It's 2013, and bike sharing has finally made it to New York City. Of course, [the branded cruisers](http://citibikenyc.com/meet-the-bike) aren't the most speedy bikes on the road. They weigh a whopping 45 pounds, and their third gear - their lowest gear - isn't nearly low enough, making pedaling down even a slight slope practically useless.

Still, you can get moving if you pedal furiously... and if you pick out the right bike.

During a test conducted by [New York Magazine](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/05/road-test-a-citi-bike-can-top-27-mph.html), bike messenger Danny Koniowski hit a top speed of **27.5 mph** on a Citi Bike. He did so only after picking out a choice bike.

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> After inspecting and rejecting the first two Citi Bikes he came across at a Citi Bike station on Canal Street near Sixth Avenue — one for having misaligned tires and the other for being, in Danny’s professional opinion, “a piece of shit” — our test-rider finally settled on a suitable specimen. 
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I squeeze the tires before I choose a bike, but what more should I do? How can I quickly inspect my next Citi Bike to make sure I've picked a well-tuned cruising machine? Or at the very least, a bike that's not "a piece of shit"?