Wheels Down

When the zombie apocalypse comes, my first thought is going to be to go steal one of the Bay Area Bike Share bikes.  In a post-apocalyptic landscape, when fuel is no longer to be had (good luck with that Tesla, buddy!), what would you rather have? It doesn’t need fuel, food or a plug, and it beats the hell out of walking.

The bike I have is pretty shitty. It’s a hybrid, somewhere between road bike and trail bike, and not very good at either.  It’s got a 21-speed gear system that uses thumb and finger triggers to shift, it’s amazingly uncomfortable to sit on, and its best function is gathering dust in the garage.  Which is what I asked for, to be honest, but for the last nine years I’ve dreaded biking simply because it was a shitty experience every time.  Much to my wife’s chagrin.

And then I experienced the bike share bikes, which despite being very heavy are stable, comfortable to sit on (with step-through frame), easy to operate (seven-speed internally-geared with a twist shifter), and uncomplicated to use.  And then my wife got her new C7i from Public Bikes (okay, I got it for her birthday) and lo and behold, it wasn’t bad to ride on.  And that made me rethink things, and then she rode my bike and confirmed that holy shit, that’s a terrible bike, no wonder you hate riding it.

But I like those bike share bikes.  And then I saw the new creation of Priority Bikes in NYC, a simplified $400 bike with run-flat tires, a belt drive instead of a chain, a 3-speed internal-hub gear systems and coaster brakes like a kid’s bike, a comfortable saddle and upright seating position.  Basically, it’s the perfect bike for somebody who just wants to ride a bike instead of being A Bike Person.  And that rang a chord with me, because my whole professional life has been spent working in a computer ecosystem that has its roots in computers for people who didn’t want to be Computer People.

So after a little looking around, we were advised of a sale at Public Bikes on the M7i – a French-style mixte bike suitable for either sex, enough step-through for aging hips and knees, a really comfortable upright riding position, the same 7-speed internal-hub transmission with twist-shift as the share bikes, accessory compatibility with the wife’s bike, and – most intriguing – an easy conversion path in future to an electric-assist bike. I was sold, not least because ten years from now, I might not be able to walk all the way downtown and might appreciate a bit of a bump.

And that’s the approach I take to biking, which seems to be the opposite of most other people in this part of the world.  To most folks, the bike is part of an alternative to driving.  You use the bike and transit to replace a car, mostly for commuting.  I’m going completely in the opposite direction: the bike is a replacement for walking, a force multiplier to get me further than I’m willing to go on shank’s mare.  I’m not going to battle the crowds on what’s already an overloaded Caltrain system. But what I will consider is that there are destinations that take the better part of an hour to reach on a back-and-forth transit route, too far to practically walk, which are suddenly fifteen minutes away on a bike.

So we’ll see.  This is a pricey experiment, but one I’m genuinely looking forward to.  As long as it’s not going to be too hot or humid (serious risk lately with all the monsoon moisture in the air) and not pouring rain (bigger issue in the winter months), this could be fun, and (gasp) I’m actually looking forward to it.

2 Replies to “Wheels Down”

  1. Yours is very similar to what mine is, though I had to replace the saddle from the one that came with it (not a problem, and the new one is large enough to accommodate my ample booty), and mine’s pink (simply because they were sold out of the green that I wanted and I didn’t want to wait 2 months for the right color).

    My only complaint is that I wish there were a gear in the middle between 1st and 2nd, as going up tough hills, I find that 2nd is too tough, but 1st is too much pedaling. Something right in the middle – a 1.5 gear, as it were – would be ideal. I suspect that with a little more riding, though, I’ll get over that and just use 2nd.

    I’m with you, though – biking is perfect for the extra mileage that my feet don’t want to walk. And for me, who lives 3 blocks from Prospect Park, perfect for a leisurely ride through the park or to the Greenmarket. I still want a Tesla, though. 😉

    1. I haven’t tackled a real hill yet, but I also haven’t had to go down to 1 or above 4 yet…we’ll see. You should check out the Priority Bikes shop (174 Hudson) sometime. I’m genuinely intrigued by that thing (but Public was closer and has an ironclad reputation out here).

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