So my new pad is just 17 blocks from work, about a 15- to 20-minute walk. Great in the summer, but winter is on its way.
I’m basically walking south on Tenth Avenue, so there are no subways nearby.
I could take the bus on Ninth Ave., but Ninth gets gummed up with Lincoln Tunnel traffic in the 40s.
I could take my car, but if I park in front of my apartment I risk getting a ticket if I don’t move the car by 7 a.m.
I can park legally as long as I want at the NYP zone at CBS, but that’s seven blocks north of me. Seems silly to walk seven blocks so I can drive 25.
When it has rained, I’ve taken a taxi, but I don’t want to do that everyday.
So I decided my best commuting option would be a bike.
After checking out used bikes on Craigslist, I actually decided the easiest and possibly cheapest thing to do would be to get a new bike online. Wal-Mart actually sells bikes for just over $50 (+shipping). Really, I just want something that I can tool around the city on, something that I won’t be too upset about if it gets stolen. So I got this bike on Amazon for $140 (price has since dropped). It arrived Friday and I managed to put it together pretty easily.
The plan was to just leave it outside 24/7. It’d be a pain lugging it up two flights of stairs every day; technically bikes are banned from my building and there isn’t really much space in my apartment for it anyway.
I have two good locks for it and took the quick-release seat inside with me, but I noticed this morning that after just three days outside someone has already tried to steal it. Instead of trying to defeat the chain, they attempted to pry the frame apart, using one element of the frame for leverage against the other. (You can see the scratches in larger versions of the photo at left).
Anyway, I might try to find another spot for it … maybe it’d be a little safer on the avenue? I do love biking in the city.
Wow, when I opened up that picture there was a lot more damage than I expected. People suck.
Question though, how is biking in the rain better than walking in the rain?
You can’t walk 20 minutes in the winter?? Whimp!
Dude, you should have gone with the $50 bike. Full suspension at the price point you paid is asking for trouble. It’s probably a very squishy ride. Also, it makes your bike look more fancy and thus makes it more of a target. Put a sign on your bike saying that it costs $100 new. Why steal a bike that you can pawn for about $50 max. Probably less would be my guess, especially now that it is scratched up. But then there are probably a lot of stupid people out there. The guys that you should be worried about are the ones that drive around in vans and have a lot of chain cutting equipment. They can steal bikes quick and dump them into the van. But they can probably tell that the bike isn’t very good. So maybe they won’t bother with your bike.
Well, I can. But it’s more pleasant to ride, I think.
I’m not sure that riding in the rain would be any better than walking … maybe a light rain … but you can’t hold an umbrella and have to worry about skidding out.
> But then there are probably a lot of stupid people out there
This idiot tried to pry apart the FRAME. How much more stupid can you get? I can’t see the construction of the bike, but
> I’m not sure that riding in the rain would be any better than walking … maybe a light rain
The chief problem with biking under those circumstances is “the stripe”.
When the ground is wet, dirt and water cling to the tires as they rotate around, and “centrifugal” force tosses them off the wheel at your back… which means your clothes or outer garment winds up with a nice fat streak of road grit and various other substances, including oil and road salt. If you’re going fast enough, it’ll go up to your head & into your hair, too. In order to prevent this you pretty much need a foldup lightweight poncho (or, better yet, a rainsuit with a headpiece, as the front wheel is gonna spatter your legs and the front of you the same way, but less so)
Also, I’ve never lived in NYC, but… it’s winter, screw the rain — riding in *ice and snow*?
> But then there are probably a lot of stupid people out there
This idiot tried to pry apart the FRAME. How much more stupid can you get? I can’t see the construction of the bike, but
> I’m not sure that riding in the rain would be any better than walking … maybe a light rain
The chief problem with biking under those circumstances is “the stripe”.
When the ground is wet, dirt and water cling to the tires as they rotate around, and “centrifugal” force tosses them off the wheel at your back… which means your clothes or outer garment winds up with a nice fat streak of road grit and various other substances, including oil and road salt. If you’re going fast enough, it’ll go up to your head & into your hair, too. In order to prevent this you pretty much need a foldup lightweight poncho (or, better yet, a rainsuit with a headpiece, as the front wheel is gonna spatter your legs and the front of you the same way, but less so)
Also, I’ve never lived in NYC, but… it’s winter, screw the rain — riding in *ice and snow*?
> But then there are probably a lot of stupid people out there
This idiot tried to pry apart the FRAME. How much more stupid can you get? I can’t see the construction of the bike, but isn’t that going to render it pretty much worthless?
As far as locks go, the Kryptonite U-Locks are best by far. Get the longer version, as the shorter one often is hard to find something to lock it to, while the longer one you can usually find some signage or something if nothing else.
> I’m not sure that riding in the rain would be any better than walking … maybe a light rain
The chief problem with biking under those circumstances is “the stripe”.
When the ground is wet, dirt and water cling to the tires as they rotate around, and “centrifugal” force tosses them off the wheel at your back… which means your clothes or outer garment winds up with a nice fat streak of road grit and various other substances, including oil and road salt. If you’re going fast enough, it’ll go up to your head & into your hair, too. In order to prevent this you pretty much need a foldup lightweight poncho (or, better yet, a rainsuit with a headpiece, as the front wheel is gonna spatter your legs and the front of you the same way, but less so)
Also, I’ve never lived in NYC, but… it’s winter, screw the rain — riding in *ice and snow*?