West coast Canadian moving to NY, do i bring my tarck bike?
 

I'll be moving to Manhattan pretty soon, and I'm trying to figure out what to bring from my stable of bikes here in Vancouver.

I can only take one or two, so I've narrowed it down to the track bike, or the BMX.
Possibly both.

I guess I'm looking for advice from New Yorkers who are familiar with riding both types.

It looks the the street BMX scene is pretty huge out there, but I'm not up on American law, and what sort of trouble I can get in riding like that. I'll be living up on 112th st, and google street view makes it look like a pretty calm neighborhood (being close to Columbia U and all)

Of course if I ONLY brought my track bike I'd probably be yearning to ride BMX, and visa versa.

So let me know guys. Whats it like out there? I'm nervous about this move and want to make the right choices. I presently ride brakeless in the worst of Vancouver traffic and hills, so I'm not too worried about a bunch of yellow cars.. but this stuff is on my mind right now...

Are there any local forums I should check out? I've already applied for NYfixed.

Oh.. and I'm stoked to check out the car free days! They happen right after I arrive in your city

What do you want to know exactly? A ton of people here ride both track and bmx bikes on the streets. What kind of trouble are you worried about?

Car free in Manhattan? I like seeing cities tring to follow up on each other's good ideas, but I'm guessing NY attempt is little more than a cheap make-the-greenies-think-they've-got-something stunt. It's probably just the meaningless/small streets so that thousands can still swarm in from NJ to shop. Nothing like

Anyway, bring both bikes, obviously. Did you just want to post about your move to NY?

Weak sauce. This crap seems made to shut up all the carless/cyclepath initiatives that are constantly thrown at the mayor's office.

I dunno man. From the BK bridge to 72 street is a large chunk of the city. How is that weak? You can't realistically close down more than that in a city like NYC. It's a legitimate initiative and it's a lot better than nothing.

Bring both. As you'll soon see, many don't ride fixed gear exclusively. Why limit the fun?

Okay.. I guess I'm curious about police, and riding on private property in NY.
Up here the worst that can happen is an irate security guard will usher you out.
I know the police don't touch most people who ride the streets of NY (ie in traffic).. but I didn't know if riding stairs/courtyards etc makes one more vulnerable to police harrassment.

As well.. assuming both are locked securly.. which is more likely to have parts stolen off it? a track bike, or a BMX? I generally lock up with a Ulock and a cable.. is that enough?

Hell no. Ditch the cable or that'll be cut through by some girl scout on her way to grandma's. U-lock around the frame and wheel and a krypto/abus/granit chain around the other wheel and frame and locked to whatever you're locking up to. Don't lock to the horizontal bars on scaffolding either. Those are easily removed with a wrench. For extra protection, get some old bike chain and inner tube free from your LBS and lock your saddle rails to the rear triangle. And if you plan on locking up outside overnight alot, superglue some bb's into all the hex screws, or fill them with wax/solder.

People here will steal anything if it's not secure or in a secure area. I have to fight the impulse myself sometimes.

Cops may tell you to stop messing around if you're sliding down rails on your bike, so do what they tell you and move on. Mouth off and they'll bust you. So don't mouth off.

When I use to skate there wasn't a real issue with cops. If you're on private property you'll just be asked to leave. I've never heard of any skaters getting tickets or arrested.

Yea, I'm not ignoring the fact that it's a city designed around cars, just lamenting the fact that it will always be.

It is better than nothing, but one street from 7am to 1pm? Come on. I think this would be considered a victory by those in City Hall who wanted to give as little as possible to such an initiative.

If you're serious about biking for transportation the answer seems obvious. Then again I don't ride BMX so I'm not sure what they'd offer beyond fun ****ing around.

It's more than one street and most of it is on Park Avenue which is four lanes. The closer spans half of Manhattan. Again, in a city like NYC, closing down more streets for a longer period of time would be catastrophic. You have to consider everyone involved, not just cyclists. That's one issue I have with hardcore activists, they think they're they only ones that need to be catered to and they never consider everyone else.

Lyle I think you already know that the correct answer is always n+1. My congrats to you and the ms., though vancity will definitely be the poorer for your absence.

Manhattan is relatively small but NYC is pretty big. I wouldn't want to try and get around on a BMX bike.

But you can take your bmx bike on the subway to Highbridge to ride the pump track. The subway also drops you off near Kissena where you can be nice and fresh for track racing.