Supreme at the bike rack...
-
-
When I lived at the beach in San Diego there was a gang of bike thieves in an apartment below. They would swipe a bike, strip and paint it and have it back out on the boardwalk for sale in less than an hour. It was pretty impressive, actually. Quite industrious.
That lock would not have confronted them in the least.
-
I'm sure a lot of people can remember that Kryptonite was burned hard about a decade ago for its ring locks, which could be opened with a Bic pen. Almost ruined the company.
Anyway, bike locks buy you time, that's all. The "roving bands of bike thieves in vans" bullshit isn't an exception, it's fairly commonplace. They might even outnumber the occasional methhead looking for something quick to pawn.
Chances of your bike getting stolen = reward - risk. All you can do is up your odds: ride steel, ti, or aluminum. Use bolts instead of quick release everywhere. Get a good lock and don't attach your bike to some bullshit for long periods of time. All you can do.
-
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
@jolly said in Supreme at the bike rack...:
Thought his comment about the name and color was good. "Never attract attention at the bike rack".
Yeah. Generally speaking, don't have a lock that stands out. Makes it easier for thieves to discern whether or not it's of a type they have experience with.
For most urban stuff, maybe your best bet is a Walmart bike with a few subtly added components?
That's exactly how fixies came about: DIY roadies would cobble a city rider together from spare parts at home so that they can take a bike downtown, but no big if something happened to it. Fixies were originally beaters. That's why the mismatched colors for the parts and the stickers on the frame: they covered the dents and scuff marks. Hipsters who wanted to pose then took all of that in a different direction.
These days, bolting things down and not having anything too obviously flashy can dissuade a lot of lazy thieves. But here's what I try to do:
- bike locks are for coffee stops and anything else that takes up to an hour. If longer, have it within eyesight of the store windows and check regularly.
- For 9-to-5 parking, get it behind your office's security measures, whatever they happen to be. Their bike corral area if they have one, stairwells, whatever. Just get it behind security or don't ride.
- Overnight, parked in a public space? Fuggedaboudit.
