A few things...
- If my college freshman kid could afford a near-$2k bike, I would tell them they need to start kicking in for more of their tuition - LOL.
- Our campus visit to Humboldt State a bit over a year ago left me with the impression that a campus bike would need a pretty wide gear range, and a heavy bike is going to spend a lot of time parked.
- I don't know how much of a problem bike theft is on campus and the surrounding area, but colleges are fairly well known for being target areas for bike theft.
A story...
This past September, we moved our kid into their freshman dorm at the University of Oregon. During move-in day, we saw quite a lot of new students who had brought their bicycles, including a couple of very decent newer MTBs. That evening, all of the bikes were locked to racks inside the dorm's bike cage, and the cage door was locked. During the early morning hours, the cage door was pulled off the hinges, and the racks were sawed through. Every bike - except one - was gone. The ONL Y remaining bike was locked to a support post, with at least 5 u-locks. This was not random. It was a planned and coordinated effort by multiple people.
I had put together a "townie" bike from a Bianchi frame for my kid to take to school, but at the last minute as we finished packing the car, they decided to leave it home until they had a feel for how/if it would be useful for them. It turned out to be an excellent choice. We both would have been heartbroken if that bike had disappeared.
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