Bicycles
Welcome to [email protected]
A place to share our love of all things with two wheels and pedals. This is an inclusive, non-judgemental community. All types of cyclists are accepted here; whether you're a commuter, a roadie, a MTB enthusiast, a fixie freak, a crusty xbiking hoarder, in the middle of an epic across-the-world bicycle tour, or any other type of cyclist!
Community Rules
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No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia.
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Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
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No porn.
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No ads / spamming.
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Ride bikes
Other cycling-related communities
Sheldon Brown is the man. Don't let the awful web design deter you: you can learn a ton of stuff about bikes on his site.
D-lock through the rear wheel and triangle, cable lock through the front wheel and locked to d-lock.
Nothing is totally theft proof
- Stay away from locks with barrel keys.
- Choose a locking device that isn't easily cut/broken/defeated.
- Have a way to pass your lock through your front wheel AND frame as well as what you are locking it to.
- Don't lock up to signs.
- Make sure what you are locking to can't be easily moved (preferably bolted or sunk into concrete slabs)
- Don't block pathways
Get yourself a chain lock. Put it around your wheel/frame and the bike parking frame thingy or a lamppost. Should keep your bike safe in most cases.
No cable locks. Bad, and you get what you deserve.
Something that's a pain in the ass to cut. Nothing is impossible to cut, but a decent u-lock, good chain, good folder, is the way to go. if you are regularly locking up in a specific place, you might be able to leave a heavier lock (chain) there and not have to haul it around.
Something noisy. A brake disc alarm, or two of them, that go off with movement. Getting attention is good.
If it's an e-bike, take the battery with you.
My goal is to make stealing my bike more of a pain than moving on to the next bike, probably secured with a cable lock from Walmart. It might take five minutes to steal my bike and 20 seconds to steal the next guy's, about all you can really do.
Finally, have insurance. This world is full of fucking assholes.
College campuses are like buffets for bike thieves. Outside of that, most bike theft is a crime of opportunity, and just being locked better than the bikes next to it is enough. But on campus (and other places with heavy use, like outside museums), lock both wheels to the frame and the frame to a rack, and lock the seat, too.
Never lock your bike to street signs if you can help it. They're easy to disassemble. Use a proper rack.
Swap out any "quick release" mechanisms for the kind that use tools.