Thursday, August 26, 2010
District Curmudgeon: Park at Your Own Risk
IMGoph over at the District Curmudgeon talks more about the abysmal bike parking situation at the the NY Ave Metro station. Basically he's concerned about bike theft (even parts of bikes) and explains various reasons why this is such a problem at that station. If you ever bike to the station you should read the post.
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4 comments:
Like most of Dist C's articles I think they're just blowing hot air. I've been parking my bike there 4-5 days a week for the last year and haven't had a problem. I do use two locks.
The bikes in the article were left there for several days if not weeks.
A couple of times I've left it there overnight, fully expecting it to be gone or vandalized the next day but nope, untouched.
Maybe I'm just lucky and completely wrong.
I used to walk to Pound every weekday morning and I saw plenty of bike carcasses there, I don't think District Curmudgeon is exaggerating much. Unless there's foot traffic going by the spot is ripe for thieves. Some bike theft prevention basics:
-Any lock or security measure will be useless given enough time and opportunity; the best you can hope is that you've created enough barriers that the thief doesn't think that your bike is worth it.
-Cable locks are worse than worthless; they give the appearance of security but they can be cut in 10 seconds, the thief rides off with your bike in less than 30 seconds. If you have a bike worth over $200 that you lock up in public in DC, use a u-lock (or bike cuffs) or expect to have your bike stolen.
-Use a U-lock to lock your frame to something secure that can't be easily cut or removed, and use a cable attachment to secure your wheels(s). I know I just said cable locks are worthless, but carrying around multiple u-locks is a pain and this keeps your wheels (which are probably quick release) from walking off.
-Make sure your u-lock doesn't use the old style "round" key; these can be easily and quickly picked with a bic pen. Any of the new Kryptonite or OnGuard locks are good, the key models are preferable to the combination ones.
-"Quick Release" means quick release- I had a QR seatpost rack stolen from off of my bike in Chinatown in the middle of the day while I stood less than 20 feet away with my back turned (I was boozing it up inside). Using QR for your wheels is OK if you secure em with a cable, but if you have a quick release seat/seatpost clamp replace that with one that requires an allen wrench to adjust.
-Not about theft but- leaving your bike outside in the elements will cause it to quickly go "out of tune", will rot the tires, and is generally bad for the bike. Riding in the rain occasionally is OK (especially if you dry it off after), leaving it outside in the rain is bad.
count me among people who have had their wheel stolen. i was very naive to think that it would be safe with the metro station manager sitting there within spitting distance.
-cb
@mj:
Use a U-lock to lock your frame to something secure that can't be easily cut or removed, and use a cable attachment to secure your wheels(s).
I usually just pop the front wheel off via quick release, and u-lock both wheels to the rack. I'd rather take the extra 10 seconds and skip carrying extra stuff (i.e. cable).
Also, having a quick release seat-post in the city is just silly. Buy a bolt-on one online for, what, $5...
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