Phil, Squid-in-Training Wrote:
Tom Nakashima wrote:
My son enters college this fall, so I put together a bike for him by
salvaging spare components and a frame that I wasn't using.
Suggestions on making the bike inconspicuous?
Maybe disguising the bike isn't worth the effort for today's
thieves?
Suggestions from college students.
-tom

Yay! I'm an expert on this. Okay so here are my ten steps to a
theft-proof
bike:

1. Spraypaint... the cheaper the better. Spray the whole bike frame
and
make sure to spraypaint the tires and grips, too. It makes it look
like the
owner is really dumb. Put some scratches in the paint so it doesn't
look so
cherry. This should be easy to do since the spraypaint will probably
just
flake off just by you looking at it funny.

2. Stickers! Get so many stickers that you're almost inhaling them.
Get
them from your local radio station. The flashier the better. Apply
stickers to everything on the bike, especially the frame. Make sure to
do
the saddle, too.

3. Duct tape! Put random duct tape bits so that they look like
they're
actually trying to hold something together. Tape the saddle, too...
this
makes the bike really cry out "I am a ****bomb!"

4. Cover up any and all brand names and models.

5. Put a crappy, broken, bent rack on the back for ultra-nerd factor.
Add
rusty fenders and baskets to taste. Nobody wants a dorky bike.

6. Attach as many broken reflectors and light mounts as you can on the
handlebars, seatpost and seatstays. These will make it seem like the
owner
keeps breaking lights, buying new ones, and never getting rid of the
old
mounts.

7. Place tennis balls and cards in the spokes, and of course bar plugs
with
streamers coming out. That might scare off even the seasoned thieves.

8. Apply the biggest, most gaudy bell... no wait, horn... on the
bike...
something like this Barbie Deluxe Bicycle Horn:
http://tinyurl.com/9s4m7
Tell your son to honk it within 100 feet of any human or animal.

9. If you want to go overboard, find a cosmetically rusty chain and
cassette
and put those on.

10. Lock up the bike with both a non-pickable u-lock and a cable
lock!

If his bike gets stolen, I'll be impressed.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

This would look mighty conspicuous to me.


--
meb