Brooklyn Riding

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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nibby
Posts: 159
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:31 pm

by nibby

Hello. I'm visiting NY and staying in Brooklyn for a week this October and ideally would like to hire a bike for a few days so I can get a couple of rides early morning's before the wife wakes up :)

can anyone recommend anywhere to hire and also any decent routes that will take me into the hills or nice riding.

Any recommendations for bike shops as well please, just so I can accidentally come across them whilst out with the wife ;)

all the best

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lasrever
Posts: 136
Joined: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:47 pm

by lasrever

it all depends on where you are going to be staying where/what kind of ride you'll get up to.
there are groups just about every morning early in prospect park - other groups that ride out to breezy point/etc. exist as well.
on the weekends many people ride from brooklyn up through manhattan on the west side bike path and over the g.w. bridge to various points and then turn around and head back.
not sure who would rent bikes - you might want to start with 9th st cycles or r&a cycles.
thanks,
nick

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arthurf
Posts: 158
Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 9:13 pm

by arthurf

Try Jimmy at the Domestique http://www.thedomestique.cc/http/wwwbmc ... sramred-1/ really nice guy and well maintained kit

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HammerTime2
Posts: 5813
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 4:43 pm
Location: Wherever there's a mountain beckoning to be climbed

by HammerTime2

O.k., just realize that Brooklyn does not look like

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but more like

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nibby
Posts: 159
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:31 pm

by nibby

@ lasrever - @arthurf - thanks for the suggestions, great help.

@Hammertime - lol yes I know it's not the Alps but thanks for the nice pics ;)

GothicCastle
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2016 1:52 am

by GothicCastle

I believe that Ride Brooklyn also rents road bikes from their inventory; shoot them an email if you are interested.

There are a lot of strong riders in New York. You can certainly hook up with some people most days for a ride. There are also regular rides organized out of the Rapha store and NYC Velo, among others.

I'd suggest checking Strava for routes that look interesting.

Riding in Brooklyn is urban riding; rough road surfaces, traffic, and pancake flat. This is just to set expectations, but I do enjoy it.

- I do intervals in Prospect Park a few mornings during the week. 3/4 of the road surface was recently repaired, so it isn't awful. Many, many people are in Prospect or Central Park early every morning, before the parks get too busy.
- Most Sundays I do a recovery ride out to the beach in Rockaway. It is very flat and takes you through some interesting neighborhoods on the way out and back. During the summer, there is fresh juice, espresso and snacks.
- Most Saturdays I ride with my team for a formal training ride. This is typical NYC riding: over the Brooklyn bridge, up the west side path to New Jersey, River Road to some point upstate and back again. Something between 60 and 100 miles. It takes about an hour to get out of NYC proper; think of it as a nice, long warmup.
- Some of the best riding is a short train ride (MetroNorth) north of the city, if you have a full day. The catskills are quite nice.

In October I'll actually be heading south to Virgina, around the Blue Ridge Parkway, which has some of the best riding in the country.

nibby
Posts: 159
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:31 pm

by nibby

Gothic, great info, thanks for that.

Because time is limited I will probably settle for some intervals around the parks early mornings before the wife rises :)

Maybe see if I can jump on a Sunday ride with either Rapha or NYCV as it would be nice seeing a bit more.

I'm not visiting for the riding just want to take the opportunity to get a bit done and it's always a great way to see/experience new things.

Virginia sounds great, have a good time. I suppose equivalent for me is the West Coast of Scotland or the high mountains of Europe, both of which are worth the effort :)

thanks again for the tips.

bkw
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 3:04 pm

by bkw

Not a member, but I believe Rapha RCC offers loaners. If they do, you can go north to Central Park or over the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn.. I would recommend the first and also take a look at the 5Boro Bike Tour map (sans Staten Island) and ride that.

benzebub
Posts: 354
Joined: Thu May 07, 2015 1:24 pm

by benzebub

completely off topic, but I'm heading to NYC as well during the holiday season (the wife made me do it!!).
any recommendations on some good airbnb's, and especially some good restaurants that are open on the 24th and 25th of december that are 'fairly easy' to get in to? (willing to make reservations and spend some money if the food is good!)
But I could be wrong

benzebub
Posts: 354
Joined: Thu May 07, 2015 1:24 pm

by benzebub

hi guys,

can you recommend some good shops in the Manhattan/Brooklyn area?
I'm looking for shops that would likely have the chris king headset spacer set in stock, and/or a good selection of Specialized shoes (wide models are very rare in EU so might stock up on them while I'm in the US).
But I could be wrong

fromtrektocolnago
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Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2013 10:15 pm

by fromtrektocolnago

Most Brooklyn riders on nice days head through Manhattan and into Rockland County. There's just no comparison. Directly over the G.W. is a shop called Strictly Bicycles that does rent road bikes. It might make sense to rent from them. There's a subway stop just on the other side of the G.W. in NYC
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r_mutt
Posts: 412
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:33 pm

by r_mutt

benzebub wrote:hi guys,

can you recommend some good shops in the Manhattan/Brooklyn area?
I'm looking for shops that would likely have the chris king headset spacer set in stock, and/or a good selection of Specialized shoes (wide models are very rare in EU so might stock up on them while I'm in the US).



try nyc velo for Chris King.

for specialized s-works shoes, loads of shops will have them- Sid's bikes, bicycle habitat. the wide ones might be harder to find in your size and in stock. i'd call first.

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