Originally Posted by hhnngg1

Having extensively bike commuted in urban LA, NY, and Sf in rush hour, I will add that the only time I 'took the lane' every time was on upcoming turns/corners. It is too dangerous to let a car right hook you (or left hook you), and the safest method here is to command the entire lane before the turn, and take up enough space so that there is no question of a car squeezing by on the right or left.

I will add that the typical amount of time required to command the lane in this situation is under 10 seconds, which is why one can get away with it. I've seen slower riders do the same but command the lane too early before the turn, and it ends up having the traffic speed dangerously around them since there's too big a gap in front of them and nobody wants to slow.

Basically you NEVER want to be timid at turns on a bike. You do them quickly, but with authority, and having driven and encountered cyclists who are timid vs assertive at corners, it's much easier even for the drivers to deal with an assertive rider prior to the corner, who makes it very clear what's going on and leaves no questionable squeeze-by options. Again, you have to do this briskly though - if you dilly dally, cars will just try and go around you which makes it a very dangerous situation.