<p>Is having a bike necessary at Berkeley?</p>
<p>is bike theft a problem at Cal?</p>
<p>Bring one if you are a proficient biker (it saves a ****load of time both uphill/downhill and gives you a nice, lean workout each day), but invest in a good u-lock and lock your bike properly.</p>
<p>Don't bring one if you're not comfortable biking in a city-environment normally. It's not easy weaving through masses of students each day and watching out for cars who don't follow road rules.</p>
<p>I'm bringing my bike. I guess I'm proficient -- I do fine in L.A., which can sometimes be really scary! And I've done the bike marathon a few times, which can be even scarier! Hey, I saw places at Unit 1 where you can lock up your bike, but what about Foothill?</p>
<p>all units have places to lock up bikes.</p>
<p>Bike theft is a problem everywhere, but if you lock it up chances are it will be safe. As for the necessity of a bike, it is debatable. I live realllly far from campus and everyone else always comments on how far I live, but I never get tired walking uphill and downhill. You don't really need one.</p>
<p>Berkeley has great transportation, so if you don't have one you won't have to walk long miles if you dont want to. I would say they are a luxury (but also sometimes a hassle), but not a necessity.</p>
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all units have places to lock up bikes.
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<p>Doesn't help. I've heard of numerous thefts happen there.</p>
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Bike theft is a problem everywhere, but if you lock it up chances are it will be safe.
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<p>Actually, here's what will probably happen. You lock it up with U-lock and your wheel gets stolen. You lock up the whole bike with a chain lock and it gets cut and your whole bike gets stolen. You bring a really old 20-dollar bike used and it gets stolen anyway.</p>
<p>I would recommend to just not bring one unless you really live far away or something and have a place to store it (i.e. your room). Walking's fine for the most part and bike theft is just way too common.</p>
<p>My son brought a bike to campus with very little city-type riding experience. He loves having a bike there. He uses it for getting to and from campus and for weekend rides to the marina or other places he wouldn't walk or bart to. No problems yet with theft even though he forgets it sometimes, walks home, and leaves it overnight (or over the weekend). He does double lock and it has fixed wheels (need a wrench to remove the wheel) so it may be harder to steal. The best way to get a bike for Berkeley is to buy a used one online or somewhere outside of Berkeley. The used bikes there are kind of expensive, even in the pawn shops. Start with a cheap one and see how you like it.</p>
<p>yeah... i hear "bike carnage" is really common at cal.
[that's the actual term my tour guide used!]</p>
<p>when i visited, i saw numerous bikes that were missing wheels.</p>