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| "auxiliary cable" mistake |
I love this video from Streetfilms in which Hal from Bicycle Habitat does a hilarious -- and very good job -- at running through how to properly lock up. He's been a bike mechanic in NYC since the 70's and knows all the tricks of the trade including one of my favorites, strategically epoxying ball bearings...
Hal Grades Your Bike Locking 3: The Final Warning!
I've been doing a lot of research on how to lock up my bike lately. I need to invest in some really good locks, especially since I'm shipping my Flying Pigeon 9,000 miles home!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this video, I shared it with my Slow Biking group here in Singapore.
After losing my last bike to theft, despite what I considered reasonable precautions and beyond, I changed tactics, and now I am the proud owner of a folding bike. This, of course, is not 100% theft-proof, but it's a lot harder to break into my apartment or office building, where I now keep my bike, than to cut through a lock on the street.
ReplyDeleteWow! thanks for posting that vid. That is so fantastic. I think he'd give me an A, though I remove my front wheel and lock it to the side of the frame with the U-lock (see below about cable lock security)
ReplyDeleteTwo anecdotes, if I may:
1) While attending art school in Portland, ME, I once stole a friend's new (to her) mountain bike for her. I found it just outside the school, U-locked by the front wheel to a light pole. I popped the front QR and carried the bike into her studio space.
2) I worked the floor at a bike store this summer. It's amazing the folks who think $30 is too much to pay for a lock to secure their at least $300 bike. They want to opt for the cable locks. I tell them that they are low security locks and that one of the things I learned at the shops I've worked at is how to cut most cable locks in minutes (legally from known owners who lose their combos).
Most opt for U-Locks but often the phrase "Well, we're in VT not NYC" comes up :)
@Chris: Exactly! My main rule is: unless I can't possibly avoid it, my bike is either under me, locked in the back of my Outback or in the same building I am.