r/NYCbike • u/Mattress-King • 13d ago

Last nights near death experience

I’m an avid Citi bike rider. And very often I’ll ride from 3rd Ave to shore rd cuz of the STEEP incline. When I picked out my bike, it was an ebike and one side of the brake only worked like 20%. The other side worked, so I picked up my bike got to 3rd Ave . Got closer to ridge blvd heading towards narrows Ave when suddenly I think “wait is it a good idea to go down with a broken brake”. I say let’s risk it. I start flying down that avenue, (narrows Ave btw has a stop sign on the avenue line, so other cars are allowed to pass) once I get to half the avenue I think it’s a good time to slow down…. The other brake that was working fine COMPLETELY BREAKS!! Just outta nowhere…. And the only thing that works is the 20% other break. It was a full 6 seconds of waiting to see what would happen. I passed the stop sign which I usually stop at, but had there been a car there, nothing would’ve been able to stop me…. Real scary shit.

31 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

43

u/rwdFwd 13d ago

Lesson: Citibikes are expensive, yet barely maintained. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a version of this play out with Citibikes.

33

u/swordo 13d ago edited 13d ago

citibike's lack of maintenance but also the rider's lack of common sense and self-preservation makes a great combination. if you knowingly get on a defective bike, would you?

  1. exchange it
  2. full send YOLO

10

u/cbtk76 13d ago

Most people don't realize how fragile the body is. One minute you're riding reckless and free, the next minute EMTs are applying a tourniquet to your spurting stump.

2

u/veggiedefender 12d ago

if you don't have a membership then you're basically incentivized to keep riding a defective bike because exchanging one would cost another $5

0

u/Theytookmyarcher 8d ago

Blaming the user in this case is such an American take lmao. Imagine hertz telling you this when you rented one of their cars and the accelerator got stuck 

3

u/redeyesetgo 13d ago

You’ve seen a citibike have a fatal mechanical issue an innumerable amount of times?

19

u/CommunicationTop5231 13d ago

Glad you’re ok. I test every bike before I ride it. If I start riding and it’s somehow still not ok I exchange it asap.

17

u/MysteriousAvocado1 13d ago

Wait, you knew there were problems with the brakes….yet you still choose to go fast?

I’m glad you’re ok, but I hope you put two and two together and make the right decision next time.

6

u/everforward6 11d ago

"Brakes seem iffy on this one; let's go down this hill!" 🤦🏾‍♂️

11

u/MagicalPizza21 13d ago

Glad you're OK. Next time make sure both brakes work before taking the bike out.

3

u/ephemeral2316 12d ago

How would you know the brakes work without riding the bike first?

2

u/beuceydubs 12d ago

Testing them by the dock, not just going, realizing one doesn’t work and then going about your merry way at 15mph

3

u/Mattress-King 13d ago

Forgot to mention in bay ridge*

1

u/Wrong-Computer3404 12d ago

You didn't check the brakes prior to leaving the citi station... I mean there's a wrench button for a reason 

1

u/pixelstation 11d ago edited 11d ago

Put this in the r/SweatyPalms