Should I always carry a lock?

[baiskeli]

Sure, there are places you might hide a bike–the trick is making sure you break down near them.

[KLizotte]

I always carry some sort of lock with me but sometimes I only carry a medium sized and rather lightweight cable lock if I’m not planning any stops. I’ve always figured that if I had to leave the bike I’d find a friendly home owner who would allow me to lock up in their back yard, garage, or on their porch while I retrieved my car. This works in suburban areas; not so well in highly urban ones. You can always carry a mini U-lock. They don’t weigh much nor take up too much room.

[dasgeh]

There are various options for dealing with mechanicals on your commute. You are allowed to take a bike on bus any time of day, so instead of Metro, you could throw you bike on the bus and get as close as you can. That depends on knowing the bus routes that can get you from your commute route to work.

You could always ask – politely and be ready for them to say no – at a location where there will be people around and there’s space. In Courthouse, there’s a firestation that I may have asked at, with the promise that I’d come back at lunch and take the bike to a shop (Revolution is not far).

[elbows]

Another alternative to a lock is knowing the bus routes. I have, on occasion, thrown my nonfunctioning bicycle onto the front of a bus. Obviously, this doesn’t work everywhere, but it does work pretty well most places depending on the level of urbanity.

[Steve O]

I mentioned the leaving a lock at work after Tania mentioned that she locks hers up with eight or ten of them every day. There would only be a need to carry one of them with you, or zero if you are comfortable with that.

It’s good to have a lock if you break down. It’s also good to have a SmarTrip card.

Here’s a story I told about being in DC without a lock.

In fact, that entire thread may be worth looking at.

[Steve O]

@dasgeh 141685 wrote:

There are various options for dealing with mechanicals on your commute. You are allowed to take a bike on bus any time of day, so instead of Metro, you could throw you bike on the bus and get as close as you can. That depends on knowing the bus routes that can get you from your commute route to work.

Google Transit can help you out, too, if you don’t know the bus routes by heart. Or at all.

[mello yello]

@VA2DC 141680 wrote:

I’m porting this over from the bike thefts in DC garages thread. A Venerated Senior Member said:
Are there any alternatives to carrying a lock when you have a breakdown that can’t be repaired roadside/trailside?

Sure… log in here, start thread in Commuters forum, and someone who works close can put it in their office or bike cage for the day!

or… find an unused lock, one someone’s left on a rack, in an out of the way place, and drape it over the frame of your bike to make it appear locked. I’ve done this before for short periods of time on UVA’s campus… never around here.

of course, it’s all supposing that you are near something… breaking down on the CCT halfway to Bethesda it won’t do you much good one way or another if you have a lock or not.

[huskerdont]

I keep a U-lock on the rack at work (guard-protected garage) and wrap a Kryptonite chain lock around my top tube for stops at the store or emergencies. The chain doesn’t seem to hurt anything since it’s wrapped, and I’ve found it to come in handy many times. If I’m going somewhere where I might leave the bike for a while or it’s otherwise got me worried, I’ll take the U-lock as well and use both to lock both wheels and frame.

The exception is if I am riding my nice bike, in which case nothing is wrapped around the frame, and I’m not leaving it anywhere. If I have a problem and can’t reach anyone and can’t get a ride, I’ll carry it home on my shoulder even if I have a broken ankle and I’m 18 miles away from the dimmest lights of civilization. At home, this bike is always locked to an immovable object.

[VA2DC]

Thanks for all the helpful replies! Well, maybe except for this one;)

@baiskeli 141682 wrote:

Sure, there are places you might hide a bike–the trick is making sure you break down near them.

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