks are very wide, and fairly empty, so it's almost like a dedicated bike lane - except for all the curbs and rough surfaces.

[@OfTheGaps]

Also, where I live, traffic is bloody awful. That's why I ride. It takes me 20 minutes to ride to work. On empty streets, it would take 10 minutes to drive, but in normal traffic, it takes 20-30 minutes. I am really surprised there aren't more cyclists. I find traffic stressful and mind-numbing. Cycling, on the other hand, is a lot of fun, and it helps wake me up. It also helps keep me a little bit more fit.

[@jasonschubert6828]

Ha ha, mama chariots, that checks out! 😄

[@frafraplanner9277]

The Netherlands has laws almost like that

[@AlluringOpera]

To be a bit pedantic, Mamachari is a actually a shortening of a composite of "mamano" (mama's) and "charinko", a colloquial term for bicycle whose etymology is long lost. If you google チャリンコの語源 , you will find a number of possible suggestions, but I have not seen "chariot" among them. @@OfTheGaps 🚲💙💛

[@ChrisCoxCycling]

Brisbane here... regarding helmet law and sporty culture here, there's definitely a correlation. When the law came into effect in 1991, sporty cyclists were pretty much all wearing helmets already so the law didn't bother them. What it did do was basically kill off the utility, casual cycling. People just stopped. So we were left with a massively sporty cycling culture. Cities in Australia also just stopped developing infrastructure for bikes because the helmet laws made us safe right? Took a decade for that to change. So in the last 20 years there's been a concerted effort to encourage people to ride, more bikeways etc, but the helmet law remains a handbrake on the process. Not the law or helmets themselves, but the perception cycling is a strenuous, sporting activity and "I don't want to get hot and sweaty going places". The culture is shifting, but it's taking so long because of this handbrake we put on things 30 years ago. So my message to countries that keep talking about implementing helmet laws: DON'T. They're bad laws. Unless you want to stop people cycling. In which case, yeah, go for it...

[@kaihang4685]

Sydneysider here. I was gonna complain about the helmet laws, but looks like you got my back. Down here in NSW it’s even worse because it’s illegal to ride on pedestrian paths, so you’re forced to either contend with drivers or the law if you jump back onto pedestrian paths and you’re over 16. Once you turn 16 it’s pretty much you’re either fit enough to race impatient drivers on the road or you give up on cycling. The only other adult cyclists I know personally are non-Australians, especially Europeans.

[@user-nw5ef3zh9t]

yeah I dont think I had ever really believed the argument about how our helmet laws were a huge barrier to casual commuter cycling here until I saw this data. This is a shocking indictment of that policy and we really are going to need to push harder to change it.

[@Ober1kenobi]

I’ve lived and cycled in a few states around Australia, currently in Adelaide. I don’t dare go out riding without a helmet unless it’s a quick duck to the local shop less than a KM away and I take the back streets Over in WA, I lived in Geraldton up north a little bit, coastal town. Very few people wore helmets and the cops didn’t really care. If you were within say a 800m (main highway at 1km) of the beach, you were pretty much good to not wear a helmet, and I often didn’t. It was really nice to ride along the beach, no helmet, and not have to worry about being nagged or fined for not wearing one. Cycled in Melbourne CBD for a week..don’t really miss that 😂

[@carolgreenie]

Ditto for NZ, helmet law arrived in 1995 and the story is pretty much the same. *sigh*

[@I.____.....__...__]

I've seen a few people leave similar comments in videos on various channels about cycling, saying that things "are changing", but to what end? Oh goodie, maybe maybe future generations can benefit. What good does that do us now (especially those that don't have children)? It's like saying they're going to reduce carbon-emissions to reduce climate-change within the next few centuries or like if Russia or Israel would say they're slowly reducing bombing their victims. 😒

[@codytappen]

I’m the person who submitted Kyoto! As for why Japan is ‘out Dutching the Dutch’: First is, I will say Kyoto is exceptionally well biked. There are bike shops on what feels like every corner and the morning commutes, despite often lacking proper infrastructure, there’s just such a critical mass of cyclists that cars are forced to yield. The commuting culture is that children bike to school and of course so do many adults. Second, bike theft is nearly nonexistent. There is both mandatory registration and insurance in Kyoto city. Bike thefts are investigated and found in most cases. On top of that, despite only locking the back wheel to prevent riding the bike away being the typical precaution, I don’t know anyone in my 10 or so friends who’ve had their bike stolen. Third, the inner bits of the city have decent infrastructure, and especially cheap and abundant bike parking, which is critical. Going to the supermarket seems to be an activity that most people prefer to do with a bike to haul their food Finally, the abundance of cheap reliable and repairable bikes. I bought a used Dutch bike, equipped with a three speed internal gear hub, a front generator powered light, and a bike basket. It came out to be ~150$ including 1 year of insurance and registration fees

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you for the Kyoto data, and for providing context here. It was a reminder that Japan is too often overlooked as a cycling country. I think I need to plan a trip!

[@trevorvanderwoerd8915]

There's another factor too, of course, which is that there was only one Dutch sample and it was in a random rural setting with only 30 cyclists. I suspect that if the data had been from a local employment area in Amsterdam, or near a train station in a medium sized city, that the Dutch characteristics would have come out much more strongly. I know less about Japan, but it seems like the Tokyo location was much more favourable to being busy which means you get more data.

[@codytappen]

@@Shifter_Cycling Definitely recommend checking Kyoto, Tokyo, and Osaka for urban cycling. There’s also a lot of long haul well marked cycling routes around to check out like the Shimanami-Kaido, Biwaichi, and the Kyoto Nara path where you can easily rent a bike for the duration of a short trip :)

[@pjotrh]

And car ownership is a pretty difficult affair in many Japanese cities as well right ?

[@Quetzacoatl85]

what I feel japan does well in regards to cycling culture, it makes cycling somewhere just the most sensible option: it's often more cheap, flexible, fast, space-saving, safe, and/or practical to take your bike as opposed to walking, bus, car, etc. and interestingly, this happens almost exclusively through policy in other areas (train commuting system, car ownership regulations, etc), and not through focused bike policy (bike paths, rental schemes, subsidies) itself. sure, there's extensive bike parking at train stations, but that's just borne out of the need to manage all the bikes that people already use to begin with, and not in a push to "get up the cycling percentage" or "promoting health" or "reducing carbon emissions". in fact, cycling there often almost feels like an afterthought, so ingrained in people that you don't need to specifically promote it (or fight culture wars about it) - because it just makes the most sense. and because it's so common and sensible, it also doesn't carry the same western connotation of status, where you sadly often only ride a bike when you're educated and can afford to do environmentally-friendly and healthy things, and where hand-crafted artisanal hipster bikes and e-cargo bikes get fancier and more expensive by the year. cool and well-made sure, but it doesn't really help with increasing cycling pickup. in japan? spend 80 bucks on a grandma bike and you're good to go, from school kid to pensioner, from salaryman to harbor worker. people use it because it just makes the most sense.

[@theguy_4k276]

Tom: "We have more than 100 cities represented in all continents except Africa" me: "They got bike lanes in Antarctica?!?"

[@patrickarrow591]

Live in Japan out in Saitama near Tokyo. I think a big part of why cycling is big here despite near 0 infrastructure is the compact towns and narrow roads. I find that cars / pedestrians / cyclists are much more used to sharing spaces, pair that with amazing public transport and it makes sense why everyone from children to the elderly cycle here.

[@Frostbiker]

That matches my experience from simply being a tourist in Japan: narrow streets and expensive gas means that cars drive slowly and are preferentially small (e.g. kei cars). When traffic is slow, people feel safe riding a bike even without dedicated infrastructure.

[@carolgreenie]

@@Frostbikeralso, no street-side parked cars helps a lot.

[@mindstalk]

In a real sense, bike infrastructure is _car_ infrastructure, creating a safe space for other uses despite the existence of dangerous cars. If you don't have car danger, then to first order you don't need "pedestrian infrastructure" or "bike infrastructure" (though you might want to separate fast bikes too) The slow streets and wide sidewalks I saw basically _are_ the bike (and pedestrian) infrastructure, you don't need more because it's already safe.

[@patrickarrow591]

@@mindstalk once Ur out of tokyo alot of roads don't have sidewalks, the bit between the white line and the edge of the road is legally the sidewalk. It's just a general awareness of other road users here that is good.

[@patrickarrow591]

@@Frostbiker I think one of the biggest things is how the traffic lights work for turning cars. Turning cars are given no reason to rush / try turn while there are pedestrians because the the traffic lights will turn red for everyone (including pedestrians) before changing directions. Making sure everyone knows when it's there turn to go.

[@BadRevolutionary]

Eastern Europe and helmets. I was born and raised in a small town in Ukraine. People in such a rural area actively use old single-speed Soviet bikes to commute through towns and villages and especially to "dacha" (a small piece of land at countryside to plant vegetables). And in such small places there are actually no bike shops at all, you can repair your bike yourself or at a car workshop, but nobody just sells helmets. And even if there's an opportunity to buy one - yes, it could be quite expensive. So riding good old Soviet bike or some cheap MTB is already a part of culture (especially in rural areas, in big cities it's still a rarity), but not a wearing the helmet

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you for the context. This is very helpful.

[@24pavlo]

"dacha" is a *house* with a piece of land at countryside to plant vegetables. Just a piece of land is *gorod*

[@user-qp1us6mm4b]

I can add that MTBs are often bought to ride on sidewalks, where you don't really need a helmet. Myself I prefer city bikes, but it's not hard to understand why without a safe way to cycle people would do it on the sidewalk (or slowly on the side of the road).

[@EYbig]

I went to Japan this summer and I truly appreciated one of NJB's comments: Cities are not loud, cars are loud. I was in the middle of Tokyo and was extremely surprised at how quiet, given that it's a city of ~40 million people (including the surroundings). I didn't see much bike infrastructure in Tokyo or in any of the cities while I was there, but that's probably because I was not there to bike in the city and not looking for it. Despite that, I would feel totally safe riding on the streets in Tokyo. Drivers there respect the rules and pay attention to pedestrians. What I was there for in Japan was to with to ride the shimani kaido, a ~70km (one way), picturesque ride across 7 different islands, with great transit access on either end and one way bike shop rentals on both ends. There are nice traditional inns along the way , like ryokans and matchiyas. They're all bike friendly along that path. Where I stayed, I couldn't find a picture of this on my camera, but the bike parking reminded me of horse parking. The path itself is newish and had cyclist and other 2 wheel vehicles in mind: all of the climbs that you will have to make are at most 3% grade so it's never super challenging. Japan is totally under rated in the western world as a cycling country.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thanks for sharing.

[@johnnyfain8952]

The Shimani Kaido is sooo beautiful. One of my favorite cycling trips!

[@SeriesShower]

I just came back from Japan and I think it's 3 things that really make it do well in cycling: 1. The roads are generally pretty safe. Most streets are super narrow and get very little traffic (street parking doesn't really exist) which also leads to cars being much smaller than even what is considered normal in Europe. 2. Good urban design: because of the above there isn't really that much sprawl. Most distances are cyclable and it's very common to do multimodal trips (bike then take a train). Bicycle parking is also generally easier to find in the cities than car parking. 3. The culture: people tend to follow the rules much more in Japan than NA or Europe. Bicycle theft is very uncommon. People would just leave their bike in front of their house without a lock and it would never disappear overnight. Apparently it only really occurs when a drunk salary man misses the last train for the night and needs to get home. Also the drivers were very good and not reckless.

[@gur262]

1. It's probably not that way around. Germany has widened parking spaces. We too had tiny cars like the gogomobile after WW2. But then we didn't. Sign of wealth. The Aufschwung. While Japan Had kei car laws. They make it so that 40 % of cars are this tiny and a kei van packs more utility into less size than a Fiat 500 than most midsize cars in Europe do. You can stretch out and sleep in a kei van.

[@effyleven]

Yes... I think the culture of courtesy and respect for other people, and a consequent respect for the law, IS what makes Japan a safe environment in which cyclists can ride.. and gives them a safe environment in which to leave their bikes unattended. We should all be a bit more Japanese, I think.

[@Eddie47707]

@@gur262I think it is also connected to the law and culture. I have a friend living in Tokyo, who had dreamed for years to get himself an Audi TT - not the biggest car. But his dream was broken, when he realised that it was too long for the only parking available for him.

[@yuko604]

There are a couple of other factors that help biking in Japan as well: 1. people don't worry about their bikes being stolen. This is true in the big cities and rural towns. Big cities have bike parking at the train stations. People rarely (if ever) lock their bikes. 2. There are no dedicated bike lanes. All the streets are for bikes. As you mentioned, the streets are narrow so the cars move at lower speeds so bikes are able to co-exist with other modes of travel. 3. Kids travel by themselves more than in North America and aren't driven everywhere. The kids in Japan bike from an earlier age and it's normalized as transportation.

[@noseboop4354]

@@Eddie47707 Your friend just needs to live in any city other than Tokyo or Osaka. Japanese mid-sized cities are much more car friendly, and in the countryside it's kinda required.

[@perlazza]

Hi, I live in Poznań, Poland, which I assume is in Central and Eastern Europe. Every day I ride a bike to work and on tourist trips. You ask what's going on with us. First of all: we actually have the most mountain bikes, but this is a historical matter. For decades, there was almost no "cycling culture" in Poland. It was only in the 1990s, after the end of the communist system, that thousands of imported mountain bikes from the "West" came to us. This has shaped our "cycling taste" to such an extent that nowadays, even for riding in the city, most people use mountain bikes. Currently, Polish "cycling awareness" is rapidly changing for the better, but many years of "mountain style" still remain in the blood of Poles. Additionally, our cities do not yet have such perfect bicycle infrastructure as, for example, in the Netherlands and therefore, according to many people find it more convenient to get around the city by mountain bike. I don't agree with this because I use a city bike every day, but it's hard to change decades of habits quickly. Another thing: no helmets. I cannot agree here. I think that in the city about 50% of people use helmets, but those who don't do it for the same historical reasons that I wrote about earlier - we simply didn't have them for years. However, I assure you that almost 100% of cyclists engaged in "sports biking" use helmets. When it comes to regular cycling clothes, the division is as follows: city cyclists dress casually, even those on mountain bikes. Sports cyclists, of course, are beautifully dressed in sports clothes ;). Thank you for this YT channel. I watch you regularly and you have helped me with many things. I keep my fingers crossed for the channel and for you. Have a nice day.

[@dtsybulskyi]

It's actually nice to learn that the reasons are pretty much the same all across the central/eastern Europe. Thanks for the inside on Poland!

[@mikolajpodbielski]

I think I could die riding road bike in Warsaw so I stick to MTB

[@nothereandthereanywhere]

Pretty much the same for the Czech Republic.

[@luiscarlossierpin6205]

The same happens here in the south of Brazil. Mountain bikes are the most used here, even in cities. I copy the Dutch model, but here I am part of the minority. I love this channel and it has everything to do with the way I think. Cycling for me is being free from everything, free from helmets and free from cycling clothes. For me, a bike has to have fenders and racks to be able to use panniers.

[@wulfpx]

Yes. Same situation in Lithuania. Also old and simple/singlespeed bikes on villages(on a good summer day you can count a lot of older people going to shop or run some errands on villages).

[@robadr13]

A non-scientific comment on Melbourne - I did a three week bike tour in (the state of ) Victoria some years ago and spent a couple of days in Melbourne. I've never been in a city where bike traffic was so fast, almost frenetic. You really had to get out of the way of a lot of people - most memorably one evening rush hour, with streams of people clearly heading home in a hurry to possibly distant suburbs. It's a cycling memory that has stayed with me for years. When you were about to announce the #1 city for road/racing bikes, I said 'Melbourne!' before you did. 🙂

[@LabaShabba]

This is so interesting. Please make this a regular (annual) thing! I'm so tempted to do the same sampling in different spots (and at different times of day/year) in my local area now!

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I've been thinking a lot about how having different locations in the same city would make the results more representative.

[@veganfishcake]

​@@Shifter_Cyclingyes absolutely! Residential areas are so much different to city centres.

[@QunitsClips]

Different times of year would influence clothing as well... Winter wear & rain protection kit...

[@maksymvinyarskyy2813]

Yes annual video!

[@michaelbradbrook9575]

Hi Tom, from Brisbane AUS, but with perspectives from other Australian cities I've lived and worked in. On the road bike culture, there are two things to note: 1. Bike racing is a bike deal in Australia and many young riders aspire to own a road bike and ride fast! 2. Our cycling infrastructure often dumps riders onto main roads and getting from A-B ASAP is advantageous. On helmets, confirming your hunch that they are compulsory and have been since the late-1980s.

[@jimmux_v0]

I think a part of it has to be that our cities have a lot of sprawl, so if you're riding, you're probably going a decent distance. Light and fast helps. Plus the heat means athletic clothing is usually a good idea so you might as well go all in.

[@-NateTheGreat]

Im glad i was able to contribute. I covered Toledo, our bike path has access to parks so people wear a lot of athletic clothing. Ive also commuted in Ann Arbor Michigan. Big college town with bad parking. They converted a lot of two way streets to one way and made the other lane just for bikes.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you for contributing!

[@rogerhart612]

Hello from St.Paris Ohio

[@timoacker7538]

Yep, Toledo is not exactly commuter friendly, but the bike paths like the Wabash Cannonball Trail are used a lot for exercising

[@ondrejkubo]

Greetings from Slovakia From my perspective, the main reason, why MTBs are so popular here is, that MTB were new wonder after capitalism and free market came in 90s. Since then, fewer people opted to use casual/hybrid bikes (we also call them trekking bikes or cross bikes - not CX bikes). Basically, default bike for person

[@dhanyrafael]

Yeah, Decathlon made MTBs the de facto bike type in Central and Eastern Europe.

[@timapelov]

I made the only measurements in Russia - in Kazan and attracted Innopolis. It is very sad that no one else was interested in your Index, although I campaigned to participate. But I am very glad that Tbilisi, a magnificent city, is on this list! Batumi did not have time to take measurements, although there is also a great cycling community there.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you for all of your work on this! It was so fascinating to get a glimpse into these cities, and the context you provided was helpful.

[@Ivan59374]

Thanks! That was surprising to see data from Inno :) I wish I knew about the data collection campaign, I'd participate.

[@cthulhulord9715]

Unfortunately, the community post went unnoticed by me, otherwise, I’d have recorded data for Saint Petersburg! I think it’s fair to say, it’s Russia’s bike culture capital.

[@some_account_]

@@cthulhulord9715 absolutely! A super-flat city without any major hills, it's been a pleasure to ride the city center, and very enjoyable at night :)

[@timapelov]

@@cthulhulord9715 Yeah, St. Petersburg would be cool to see. A flat city with lots of fixed gears and terrible city authorities))) Well, never mind, we will involve more cities in the next study)

[@andressy182]

Brilliant work! 👏As a cyclist in Melbourne (Oceania) I'm not at all surprised about the data on road bikes here. Aside from a few very niche inner urban areas, especially around universities, cycling is largely viewed as a sporting/fitness pursuit or for fast , direct commuting and mainly for men or those with a higher risk tolerance. Helmets are mandatory here, but given the majority of urban bike lanes are mixed with car traffic, cycling can be daunting or terrifying at times for the casual cyclist. I wouldn't leave home without mine. More separated cycle paths would improve cycling take-up, but change is slow and hard won here!

[@jimmux_v0]

Also Melburnian, and it's frustrating how close we are to getting that critical mass of infrastructure. We have some nice bike routes, but getting anywhere always involves negotiating a scary street or two. I'd like to know where exactly the counting was done too. Beach Road would be 100% road bikes, but my area has a good mix of road, fixies, dutch style, and commuter.

[@brianwheeldon4643]

Yes, fully understand dagitab. I live in Auckland. It's worse than Melbourne for bike paths and is plain dangerous. I've been riding about 50 years here and it's ever so slightly better than it was in 1975, but not much so you'd notice. Nationally we've officially just cut all funding to cycling and pedestrian infrastucture to zero. Pretty much sums nz in a nutshell. As Jethro Tull wrote "Living In the Past" that's NZ and bikes

[@mickwells4234]

The honest truth is that the public's perception of cyclists is they should get off the road. Our politicians don't support us and there's no commitment to cycling. Maybe they think they're helping, but the ignorance around infrastructure design amazes me, they are incredibly useless at making anything easy or safe.

[@JSchmidt412]

@@brianwheeldon4643 Love NZ and was there on my honeymoon. NZ has the best TV commercials, so just get the All Blacks to go on a TV campaign to insist on cycling laws that make for safer riding, and it's done! ;-)

[@fxlipe115]

I'm so happy to have been part of this. I made the submisson from Porto Alegre, Brazil. But at the same time I feel a little sad about the under representation of South America. Discussions about things like urbanism, alternative modes of transportation and walkable cities are still in their infancy here. Adding a bit of context, back in the 50s, President Juscelino Kubitschek's push for industrialization in Brazil really ramped up our car-focused cities. It's a big reason why we're playing catch-up in urban design compared to other places. There is a great book called Apocalipse Motorizado(unfortunately not available in english, but it is available on the internet for free and can be easily translated with something like Google Translate). It has some great parts about how Brazil got stuck in this car-centric mindset and how it was mainly influenced by the "American Dream" of the time. "It's like we're following in North America's trend, just a decade or so behind it.

[@dagitab6867]

I was really happy to contribute and see that somehow I was able to put a piece of Southeast Asia (Manila) on the map. In my city's particular instance, the bike infrastructure is still in its infancy and people still see bikes as more of a recreational thing that should be confined to parks or the side streets. Bike lanes are relatively new (only put up during the pandemic) and motorcycles tend to use them as well. People also tend to wait for a jeepney or a bus ride on the bike lane as well. I hope that the government's plans to put up more bike lanes succeeds.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I was so happy to have Manilla included in this project, so thank you for taking the time to contribute. And this additional context is really helpful. Thank you!

[@Fritz_Salad]

​@@Shifter_Cycling Also, here in the Philippines, I think small 100-150cc motorcycles (and now electric scooters and trikes) are competing with bikes on personal mobility. You can get a small motorcycle for just around $1000, even less for electric scooters. Although you can get brand new mountain bikes (with working suspension forks & mechanical disk brakes) for as cheap as $100 in some local bike shops.

[@mindstalk]

I noticed, like almost no women in the Manila summary.

[@dagitab6867]

@@mindstalk yeah sadly that was how it was during the entire 20-minute span I was recording, although I did notice that in some areas, such as Makati or even Roxas Boulevard in Manila, there are more female bike commuters than usual. In the busier roads like España, there are generally more male cyclists.

[@forecast_hinderer]

I’ve visited Japan many times and I think it out Nertherlands the Netherlands for a couple of main reasons. Firstly cycling is very safe in no small part due to who is held liable if a cyclist and a vehicle are involved in an accident, where I understand the driver is liable to personally pay the possibly high medical cost to the victim. Secondly the combination of extremely efficient public transport and often long distance commutes, then combined with the first point, it makes sense to hop on your bike to shorten the journey time to and from the station. Thirdly, possibly bike theft is low too. Anyway, that’s my hot take.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you. All this context is very helpful

[@MyleneRichard]

@@Shifter_Cycling I just came back from Japan visiting a friend who had been there for the last 10 years and he explained to me that on Japanese streets, the "big one" is always responsible for any accident with "smaller ones", as far as driving rules goes. So if a pedestrian walked through an intersection without waiting for the pedestrian light and he's hit by a car, the car is at fault. So Pedestrian < Bike < Motorcycle < Car < Truck. So everyone is watching out for more vulnerable people around them when they are circulating. I was surprised to see people cycling on the sidewalk. From all ages, no helmets, no cycling gear. Same in Kyoto, and a lot of rental bikes for the tourists.

[@spevandy]

I submitted the data for the city of Tbilisi, Georgia: Top-3 in MTBs, almost all casual clothing, and one singular helmet (that would be me lol). Tbilisi is quite a hilly city, as most places are located around the Caucasus Mountains, so naturally you see lots of MTBs here. If I remember correctly, there were a lot of food delivery couriers at the time and place of my recording. I would assume that a wider gear range with better handling of a wider handlebar + market saturation is the cause for the Top-3 MTBs. Also, people here don't regard their (or other's) safety highly: reckless driving is one of the first things that you encounter upon arrival, which should, in theory, motivate people to wear protective gear and bike lights, but that's not the case at all. I'm not a local, I don't get it either.

[@timapelov]

Очень круто, что ты сделал замеры! Мы с тобой единственные из СНГ, попали в индекс) Батуми почти подтянул, но они не успели. А так бы было эпично конечно!

[@agilemind6241]

Not a local either but spent some time in Europe and the Eastern Europeans just seem to have more of a "well you have to die some time" type outlook.

[@timapelov]

@@agilemind6241 Ahah, yes. I wrote a comment about it. We say "whatever", "it doesn't make sense"

[@esgee3829]

i miss tblisi, but not the drivers. will never forget the time a marshrutka driver got irritated by the rear-most seat (unoccupied) squeaking from a loose spring or something. He got so angry after 10km or so that he stopped the van, got out angrily, slammed his van door, lit a cigarette, actually ripped out the rear seat and threw it on the side of the road, then slammed the rear door shut, finished half his ciggy, then re-entered the van and resumed our journey. from that day onwards, my working hypothesis has been: reason georgian drivers are so bad/angry/aggressive, often times unnecessarily so (even when there is no time deadline and no traffic in the form of other cars) is because they're all just men trying to get to their next smoke break.

[@andreahughes1500]

I can explain Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. There are a large number of commuters because it is a college town with a divided campus and bad traffic. Biking is cheaper for students than driving or bus pass. Easier and faster to cut through campus on a bike than drive. There are also a lot of 1 way streets that make driving cars baffling to many people. There is limited parking and they REALLY enforce the parking laws with hefty fines. Hope that helps!

[@Shifter_Cycling]

It certainly does help. Thank you for the context.

[@AssBlasster]

Sounds pretty similar in my small college town of Moscow Idaho, minus the divided campus. We just had a very useless, albeit free, circulator bus. The parking fines actually went to maintaining bike/pedestrian infrastructure on campus, like repainting bike lanes or snowplowing the bike trail.

[@EBR846]

Any input on Motor City Bicycle (Shop)? At least considering a bike fit there, if not for a new bike in the future, at least for finding which size bike I should be looking for. I'm not that easy of a fit and I'm not even average male height at 5'5 1/2.

[@andreahughes1500]

I haven’t been to Motor City Bicycle. They have a generally good reputation, though. I can put in a good plug for D&D Bike in Brighton, Michigan. They did a good job. The reason I initially went to D&D and not Motor City was because I wanted a Liv brand bike, D&D carried that brand, but Motor City did not. Mainly depends on what you are looking for. Each shop carries different brands.

[@Ivan59374]

As for Innopolis, it's not only delivery robots, it's also the only city in Russia AFAIK where cars are allowed to drive on full autopilot (the white-red taxis on the video). Strange but lovely place. Mountain bikes are popular probably due to some good trails close to the city.

[@jordanlowry7794]

As someone who bikes to work in Ottawa, I am in one of the main suburbs but we are still 25 km out from downtown. So my daily commute in the summer on the bike is 50 km daily and the lycra kit helps keep me cool and make the ride just easier to make it through

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This makes total sense. Thanks for the context.

[@Warxcell]

I'm from Bulgaria - I think people get MTBs because of bad streets. Often bike paths have big curbs when crossing road. My personal choice of bike is MTB because I ride in the forest/offroad. I have road bike for long distance between cities, but in city - I prefer MTB, because of bad roads. I talked to some of my friends - and they don't wear helmets, because it gives them false sense of safety and they take risky maneuvers more often. I personally don't wear helmet, because its one thing less to worry. (for example when I go to store or something, I don't need place to park my helmet).

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This is great local insight. Thank you for sharing!

[@dhanyrafael]

True for Romania, too.

[@Mr.Fox2023]

I personally don't wear helmet, because its one thing less to worry. ..... seems a very curious excuse, do you not lock your bike up when you go in a store???? Padlock bike and helmet together! Simple! NB you say you ride in the forest and off road, presumably up and down hills like Smoylan, Blagoevgrad (lovely looking trails) for example- do you still not wear a helmet?? Thanks for your input Warxcell!

[@Warxcell]

​@@Mr.Fox2023 Usually I don't lock my bike. (I don't wear lock at all). About forest riding - half of the time I don't wear helmet. If I go out with intention to do hardcore forest riding - I get helmet, but that's not always the case.

[@Warxcell]

Here is something that may sound interesting to you - I usually take my bike only when I have a little bit more time (weekends/holidays) When I don't have enough time - I take my EUC. (I live in village and I go to town - 50km total, tho I don't commute everyday - maybe once a week). With my EUC I always wear helmet, wrist guards, knee pads and (if weather is not too hot) - motorcycle jacket. I do it because of fear that if something happens to electronics - I'm down.

[@thomasbritton647]

I love riding my bike to work. Your channel inspires me! So much!

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Glad to hear it!

[@philipbyrne3037]

Thank you so much to your community. It is heartening to see such a collaborative approach. As an Australian I am not surprised. We have a very competitive culture that disguises itself as egalitarian. The cargo bike intersection in Sydney is in the heartland of City of Sydney bike infrastructure. Sydney has had its Rob Ford style politics but thankfully in the central city the long time Mayor, Clover Moore has survived whilst hostile state transport ministers like Duncan Gay are a distant memory.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I'm a tad appalled that my country is responsible for the term "Rob Ford-style politics," but I appreciate this context. Thank you.

[@highwayman15]

It should be renamed "Trump-style" politics. sincerely, a cyclist of both Canadian and American heritage.

[@ecopennylife]

Congratulations on your study & 100K subscribers. I was glad to contribute, unfortunately I was the lone cyclist frim Bathurst Australia. In Australia helmet wear is the law, I think cycling is seen as a recreational/sport activity (separate issue to helmet wear), people's mindset is just to drive instead of thinking about cycling or public transport. One factor in Japan is the low theft rate, I was shocked when holidaying there previously seeing bikes with NO LOCKS just parked on the street.

[@mindstalk]

I believe Japanese mamachari, like Dutch omafiet, come with a built-in O-lock or rear wheel lock, to at least prevent riding off with a bike. But yeah, they often don't attach bikes to things. There's mandatory bike registration, along with a very high-trust low-theft culture in general; I once saw someone reserve his place in a busy coffeehouse by dropping his smartphone at the seat next to me and walking off.

[@ecopennylife]

@@mindstalk agree, I accidentally left my expensive camera (actually still the ecopenny A-cam) on a seat in a restaurant & panickly went back a few hours later & they had it at the front desk for me 🥰

[@mindstalk]

@@ecopennylife Also reportedly waiters running after customers, "Sir! you left your money [tip] on the table!"

[@ecopennylife]

@@mindstalk tried that too! "Just keep the change" but they always gave the exact change in coins 😋

[@theepimountainbiker6551]

Congrats on the achievement. I went to 3 different areas of town and filmed for an hour each. Not a single cyclist, maybe it was bad timing. I see 2 or 3 go by my home every day at like 7am probably going to work. Our cycling infrastructure and people scared to bike in Sudbury Ontario with snow (they dont plow here) probably didnt help. Went for a ride yesterday for about an hour and seen several bike tracks but not the person 🤷‍♂️

[@dhanyrafael]

In Eastern Europe, especially Romania where I live, lack of bike infrastructure, bad roads and the need to go offroad sometimes recommend a MTB. And all bike stores promote 80% MTBs, even Decathlon, I assume the biggest bike shop seller in Romania. Plus that a MTB offers you a better protection against potholes and rough terrain and road curbs and sewers. A road bike is fragile and that tiny tyre can crack anytime when hitting something. But lately I am prefering my foldable bike because it fits in the elevator and thieves don't care about foldable bikes. MTBs are their top target. So my MTB remains for long rides and offroad rides in the forests nearby. I certainly consider road bikes in Romania as a fast way to kill yourself. :))

[@Danokh]

Why is helmet usage so low?

[@dhanyrafael]

I myself even have 2 helmets from Decathlon, but I don't use them. They are annoying for me. :)) And I had some traffic accidents, jumping over cars' doors a few times, but still I don't want to use them. :)) I might like the feel of wind in my hair, I dunno. :)) @@Danokh

[@Danokh]

@@dhanyrafael So it's more of a cultural thing there? Does it have anything to do with not being manly if you wear a helmet?

[@dhanyrafael]

Not in my case. For me a helmet takes too much space and it's a nuisance. @@Danokh

[@derekmiskiman1847]

Congrats on the achievement Tom . I would be fascinated to follow this trend year over year and see just how many places can be represented. Thank you for the awesome community. I am up in Edmonton still commuting strong El Nino has brought crazy good commuting weather to Alberta so far this “winter”

If you ever plan to visit Japan, please don't hesitate to reach out if you need any assistance. As a Dutch person, I've had the opportunity to experience both unique bicycle cultures, each with its own variety of bicycles. Keep up the great work on your episodes!

[@Daslerus]

Hi! This is a great video! I feel bad for miss the opportunity to take a part in your research, but I can answer some of your questions about Eastern Europe, especially Russia. There are few reasons of MTB's popularity: 1) It's the ultimate bike. It has a suspension fork, big durable tires, strong disc brakes and looks cool and aggressive (which is very important, right? c: ) 2) Lack of infrastructure. No bike lines, sometimes no good pedestrian zone, no good asphalt. That why people think MTB is a good choice for harsh conditions. 3) It's very cheap to buy one here in Russia. And, since it's the most common bike, you can buy it everywhere, unlike road bikes and even commuters. 4) Lack of bike culture: a majority of people doesn't know much about different types of bikes. And bike is more like a hobby here, In Eastern Europe. Just a small amount of people really use it as an every day vehicle. It's more about riding on the weekends. But there is one hilarious issue with MTB - There is no many mountains near the cities. Most of russian cities are located on a plain surface. So people don't need a MTB, don't need 18+ speeds (they need just 2-3), don't need strong brakes, don't need a suspension fork (many believe that fork makes it more comfortable to ride in a city). In my opinion, people need bikes like gravel, touring or commuter. And, of course, I see a rising amount of e-bikes on the streets - it's a new game changer. And about helmets: again, lack of bike culture. Only amateurs, like fixers, road bikers or BMX riders wear helmets, because they know about consequences. UPD: MTB in Eastern Europe are like pickup trucks in the US - no one really needs this, but everybody wants one.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This is fantastic context. Thank you for sharing!

[@dolittle6781]

Congrats on 100k subscribers. Appreciated this video mainly because it really did give me some things to think about, such as cycling attire, numbers of women riders compared to men, and your interpretations of the data. Very cool effort at gathering information about bicycles and bicyclists globally.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you!

[@JustClaude13]

The highest percentage of observed recumbents was in Nara, Japan, where I saw two bikes parked in front of a small apartment. Both of them were recumbents. If I had circled by the bike garage at the station the number and type of bike may have been slightly different.

[@JamesTsividis]

Thanks for putting this together Shifter. Knowing the exact locations, time of day and day of week would help tremendously with understanding this data. I hadn't thought about the popularity of road bikes in Melbourne before being different from other cities. I see a lot of people taking a road bike into the CBD, and sometimes from the suburbs, which means they need to go fast if they are going to get there quickly. The sidewalks are far too dangerous to ride fast on (because of fences that go up to the sidewalk blocking view of driveways) and ebikes are limited to 25km/h, so the only option if you want to be fast is to use a road bike. We do have a lot of trails that can take you into the city if you'd like to avoid cars which follow creeks and rivers, but people use the road too. I don't see kids riding bikes in the CBD. There are more cargo bikes with children on them in the inner suburbs. Probably because more people live there. Are any of these things unique? Are there other factors?

[@spartancanuck]

I'm glad you got data for Edmonton. We've had a big shift in how people bike in recent years, and one of the biggest changes has been in the number of cargo bikes, often parents with kids.

[@johnnyfain8952]

I can attest, after living in Japan, that biking and walking are the main modes of transport for small, daily trips. Coming from Portland, Or. where most folks ride stylized or personalized bikes, it was interesting to see almost everyone (except for the odd, kitted out, sport cyclist) riding mamachari. It was actually kind of difficult to find a road bike! Not only is it a super safe place to ride, it just makes sense bc of urban density. In our little city, Okayama, over 1.5 million people live in about a 5 mile radius so you can literally ride to anything in 10-15 minutes. So convenient! Thanks for putting tohether the BCI. Its fascinating!

[@neonetwork947]

Fascinating sciency results. Hoping Seattle can make the list some day

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I’m hoping this is just the first time we do this.

[@user-tp7zb7ej2s]

​@@Shifter_CyclingI missed the first one but would definitely participate if there were another.

[@silviastanziola659]

Here in Ottawa a LOT of people are into going full-on bike clothes/lycra when they're riding. Even when they're commuting. I feel like I almost stand out wearing my regular clothes when I bike here, but I do use a bike path that attracts people covering longer distances. There are very long bike paths here in Ottawa, so that availability might contribute as well.

[@Andybiggestfan]

Ayy Ottawa!! This winters been pretty calm for biking eh?

[@MultigrainKevinOs]

Wow, kudos to everyone for contributing and thanks for compiling Tom! Some surprises across the board, Asia seems to always get less mentions in urbanist circles but has got it going on. I am equally surprised on the mix of bikes out there. Looking forward to seeing the next survey in years to come.

[@test40323]

Congrats on reaching milestone. Keep up the good work. Interesting cultural comparisons.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Wow, thank you so much for the contribution. This support is so helpful. I appreciate it.

[@joelhalverson4631]

In Ottawa, we have summer bike days. Several major scenic roads that close all across the region, these roads have no intersections for 10's of kms. It has become a growing athletic cultural event to race on these roads on the weekend. It's growing the road bike numbers for sure. I bought one, became a cyclist and found your channel. Thanks for the channel.

[@bprith]

Hi Tom! Thanks for sharing! I'm sorry the video quality was not very good. I realized later that the sunlight was kind of blurring the image, which I did not notice while I was recording it. Anyway, amazed to see how you pulled it off. That was A LOT of data! Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you for contributing! I was so pleased to have Argentina included.

[@Svafne]

Wow this is really interesting! Cool of you to make this, and all the people who helped! Thanks

[@EBikes420]

It's funny, I'm 52 and ride my step-thru-ebike with my DOT helmet, I have a trunk on my e-bike to carry my things and a 1st aid kit. My son (28) has a small trunk on his e-bike, and he also uses a back pack, his e-bike looks like a normal road bike with the battery hidden in the down-stem, he uses a normal bicycle helmet. We live in Victoria BC Canada. Thank You for this video 😎

[@kueller917]

Very proud to have contributed to this one! I've visited Japan and remember very well all the cycling and hope this video gets more people interested. It's a unique place in the usual western perception because they have such a culture but little of the pristine dedicated infrastructure seen in Europe. Same applies to pedestrian culture. I was often on roads without a sidewalk! Also, I may have selected the wrong option on your submission form but you're free to use the video I took in Paris. In the map or in future videos as b-roll.

[@nickgilbert31]

Congrats on 100k and great idea for a video. Excited for more to come in 2024 🎉

[@Co1010z]

So cool seeing the results! Grats Jeremy!

[@bmeares]

Excited to see Greenville, SC represented!! I was sad I didn't get the chance to film the Swamp Rabbit Trail for this video but so glad to see someone else beat me to it!!🚲

[@dennisc6716]

I used to live there and was momentarily surprised to see how high the numbers were for Greenville until I remembered SRT.

[@bmeares]

@@dennisc6716 Greenville has become an island of walkability / bikeability in an ocean of car dependence. Serious props to the city for their great work over the last 10 years

[@dtsybulskyi]

I'd like to comment on cycling in Japan (where I study) and Lithuania (where I lived for most of my live). So Japan: 1) Definitely mamachiari (that's what they call their city bikes) are the nr.1, but being a homeland to Shimano, you see insane amounts of road bikes during weekends. 2) Helmets are actually mandatory since April 2023, but there are no fine nor enforcement - so very few people wear one, unless their on roadbikes. 3) Cycling infrastructure is near non-existent here. In city you are required to cycle on road, but no separate cycle lanes (there are lines painted often on the side of the road, but they are disregarded by drivers, buses, taxis), no separate traffic lights. The cycling paths along the rivers have gates, that prevent you from cycling through in places where you cross any road (even if it's basically unused). So complete neglect of actual cycling infrastructure and favour of car-centric design. Nowhere near the Dutch infrastructur, and even Lithuania beats Japan by a mile here (and that's a pretty low standart compared to Netherlands). Bike-parkings near the stations are amazing though. 4) Absolutely terrible cycling culture. Since you are required to cycle on road, but it's not safe to do so, everyone cycles on sidewalks, which are narrow. Often you can see a cyclist going in the opposite direction to traffic, endangering everyone on road, crossing roads illegally, drunk cycling, cycling while holding an umbrella (all forbidden and with hefty fines, but no proper enforcement). As an European, I'm frightened by this anarchy. About Lithuania: 1) The abundance of basic MTBs is easily explained by low cost and market - even now getting a hold of "city bike" is challenging there. The road and e-bikes are getting increasingly popular, but still majority of supply is MTB or hybrid bikes. Also, e-scooters are abundant. 2) Helmets are not mandatory unless you're a minor, but I would say there is a noticeable increase in usage in the last 10 years. 3) Cycling infrastructure is being developed, and the Dutch are the model here - so experience is way better than in Japan.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you for the context on both locations! Both are fascinating for different reasons.

[@hervva]

Can i say about east europe? I'm from Poland, and i have to say that we were under ZSRR history stuff made us differ up to this day. In 90's i was kid and almost only aviable type of bike (for regular ppl) was mouintain bike. And I learned VERY recently that there are a lot more bikes to ride! I think it's not that we like mouintain bikes (though i like that i can fit one easly in my cellar in block of flats and its no that heavy to carry on stairs) but that is cultural for us. It is changing as you see in Warsaw Poland there seem to be more commuter bike, but when i was buying my commuting bike, like 8 years ago, cheap mouintain bike was obvois choise for me, cos I didn't even know any other. Our history with ZSRR is not so visible in first glance, but if you look at quisine and culture it does show off and never fails to suprise me

[@Shifter_Cycling]

It's so interesting how these cultures develop for reasons of history, politics, economics and local habits. Thank you for sharing.

[@mechatakoyakisan]

Wow cool map! Congrats on the 100k

[@user-vx2mb1dh4p]

This is so fun - I love your map! I would have totally done Calgary if I'd realized in time. If you add more data points in each city with time, I'm game to hit the bluff or somewhere like that!

[@HolgerNestmann]

Such an interesting topic. I think the junction sampled sometimes reflected the result, but hey still fun to ponder about it. Gongrats on 100k, well deserved

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you for watching!

[@garybeijing23]

Thank you Shifter, from a cold and snowy Beijing where I (usually) ride my Tern A7 which is so comfortable in its upright position. Love your videos thank you

[@yogtheterrible]

Bunch of friendly people in Edmonton waving at the camera.

[@amandajane8227]

Thank you Shifter, this video was just like receiving the 1st Christmas present.

[@pcongre]

22:00 Japan -> short answer = restrictions to car commuting make it feel safe to bike (other places in the world have the right urbanism/density and they're not alone in prioritizing public transport/combined trips, but afaik no other country has banned both overnight onstreet parking +buying a motor vehicle you can't prove you have a private parking spot for)

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This is helpful. Thank you!

[@pcongre]

@@Shifter_Cycling why thank *you*! ^^ (Like others have pointed out, this is in spite of lacking any quality infra specifically for bikes: meaning cyclists are mostly biking in local streets/alleys for short trips e g to local train stations and not quite so much on avenue sidewalks/similar for longer stretches)

[@b.griffin317]

Congratulations on the big silver thingy Tom!

[@luiscarlossierpin6205]

I live in Curitiba in the southern region of Brazil. Here the climate is a little different from the rest of Brazil because it is colder here with lower temperatures. I particularly use the bike to get to and from work 3 kilometers from my house. I don't wear a helmet and I use bike bags, I didn't carry anything on my back. As the commute is short, I usually only take one shirt to change into at work. I like a simple life and the bike contributes a lot to that. I love watching your videos. Thank you very much for your shares.

[@daughterofthestars08]

Aw I'm bummed I never had the time to contribute to this project, it would have been super interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[@deemey95]

I wish I had been aware that this was happening. Washinton DC has a large cycling community and we have one of the largest bike share systems in the US. Falls church Virginia just doesn't capture what DC bike life is like.

[@tesmith47]

I agree, falls church is NOT D.C. AT ALL!!!! i am in D.C. and the culture is widely divergent in all sorts of ways!

[@Galiuros]

From Tucson, Arizona, here. I guess I'm kind of an outlier. I'm a 69 year old male who commutes daily on a road bike (touring bike) and wears a helmet religiously. At 69 I've been riding a bike in this town for 43 years. In the early college days it was for saving money. Now riding is for maintaining health. I use a road bike and especially a touring bike because, basically the city roads are not the best. Lot's of pot holes and uneven repair patches makes for a very bumpy ride. A touring bike has slightly bigger tires and has a longer wheel base. As far as wearing a helmet goes, all I can say is that it just makes sense to wear one. In fact, it's hard to think of a reason not to. As I say to anyone on two wheels, "It doesn't matter how well you ride. It's how badly they drive." Thanks for the informative video.

[@HazMat1012]

I live in Oceanside, near San Diego. I wear my helmet. But it does seem common that in the county, I only notice the sport cyclist wearing their helmet, but all others don't. I wear mine for safety and legal reasons. Not just because it's the law, but because I've heard of bicyclists suing those that hit them and losing because one big factor is they weren't wearing a helmet.

[@AssBlasster]

I recorded the San Diego data in downtown and Bird Rock neighborhood. I only moved here a few months ago, but I was also surprised by the lack of helmets by riders on the 101 and the San Diego beach areas when I started riding. It's not exactly a "bike-friendly" region IMO but the weather is hard to beat.

[@HazMat1012]

@AssBlasster Nice, I'm glad you did that. I wish the whole county was more bike friendly. Oceanside has "Bike friendly" signs in places where there is no shoulder nor bike lane. Even a little inland, I don't see many people wear helmets.

[@peterbedford2610]

Interesting. I live in a suburban CA area and I see many roadies and some MT bikers. Rarely someone that looks like a commuter. I would love to see really safe bike lanes. Every time I ride near cars in traffic, I put my bike away for another month.

[@AssBlasster]

I recorded the San Diego data, but it may be biased since I went to downtown and the beach areas (between La Jolla and Pacific Beach). It's mostly gridded residential streets with some bike lanes and paths. I live more inland in the suburbs and see more roadies than anything. I only ride my bike to the trolley station.

[@LimitedWard]

Some additional variables to track if you try this again in the future: - What kind of cycling infrastructure was this measured on? I'd imagine a bike path cutting through a park would have different types of cyclists compared a painted bike lane in the heart of downtown. - What day of the week was the measurement taken? I'd assume during weekdays you'd see people dress and ride differently compared to weekends, and you'd likely see a larger proportion of children on weekends. - What types of cars are people driving along the same route? I'd expect that cities with larger vehicles would influence the type of riders you see as well as what they wear. - How do demographics affect what people wear and the type of bikes they ride? For example, you're tracking the number of mountain bike riders and the number of women, but we don't know the number of mountain bike-riding women.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

These are all great suggestions. I've learned so much through this process that I think we may have to do it again. Thank you

[@dhanyrafael]

Next year we are waiting. We will do it better. I am thinking of filming in more locations in the capital city and definitely during week days and weekend. @@Shifter_Cycling

[@eufrozinak9461]

​@@Shifter_Cyclingthis needs to be an annual thing so we can roughly see the progress over time

[@izzly42]

Dallas, Tx has decent bike infrastructure, but the lack of elevation around here just makes for speedier cycling (and driving). There are plenty of route options on the road when the maps are very grid like as well. I was surprised that I fit right into the category of a helmeted race kit wearing road bike rider. Maybe that camera was at white rock lake- one of the hotspots for roadies! Great video!

[@manu.yt25]

Awesome video, it was pretty interesting to compare different cities all over the World....

[@DavidNewmanDr]

When you wondered about folding bikes in Manchester, did you consider people commuting by bicycle and train? In the UK, you need to book ordinary bicycles in advance in the two bicycle slots on the train. But you can take folding bikes along any time. The alternative is to have two bicycles, one stored in, e.g., Marylebone station London, the other left in Oxford. Or hire city bikes each day.

[@lazybuilder]

Amazing work by all involved.

[@jarjarbinks6018]

Let’s go! Months in the making. I’m excited to see the results

[@AndrewBrownballroomdru]

In Brooklyn, NY and I have a Brompton (commuter style bike with fenders ) and when it is colder I use a backpack. When it is warmer I use my bag that attaches to my Brompton.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I love seeing those Bromptons.

[@edfungus]

Very cool! If only I knew you were doing this, I would have submitted as well

[@jasonarthurs3885]

My anecdotal two-cents: Commuting by e-bike for the past 3 years I've observed firsthand the uptick in e-bike riders in Victoria, BC. Back when I started, I might have encountered 1 or 2 others on e-bikes each day; now, it's a 50/50 split.

[@ameliahadrava2224]

Just came from Kyoto Japan. So much cycling. The tour guide said they can ride freely on sidewalks and on streets. But must park in designated areas.

[@michaelre7556]

Very glad to see the results of this now!

[@Shifter_Cycling]

It was a lot of fun! Thank you

[@saranbhatia8809]

Great content great statistics great talk!!!

[@een_schildpad]

This was really fun! It was cool to participate and see our little city on the map 🎉

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thanks for contributing!

[@AssBlasster]

Hey shifter! Helped contribute data for several random cities in the western US (Spokane, San Diego, etc) when I was conveniently traveling with some spare time. It was definitely a mixed bag of results with some busy bike lanes and terrible ones with like 1-2 bikers spotted in 20 minutes...

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you so much for taking the time to supply so much data. There are some pretty stark difference between different cities within the same country, especially a country as big and diverse as the U.S. It's really great to be able to see some of these differences, so thank you!

[@24speedcheetah]

Here in Iowa, it's a lot of small towns with not a lot of cycling infrastructure, we've got a lot of glacially carved hills, gravel roads, and the side streets tend are a little more rough, so hybrids tend to be very popular. Not sure if those would be classified as commuter or mountain bikes in these datasets, since by definition they land right in the middle.

[@eduardoraschedamotta1327]

Hey! I moved to Edmonton (10:30) coming from Porto Alegre, the city mentioned @ 9:43 in your video! What are the odds?? Thank you very much for all the your amazing videos! Cheers! Happy New Year!

[@ridefree4076]

definitely a good bikegeek video, thanks! Would certainly be good to know what kind of area (central/commercial/tourist/suburb etc.) the recordings were done, and crucially what day and time. Here in Lisbon (and I guess most places) you see a lot more sporty bikes and lycra at the weekends.(hopefully I'll out a pin in the map for you next time!)

[@baddriversofcolga]

This was great, Tom! I wish I did it, but I was thinking I probably wouldn't see any bikers though now I realize I probably would've done alright with our rail trail.

[@M-demo]

Many thanks for posting. Extremely interesting. I hope the next time you revisit data collection I can participate.

[@jakeblumes1]

Fascinating, Tom. I love data like this. Going to participate next time! There will be a next time, right?

[@judymc4213]

I live in PNW. There are no dedicated bike lanes, so I ride on the back streets and a city maintained trail[ a whopping 1.5 miles!] A helmet is a must ,as I'm a retired RN and I can tell you the head injury stories. I wear padded lycra tights because they are warm and comfortable. My bike ,as well as public transit that carries my bike, have primarily taken the place of my car. I'm a safe rider in a city of unsafe motorists!

[@darthmaul216]

The PNW has some dedicated bike lanes. There are 2 small ones in the small town of snohomish

[@judymc4213]

wow!@@darthmaul216

[@dansugardude2655]

I own and ride a dedicated road bike and a dedicated gravel bike (2021 Ridley Fenix SL for road and 2021 Guerciotti Brera for gravel). I bought the Ridley from Putnam Cyclery in the U.S state of Connecticut. I bought the Guerciotti at Bike Zone Cape Cod but then did a frame swap from small to extra small at Putnam Cyclery. My bike ride from home to work is road, gravel rail trail, road, paved rail trail, then road. I wear an aero road helmet and sometimes an MTB helmet. Run two rear lights and one front light (all Lezyne), run two bike bags, and wear full Giordana Silverline kit. My job actually pretty much requires “athletic leisure” clothing, so it turns out that my work clothing is also my everyday clothing. I love it and would not change it for anything! ❤

[@dgas71]

I’m glad that someone did Fredericton, New Brunswick. I moved here from Ontario in July and discovered that the city is very bike friendly For a city with a population of 63,000 people, it has 45km of bike lanes, 39km of bike trails and an overall 120+ km trail network for the city and region. From looking at the data, a little more than half wear bike helmets even though New Brunswick has a bike helmet law. The data is interesting but it’s definitely not the whole picture of bike culture. There are so many other variables such as terrain of the cities, population, climate etc.

[@harrisoncook2774]

I think it would be really cool to collect these data annually! We could track trends and evolution over time considering changes in laws, infrastructure, climate change, etc.

[@partsbinspecial1457]

Putting my hand up for Ottawa, here! Ottawa has a great commuting culture, but also a lot of weekend warriors, especially during summer when some major roads are closed for active use. Combine this with the relatively high incomes in the city (the major employers are government, universities, and tech), and you get a lot of fancy roads bikes and Lycra. I tend to associate racing clothing with affluence in a cycling culture more than anything else.

[@Stefan_trekkie]

Bulgarian here ..People are not wearing just bicycle helmets, but construction workers are not too.. Neither are the machinist wearing safety glasses .. Unless is it strictly enforced on some work place. If you go to a more remote village, people are riding mopeds with no helmets too. I believe It's like culture freedom thing leftover from the communist era. The type of bikes are like that too.. Before 1991, most bikes where casual city/commuter bikes, mostly single speed with coaster brakes and one popular model folding bike. I remember as a kid the MTBs where introduced and we where all in to it.. Now if you are walking in to bike stores, the majority of bikes are MTBs, some road bikes, few hybrids and only in some stores you can find city/commuter bike or a folding bike .. Me, personally .. I ride a hybrid with full fenders and panniers, cycling clothes and no helmet .. I use to wear one years back but stopped. p.s. People like more MTBs because we tend to have just one bike and MTBs are super universal .. People tend to ride sometimes in rough places, on the sidewalks, between apartment blocks and the most roads are bad too. Very dangerous communist era drainage covers with big gabs all over the cities, even on the cycling lanes. So, people feel more secure with 55mm tires and bikes that can take punishments from the roads and off them. But many people change their tires with touring style tires around the same sizes. The infrastructure is very poorly maintained, you basically don't know what is a pot hole or what is not in bad whether.

[@bishopofapples]

Great stuff!

[@ShortVersion1]

Nice! Surprised at the amount of international viewers who responded! Casual bikes in Asia makes sense to me for some reason... Aesthetically. Same with mountain bikes in European countries you mentioned. We both contributed for Fort Collins, so that was sweet to see it up there. We should've sent videos but they were like 60GB. 😂 Next time lol Since this experiment, we've seen Ebikes, and specifically long-tails, go bananas. It seems like we spot a dozen a day from our kitchen now.

[@c4ristopher]

Here in Alaska it changes depending on the season, we have a ton of fat tire bikes all year round, but shifts over to more commuter style in the summer due to the a combination of of tourists and seasonal workers

[@idle_weirdo]

Congratulations! 🎉

[@modelflugzuegsamlung]

I would love to see a video about the cycling culture in Japan! Maybe planning a trip over there to make one would be the perfect way to celebrate 100k subscribers 🎉

[@billrose2202]

I live in Thailand and we get loads of second hand Japanses bikes by the container. The ones from the train stations I reckon. Great bikes. Most people that ride here ride super expensive road bikes with all the bells and whistles however you do see people riding normal bikes too. I was cycling in Tokyo years ago and my friend stopped at the police station to pump up her tires. I was amazed. Yeah super safe and easy cycling there. Warsaw, Poland apparently is an up and coming cycling city as they've really improved the infrastructure and its become really popular although probably not in the winter like in Demark and Holland. When I rode there the bike paths didn't connect in some areas and you had to make do best you could. They've fixed all that now apparently. I think the style of bikes people ride depends on the purpose and the area topography as well as what's availble. Someone that is a sport cyclist will more likely ride a sport bike to work while someone that is riding bikes to work and the shop more likely will use a dutch/japanese style bike. Personally I prefer fixed gear with a brake for around town, road bike for distance, and a classic with a rack for carry stuff/shopping. Doesn't matter what you ride as long as you ride :)

[@TigerTT]

I don't even see regular bikes on the streets anymore, only ebikes lmao. That sums up this entire year.

[@SpySappingMyKeyboard]

Kiwi here, from Palmy specifically (sorry I didn't get a chance to contribute data). I thought I might provide my anecdotal evidence now though. Palmy is (was?) a uni city of ~100k people, with a good cycle path for recreation + travel along the river, and fairly piecemeal infrastructure in the city. I would roughly categorise cyclists I see into 3 categories - sports peeps (generally along the river or in packs, 100% roadbikes), middle class urban commuters (generally in the city, often a road or hybrid bike, but I've been seeing more ebikes, and cargo bikes lately - including a surprising number of parents with small kids), and poorer guys (are often on the footpath, generally not wearing a helmet, mostly mountain bikes). I would also add that there is good mountain bike parks that are just a bit out of town, but I don't generally go there so I can't speak for what they're like. If I were to survey cyclists at the route which has the most cyclists, I would go to the river - which would give mostly road bikes. If I were to survey somewhere in the city, I suspect that I would get more hybrid/ebikes etc, but I would also see less people because they are not as concentrated on one route. I don't know if there is a similar dynamic in other NZ/AU cities. I would also say that Palmy probably has better cycling infrastructure than other similarly sized NZ cities (which isn't saying much). Also, even though bike helmets are required by law, I've never seen or heard of someone actually ticketed for it - we aren't heavily policed in the same way that I hear some parts of NA is. That's my experience as a "rich" white guy though, so take that with a grain of salt. Finally, I would say there very much a lack of understanding that cycling is transport. I constantly get confused comments about the fact that I biked somewhere. Most bikes that I've seen for sale have been either mountain bikes or road bikes. I think that part of the road bike situation is that it's just the only kind of bike that's available.

[@averyboringusername]

A small observation. From 10:45 to 11:05 the values for the the numbers of folding bikes shown on the on-screen graphics didn't match the audio.