Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - is NYC a bike freindly place?

is NYC a bike freindly place, i'm mean do always have to chain your bike every time you go into some place?

If you don't lock your bike up, it will get stolen.

NYC is bike friendly in that there is a long history of bike culture there, and the motorists have some expectation of bikes being on the street.

Do not leave your bike unchained and unwatched for 10 seconds - that's about 9 seconds longer than it takes to steal an unlocked bike.

If you don't lock your bike up, it will get stolen.

And often times even when you do lock your bike up, it will get stolen....

I lock up no matter what. It's a pain in the ass, but my ride is always there when I get out of the store.

Failing Economy = Even more bike theft.

damn :(

you're from there but don't know the deal? WTF?

always lock it if it's out of sight, try and bring it inside when you can... i.e. going to a friend's apartment or something. read up on proper locking techniques so you don't pull some dumbass ****. i see dumbass **** all the time and feel like leaving a post-it about how i could've stolen the bike.

NYC is like a bike obstacle course though... it's super fun and super dangerous, if you don't keep your wits about you

i never went into manhattan, so..

I lock up in Bklyn, Qns, the Bx and SI and everywhere else. They're no different in terms of getting your bike stolen.

is NYC a bike freindly place, i'm mean do always have to chain your bike every time you go into some place?
NYC is bike friendly since they are used to messengers/commuters/recreation riders....but leaving a bike unattended and not secured is just ASKING for someone to steal it!

would they steal your bike if you were to smere it with doody?

use a cable lock and kiss it good bye.

lock to scaffolding for a few minutes, consider it gone.

lock the front wheel or you wont have one.

new york city as a whole is very diverse in every way (politics, race, class, personalities, culture), so its bike friendly and bike unfriendly at the same time. this question is pretty naive though so learn a little street smarts first if you plan on moving here....

overall ive been biking here 365 days a year for 5 years and i love it...

i live here, just not in manhattan. When in nyc's history was it ever safe to leave a bike unlocked? and what factors made it this way currently?

When in nyc's history was it ever safe to leave a bike unlocked? and what factors made it this way currently?

i sense homework

i just did a lil homework and it seems as long as your willing to be a fightin fool you get to keep whats yours.

this is the part where we get politically correct and dummy up.

NYC is the least bike friendly place in the US. The roads are beat up, useless bike lanes, dipsh!ts that don't pay attention when they're on their phone while driving, Jersey plates, cabs blowing lights, cabs period, bike thieves. But even with all that *****, people still ride bikes through the city, gotta love that.

^on the flip side, you have a DOT that has been doing really innovative projects to reclaim some streetspace from automobiles and make them safer for peds and cyclists. the improvements have been in leaps and bounds!

I'm in NYC on vacation and I see the ****tiest rusty old bikes locked up with Krypto NY chains. I was never in a city where people took locking up so seriously.

+ 1 QP is correct. The DOT is doing some good things (although I am not a fan of the bike lane/ped space on Broadway.) and organizations like TA and X-UP are great for improving cycling in the city and helping organize everyone into one collective voice.

I'm in NYC on vacation and I see the ****tiest rusty old bikes locked up with Krypto NY chains. I was never in a city where people took locking up so seriously.

That's because we leave all our nice bikes at home lol.

"NYC is the least bike friendly place in the US. The roads are beat up, useless bike lanes, dipsh!ts that don't pay attention when they're on their phone while driving, Jersey plates, cabs blowing lights, cabs period, bike thieves. But even with all that *****, people still ride bikes through the city, gotta love that."


You've obviously never been to philly.

You've obviously never been to philly.

seconded!

I lock my bike even when back home in the good old suburbia, so i wouldn't ever think about not locking it up in a city.

I'm in NYC on vacation and I see the ****tiest rusty old bikes locked up with Krypto NY chains. I was never in a city where people took locking up so seriously.

that's because even rusty old bikes will be stolen. welcome to the USA.

everyone wants to claim that their life is the toughest.

everyone wants to claim that their life is the toughest.

Not people in Toronto. Life is too hard here in the T-Dot for us to bother with such trivialities...

The OP is lying, and for some reason chose this as his strange sort of trolling technique.

The OP is lying, and for some reason chose this as his strange sort of trolling technique.

This.

NYC is the least bike friendly place in the US.

That's ridiculous. From everything I've seen traffic moves pretty slow and you don't have streetcar tracks to deal with, and there's usually several lanes to play around with.

How you would complain about your city being "the worst" while it's actually ranked "the 8th best in North America" according to forbes traveler might be a sign you need to man up a bit.

I consider a city "bicycle friendly" if you can live your life without ever stepping foot into a car and simply ride a bike without anyone turning their heads because cyclists are so common. Most of the people I know do not drive nor would ever consider driving.

NYC, Chicago, San Francisco are definitely bike friendly, for example. LA and Atlanta are not. With that said, I would never live anywhere but a bicycle friendly city.

I get a little less stressed riding through most Brooklyn neighborhoods than Manhattan neighborhoods, though it can vary from area to area. To me, Queens in general has always like cars rule, and can be a little intimidating in places. But maybe the worst has been deep Bushwick and East New York, where some streets get narrower and the SUVs get wider and wider.

In regard to theft, I have come to terms with the fact that one day my locked bike may be gone. :(

"NYC is the least bike friendly place in the US. The roads are beat up, useless bike lanes, dipsh!ts that don't pay attention when they're on their phone while driving, Jersey plates, cabs blowing lights, cabs period, bike thieves. But even with all that *****, people still ride bikes through the city, gotta love that."


You've obviously never been to philly.

or Florida. from first hand riding experience i can say that there's few places in America as bike-friendly as NYC. of course, that's if we're talking about URBAN riding. if you are a roadie looking to do century rides on nice roads with scenic views, you'll hate NYC. it all depends on the kind of riding you want to do.

That's ridiculous. From everything I've seen traffic moves pretty slow and you don't have streetcar tracks to deal with, and there's usually several lanes to play around with.

How you would complain about your city being "the worst" while it's actually ranked "the 8th best in North America" according to forbes traveler might be a sign you need to man up a bit.

I've been riding through NYC streets on a daily basis year round for years, so I think I have the "man up" part taken care of.

And I don't know where Forbes comes up with these rankings, but the only thing that makes NYC bike friendly is that you can get anywhere in the 5 boroughs via bike and you can do it usually faster than a car or train. If you haven't been through NYC on bike, it's hard to explain the mayhem on some days. I've been to a few different cities in the States on bike; Chicago, Portland, Philly, and NYC is by far the most congested. Midtown and Chinatown during rush hour are probably the worst places to be on a bike.

or Florida. from first hand riding experience i can say that there's few places in America as bike-friendly as NYC. of course, that's if we're talking about URBAN riding. if you are a roadie looking to do century rides on nice roads with scenic views, you'll hate NYC. it all depends on the kind of riding you want to do.

NYC isn't that bad for roadies. Laps through Prospect and Central parks in the middle of the day when its not crammed with people on department store bikes isn't too bad for solo and group rides. And the Palisades, 9W, on the other side of the GWB is good too.

I've been riding through NYC streets on a daily basis year round for years, so I think I have the "man up" part taken care of.

And I don't know where Forbes comes up with these rankings, but the only thing that makes NYC bike friendly is that you can get anywhere in the 5 boroughs via bike and you can do it usually faster than a car or train. If you haven't been through NYC on bike, it's hard to explain the mayhem on some days. I've been to a few different cities in the States on bike; Chicago, Portland, Philly, and NYC is by far the most congested. Midtown and Chinatown during rush hour are probably the worst places to be on a bike.

Congested? Since when is congested a bad thing? I'll take the line of cars moving 10mph over having to cross a lane of traffic with cars travelling 45mph any day of the week.

Try telling the guy who rides to work on a rural country road with SUVs passing him at 60mph that New York is so bad. Try telling the guy who rides in a city where every major east/west road in the downtown core is two lanes in each direction, streetcar tracks in one lane, parked cars in the other.

We've all seen enough pictures, videos, helmet cams and whatever else of New York riding and like I said, if you think that's bad you're nuts.

Congestion doesn't mean a line of cars moving at 10 mph. It means SUVs gunning it around traffic through the bike lane. It means people running reds. It means right hooks. It means cabs rocketing off the Williamsburg Bridge at 50mph and crossing four lanes of traffic. It means livery cars parked in the bike lane.

It's not all it's cracked up to be.

Congestion doesn't mean a line of cars moving at 10 mph. It means SUVs gunning it around traffic through the bike lane. It means people running reds. It means right hooks. It means cabs rocketing off the Williamsburg Bridge at 50mph and crossing four lanes of traffic. It means livery cars parked in the bike lane.

It's not all it's cracked up to be.

Thats just for starters. I was even talking about the sheer amount of people you get in NYC. The people walking to work during rush hour with a large coffee in one hand and their phone to their ear in the other....walking through intersections without looking. Add that on top of deer in headlights tourists.

And the times the DOT forgets to salt the bridges when it gets icy. One of my favorites.

Congestion doesn't mean a line of cars moving at 10 mph. It means SUVs gunning it around traffic through the bike lane. It means people running reds. It means right hooks. It means cabs rocketing off the Williamsburg Bridge at 50mph and crossing four lanes of traffic. It means livery cars parked in the bike lane.


Thats just for starters. I was even talking about the sheer amount of people you get in NYC. The people walking to work during rush hour with a large coffee in one hand and their phone to their ear in the other....walking through intersections without looking. Add that on top of deer in headlights tourists.

And the times the DOT forgets to salt the bridges when it gets icy. One of my favorites.



And this is different than every single other city in North America how? Aside from the fact that the pace of traffic looks a whole lot slower, you just described what I imagine every one of us living in a city of over 500,000 has to deal with on a daily basis.

Except for Portland. ;)

OP: C'mon...How can you live there(even an outer borough) and not know the answer? Or are you just claiming the city when you really live in the burbs?

I third Philly. We have all that, plus trolley tracks. And we're now number 1 on kryptonite's bike theft list. Our crime rate overall is higher and getting your bike stolen while riding it does happen. Yes, I like to brag about how ****ty my city is. I've ridden in Manhattan and it was just like Philly but larger. The pedestrians are worse in NYC, though.

We've all seen enough pictures, videos, helmet cams and whatever else of New York riding and like I said, if you think that's bad you're nuts.

That's the problem with the videos, people see it and think "oh that's not too bad." Try motorpacing a cab down Madison Ave at 25+ mph while some aggressive Jersey plate behind you is honking and trying to merge into the other lane and almost clipping your rear tire.

That's the problem with the videos, people see it and think "oh that's not too bad." Try motorpacing a cab down Madison Ave at 25+ mph while some aggressive Jersey plate behind you is honking and trying to merge into the other lane and almost clipping your rear tire.

Sorry, I'd love to but it's pretty much impossible for an outsider to ever understand your perspective. We don't have cabs or car horns outside of New York. We don't even have rear tires either. Your experience is entirely unique and someday people will commemorate your unique suffering by building monuments in your honor.

And this is different than every single other city in North America how?

more people
more craziness.

there is a huge difference between NYC and Toronto or Chicago and Toronto. and the difference is density and population.

NYC is the least bike friendly place in the US. The roads are beat up, useless bike lanes, dipsh!ts that don't pay attention when they're on their phone while driving, Jersey plates, cabs blowing lights, cabs period, bike thieves. But even with all that *****, people still ride bikes through the city, gotta love that.

you have never been to boston

I don't find it to be that bad, really.

I get a thrill out of the mayhem... The DOT improvements have definitely helped, like on the wburg bridge and ****, and the bike lanes at least give you some technical 'road' to ride on seperate from the rest, but it's still very hectic. However, if everything was quiet and serene and you could zone out for minutes at a time on a slow jaunt, it would get rather boring.

Some of my favorite rides are through a heavily congested midtown weaving around ****, it's like an obstacle course and gives a sense of adventure to the ride. Even though it's dangerous as hell, most things that are really fun are.

Brooklyn is typically quite chill to ride around in, I consider that sort of like the suburban area (though that's hardly true) because not every intersection has a light so you gotta be aware of not blowing through one where there's no stop signs.

Amsterdam is like so bike friendly that you sometimes forget cars exist... and when one passes you you're almost taken back by the fact people actually drive there. I suppose that goes with the vibe of the city which is very laid back though... My favorite parts of riding there were blasting up the Damrak with cars zipping past.

Sometimes a little chaos is good for you, haha

[edit] Also I've driven in the city so many times that I kind of have an understanding how people think in traffic, so I've learned to take nothing for granted. Yeah a light is turning yellow but don't assume someone is going to stop, don't assume someone isn't going to cut four lanes across to make a left, stuff like that.

And this is different than every single other city in North America how? Aside from the fact that the pace of traffic looks a whole lot slower, you just described what I imagine every one of us living in a city of over 500,000 has to deal with on a daily basis.

Except for Portland. ;)

Oh, wow. Based on my experience with many other American cities? Very, very different. Have you ever been to NYC, or are you just speculating?

NYC is, during the week, experiencing rush hour from 7 AM to 7 PM. And then it experiences nightlife. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's different. I've spent time in Boston, Philly, DC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City... nothing compares.

The NYC chest-thumping is absurd. You people are describing any congested North American city. elTwitcho has a point, though, and any people living in cities with street cars (SF) can attest: tracks are hell.

What's with all the Jersey hate? Is Jersey just like our North York & Woodbridge?

The NYC chest-thumping is absurd. You people are describing any congested North American city. elTwitcho has a point, though, and any people living in cities with street cars (SF) can attest: tracks are hell.

What's with all the Jersey hate? Is Jersey just like our North York & Woodbridge?

No "chest-thumping".

NYC is just way more chaotic than any other city in the US. Every other US city just seems so much slower. Even Chicago, the 3rd largest city in the US, seemed very mellow compared to NYC...even during rush hour. No other city is as crazy as NYC, maybe Tokyo from what friends have told me.

You have to experience the mayhem to understand.

What's with all the Jersey hate? Is Jersey just like our North York & Woodbridge?

for one my least favorite area to get caught in is Tribeca 4pm on a Friday... basically anyone with a Jersey plate seems to abhor traffic a whole lot more than anyone that deals with it in every borough... they probably see NYC as a trap and they gotta deal with all the bull just to get home. on the west side where tribeca is and the tunnel is its madness... these people foam at the mouth tryin to leave the city.. theyd run jesus over if he jaywalked


No "chest-thumping".

No other city is as crazy as NYC, maybe Tokyo from what friends have told me.



if we're goin global then buenos aires runs loops around nyc.... for some reason every car in that damned city is missin a headlight, two headlights, or just doesnt bother with them. they think traffic rules are suggestions. they got 200 different bus lines in the capital city alone jockeyin for position (you gotta hail the buses like cabs-so imagine motorpacin that.) they got craters for potholes. and some of the damn finest women i ever seen.

thats dangerous riding..

if we're goin global then buenos aires runs loops around nyc.... for some reason every car in that damned city is missin a headlight, two headlights, or just doesnt bother with them. they think traffic rules are suggestions. they got 200 different bus lines in the capital city alone jockeyin for position (you gotta hail the buses like cabs-so imagine motorpacin that.) they got craters for potholes. and some of the damn finest women i ever seen.

thats dangerous riding..

That sounds insane. I might have to check out Buenos Aires...maybe just for the women alone.

No "chest-thumping".

NYC is just way more chaotic than any other city in the US. Every other US city just seems so much slower. Even Chicago, the 3rd largest city in the US, seemed very mellow compared to NYC...even during rush hour. No other city is as crazy as NYC, maybe Tokyo from what friends have told me.

You have to experience the mayhem to understand.

yeah! you all just wouldnt understand.