Introduction
There are many benefits for the use of bicycling as a form of transportation. These include, but are not limited to, being inexpensive, being practical in many locations, funtions, etc. Overall, they are a very practical device.
Inexpensive
Bicycles are not expensive. A bike can be as simple as two tires, pedals, a chain, a seat, handle bars, and metal to connect it all together. They can also be complicated by adding gears and other unneccesary parts. I call these extra parts unneccessary because they are not important to the idea the a bicycle can get you from point A to point B.
The cost of bicycles vary depending on the materials it is made with. While certain types of materials are better than others, a number of different materials can be used for different parts. Therefore, in certain situations bicycles can even be homemade. Also, the tools required for this job are just as simple as the final product. The physics behind the production is simply to attach everything in the right way for the total system to work properly. A variety of tools can be used to build a bike, a screw driver and a few wrenches is all you really need. Therefore, even the tools are simple and inexpensive. There are no real alternative tools because there would be no real advantage to using anything else.
Furthermore, there are many organizations that collect and donate bicycles to areas they can benefit from them. One such program is through GoodWill and can be found on the website at [[1]].
Various Locations
Just about any place on earth where there are a lot of people, a bicycle is a practical thing to own. Basically, anywhere you can walk, you can ride a bike. The only areas that could never benefit from the practical uses of a bicycle are places where there is a lot of snow for most of the year. However, many of the developing contries that would benefit from these the most can use them most days of the year. Yes, there will be days when the weather is so poor with rain or snow that a bicycle is not worth it for the inexperienced rider. But on these days you likely won't see many people on foot either. Therefore, bicycles would be a useful product in almost every location.
Practical Functions
Bicycles are so practical in many daily activities. The most obvious is the idea that people can get around faster with a bike than they can just by walking for a lot cheaper than having to buy and keep up with owning a car. A less obvious advantage is the ideal that bicycles can also help to haul a small load. A cart can easily be attached to the back of the bike for transporting a large variety of objects. The cart needs to be attached properly, but the physics behind that is very simple. Basically it cannot be too large or too heavy for the bike to pull. The maximum weight then depends on strength of the rider. Another advantage here is that almost everybody has stronger legs than arms and pulling weight by pedaling is easier than carrying with their arms or on their backs.
--Susan 15:41, 6 December 2007 (PST)