This is my bike. It’s 7 months old and cost a little over $800 with tax. It was a gift so it means a lot to me.
http://i61.tinypic.com/1495spj.jpg
I know there have been bike thefts before on my campus… for instance, on one of the racks there is a single bike wheel without a frame still attached with a u-lock. This worries me.
I’m not a freshmen or anything but I wanted to start bringing my bike with me to school to get some exercise since I live far from campus and the roads near my house aren’t safe.
I’ve read other threads on here about it and they say to get a Kryptonite lock and a cable lock… I’m thinking about the New York one but it’s so expensive and heavy. I also read that we should make our bikes look as cheap as possible but I really don’t want to mess this one up or make it look tacky. There’s also suggestions to buy a cheap bike off Craigslist or some store but the problem is I’m very weak, and most on there are mountain bikes which I can’t peddle. I have a $400 trek bike but I can’t even ride it which is why I asked for this one. It’s super easy to ride and I love it.
Any suggestions? Should I just continue to walk around campus instead?
D had a kryptonite cable lock. Didn’t stop her bike from getting stolen from her campus. We had bought her a good but not terribly expensive commuter bike knowing that it was likely it could be stolen.
You should give campus security a call to see how common bike theft is. I know when we toured Cal everyone said bikes theft is very common. Our takeaway was that if my D wanted to ride to classes we should get her the cheapest crappiest-looking bike from Craigslist and apply extra sandpaper and dirt to make it look even crappier. YMMV
@KittenGoneWild
just out of curiosity, what bike is that? Love the basket!
I go to UC Davis, so there’s a big bike population. The biggest cause of bike thefts isn’t people not locking their bikes; it’s people not locking their bikes properly.
To directly answer part of your OP, a U-lock is your best bet as your main lock. On top of that, I would also get a cable or a chain so you have two kinds of locks securing your bike. Never rely solely on a cable or chain though.
Here’s some tips for locking your bike properly:
- Make sure you're locking to a permanent fixture of some type. In addition, make sure that said fixture can't be moved by someone else trying to get your bike. If you find a bike rack that's really loose, don't use it!
- Lock both the wheel and frame. The example you gave of the wheel and U-lock with no frame is due to someone not securing their frame. If only one is locked, it's very easy to pop things off the bike to get everything except what's been locked. The most obvious is when people just lock their front wheel -- a potential thief just needs to pop the front wheel off and they have the rest of the bike easily.
- On top of that, contrary to what you see many people doing (at least at my school), lock the back wheel directly to the rack/fixture rather than the front wheel. The back wheel is more expensive and valuable. The easiest way to do this is to put your U-lock through the rear triangle and lock that to the fixture. This secures the back wheel in such a way that it's impossible to remove it from the frame unless you either break the lock or cut the tire/frame...and why would you want to ruin a bike you're trying to steal? On top of that, remember the cable or chain I mentioned earlier? Use that to secure the front wheel, as always making sure you're securing it to a permanent fixture.
And some tips that aren’t just locking, but will help make sure your bike and bike parts don’t get stolen:
- Make sure your saddle is bolted. It's pretty simple to replace any quick release with a bolt, and it makes it a pain for a thief to remove it. If you don't want to or can't bolt it, take the saddle with you. Yeah it'd be cumbersome, but it's better than having your saddle stolen. It's generally easiest to just bolt it if possible.
- Make sure any extra components such as lights are secured, or that you take them with you when not riding. My roommate has a nice mountain bike, and in our three years here her bike has never been stolen. However, someone stole her light a couple months ago when she forgot to take it with her. This one is at least less of a pain than more crucial components of the bike.
- Avoid parking your bike outside overnight if you can avoid it. I've done it before using the locking strategy outlined above with no issues, but it's better not to unless you don't have any other choice. If you do have to park it outside overnight make sure it's in a well-lit area.
The main point of following these tips is to deter bike thieves; there’s nothing out there that 100% stops thieves (barring not having a bike to steal to begin with), but you can take as many measures as possible to deter them so they find easier targets. Following the tips above is usually enough to deter people in my experience, unless you have a super nice bike. But by biking in general you’re accepting the risk of potentially walking out to a stolen bike at some point, even if that risk is very small for your particular case.
