Divvy bikes are illegal!

According to Chicago, bikes must contain a brake that can make the bike come to a skidding stop:

(b) Every bicycle shall be equipped with a brake that will enable the operator to make the braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement. 9-52-080.

I've never been able to get one to skid, and I do actually try, though admittedly not that frequently or that hard.  I learned about this "requirement" way back when from here.  Anyone ever get them to skid, on purpose or on accident?

Obviously (hopefully it's obvious) this is all in jest, and it popped into my head after reading this article.  I love Divvy, but I hate the bikes (the weight doesn't annoy me as much as the lack of higher gear ratios).

Happy Divvy week everybody!  Who got their BOGO Chipotle on Tuesday?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on April 27, 2017 at 5:39am

I defffffffinitely got my BOGO Chipotle on Thursday. :)

Don't totally follow your point about the brakes. But regarding the gears, someone on here posted years ago that Divvy comes with three gear settings: "useless, almost useless, and completely useless." LOL. I generally stick to the "almost useless" setting myself. It works okay. ;)

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on April 27, 2017 at 6:17am

I think order though, is "almost useless, useless, and completely useless."

Practically speaking, the ability to lock up a wheel with a brake is a good indicator that the brake is in good working order. But an actual skid results in a loss of traction, which of course is not desirable. (uh, unless of course one is just trying to skid of course.) 

So an anti lock brake system would technically be illegal, even though it would (generally) be safer.

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on April 27, 2017 at 6:35am

The punchline works better with my order, though. ;)

Permalink Reply by Matt on April 27, 2017 at 6:35am

Every now and then I get on one that someone left in 1st gear.  My thoughts go between "what is the point of this?" and "who actually uses 1st gear?" as I start pedaling and realize I'm not even moving.

The only time I've ever tried to skid (aside from testing the legality of Divvy bikes, ha) was when we used to have skid mark contests with our crappy kids' bikes growing up.  Go full speed, then lock the back wheel and see how long you can make one.  Of course eventually the starts to wear out and the tube begins to bulge through.  Then it blows out while in the middle of a skid stop... I had a lot of skinned knees, elbows and palms back then.

Permalink Reply by mike w. on April 27, 2017 at 8:11am

We got extra points for a blowout!

Permalink Reply by Matt on April 27, 2017 at 9:35am

Did you get extra points for hitting a rogue patch of gravel?

Permalink Reply by mike w. on April 27, 2017 at 2:42pm

Doing an endo and sticking an upright landing FTW!

Permalink Reply by Paul Lazzaro on April 27, 2017 at 5:39am

I did the BOGO in the suburbs.  The employees didn't know what Divvy is, but their manager told them to give me the BOGO :-)

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on April 28, 2017 at 8:42am

For starters, why on earth is the ability to lock up the tires a requirement? One loses braking ability when the tires are skidding. Good Lord, ever hear of anti-lock brakes?

First gear on a Divvy? Yeah, I've used it numerous times when cycling into a strong headwind on flat terrain. There are a few high rises on my route, and they have this wonderful ability to funnel a 25 mph wind into a 35 to 40 mph vortex. I swear I'm standing still, which is probably not too far from reality. Otherwise, the gearing on the Divvy's suck eggs.

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