ryan_rides

I work At Publix (Florida grocery store. Top 5 in the country) and I work 7-8 hour days. My store has four solid bike racks right out front of the store. It's located in a big plaza across the road from 2 other smaller plazas. It's a busy area as Boca Raton is kind of a "college town" and my store is the closest to FAU and it's just one of the most popular stores in the city. I currently use one ABUS U-lock. My local shop showed me a new lock that is like a "belt". I hate extra weight. Especially heavy weight. And the idea of carrying two U-locks is just terrible to me.

This not me

PeopleAreIdiots

Places with heavy foot traffic are definitely better. And no matter the lock, more is better (interesting belt thing, should work). Ive seen bikes get stolen in broad daylight in plain view though so nothings ever guaranteed.
Sounds like you should probably be safe using two locks, especially if people are constantly walking by. If you work in a grocery store you could always ask your manager if you could stash your bike somewhere in the back. I used to work in a hospital and my clinic manager let me put my bike a storage room. Depends on how paranoid you wanna get

Bigpond

seau grateau

Keep locks on the bike rack if you don't want to haul the extra weight. Carry one with you for general use and keep one (or more) locked to your lockup spot so it's always there when you roll up.

Dougbloch 

Yes, a Scoop Shallow Ti. I love it.

As as for the lock issue, Wabi also sells security bolts for your wheels, stem, and seat post. I highly recommend them.

Here are some more pics of my Special and a component list:

Nitro Jaguar NJS seat post
Dura Ace 7403 brake
Soma High-Riser stem with brass stem cap
Nitto M151 SSB handlebar with Dia Compe Gran Compe brake levers and Fabric Silicone bar tape
Compass Chinook Pass 28cs on the ultralight Wabi wheel set
MKS Urban Platform pedals and VO half-clips
Kiley USB light
Spurcycle bell

[left]

TimothyH

I replaced three Fizik saddles with Fabric Scoop and put a fourth one on my latest build.

Such a great saddle.


-Tim-

kingston 

My Wabi is my favorite bike, but I use a beater when I have to lock a bike in a rack all day.

drlogik 

Here's my Wabi Classic sans the Brooks saddle and handlebar tape. This is before I mounted Dura Ace brakes on it also.

As a side note, I have ridden a LOT of bikes over the last 45 years. The Wabi Special rides so much more smoothly than any of the other bikes. There's not really a close second place except maybe and old Motobecane I had back in the early 1980's...although my first nice bike, a new 1975 Raliegh Supercourse when they came with Huret Jubilee derailleurs was comfy but not like the Wabi. I am seriously considering getting the geared Wabi because of the comfort level. These bikes smooth out a rough road like no other bike.

The Classic below is running Challenge Paris Roubaix tires with latex tubes. The Special has 30 mil gumwall Challenge Strada Bianca "open tubular" tires with latex tubes. It rides like a cloud going Mach 2.



Here's the Wabi Special in camouflage mode:

TugaDude

My vote is for the Big Block. I still have mine, the first year sparkly red with white socks. Rides like a dream and has great fork ends. I know they've tweaked the frame a bit since then but the changes are minimal. The seat collar is nicer now.
Regarding sizing, the bike runs big compared to some others. Mine is what they sell as a 55 and it rides more like a 57 in my opinion.

seau grateau

The long top tube geometry is part of the reason I went with the Big Block. At 6'1" with a long torso, it drives me crazy how many companies will still call a frame a 58/59/60 when it has a 56cm top tube.

Bigpond

seau grateau

The 58. Reach measurement is nearly identical to my 58cm Felt but it's a bit taller, so I think it should be a really nice fit. Just waiting for it to come in to the shop now.

I_am_X

I have three of the "HipLok", even the strongest and most heavy, the "gold", you really don't notice around your hip while cycling. The gold version has best handling with the lock-belt-system as well.

/Björn

Bigpond

veganbikes

I mean I never complain about a pink and purple frame. It is a good look.

As far as locks ABUS ABUS ABUS and ABUS. Seriously for the weight and protection you won't really beat them, We tested a 12mm Schlage chain (similar to the Krypto chain) vs a 9mm ABUS chain and the Schlage was defeated by a sledgehammer in 2 hits the ABUS chain I think got some scuffing after 20 hits. Sold Secure and other similar testing sites might be simply testing for the exact same thing and if all the locks pass that test even if they would break a few seconds later they can get a top rating. To be secure you need to use top quality steel and know how to temper and harden it and it doesn't hurt to also own your own factories and make your own machines. If you need a lock that is easy to carry get a Bordo folding lock and you can even get a Plus version and get it keyed alike to other locks. You can also get the Granit X-Plus 540 U-lock and not worry at all, that thing is an absolute beast in terms of u-locks and if someone can break one in less then 3 minutes, bravo to them and their tool budget.

Yes Yes,, Lockpicking Lawyer broke the Bordo blah blah blah, watch the video and you will notice it was in a perfect environment in a nice vice and it ended up shooting out and breaking in a very dangerous way after taking a while to get it set up and actually break it. They also used a tool most thieves probably wouldn't carry around and it was a huge risk of getting hurt. Also yes OnGuard pulled a tank on a T.V. show, cool. However I value a company that is truly dedicated to security and innovation and ABUS is that company. Also I like a family company that treats workers fairly and has a lot of long term employees (some of whom have been with ABUS for 50+ years).

Yeah I know basically an advert for ABUS but I like a quality secure product for my bike and after selling many different locks from different companies and hearing all the clinics and other info and using different products and all that I come back to ABUS.

As far as the steel bikes, as @TimothyH said can't beat Rodriguez for the price, handmade in the U.S. and semi custom.

StirFry

+1 on the abus locks. Along with the high quality steel they use, I like how they engineered their u-locks to engage on both ends. Most standard u's only do one side, so a single cut makes the whole lock swing apart.

veganbikes

Yeppo. Also the sound of the Granit 540 (which was engineered for it) is such a great sound. I don't get why one would want a lock that is simply fatter and heavier when you can go lightweight and more protective with a dual locking mechanism? Sure New York stereotypes are fun but honestly I much prefer doing a poor german accent or using the little German I have.

Robert64

Getting ready to pull trigger on moss green wabi special. Like your buildout. May want to duplicate. Interested in your full component list. Want to keep as light as possible since I carry bike up flight of stairs. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Robert64

referring to Dougbloch post

PeopleAreIdiots

Heres a pic of the moss color in the wild in case youre interested. Great frame. I'm loving mine!

BicycleBicycle

I vote for FBM Sword.
The Sword Single Speed Frameset - FBM Bike Co.

Why? Because it's a BMX company and i'm partial...
But really, the bmx world is basically nothing but 4130, and that frame is USA made, so you're basically buying a bike made by some dude who loves riding bikes, who has only worked with and welded steel frames.
Does that mean anything? Maybe higher quality welds.
I mean, just look at the way a cap is welded onto the ends of the seat/chain stays at the dropouts, and the very unique looking unicrown esque (but with welded legs) fork. Ugh.
Look at those straight as an arrow slab of steel laser cut dropouts.
Really take a close look at the construction of that bike compared to a lot of the other bikes being suggested here and tell me that it doesn't just scream handmade quality at you.

Idk, just cool knowing that the dude who welded your bike is probably himself smashing on a bike at some other place in the world at the exact same time you are.
It looks amazing too, and it takes an integrated campy spec headset so you'll have a lot of really strong high quality options that aren't overpriced at like $200, and you'll be a little different than all of the other quill stem/press fit bikes.

It's also within your budget (Unlike a lot of other frames).

seau grateau

That FBM frame looks pretty decent, except very limited sizing options, and their "suggested sizes" are kinda ridiculous.

BicycleBicycle

Yeah that's literally the only thing that turns me off about it. Apparently Clydes like me have been doing fine on the 56cm though.
You can get get custom frames (With pick your own fancy heat treated tubing and literally pick your own angles and tube lenghts) but the price nearly triples for customs.

PeopleAreIdiots

Wow I wasn't aware of that FBM until now. I don't often see a tig welded frameset that can rival the beauty of lugged steel. They've got some really great finishes too. I'm a huge sucker for raw steel.

ryan_rides

I actually used to ride BMX and I always forget that FBM makes singlespeed/fixed gear frame sets. Thanks for reminding me!