Bike Commuting: Locking Your Bike
Locking your bike well is the most important practice you can develop, even more so than maintenance (after all, what’s a well maintained bike if it’s been stolen). I have to admit that I’ve had two bikes stolen, so I’ve certainly learned my lesson. Now I can’t walk down the street and see a bike without evaluating what could be taken from it and how quickly. It’s a somewhat off putting practice, but thinking in those terms is great preventative medicine because it means that I’m well prepared to prevent potential thievery.
For this post, I think pictures speak louder than words though, so here are some cautionary tales.
Here’s a nice looking bike–note the cool frame-integrated lights– but that frame is all that’s going to be left if it catches a bike thief’s eye, since the both wheels and the seat could be removed easily. As a basic rule of thumb, if there’s a quick release, lock it up or remove it yourself–it is common practice for people with quick release seats to remove the seat while leaving the bike outside, though I personally just rely on a thin cable lock snaked through the saddle.
Even though this person has a top tube cover to protect their bike from any potential damage inflicted by locking up, they weren’t quite as lucky as the person above. The front wheel was neglected and now the front wheel is gone.
If you’re still looking to learn the most obsessive way to lock your bike, just watch Hal Ruzal as he wanders around the streets of NYC grading people’s abilities to lock their bikes. Granted, not everyone has to lock their bike up as neurotically as a New Yorker, but it’s a good practice to get into. As they say, better safe than sorry.
Stay tuned for more next week.
Photo Credit: Bike Snob NYC
We bought my brother a photography book a few years ago that was an essay of the stages of bike decay. Basically it had five sections and the first were pictures of random bikes locked up. Then random bikes locked up but with flat tires, then with front tires stolen, then with both tires stolen, etc. until the final section was like frames locked to stop signs and stuff.
Ok, that said, we’re not that vigilent about locking our bikes as thoroughly mostly because we live in the surburbs and see hardly any other bike traffic. We do lock them (locking the trailer to the bike frame and bike rack) when we go in the store or post office but don’t take our seats or front wheels with us.
I definitely agree about being very lock-obsessive. I live in a major city and due to the size of my apartment I have no choice but to leave my bike outside 24/7. I use a cable lock and make sure that it goes through both wheels, the frame, and the bike rack post. I always choose one of the thick metal bike-specific posts that are throughout my neighborhood. I have an additional U-shaped lock that I will use to lock the frame to the post and sometimes one of the wheels if my bike’s position allows. I always remove my seat. People always look at me kind of strangely and think that my locking technique is overkill. However, someone tried to steal my bike a few weeks ago and they failed. They were only able to make off with my bell. The plastic on my cable lock had been cut through. I think they either realized that I had the bike locked with a second lock, or maybe their cutting instrument couldn’t make it through the actual cable. Unless they had something that could also get them past the U-lock, the most they could have stolen would have been the wheels if they’d actually made it through the cable.
sara: my friend also does the same thing. she has one of those ulocks that comes with a cable so you can lock up the frame and both wheels.
i’m lucky that i’ve gotten by with just a cable lock here in the town i live in, but i’m still really paranoid about my bike. i don’t know what i would do if anything ever happened to it. it’s my best friend.
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