Wider And Wider – Bike Snob NYC

A lot of people have professed their appreciation for the triple chainring crank this week, but to be perfectly honest I’m not impressed. Do you want to know what REAL commitment looks like? How about an entire bike built around one?!?

Yes, it’s the very heart of the bike:

Meanwhile, the rear derailleur is merely an afterthought, its barren vestigial stub of a barrel adjuster jutting out into the void, useless and shriveled and ignored like an “outie” belly button:

Oh, and before you tell me the front derailleur’s too high, it’s as low as it’ll go without hitting the chainstay:

And it doesn’t seem to matter anyway, because it works just fine.

Okay, I admit it, at times even my own commitment to the triple on this bike starts to waver–but that’s only because I’m a tinkerer, and every so often I’m tempted to turn it back into a normal one-speed singlespeed again just because:

But then I quickly realize doing so would take rides like this pretty much off the table…or at the very least turn them into walks:

And I didn’t get into bikes so I could walk, goddamn it! So an oxymoronic three-speed wide-range singlespeed it is.

Speaking of widening, New York City is giving the bike lane network an angioplasty:

Thanks to the Micromobility Electro-Crap Revolution, it’s all about the wide lanes now:

Indeed, wherever you look these days, it seems as though the bike lanes are getting bigger:

So big that they’re eating the car lanes!

Drivers are chagrined, but riders of electrified Citi Bikes are delighted. By the way, here’s what urban cycling looks like in New York City in 2025:

It’s ironic that the average bike share patron riding to school or work is now faster and more fearless than the most extreme fixie daredevils of yesteryear…or these guys:

Though today’s riders are far less inclined to gratuitously fondle hot dog carts:

And buses:

And cars:

What was with all the touching stuff in those videos, anyway?

But yes, I’ll always cherish the glory days of riders on fixed-gear bicycles attempting to look menacing against the gritty backdrop of Bloomberg’s gentrified New York City. People zipping around on electric bikes with corporate logos on them is the inevitable result.

As for the news report, if you haven’t watched it yet, can you match the quote with the person who said it?

Quote:

“Awesome! More bike lanes please!

“And it’s all gonna make traffic get worse!?!”

“Because of congesting pricing, there’s less traffic, I get that, but [yadda yadda yadda and on and on]….”

“It makes it a lot safer, I really like them.”

“Not good.”

People:

I’m not going to go so far as to provide an answer key, but I can tell you that the New York City Charter explicitly states that the Council or its various Departments shall enact no law or project without first consulting Charlie Weissman, West Village Resident:

This is the face of a man who believes that absolutely no subject falls beyond the area of his expertise.

But the more things stay the same the more things change. Sure, the Post is still quick with a pro-car opinion piece:

But the new enemy is e-bikes, and New Yorkers now hate them so much they’re actually concerned about people who ride regular bikes:

I never thought I’d see the day.