With that comes a deluge of people asking: “What bike should I buy?” I end up answering that a lot for friends, relatives, random co-workers who see the picture of me and my husband on bikes I have in my office and who have heard rumors that I’m some sort of biker person.

I think my answers frustrate some, because they want me to tell them to go to a specific place, and buy a specific brand and model. Of course, it’s not that easy. Questions need to be answered.

What kind of riding do you intend to do? Be honest with yourself.

• Are you looking to do short bike commutes to work?
• Paved street and trail riding?
• Charity events?
• Off-road and unpaved journeys?
• Do you want to be able to haul a Burley? A trail-a-bike?

Figuring out HOW you plan to use the bike is key. A few years ago, I helped a friend find a bike. He saw the sort of riding my club did, and wanted to join in. He liked the idea of a fitness activity that wasn’t murder on the knees. So we found him a good road bike, suitable for group rides, with the best possible frame that would fit him, and components worth using… but easily upgraded. Six years later, he’s still riding that frame, and has rebuilt most of the bike several times.

A lot of people get hung up on brand. Brand is irrelevant. If the frame doesn’t fit, the brand won’t matter. Every brand has its own merits and geometry. Pick one that fits your body and budget.

As a rule of thumb, the frame is going to be what makes or breaks the whole bicycle purchase experience. if you buy a frame that sucks or doesn’t fit, you won’t ride the bike. Period. Getting good components is a nice plus, but on most bikes, you can upgrade them later. If you use the bike enough, they’ll need replacement someday anyway – parts wear out on bikes, just like they do on cars.

Depending on your intended use, you’ll need different features of the frame and components. The second biggest mistake I see people make, after getting a frame that doesn’t fit, is getting the wrong wheels/tires. Most people are using their bikes on paved streets and trails. They will want a smoother tire. However, many get big knobby mountain-style tires thinking they’ll be better. Actually, on pavement, they slow you down a lot. Other people get sleek race-style wheels because they ‘look cool,’ but may be meaning to use their bike much more casually, and have little experience in wheel maintenance. Low-spoke, sleek race wheels require more care and maintenance than many are going to want to put in or learn.

Another thing I see is people messing up seat choice. The seat on a bike at purchase is always negotiable. However, it’s not always true that the biggest, plushest seat will be the most comfortable. Seat choice is going to depend a lot on your riding position (upright? traditional road?) and your actual tuckus. Many people are awfully surprised when they find that something without massive padding makes their butt happiest. (And early on, ANY seat is going to create a bit of post-ride ow – you have to break in both your butt and your seat!)

Yeah, it’s a little hard to follow the logic path there, but it’s some sort of progress. Chicago politics is a bad place to apply logic, traditionally.

The ordinance has some interesting elements, including fines for turning left or right in front of a bicyclist, passing a bicyclist with less than three feet of space, and opening a vehicle door into the path of a bicyclist. It also establishes a fine for double-parking in a marked shared lane, and increases the fine for driving, standing or parking in a bicycle lane.

If enforced, it could provide some quality revenue for the city. (Come now. It’s Chicago. All fine-worthy offenses are about city coffer enhancement. Ask any Chicagoan!) Enforcement is a key question, of course: Just as many states already have 3-foot buffer rules as I referenced earlier today, there is little precedent for enforcing them. Enforcement requires the education and cooperation of the police force. It’s quite easy for a police force to quietly not bother, particularly in a city of the size and nature of Chicago.

I’m a little wary of too many ‘special’ rules applied to bicycles, as when proper road planning and vehicular cycling principles are applied, a lot of special rules shouldn’t be needed, and existing rules may be sufficient if enforced. Beyond that, many special rules are municipally-specific, which can make keeping track of them as a road user of any type a challenge – and creates specific challenges for educating road users in such regulations. Some of the special regulations can be especially vexing, such as certain of the right-turn/left-turn rules proposed in the Chicago ordinance – given some of the, uh, creative engineering on certain of the city’s bike lanes, compliance with the rule and enforcement of the rule may be a dual challenge.

I’m fairly sure that if one were to look into Chicago ordinances on parking, double-parking, parking outside of parking zones, and causing an accident by opening a door in traffic even when parked in a parking zone are all already ticketable offenses. Large cities tend to have large (and strict) parking codes by necessity, and any of the above offenses would be detrimental to traffic flow, regardless of bicycle involvement.

Speaking of which, the City Transportation Commissioner is promising a summer crackdown on cyclists who violate traffic laws. He points out that laws are already on the books that allow for such enforcement – standard traffic rules. Once again, it gets into the idea that you need to have your police involved in the enforcement. Red light cameras in Chicago have been doing a good job of reducing motorist red light violations, but I’ve seen no stats on what’s happening with cyclists in violation, if anything.

Might be interesting to watch. If you tap into any articles in the Chicago mass media on the cyclist death in the alley cat race (it’s been well-established that the rider wasn’t just taking an ‘orange’ light, but was outright blowing a signal at an intersection that good sense would suggest wouldn’t be worth blowing for victory in a street race), there’s a lot of typical surliness about ‘unregulated’ cyclists. While some of this comes from the idea of bikes as toys and the bullying response, it really isn’t appropriate for cyclists to presume special rights on roadways, even those with bicycle lanes. Traffic laws need to apply to all, and be followed predictably by all, else public safety is at risk.

(Source: Chicago Sun Times)