The comfortable temp for biking is significantly higher than it is for walking, especially with the right gear. 40°C is definitely beyond reasonable tho. Planting trees and decreasing the amount of asphalt would go a long way to make it a better proposition more of the year. A societal expectation that you don't go or do anything when weather gets that hot could bridge the difference. Unfortunately that kind of philosophy is antithetical to capitalism's demands for productivity.

Even if the city is flat as fuck you'll still arrive sweaty if the climate is hot. Take Phoenix for example, you will sweat even if you are in the shade and doing no physical exercise because it's commonly 46 degrees.

Biking in the cold and wet honestly isn't that bad. Biking is my primary way of getting around all year in the PNW. When it gets real cold I put on normal snow gear. It definitely makes going outside more of a production tho.

A lot of it has more to do with what people are used to and feel is reasonable than with the actual conditions. If people saw more folks riding and actually knew people who rode I think people would be more open to try it.

Unmanaged ice/snow, unhealthy wet bulb temperatures, and getting run over due to car first infrastructure are the most significant barriers to more people using bikes as transportation IMO. If a society chooses to, all those things can be mitigated.

My favorite part of riding is that I get moderate physical activity for free. I would not spend near as much time being active otherwise.

Sure, but I assume the conversation was about mechanical bikes. Personally, for a PEV I would choose something lighter and cheaper and forego the pedalling altogether, but my commute is only about 7.5 km one way.

In Germany those are only allowed to assist you up to 25kph, which means they only help you going up hills, everywhere else will be the same amount of effort

Thats the thing though, for me the flow to vibe with is some banger tunes and pedalling as hard as I can. 😅

Obviously I can shower at work but then I need to get in 15 minutes early and then I have to blow-dry my hair and it is just a whole thing now.

You might not see the above as a problem but for me, the problem is I can for the life of me not get up earlier than I have to, I am just not a morning person. If I can manage to brew a pot of coffee and have a quick breakfast before I have to get out the door, that is a successfull morning.

No dude, two thirds of my office commutes in by bike. I'm just in decent shape and cycling at a reasonable pace doesn't make me break a sweat. For most people in decent shape it doesn't make you sweat more than walking.