bonicr

I just got a Trek 1.5 and I want to ride it to campus every day, however I'm really worried about locking it up. I'm going to try to haul it in to each class, but assuming a professor says no, I need to know if there's a safe way to ride to class...

Can anyone recommend locks/tips on how to keep my bike safe? Please note that I can't spend more than 50 bucks on a lock, or locks if multiple are needed.

bonicr

Okay so maybe my road bike isn't nice, could you guys help me anyway?

If this thread already exists I apologize for posting a double, but could you link me to the other one?

MikeyBoyAz

my solution as ASU was a bike shop that rented storage for a buck a day... always had a man in the shop else the doors were locked... never worried about my bike, there were a few full carbon TT bikes in there with sram red as I recall, I would check for a campus LBS that can be accommodating... else get a POS and don't worry when it disappears.

dayday82

imo, i wouldn't ride my road bike to class. i'd get a beater commuter.

tagaproject6

A nice roadbike (in the eyes of a thief, anything worth a little cash is the only pre-requisite) is never locked up for good. You are going to need a minimum of three locks/cable lock combination to at least slow down a bike thief.

Homebrew01

Yup. If you ride the good bike, don't bother locking it up because it will get stolen anyway, and you'll have wasted money on a lock.

UCIMBZ

Carry a rubber sleeve chain or cable with a lock in your backpack and run it through the front wheel around the frame, rear wheel and the bike rack where you park your bike. Still the cable or the chain can be cut if the thieves are adamant about stealing your bike.

mwchandler21

Don't. Buy a cheap one from goodwill to ride to class. Keep your road bike in your dorm/apt and ride it after class.

bonicr

Oh damn it... I justified the cost of this bike with the cost of parking permits, I'd have to sell my bike if I'm going to start parking on campus again. Nothing works huh? Not even Kryptonite's New York Faghettaboutit? This is very depressing... I really love my bike.

How do road bikers do anything? What if you want to eat somewhere while riding? Jeeze...

Sanman023

like the others..if you really love your bike...use that $50 and get beater on cl...if im not sitting on my bike its sitting at home...

bonicr

I guess... it should be possible to find a beater for that kind of money too... maybe a BMX bike or something.

So just in general, even for thousands, there's no bike lock in the world out there that can deter thieves? Nothing made out of depleted uranium or something (jking)?

BillyD

You can't leave anything valuable unattended. It's just that kind of world so get used to it.

tessartype

Your bike is nicer than mine, by exactly three decimals - I used to commute on a Trek 1.2 for almost two years. Thick u-lock (don't remember the last one, but now sport an OnGuard U-Lock + a cable through the front wheel), park in visible places, and be done with it. Parked it on campus, in trashy neighbourhoods and flashy neighbourhoods, went out partying with it and rode to work with it, and still have the bike - though it's hanging off a rack at home these days, "relegated" to dedicated rides with clipless pedals. Compared to the oh-so-common MTB-with-a-cable setup I see around, my Trek might stand out - but for the time it takes a thief to steal my bike (if he can do it undetected), he could take five others around it.

bonicr

No I understand... I thought you guys had other methods, like asking shop owners to hold onto it or something else like MikeyBoy mentioned above.

I live in L.A. & O.C. and was planning a ride from Torrance Beach all the way up to Venice and back, and I wanted to stop to eat somewhere with my group, so I was wondering how that's possible without a place with outdoor seating where we can literally see our bikes.

shopgirl

Agreed. You can't lock up a bike like that in a normal bike rack. Either bring it into class with you, or spend your $50 on a beater commuter bike. But, if you insist on riding this bike, then don't say we didn't warn you.
Get a good U-lock- don't buy it at Target. A kryptonite kryptolok or OnGuard lock would work and should cost about $35-50; pick the smallest size you can use (for locking a road bike, the minis or standard sizes will work). When locking it up, pick a place that has a lot of foot traffic. Take off the front wheel and place it next to the back wheel. Put the U-lock through both wheels, inside the rear triangle of the frame, and around whatever you're locking it to. Make sure that whatever you lock it to is solidly bolted or cemented into the ground. If it's a signpost or parking meter, check the top to see that you didn't leave room inside the lock for a thief to be able to wriggle it over the top. It never hurts to buy a second U-lock, but if you lock your bike well, you don't really need it.
There's lots of info elsewhere on the Internet on how to lock up a bike, but still- you're locking up a road bike that costs about $1,000. There are bike thieves out there that will recognize this. There's no lock or locking strategy in the world that will keep your bike safe in all situations, and even if you're careful, it might be stolen.

bonicr

Oh crap, now I'm confused.

My campus has a grip of people at all times, and the bike racks are always in populated areas so people are always going to be in view of it, but a thief could steal it without people thinking he's nothing more than a person trying to unlock his own bike. Maybe it's different in Israel Tessartype...

bonicr

Thanks shopgirl, just the fact that it might be stolen makes me consider the BMX solution... would a target u lock be good enough for that kind of bike however? I might as well stay cheap.....

Anyone in LA & OC interested in purchasing an 08 Trek 1.5 in immaculate condition?

tessartype

I wish, but two months ago, the major's bike was stolen. There's also absolutely no question about how the immigrant workers get their bikes.

But as I said - the key to secure lockup is to be visible and be the least tempting option. There are two ways to become less tempting:

One is by buying a beater - but what good is a Trek 1.5 if you don't ride it? That's my view on it.

The other is by buying the better lock than the "opposition". If everybody uses neat "slinky" cables that roll up nicely and weigh nothing, and I show up with a friggin' U-Lock, there's no doubt I'm the "more difficult" catch. My bike might be worth 5 times the price, but it's also so much more effort.

A good friend of mine had as awful a beater as humanly possible. A heavy, 5x3-geared MTB, intentionally-shoddy painted green, a chain completely red with rust and torn pieces of cable sticking out - and it was stolen while we were both together, bikes locked side-by-side. I wouldn't have paid 20$ for his bike (he didn't, either - got it handed-down), and yet it's gone.

Tartan1749

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html Picked up a decent cable lock at Marshall's for $7. you should be able to find what you need well within your budget. Nashbar and Performance have good coupons this weekend, too.

MikeyBoyAz

on another note, only one of my professors even noticed the bike in the classroom... even he didn't say anything about it... so try and get away with taking it into class for the first day or so.

bonicr

That's surprising.... I was hoping that the $20 price tag and the populated surroundings would deter the thief. The thing is though, I would much rather get into a cheap bike race than a expensive lock race, and while you may be right, I wouldn't risk the loss in both the cost of the lock and the cost of the bike. If I don't find time to ride it other than commuting, I should probably sell it. :/

foresthill

Agreed with the above, that there is no lock that will keep your bike safe from a determined thief with time to work. But something like this will make him take more time than others: https://www.amazon.com/OnGuard-Beast-.../dp/B000FL3EB6

bonicr

What if the professor says no? I'd be screwed.

bonicr

Thanks for the help Tartan.

That lock is scary looking foresthill... if anything that should keep him away for a while. Still it's pricey compared to the BMX solution... Thanks for the recommendation though.. I'll probably have to buy a lock for my road bike eventually, so it's nice to know what's best.

MikeyBoyAz

have you ever seen it happen? personally witnessed it? I haven't... in every class there has been a bicycle on the side it has been around $2k and the profs haven't complained... then again... why should the boardies get to have their long boards propped up on the wall and the guys with those razors all get away with it when someone with a truly valuable device be shunned?

You can also talk to your professors before hand...