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#21
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
On 7 Sep 2005 19:33:59 -0700, "Someone"
wrote: T. 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. You should have built him a bike like this: http://www.outsideconnection.com/gallant/hpv/joe/MVC-003S.JPG. Pfui. No wings, no spoilers, no ground effect skirts; what's the point? -- Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to reply via email. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts. |
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#22
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
Someone wrote:
G. Daniels wrote: try rusto auto paint in primer brown or grey then wear bright colors or use dayglo poster paper take the seat with you-bikes without seats are useless I used to see a bike commuter on a regular basis (over a period of several years) that rode an ATB without a seat. Female? |
#23
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 17:31:21 -0500, "BobT"
wrote: My bike came with an Axa SL7 but I took it off and opted for a cable type lock. Did I make a mistake? It does seem easy to use although I don't like that the key won't come out unless it's locked. Well, that's also kind of the point, it forces you to leave your bike locked if you want your keyring. Unless you're very, very self-disciplined, leaving yourself the option not to lock up is a recipe to in fact not end up doing so at all times. It also means, and this is I suspect the real reason it was done that way, that if you show the insurance company (the ones in this country) both keys, they'll take that as evidence you did actually lock it when it was stolen, which is what insurance companies want to see. I was worried that putting the Axa SL7 lock only through my spokes was inviting someone to trash my spokes even if they couldn't ride off with my bike. ' Well, it's possible. I'd say it's chunky enough that people wouldn't ignore it, but around here almost every bike has an axa lock so that the criminals don't forget to check for it, and my experience there doesnt translate well. I was also concerned that someone would simply pick up my bike and throw it in the back of a vehicle and drive off with it. I saw that I could That's a definite possibility, yep. Best IMHO is to have the ring lock for always and every time you leave the bike even if it's just for 10 seconds, and a cable or chain to tie it down to the world for longer periods. buy a cable that fits into the Axa but saw no advantage to the Axa SL7 + cable over a cable alone. The SL7 cable isn't all that great, but then most cables aren't. You have more freedom of placement when you don't have to get the end back to your ring lock somehow. On the gripping hand, the SL7 cable is cheaper and lighter than a full cable lock, so if you're toting around the SL7 anyway, you can consider the cable. I probably wouldn't use it though. Are you using the the Axa SL7 regularly to lock your bike without these problems? I actually have the regular Axa on my beater bike, but that's a bike so beat that when it was parked against another bike that was against a wall (both with two locks on and tied into the world with one), thieves have been known to move it aside, steal the bike under it, and then put it back. Or that may have been one or two beaters ago, I don't keep track very well, but the regular Axa is good enough that I have to replace the beaters for failures, not for theft, unless I forget to lock it (or lock it and then leave the key in, which sometimes happens if I'm being the absent minded type at the time). Incidentally, I live in Utrecht, which is a student city but not *quite* as bad in bike thefts as Amsterdam. The new, expensive bike will have an SL7 and won't be left in dark alleys. Bottom line is that the SL7 has a 14 mm diameter hardened steel ring around your wheel, which is thicker and harder than pretty much any other lock can offer, so it's nigh impossible to cut with boltcutters and hard even with an anglegrinder. Supplement with something that ties your bike to the world and you shouldn't really have any problems most places. Jasper |
#24
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
On Thu, 8 Sep 2005 01:11:13 -0400, "Gary Smiley"
wrote: Actually, you don't have to go overboard- all you have to do is make it just a bit less attractive to a thief than some other bike on the rack. Park it next to a shiny new bike. Meanspirited, but oh so true. Jasper |
#25
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
In the old days I recall we used to split old inner tubes the long way
and wrapped them around the frame like you wrap bar tape. Sealed up the ends with electrical tape. This covered all the decals, and protected the bike from chips at the same time. And we used to use a small padlock threaded through the rear drop-out and around the QR lever which kept the rear quick-release from being opened without first removing the padlock. This way you don't give up the convinience of QR. Someone who knows what they are doing will be able to see the Colnago underneath, but it worked for me in NYC and Chicago in the 80's. Joseph |
#26
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
"Phil, Squid-in-Training" wrote in message news:80JTe.11408$Cc5.545@lakeread06... 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://img.epinions.com/images/opti/...resized200.jpg 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 Well I'll have to say I'm very impressed with your suggestions, you can make Letterman with your top 10 list. -tom |
#27
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
"Brian Kerr" wrote in message . .. Someone wrote: G. Daniels wrote: try rusto auto paint in primer brown or grey then wear bright colors or use dayglo poster paper take the seat with you-bikes without seats are useless I used to see a bike commuter on a regular basis (over a period of several years) that rode an ATB without a seat. Female? That's cold, but funny! -tom |
#28
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
Someone wrote:
G. Daniels wrote: try rusto auto paint in primer brown or grey then wear bright colors or use dayglo poster paper take the seat with you-bikes without seats are useless I used to see a bike commuter on a regular basis (over a period of several years) that rode an ATB without a seat. Heh... it's illegal to ride without a saddle around here. -- Phil, Squid-in-Training |
#29
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
Great suggestions, as I will use many of the great ideas.
I do like the non quick release, nut-style axles. The gray duct tape also sounds good, and of course a good lock and not leaving out overnight. I'm not so worried about losing out on the components ($$), just worried that he'll lose his transportation. thanks to all, -tom |
#30
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Making a College bike Inconspicuous?
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 di sguising 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 t he 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 probabl y 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://img.epinions.com/images/opti/...resized200.jpg 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! We should not have to go to such extremes and to ride garbage. What would car owners say if that's what they had to do to their cars, simply to make them workable transportation devices? As I said in another thread: the real key is not the lock but the rack. There are several manufacturers who make racks consisting of two large steel horizontal arms with steel projections, the arms closing around the bike, the projections going through the wheels and main triangle. You then use only a padlock to lock the two arms together, inside a shielded housing that can only be accessed from the bottom, near ground level, or else a U-lock to keep the two arms together. You need only carry a reasonable padlock for very high security. [I just did a search to find a manufacturer of these things. No luck yet. I have seen at least three different brands though. Will try to find a manufacturer's label on one of them.] Furthermore, what's necessary is to make bicycle theft the same crime as auto theft, and to install video surveillance at key locations, to mop up the organized crime gangs who are responsible for so much of it. There IS a solution and like so much else it just involves a few people in the right places getting off their asses. |
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