The Chainlink

this is where i lock my bike up 5 days a week. ppl still think they can lock up bikes with just a cable.

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Some people will never learn!
I think the sad unfortunate truth is that most people just aren't aware of two very important things when it comes to bike security, firstly just how little protection a cable offers and secondly just how much bikes are stolen here.
On a side note....what do some of you think about locking your frame and front wheel with U-Lock, and having a quick release rear wheel? (this is what I have.) What would you do about it?

Hilarious pic BTW.
Buy locking skewers, the rear wheel is just as easy to remove as the front and is actually more expensive to replace since it typically has a cassette mounted to it as well. If the cost of locking skewers is to much for you and you're concerned about your wheel then I'd say pull off your front wheel and lock it with your rear and frame when you lock up.
Electrify the rear wheel so that if someone touches it they will get zapped.
i wonder if peter sagel of WBEZ would have learned from this post.

also, don't forget to uglify your bike. loose tape, stickers, picture of phyllis diller...etc.
Huh... what are you supposed to do with your bike while you head inside to borrow the lock? Nice gesture, I guess, but really impractical.

I've been thinking recently about what responsibility Chicago bike shops have as far as selling cable locks. I think I've seen a few shops (Rapid Transit, maybe somewhere else) that sell cable locks but have a sign saying "for suburban use only" or something of that nature. It looks as though a lot of the bikes on the stolen bike registry were new and purchased from a Chicago shop--did someone sell them a crappy lock at the same time they sold the bike? At the bike shop where I worked in NYC, we pretty much refused to sell someone a cable lock for their new bike.
I have seen people who have been told outright that the cable lock they are looking to purchase is going to be useless and make the purchase anyway.

What's a bike shop to do, stand on principle, loose a sale and have a customer go buy it somewhere else or just take their money for the cable lock now and the new bike and lock later?

heather stratton said:
Huh... what are you supposed to do with your bike while you head inside to borrow the lock? Nice gesture, I guess, but really impractical.

I've been thinking recently about what responsibility Chicago bike shops have as far as selling cable locks. I think I've seen a few shops (Rapid Transit, maybe somewhere else) that sell cable locks but have a sign saying "for suburban use only" or something of that nature. It looks as though a lot of the bikes on the stolen bike registry were new and purchased from a Chicago shop--did someone sell them a crappy lock at the same time they sold the bike? At the bike shop where I worked in NYC, we pretty much refused to sell someone a cable lock for their new bike.
Yeah. It was a pretty heavy-handed approach. I think the issue was that people would get mad at us if their bikes got stolen, so we felt obligated to pressure them into buying decent locks.
So much depends on how desirable your bike is. I have a friend who for years was using the same cheap chain he'd had since he was a kid (the kind w/the plastic coating and the 4 number combo lock) to lock up his much used Schwinn La Tour. Never had any problems. A friend borrowed his chain to lock up her new bike one time: stolen. He replaced his crappy old chain w/a new cable lock. Says he likes the flexibility of being able to lock up to trees and other wider than the U structures. All I can do is shrug my shoulders.
It,s time to start setting some traps.(For the thieves)
There are a LOT of people who just do not want to deal with the weight. I've seen a ton of people who are told that they should lock their bikes with a u-lock regardless of where they live. Sometimes, people say they don't worry about theft. Some say that they don't want to deal with the weight. Others say they won't lock it anywhere they don't trust. *sigh* I don't get it personally.
I use a u-lock for my rear wheel and frame and a cable that runs through the front wheel. I generally don't worry about it, but if I'm leaving it for a while in a less trafficked area, I will take off the front wheel and u it with the rest. In the greater scheme of things, I worry less about mine due to the fact that there are usually a lot of cable locked bikes (and sometimes "locked" bikes) nearby.


heather stratton said:
Huh... what are you supposed to do with your bike while you head inside to borrow the lock? Nice gesture, I guess, but really impractical.

I've been thinking recently about what responsibility Chicago bike shops have as far as selling cable locks. I think I've seen a few shops (Rapid Transit, maybe somewhere else) that sell cable locks but have a sign saying "for suburban use only" or something of that nature. It looks as though a lot of the bikes on the stolen bike registry were new and purchased from a Chicago shop--did someone sell them a crappy lock at the same time they sold the bike? At the bike shop where I worked in NYC, we pretty much refused to sell someone a cable lock for their new bike.

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