Over here in Bengaluru, our quick commerce folks seem to prefer Yulu bikes.
They are small, nimble, low powered electric scooters with a decent carrying capacity, whose biggest advantage is _cheap_.
If you ask anyone other than the delivery folks, the yulu drivers are a menace, as they break the already fragile equilibrium that is Bengaluru traffic.
Small off-topic, I see those boxed backpacks and think of their shoulders. On motorbike the box rests in the back of the seat but here all the weight is in the shoulders.
People who have done some mountain hiking knows that the weight of the backpack should be mostly in the waist, thanks to the waist belt (sorry if I don't use the right term, I've done most my hiking in Spanish ;) ).
I don't know how weight distribution would differ from walking but with some research perhaps they could carry more while staying more comfortable.
In London e-bikes have basically take over delivery of small stuff. A decade or so ago they tended to use motor scooters but there are a lot less restrictions on e-bikes.
I wonder why is still anyone NOT using e-bikes for delivery. This is the lowest hanging fruit ever. No charging issues (just a normal wall socket is more than enough), no range issues - trips are short and battery can be swapped by a person in seconds to the one that was charging. Almost zero running costs compared to a two-stroke.
Compared to non powered bike maybe, but it's only practical in a very limited set of scenarios. I'm comparing to a two stroke moped that's still used by majority of deliverymen down here. These days a two-stroke moped costs about as much as an e-bike and is whole lot more expensive and difficult to maintain.
Only force behind it seems to be the force of tradition. Creepy to see it holding so much control over even very young people who delivery drivers tend to be.
Over here in Bengaluru, our quick commerce folks seem to prefer Yulu bikes.
They are small, nimble, low powered electric scooters with a decent carrying capacity, whose biggest advantage is _cheap_.
If you ask anyone other than the delivery folks, the yulu drivers are a menace, as they break the already fragile equilibrium that is Bengaluru traffic.
Small off-topic, I see those boxed backpacks and think of their shoulders. On motorbike the box rests in the back of the seat but here all the weight is in the shoulders.
People who have done some mountain hiking knows that the weight of the backpack should be mostly in the waist, thanks to the waist belt (sorry if I don't use the right term, I've done most my hiking in Spanish ;) ).
I don't know how weight distribution would differ from walking but with some research perhaps they could carry more while staying more comfortable.
I can see numerous reasons why you'd want the backpack rather than a box on the bike for food delivery (may not apply for other deliveries):
- no need to fuss when you mount/dismount your bike, your backpack is already on your shoulders. Speed is key.
- the focus is not on carrying capacity, it's on speedy delivery. There's only so much food in their backpack.
- because of the time waiting for orders / going to the restaurant / going back to a hotspot, most of the time the backpack is actually empty.
- a box on the back of a bike costs money.
But now you’re cutting out all that biological shock absorption.
(Aka: why helmet cams are much smoother than any other bike mount)
Agree with your points about load distribution assuming the weight isn't trivial. Instead of waist, the common term in English would be hips/hipbelt.
> I've done most my hiking in Spanish
That's genuinely impressive, I've done most of my hiking in silence /s
I know what you meant though.
Camino.
In London e-bikes have basically take over delivery of small stuff. A decade or so ago they tended to use motor scooters but there are a lot less restrictions on e-bikes.
I just returned from Brazil and Argentina and yes these E-Bikes are everywhere
I wonder why is still anyone NOT using e-bikes for delivery. This is the lowest hanging fruit ever. No charging issues (just a normal wall socket is more than enough), no range issues - trips are short and battery can be swapped by a person in seconds to the one that was charging. Almost zero running costs compared to a two-stroke.
Not the majority at all, but some people like me do it for fun :)
up front costs compared to non powered bike maybe?
Compared to non powered bike maybe, but it's only practical in a very limited set of scenarios. I'm comparing to a two stroke moped that's still used by majority of deliverymen down here. These days a two-stroke moped costs about as much as an e-bike and is whole lot more expensive and difficult to maintain.
Only force behind it seems to be the force of tradition. Creepy to see it holding so much control over even very young people who delivery drivers tend to be.
Food delivery is some of the lowest quality and highest danger work with the least options for matriculating into a better position.
This article is written from a very colonial perspective. I wonder if the authors have pondered that.