It's perfectly valid to criticize the US based on how the US is. It's not valid to criticize it based on some notion that the US is unique in a way that it is not.

I have no problem with stuff like "the US should...." Where I have a problem is with "everybody else does it another way" when it's just not true.

Aside from adopting the metric system, I can't think of any legitimate criticism that fits that mold. Bicycles certainly don't seem to.