When should a cycling question stay open?

Treat the margin you prefer on a clear, wide stretch as preference, as long as there’s room to ride there without creating a new problem. But “hug the gutter” isn’t automatically just another style choice when there are drains, debris or a junction coming up. Claims that one line is safest everywhere should stay unresolved without the road layout, traffic, visibility, speed and local rules. Anyone offering one magic line for every road can draw it on an actual road, not a napkin.

I’d put the boundary at the transition, not the whole stretch: on open, wide pavement, the margin is preference; approaching a pinch point, establish a visible line early and hold it. A last-second move is a poor place to decide which line you meant to take.

Yes, with one limit on “hold it”: I’ve found the extreme left can be more dangerous than taking more of the road, depending on the situation. Get into a clear line early, but don’t treat that as a promise to stay there if the road ahead makes it a bad place to be.

Predictable doesn’t mean trapped. If the edge becomes a poor place to ride, I’d rather make a deliberate move into usable road than stay there just to look consistent.

A run of drains or parked cars is where this matters: take the usable line before you reach it, rather than making the driver behind read a string of little swerves.