Brokelyn

In case it’s not clear why your favorite brokesters-in-arms are celebrating Bike Month, let’s break it down for you. 1) It’s getting to be waaay too nice to spend an hour or so every day underground. Bike instead, and that’s $4.50 round-trip right there, plus sunshine; 2) Dodging speeding SUVs, racing over the Brooklyn Bridge and stand-up peddling past ice cream trucks is a hell of a workout, and with exponentially better scenery than stale Fresh Prince reruns on the gym TV. BAM! You just saved a $100 membership fee. You get the point. Brooklyn equals bike-friendly, biking equals health-friendly and wallet-friendly, wallet-friendly… well, let’s just go celebrate Bike Month in Brooklyn. Here’s a starter list and some great-sounding (free) events: Read the rest of this entry »

The author sets out on his girlfriend's lady bike. Photo by ST Tonio.

My girlfriend’s bike is a piece of crap. It’s heavy and slow, and the front brakes rub against the front wheel, which makes it even slower, and seemingly heavier. The gears don’t shift, and the brakes are unreliable. She really needs a new bike, but neither of us is going to buy one any time soon.

The trouble is, repairs to older bikes can add up quickly, and you can effectively total your bike just by getting it tuned up. This model was a hand-me-down from her mother’s college days (!), so I wasn’t about to spend a bundle on it.

So, my plan—okay, my freaking miserable Brokelyn assignment—was to find out how little I could spend to make the bike more road-worthy. The miserable part: riding this beast to eight different bike shops in four different neighborhoods to get the answer. Read the rest of this entry »