BIKE LOCKS!!!!

There is an old jape.  “All bicycles weigh 50 pounds.  That’s because a 20 pound bicycle needs a 30 pound lock and chain, a 30 pound bicycle needs a 20 pound lock and chain, and a 50 pound bicycle needs no lock and chain.”

The problem of securing your precious bicycle is a constant balancing act.  Where is the bike going to be?  (The majority of bike thefts involve removing the bike from the garage or storage shed.)  Will it be unattended?  How long?  What’s the crime rating for the area?  How desirable is the bike perceived to be?

There quick anecdotes:

I once left my truck behind the shop, here in Peachtree City, with three bikes on board.  Two of the rides were extremely high-end, full-carbon, racing rigs.  The third one was a complete “beater” of a BMX bike.  Both of the road bikes were worth over $5,000, the BMXer was maybe worth the coast of hauling it to the dump.  (You see this coming don’t you?)  I was in the shop for about ten minutes.  I came out to find the BMX bike had been stolen.  The racing rigs were untouched.

My friend Guy tells a similar tale.  He lives and works in a small, rural, North Caroline Mountain town.  He left his truck unattended for a brief time.  The two fancy road bikes were untouched, but his chainsaw and weed eater had been lifted.

It was a long weekend getaway trip to Savannah.  I’d been enjoying the temperate day, and riding about the historic district on my fixie.  I stopped outside a coffee shop.  I leaned the bike against a pole.  I had not locked it yet.  A passerby asked me a question, and I stopped and turned my back on the bike.  We were chatting.  A movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention.  I turned to find a scruffy young male in the process of mounting my bike.  Right behind me, and less than three feet from me!  (He didn’t get away with it.)

Types of bike locks abound.  Some are better for one thing than another.  All have this in common.  It’s a pain in the neck to carry them.  There are various solutions to this problem.  My personal favorite is to toss the lock into my messenger bag.

Here’s one good strong suggestion:  Do NOT get into the habit of locking your lock around your bike as a means of storing it.  More than that, never store your bike with the lock locked around it!!!

We see it in the shop fairly regularly, especially in the spring.  “Can you get this lock off of here?”  the customer asks.  Sometimes the answer is,  “Yes, but it will destroy the lock.”  Sometimes the answer is, “No.”  Some locks are that good.

Remember, you are trying to protect the bike from a thief, not yourself.  And yes, you will lose the key, or forget the combination.  Lock the bike up when you leave it.  Store the lock beside the bike.  Never leave your garage door open.