Leave the vegan comrades be. Let us move bravely into the future.
First: This is not an anti-train post. Trains are good. Bikes are better, that's all. A true proletarian state ready to actually address climate change will be designed with thorough bike and train infrastructure.
Bikes are rad. All leftists in my town ride bikes, but there is basically no bike-posting on Chapo. This leads me to believe many of my comrades have not yet heard the good word on bikes.
Comrades: if you are able-bodied and are able to afford a one-time $200 purchase (that will last you years) but don't own a bike what are you doing with your life?
Bikes are fun as hell. The cheapest, coolest way to get around. If you live in a city it's probably the fastest way to get around, and rather than just sitting in a carbon emitter you get to use your dope-ass body to propel yourself. You get to ride down hills that have not got less fun since you were 8. You get to arrive at the party with a healthy glow that makes you look more attractive to your crush, plus your mind is more activated than if you sat on a bus for half an hour staring at your phone.
The benefits are endless. Want to hang out with friends safely during a pandemic? Bike ride. Hate looking for and paying for parking? Ride your bike and park right in front of your destination. Hot day and you know the bus/train is going to be gross and disgusting? Ride your bike and let the air blow across your beautiful bodies.
You want to fight MMA fascists but get winded walking up a hill? Get your bike on comrade, improve your general conditioning so when the day comes that it matters you have a solid fitness base to work on. So go out and build beautiful quadriceps my friends. Get yourself some diamond-shaped calves.
Do it for the revolution, but mostly do it for yourself. Biking is fun. The more you do it the easier it is, so the more fun it becomes and the closer everything in the city starts to become.
One thing.
Dont get a track bike.
As much as the term made me cringe years back, a fixie is a fine form of transportation provided you’ve got an appropriate gear inch for the streets you ride and your general fitness level. Maintenance is simple, as the only moving parts are the bearings at the headset, bottom bracket, and the wheels, many of which are sealed so you dont have to do anything but replace them when they get crunchy.
Dutch city bikes or simply City Bikes, are that platonic ideal of a self powered form of transportation that’s practical. They are usually kinda heavy tho. They have some internal gear magic going on, so you dont have to get sweaty if you dont want to.
Mountain bikes, like SUVs have proven themselves to be reliable go-everywhere transport, if a little slow, they generally have sit upright. Like SUVs, they were kinda sold to you by showing an activity you werent doing.
Everyone makes fun of road bikes, particularly modern roadies. If you look at this segment today, you’ll probably see some hyper sleek carbon fiber spaceship with paper thin tire clearances and the going price or a generous down payment for a car. The good news is many good bikes have already been made and are available for a cheap price and a weekend of elbow grease.
You have Touring Bikes, which were made for long distance rides, which have greater carrying capacity than you’ll ever really need in the day to day.
A track bike, like a road racing bike, is only set up for speed. They generally arent made to hold a rack, have tight wheelbases for super responsive steering, an commonly have toe-overlap, where the steering radius of the front wheel can intercept the clearance for the pedals. I should remind you that they’re fixed gear only. So if your pedal’s gonna collide with the wheel, you cant stop the pedal spin. Not fun if you’re in traffic.
But goddamn do they look so cool. I mean look at that pic, the angle from the saddle to the drops :lenin-heart:
I avoid riding fixies, I end up eating asphalt because my habit of countersteering means a pedal will hit the ground producing less than ideal results.