<p>What's the view on this? I was thinking about getting a long board to ride to and from classes. I wouldn't be one of those crazy dudes who zips between people and goes down stairs, but I'd just try to take a smooth ride to where ever I'm going. I'm kind of hesitant to bring a bike to school, because I've heard quite a few stories of bike theft. I could keep the board in my dorm. But then, I'm pretty screwed when it rains..</p>
<p>Any thoughts? I'm a girl, btw.</p>
<p>I see a lot of people riding skateboards around campus.</p>
<p>Does it seem efficient? I mean, carrying a backpack with a laptop, I don’t want to fall. (I’m an entering fresh. btw).</p>
<p>What do people do with them when they go to class?</p>
<p>If you’re good at it, then bring the longboard. If you’re going to fall and hurt yourself, walking is probably more efficient.</p>
<p>My friends either stand them up in the corner or put them under their seats during class. No one really cares as long as they’re not falling on them.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say I see a lot of people using them to get around, but some people do (girls as well as boys). Just don’t be obnoxious about cutting in front of people and stuff like that. Like ginab said, people just put them under their seats during class. </p>
<p>As you pointed out, you might be in a tough position when it rains. If you want to bring a bike, I’ve heard of a certain type of lock that supposedly works really well - I think it’s called a U-lock or something like that. But I can’t speak from experience.</p>
<p>Just don’t run around on it at 3am, thats something that ****es me off to no end.</p>
<p>A bike is fine if you have a good lock. You also need to lock the wheels to the frame (wheels more commonly stolen than the entire bike). On a longboard you have a higher chance to eat it.</p>
<p>A longboard would be much more convenient, I think.</p>
<p>Don’t buy a longboard, what you want is a cruiser, their much easier to maneuver.</p>
<p>I should mention that I have a friend who even though a pretty experienced rider, my friend fell on his way to class (I think someone cut him off) and hit arm bone ended up outside of his body.
It was also hard to get him to the hospital.</p>
<p>emerica22, That’s what I meant. :)</p>
<p>I’m a pretty experienced skateboarder (4-5 years of it), but I’m weary of doing it for transportation. I was hoping the larger wheels could protect against stones and sticks, but I’m still not sure…I’ve broken both of my arms and had to get surgery on both. </p>
<p>Gina, OUCH!</p>
<p>I think I’m going to stick with the bicycle. I’ll look into those U-locks. How exactly would one lock the wheels to the frame? Would I need two chain locks? Or just one to deter someone from stealing both? That would mean 3 locks total…quite a hassle it seems.</p>
<p>Well depends on how badly you want to keep your wheels. I guess if you leave your bike out for longer periods of time like say over the weekend and don’t use it you might want to lock up the wheels to the frame. All too often people’s wheels are stolen.</p>
<p>I plan on using it every day. I suppose I could get used to the routine, though. I don’t want to be one of those kids who brings the bike into the dorm, but I really don’t want anything to happen to it. I’ve already had it stolen once (police were awesome and got it within 6 hours!)</p>
<p>Most front wheels of bikes easily detach. You can easily pass a U-lock through the back wheel, bike frame and front wheel if you push the front wheel up against the back wheel.
However if you have some bike styles, it’s impossible to pass the U-lock through the back wheel and frame at the same time.
The whole thing might be overkill if your school is relatively low crime and you make sure you don’t bring a top of the line bike. I left my Target bike unlocked (in the bike room of my dorm, not outside) one night when I realized I’d left the U-lock in my trunk and it was still there.
The downside to that cheap a bike though is that just one semester of heavy riding broke it. So you have to find a nice balance.</p>