cranky velocist

Sweet bike!

Stay dry these next few days

pocky

Enjoy your sweet new ride. I just built up a 2006 Rockhopper for my wife. With 1.25" Specialized Nimbus slick tires on it, that thing is light, nimble, and FAST. It'll probably spend most of its time with knobbies on it since she already has a city bike, but it makes a damn good city bike set up this way.

Whatever you do, get a good U-lock AND a cheap cable lock and ALWAYS RELIGIOUSLY lock that thing up with BOTH, separately anchored to a truly immovable object, not with the cable lock simply locked to the U-lock and the U-lock to the object. A thief would have to carry two different tools to clip both U-locks and cable locks, so they'll target bikes locked with only the tool they're carrying. And I mean an immovable object -- no sign posts! When it was only a few weeks old, the thieves unbolted the top of a sign post and slid my new Kona (with cable locking the wheels to the U-lock) right off the top!

Also, get a bunch of bumper stickers or electrical/duct tape and "uglify" that shiny new frame. You'll thank yourself later.

MIKENY

I got the bike, specialized helmet and cryptonite NY u lock so far. My understanding I need a safety light too since it's a law.

Rob I need to improve my skill till I can keep up with any of you on this board. What got me interested in biking was I took a court officer physical ability test. One of the events was was paddling on stationary bike for one min i did 150 rpm, highest in the group of 6, others were in 120-135 range. However I was humbled the other day on a hill by my house there is a monster hill by my house and i said to my friend that I can get up on it without shifting gears, I could not lol.

neilfein

Gears exist for a reason. Don't feel it's wimping out to use them. Your knees will thank you for using them when you get older!

(That said, I rode my reasonably hilly 20 mile commute once all in the big ring - and I'm stil proud of that.)

jimnolimit

I would add a head light, tail light and some type of warning device (bell/horn).

That's what gears are for, but it gives you a goal to achieve

robberry

Why would you need to bring your bike on the subway? You have a bike so you don't have to ride the subway. Leave a few sets of clothes at work, and take the subway in once a week to bring clean ones in and the dirty ones out.

neilfein

Nice thought, but not always realistic; the subway is an attractive alterative to riding on many roads in NYC, particularly to newer cyclists. (Well, it wasn't all that good an alternative for a while.)

robberry

Manhattan is not very big, so what's the reason to have a bike, but still get on the subway? I guess it would make sense if you can't climb the Manhattan/Brooklyn bridge if you're going to/from Brooklyn...

MIKENY

I'm blessed that I live in Queens, but subway is not an option in my book, if anything perhaps I need to purchase a rack for my car.

MIKENY

An eventful first day today. Did about a 3 mile ride from the bike shop, no problems, met up with a friend rode, one of the main reasons I bought a bike to commute, so I made a dry run to work, only about 10 min slower than my car. However I caught a flat tire on my first ride, I was unprepared and had to walk 6 miles home.

zepphead80

Hey Mike...I know I'm late to the thread but wanted to chime in. I've been commuting with a Cannondale C600 mid-1990's model road bike for about four years now. It's light enough to be reasonably fast but also durable.

Flats are annoying to be sure. I don't know if any of these tires are options for the type of bike you have, but...my Armadillo tires didn't get a single flat in over 3,000 miles of riding. The Continental Gatorskins are supposed to be extremely durable as well, though I've never had them on my bike. You'll go a little slower with more durable tires but definitely won't catch as many flats. The Maxxis ReFuse tires are fast, but I caught a couple gashes in them after just a few months of riding.

jimnolimit

i would recommend getting some good puncture resistant tires. i currently have serfas drifter s tires (26" x 2.0") on my mountain bike. i couldn't tell you how much glass and debris i have run over with them in the last 700+ miles.

raymeedc

I would also recommend a "street-wise" mountain bike for New york streets. I have a '93 Specialized Stumpjumper converted to an upright cruiser with Schwalbe 2.0 HS338 "Big Apple" (appropriate monicker) suspension tires..... great resilience, very little rolling resistance penalty, & smoooooth. My road bike w/1.25 Continental Gatorskins, not so much.
P.S. - I also use Kryptonite "New York" locks..... I could be mistaken, but don't think these work in other states.