paranoid about locking up my bike

I would lock it right next to my bike in the purple garage (they started naming them by colors now) Yours will probably be better locked than mine, so should be safe; you don’t need to run faster than the bear, just faster than one of the others being chased.

Honestly, I’m sure it’ll be fine in any of the garages. I know that nothing [practical] makes a bike theft-proof, so I’ve just told myself that if someday my bike gets stolen it’ll be super awesome to get to buy a new one. (It’d suck too, of course, as I’ve started to get attached.)

@hozn 120230 wrote:

so I’ve just told myself that if someday my bike gets stolen it’ll be super awesome to get to buy a new one. (It’d suck too, of course, as I’ve started to get attached.)

Straight from Bike Snob NYC’s book, which everyone should read. Someday your bike will be stolen (maybe not, but it’s happened to me 3 times). Do not be attached to the bike–be attached to the experience of riding the bike. They cannot steal that from you.

You can get the book used for a penny on Amazon. Funny, satirical (very), enlightening, educational and true. Highly recommended.

I was worried about locking up on Columbia Pike last night, so I put a post-it on my bike pointing out that there was a Lightspeed at a rack on the next block.

If you haven’t already, take a look at Sheldon Brown’s lock strategy:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

If you follow what he suggests as well as what others here have recommended, maybe you’ll feel more secure. I particularly like the suggesting of using as small of a U-lock as possible inside the rear triangle around the wheel. U-locks are defeated most of the time through leverage. The smaller, harder to reach U-lock poses more of a challenge to gain leverage over than a standard size u lock positioned nicely along the top tube or seat tube for a thief to reach with a pry bar. Go the full monty with a cable lock attached to the front wheel and the U-lock and now a would be thief needs specific tools to defeat each lock.

There is a map somewhere showing the locations where bikes are stolen. My “takeaway” is that bikes aren’t “really” stolen west of Ballston. I have parked my bike unlocked outside both Tysons and Tysons II malls with no issue and I usually leave my bike outside the Whole Foods in Vienna unlocked. I too have employed the SteveO method of finding a little underground corner in a garage in which to hide my bike and the Dread method of hiding it amongst nicer bikes.

bikes aren’t “really” stolen west of Ballston.

Unfortunately, not true.

However, the reports of bike theft in the “west of Ballston Arlington” area tend to be coorelated with (a) how well the bike was lock and (b) how valuable the bike is. For the former, PALM-TO-FACE the locals have little hissy fits on a regular basis when juniors bike gets stolen…. you know….. the bike he left unlocked in the front yard……. One of the things I “gave up on in order to be a happy cyclists” was trying to get people to lock their bikes at the local pool. As for the latter, there have been a number of noteworthy break ins to houses in order to steal high-end bikes.

Down in Barcroft, bike theft is a regular problem. I also understand that bike theft at East Falls Church metro is a problem.

Professional thieves want speed; they want a bike they can turn; and to a lesser extent, they want an anonymous bike. Use two quality locks. Consider decorating your bike to make it unique and identifiable (like painting your name or logo on the frame somewhere) (Dirt just put a Hello Kitty sticker on my bike, free of charge). Write down your serial numbers. Consider registering it (I think this is probably worthless but you could try)

If this is a regular situation, consider getting a beater bike. I bike that is ugly that you do not care if it gets stolen. One of the reasons I got my Cannondale BadBoy is that the “Cannondale” logo is black on a black frame. It’s not obvious it is a Cannondale. It looks like a generic black commuter bike.

The Green Bike?? Well, that’s why I will end up adopting Mia…

Someday your bike will be stolen (maybe not, but it’s happened to me 3 times)

Not true. But then again, everyone always gives me shit for always locking my bike everywhere I go. Bikes are easy to steal and easy to flip. That means if you dont want your bike stolen, prudence is prudent.

@dasgeh 120304 wrote:

Cable locks are the helmets of locking. Discuss.

Cable locks will stop someone from just grabbing an unlocked bike and riding off. They’re also a hell of a lot more flexible for locking in places with shitty bike racks & when you’re trying to lock up a family’s worth of bikes, and take up less space in your bag. I wouldn’t use one downtown, but they’re fine for the ‘burbs. Just don’t do that thing where you forget to actually put the cable through part of the frame, because then people will mock you.