Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
What do you mean by the bolded? Tandems aren't rare vehicles at all, and any tandem is doing the work of keeping 300 to 400 and more pounds of rider(s) and their personal items safe with ease. Our first tandem was a dept. store level BSO and never broke a spoke or had any other kind of mechanical failure. The OEM v-brakes were of the $11/ea. variety and I routinely had us out with just the front brake working. The higher quality more road oriented tandem with disc brakes, broke some spokes. A spoke(s) failure was never frightening. Most times we never even knew till we got back home. Eventually we got the wheels rebuilt, that was the end of spoke failures. The Trek T900 we have had since 2016ish has never broken a spoke and it is ridden daily in city commuting.
Tandem bikes aren't practical for a single person to use in a busy city as a daily commuter bike, so I'm not sure why you're mentioning this?
It's true that the same people who build tandem bikes might also build me a "normal" bike--or that custom builders who make tandem wheels could build me custom wheels--but it's not as though companies that build off-the-shelf tandem bikes sell tandem-strength bikes designed for single riders. That's why I asked about builders. Also, tandem bikes, like cargo bikes, are not necessarily designed to hold a single rider of 400 pounds, even if they are designed to hold two 200-pound people or 400 pounds of cargo overall. Weight distribution matters.
Re: "A spoke(s) failure was never frightening. Most times we never even knew till we got back home," that must be nice for you! But bikes can fail in all kinds of unexpected ways when you as a single rider weigh 300+ pounds, and not all of them are safe to happen on a busy road alongside cars. Some, even ignoring cars, are wildly unsafe in general, like e.g. a seat post breaking in the middle of a ride, which is not unheard of for heavier riders. I also can't tell from your message, but you may be assuming I'm a man based on my height and weight. I'm not; I'm a woman, and it's not generally safe for women to be stranded alone on the side of a road. I'd be using this bike as transportation, too, and the idea of being stranded on the side of the road with an unrideable bike after the bike shops have closed and the buses have stopped running is... not great.
Finally, you seem to think I am not speaking from experience, for some reason, even though I mentioned having commuted by electric bike in the city before. Not that I mentioned it, but before that, when I was much lighter, I also commuted on a "regular" bike around San Francisco, which is known for having fairly aggressive drivers and requiring pretty defensive riding.
Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
I personally would go with the Zinn option and not complicate it any further. That's a lot of money you will be sinking into this and much of it will be unrecoverable. I'm hearing just enough trepidation and anxiety in your o.p. to advise that you think long and hard about this after today. Open up more about your reservations and see to it that they are addressed to your satisfaction before you go any further.
I'm not sure why you're referencing money when I've already mentioned that budget is not an issue. I'm also not sure what "trepidation and anxiety" you think you're hearing--if you feel that way, you're projecting. There is no trepidation here. I am asking for advice around safe bikes for me to ride at any cost.
Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
I don't think I have misread your desire for e-assist as a hedge against the greater power of the cars around you on the road. I urge you to stop thinking about it like that. You will never come close to the power advantage cars have.
I ride in such a way that I am always safe, no matter if I am at zero speed, or at 25mph, which is about as fast as I go in the city. Traffic always has a way around me, and crossing intersections, even wide ones, is not a place I have felt the need for more power. Pedestrians crossing those same roads have even less power/speed, and traffic signals are built around a pedestrians limitations. That's usually enough. FWIW.
Alas, you have indeed misread my desires! I'm not sure where you live or what you weigh, but I have commuted via bike in an urban environment at 300+ pounds before, and my concerns are not unfounded.
It's not unreasonable to say that crossing intersections on busy roads is concerning when you're heavy and have a lot of weight to get moving from a standstill, especially when drivers get road rage. It's not unreasonable to say that pedaling too slowly uphill is concerning when you might be on a single-lane bike path over a bridge, blocking other cyclists from safely traveling, themselves. It's not unreasonable to say that the bike paths "safest" to ride on are often secluded, and as a woman, sometimes you want to be able to get away from danger quickly. Even aside from safety, it is not unreasonable to want e-assist when using a bike for transportation versus purely sport; sometimes you need to travel 15 miles out of your way in the middle of summer for a social engagement and do not want to push a whole 400 pounds to get there, arriving drenched.
Anyway, it sounds like you live a charmed life! However, you do not seem to have the life experience to give much input in this specific situation. Thanks, nonetheless.