locking habits

loki wrote:
|| Me? Given the small [~100,000 pop.] city with a relatively low
|| crime rate other than Univ. student-party rowdy-ism I live in, I
|| feel safe leaving my bike locked either Ulock to front wheel and
|| frame. Or cable lock through front and rear and frame. for
|| reasonable lengths of time.

I leave both my locks at home....I wish I hadn't bought them.

||
|| Though with the latest on circular keys I'm reconsidering my trust
|| in the Ulock.
||
|| And I have no problem leaving my bike unlocked for a quick run into
|| a store, say for a water refill if the foot traffic around the area
|| isn't too high and the layout of the store is such that I can keep
|| the bike in sight.

I take my bike into the store with me.

loki said:

Since locks are the topic du newsgroup:

Everyone's locale has different crime risk profiles and everyone's bikes
vary in cost, everyone's risk aversion is different, but I'm wondering how
much effort people invest in locking/security.

My bikes stay inside at home and locked in a lab at the university where
I work.

But for my rather large amount of utility cycling, plus all my
recreational riding and touring, my lock is a home-made cable and an
ordinary smallish padlock. When we bought our "good bikes" 18 years
ago, we bought Kryptonites, but we have almost never used them.

The cable lock could be easily cut by a stong set of vise grips, but
I've never lost a bike. (Well, my then-young son's bike was briefly
stolen by a neighborhood kid, then returned a day later by the kid's
brother.)

If I'm going to be out of sight of the bike for a long time (say, inside
the mall) I generally try to park it out of sight. But for super-brief
stops I sometimes "lock" it only by jamming the front brake closed and
leaving the bike in a high gear.

Now, bike theft isn't a big problem in my area. But I used the same
philosophy on tours in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and during a
coast-to-coast across America. My worst experience was having a
cyclometer filched.

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

Sat, 18 Sep 2004 20:20:59 GMT,
<[email hidden]>,

loki said:

Everyone's locale has different crime risk profiles and everyone's bikes
vary in cost, everyone's risk aversion is different, but I'm wondering how
much effort people invest in locking/security.

The three bikes stolen from me were unlocked. One from inside a
friend's apartment. Now I'm more careful about security.

I keep a padlocked 9/16" cable looped through four bikes in my living
room.

I'm going to replace my U-lock with another as I've gotten accustomed
to using one. Normally use it for locking the helmet, front wheel and
frame to a rack. For short stops I'll sometimes lock the top tube to a
parking meter or lean it against the wall and just lock the front
wheel and helmet to the down tube. Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

For long periods away from the bike I'll strip it of all the removable
accessories and lock both wheels. Instances when I'm unsure of the
available parking I'll carry a waist wrap of through hardened 10mm
hoisting chain and a Master 6230 padlock (3.1kg) in addition to the
U-lock. (1.6kg)

When I'm riding something without a rack or pack, I'll carry the
padlock and chain combo alone.
--
zk

loki said:

Since locks are the topic du newsgroup:

Everyone's locale has different crime risk profiles and everyone's bikes
vary in cost, everyone's risk aversion is different, but I'm wondering how
much effort people invest in locking/security.

Me? Given the small [~100,000 pop.] city with a relatively low crime rate
other than Univ. student-party rowdy-ism I live in, I feel safe leaving my
bike locked either Ulock to front wheel and frame. Or cable lock through
front and rear and frame. for reasonable lengths of time.

Though with the latest on circular keys I'm reconsidering my trust in the
Ulock.

And I have no problem leaving my bike unlocked for a quick run into a
store, say for a water refill if the foot traffic around the area isn't too
high and the layout of the store is such that I can keep the bike in sight.

I usually keep one lock at home and the other at work. I don't have to lock
it at work but having one there means that I don't have to lug a lock on my
commute if I decide spontaneously to go somewhere else rather than home
afterwards.

I lock it anywhere, any time. Living in a city, theft is common. Any
seat bag, light, pump, etc. must be easily and quickly removable. My
seat bolts have all been replaced with nylock nuts and english allen
bolts on the assumption that a bike thief will have metric tools and
not want to stand there unthreading a half inch of a nylock nut. And
the seats have cables. Locking wheel skewers. U-lock through back
wheel and cable through front. The cable has its own lock, not just
attached to the U-lock- two main tools, not one, to defeat both
systems.

And I assume that the bike will be stolen. If I am not prepared to
lose it, I won't lock it up or leave it.

This is for commuting, shopping, going to a movie, etc. Think of your
car, what you would and wouldn't leave accessible, and that's how I
treat my bike in the city. All the basic strategies are second nature
to me now. In over a decade I have never lost a bike or any parts.

When I started reading the tubular lock issue, I went out first thing
that morning to get a new lock. I couldn't deal with the insecurity.
Now instead of my Krypto Evo 2000 mini, I have an Onguard Ultimate
Mini. I will see what Kryptonite is going to offer for older locks
(one is 11 years old, another 8) and decide if I get a new crossbars
for the Kryptos or move to a different brand for my primary lock.

Well, I just thought I'd throw an urban perspective in.

Dan Daniel said:

loki said:

Since locks are the topic du newsgroup:

Everyone's locale has different crime risk profiles and everyone's bikes
vary in cost, everyone's risk aversion is different, but I'm wondering
how
much effort people invest in locking/security.

Me? Given the small [~100,000 pop.] city with a relatively low crime
rate
other than Univ. student-party rowdy-ism I live in, I feel safe
leaving my
bike locked either Ulock to front wheel and frame. Or cable lock through
front and rear and frame. for reasonable lengths of time.

Though with the latest on circular keys I'm reconsidering my trust in
the
Ulock.

And I have no problem leaving my bike unlocked for a quick run into a
store, say for a water refill if the foot traffic around the area isn't
too
high and the layout of the store is such that I can keep the bike in
sight.

I usually keep one lock at home and the other at work. I don't have to
lock
it at work but having one there means that I don't have to lug a lock
on my
commute if I decide spontaneously to go somewhere else rather than home
afterwards.

I lock it anywhere, any time. Living in a city, theft is common. Any
seat bag, light, pump, etc. must be easily and quickly removable. My
seat bolts have all been replaced with nylock nuts and english allen
bolts on the assumption that a bike thief will have metric tools and
not want to stand there unthreading a half inch of a nylock nut. And
the seats have cables. Locking wheel skewers. U-lock through back
wheel and cable through front. The cable has its own lock, not just
attached to the U-lock- two main tools, not one, to defeat both
systems.

And I assume that the bike will be stolen. If I am not prepared to
lose it, I won't lock it up or leave it.

This is for commuting, shopping, going to a movie, etc. Think of your
car, what you would and wouldn't leave accessible, and that's how I
treat my bike in the city. All the basic strategies are second nature
to me now. In over a decade I have never lost a bike or any parts.

When I started reading the tubular lock issue, I went out first thing
that morning to get a new lock. I couldn't deal with the insecurity.
Now instead of my Krypto Evo 2000 mini, I have an Onguard Ultimate
Mini. I will see what Kryptonite is going to offer for older locks
(one is 11 years old, another 8) and decide if I get a new crossbars
for the Kryptos or move to a different brand for my primary lock.

Well, I just thought I'd throw an urban perspective in.

I have seen some different perspectives on it. One guy had his seat and
post
stolen because they were on a quick release. Another (common) if for the
front
wheel only to be locked and the owner comes out to find a locked front
wheel,
(quick release again). On some of the upper end bikes that can happen if
there
is a quick release on the rear. The safest thing seems to be to lock both
the
frame and both wheels and to take the seatpost (if quick release) into the
store
and put it into a shopping basket. I live in a fairly high crime area,
(California)
where if it isn't locked it is usually gone. The exceptions are the
obvious junkers
that nobody seems to want to steal, even unlocked. Those tend to be to
later
one piece crank models with really cheap brakes and rivited front
chainrings, not
much to do with those.
My 2 cents, maybe too much.
Bill Baka
Here, but tired after 85+ miles in the mountains today. Metric century but
not yet
a 'real' century of 100 miles. The mountains kind of mess that up for us
non
class a+ riders, and the days are getting short. Too cold in the morning
and too
hot in the afternoon.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

loki said:

Since locks are the topic du newsgroup:

Everyone's locale has different crime risk profiles and everyone's bikes
vary in cost, everyone's risk aversion is different, but I'm wondering how
much effort people invest in locking/security.

Me? Given the small [~100,000 pop.] city with a relatively low crime rate
other than Univ. student-party rowdy-ism I live in, I feel safe leaving my
bike locked either Ulock to front wheel and frame. Or cable lock through
front and rear and frame. for reasonable lengths of time.

Though with the latest on circular keys I'm reconsidering my trust in the
Ulock.

And I have no problem leaving my bike unlocked for a quick run into a
store, say for a water refill if the foot traffic around the area isn't too
high and the layout of the store is such that I can keep the bike in sight.

I usually keep one lock at home and the other at work. I don't have to lock
it at work but having one there means that I don't have to lug a lock on my
commute if I decide spontaneously to go somewhere else rather than home
afterwards.

I use a soon-to-be-replaced Evolution Mini locked between the anchor and
the rear wheel through the triangle. Everything is bolted - no quick
releases. No one seems to have bothered it so far.

"loki" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Everyone's locale has different crime risk profiles and everyone's bikes
vary in cost, everyone's risk aversion is different, but I'm wondering how
much effort people invest in locking/security.

I have three locks.

U lock at work, in a downtown parking garage. Occasionally I use this for
other parking around downtown.

Keyed cable lock for standard utility cycling in suburbia-- going to the
store and whatnot.

Very skinny, lightweight, combination cable lock -- this could be snipped
probably with a pair of kitchen sheers. It's purely to discourage impulse
theft. I use this one when I think the chance of theft is pretty low (e.g.,
Lopez Island), and/or I don't want to carry a lot of weight or bulk.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

I have a 6' pretty hefty cable lock with a flat key; but there's a good
reason to carry a 6' cable, namely that, if you loop it twice through
plastic grocery bag handles, you can sling it over whatever is already
in your milk crate on the luggage rack, with half the grocery bags
on each side, and carry triple what you already have on the bike.

In fact the danger is to the rear hub more than that you'll buy more
than you can load on the bike; or, if you haven't reenforced it, the
luggage carrier. But then I don't weigh too much, so I have a lot
of slack in the rear hub anyway.

Then too, who steals a Huffy, especially a beat-up one. I beat it up
first thing too, adding odd pieces of duct tape to the frame and
cables.
--
Ron Hardin
[email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Zoot Katz said:

Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

Off topic, but: where are you, that you have buskers?

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

"Frank Krygowski" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Zoot Katz said:

Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

Off topic, but: where are you, that you have buskers?

Buskerville.

"Ron Hardin" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Then too, who steals a Huffy, especially a beat-up one. I beat it up
first thing too, adding odd pieces of duct tape to the frame and
cables.

Check your next police auction, or www.stealitback.com
Most of the bikes are Huffy/Next/Murray class.

Usually, they are lowhanging fruit. Rarely locked, or not locked
effectively.

Pete

"Ron Hardin" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Then too, who steals a Huffy, especially a beat-up one. I beat it up
first thing too, adding odd pieces of duct tape to the frame and
cables.

Check your next police auction, or www.stealitback.com
Most of the bikes are Huffy/Next/Murray class.

Usually, they are lowhanging fruit. Rarely locked, or not locked
effectively.

Pete

"Frank Krygowski" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Zoot Katz said:

Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

Off topic, but: where are you, that you have buskers?

Zoot's in Vancouver BC. We have buskers here in Seattle, too.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Sun, 19 Sep 2004 14:55:33 -0400, <[email hidden]>, Frank

Krygowski said:

Zoot Katz said:

Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

Off topic, but: where are you, that you have buskers?

Lotusland. We even have licensed buskers.
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/990415/csb2.htm
--
zk

Quoted message said:

Everyone's locale has different crime risk profiles and everyone's bikes
vary in cost, everyone's risk aversion is different, but I'm wondering how
much effort people invest in locking/security.

For insurance purposes, my bike has to be locked to an immovable object with a
D-lock. So I use a D-lock to lock the frame to such, but I also use a couple of
cable locks through wheels, frame and to immovable object. So I use three locks
- minimum.

Not that I'm vaguely paranoid, but I *know* they're out to get me ;-)

Cheers, helen s

--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--

"Zoot Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sun, 19 Sep 2004 14:55:33 -0400, <[email hidden]>, Frank

Krygowski said:

Zoot Katz said:

Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

Off topic, but: where are you, that you have buskers?

Lotusland. We even have licensed buskers.
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/990415/csb2.htm

Here in Seattle I know you need a permit to be a busker in the Pike Place
Market (http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/community/become_performer/) because
my old boyfriend was one. I used to shill for him.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Frank Krygowski" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Zoot Katz said:

Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

Off topic, but: where are you, that you have buskers?

Off-off topic but where are you that buskers would be unusual?

🙂

--
elaine: 'It shrinks?!?'
george: 'Like a frightened turtle.'

Claire Petersky said:

"Frank Krygowski" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Zoot Katz said:

Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

Off topic, but: where are you, that you have buskers?

Zoot's in Vancouver BC. We have buskers here in Seattle, too.

Cool.

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

loki said:

"Frank Krygowski" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Zoot Katz said:

Often I'll ask a nearby busker or
pan-handler to keep an eye on it (locked) for a couple minutes.

Off topic, but: where are you, that you have buskers?

Off-off topic but where are you that buskers would be unusual?

🙂

The great Midwest. For whatever reason, our cities lack them - and it's
a sad thing.

I've seen some in Portland, OR but not many. I've seen a lot more in
Toronto, and did a little busking with my daughter just for fun - and it
was! Dublin, Ireland had lots, as did the Cliffs of Moher and a few
other places.

I think they're a wonderful addition to a city.

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]