Bikes

Colleges & Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Do I need to register my bike online somewhere if I plan to bring it to campus?</p>

2

<p>[MIT</a> Police](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/cp/www/bike_registration.htm]MIT”>http://web.mit.edu/cp/www/bike_registration.htm)</p>

<p>You can, though it’s not required.</p>

3

<p>It’s more important to make sure you have a good lock (the bike-nuts around here will say nothing less than a U; you can probably get away with a chain lock if your bike looks crappy) and make sure you remember to lock it up. Bike stealers abound!</p>

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<p>Wow, you’re asking the same questions I have.</p>

<p>Does anyone have experience/advice regarding shipping a bike?</p>

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<p>I am on the cycling team at MIT and thus have some experience with shipping bikes (not a lot, I’ll just be a sophomore this year)</p>

<p>If you have a really nice bike already, you have a few options:

  1. You can bring it to a bike shop and have them box/ship it for you (usually ~$100-150 total)
  2. Ask your bike shop for one of the cardboard bike boxes they received a new bike in (should be free or $5), pack your bike yourself (there are guides online), then ship it via UPS or FedEx ($50-100, more if you need it fast)
  3. Bring it on the airplane in a special bike case ($300 case, and free to $200 each way depending on airline to bring bike) – this is probably something you’d want to do if you will be traveling all the time and need your bike immediately</p>

<p>If you have a relatively old or cheap bike at home (say, less than $400), you are probably better off leaving it there so you have it when you come home in the summers, and then buying a new (or used) bike when you get to campus. This is simply because if you ship a bike back and forth more than 2-4 times, it will end up costing more than the bike itself. You can buy a decent bike from Target or somewhere ($100-$400) and they will ship it to your dorm; however, the parts will be cheap and not easy to replace (I went this route, and regret it, although at least I don’t have to worry very much about someone stealing it).
You’re better off going to a bike shop in Cambridge and asking if they have any used bikes, using Craigslist, emailing the MIT Cycling Club, or waiting for one of the numerous bike sales on campus.</p>

<p>Hope that helped! The key thing is to lock up your bike all the time, and if it’s really nice keep it in your dorm room</p>