Commuting - Questions on commuting to stores/malls

When you use your bicycle to go to a store or shopping mall and be in the store for some period of time, do you carry your helmet with you inside the store the whole time? Do you secure the helmet on your bike somehow? This is assuming that if you don't have any type of storage bags attached to your bike large enough to secure items in.

I run my lock through the ear opening on the chin strap. I can't see someone destroying a helmet to steal it.

I secure my bike with a massive Abus lock, but I have a cheapo cable that I run through the helmet, seat post, etc to discourage those items disappearing.

BTW, I have had two friends lose helmets from theft, and both of them were stolen when the strap was cut. I run my cable through the helmet body.

Az

I carry it with me hooked on my bike bag, messenger bag, or backpack. I need the helmet and I do not want to risk it to be vandalized

My entry-level helmet has vents large enough for a std Kryptonite shackle.
So far no-one has messed with it.
I wonder what people do with stolen helmets. Is there some hot market for expanded polystyrene? Are bike helmets the new baseball caps? Do you have to wear them backwards to achieve street cred?

In most places I just lock the helmet through the strap. If I'm going to leave the bike and helmet for a longer period like at Metro, then I run a cable lock through one of the vent holes to make it more secure.

My entry-level helmet has vents large enough for a std Kryptonite shackle.
So far no-one has messed with it.
I wonder what people do with stolen helmets. Is there some hot market for expanded polystyrene? Are bike helmets the new baseball caps? Do you have to wear them backwards to achieve street cred?


Depending where you are leaving it, some people like to mess with stuff on bikes just to be obnoxious. I think it's the same set of people who like to yell things at us from their cars.

Considering most universities have a high number of people like that (where I normally am riding to), and that Florida is prone to sudden random rainshowers and I don't want to have to ride with a wet helmet, I usually take mine in regardless of my location.

I carry it with me hooked on my bike bag, messenger bag, or backpack. I need the helmet and I do not want to risk it to be vandalized

+1

Depends on the neighborhood, where I'm shopping and how long I'm gone. Sometimes I run the cable thru a vent, sometimes I clip the chin strap thru the frame, and sometimes I clip it to the belt of my fanny pack and carry it in.

I carry my helmet with me, that way it explains why im walking thru a mall in lycra

I carry my helmet with me, that way it explains why im walking thru a mall in lycra

Or anyplace else. :beer:

I had no trouble with spandex in aerobics class. Now spandex on a male in Ballet class just looked wierd. An adult male assisting in a partnering class with dozens of teenaged girls did not need spandex to demonstrate anything. And those were some of the hardest workouts I have ever had.:D

I just wear mine, while I shop.
It may look strange, but then I don't leave it anywhere or have to worry about it getting snatched or damaged.

I use a cable lock and run the cable through the largest vent (top center) in the helmet so it gets locked with the bike.

I carry my helmet with me, that way it explains why im walking thru a mall in lycra

+1

This same sort of explanation was discussed in a thread a week or two ago. I carry mine in with me for two reasons: To keep someone from stealing or messing with it, and because it's a good visual clue that the red faced, panting, sweaty guy in the neon green ANSI certified shirt and lycra is not, in fact, a pervert having a stroke. It's just some guy who rides a bike.

At the supermarket near the local university a group of uni girls were standing behind me. One gave me a wierd look (and why not? I was all sweaty in a supermarket. Duh.) I turned so she could see the bike helmet in my bike gloved hands. She went back to talking to her friends.

I usually don't lock up my helmet. I position it over my CatEye headlight so the light can't be seen with a casual glance. But I also don't lock up my bike in front of a store if possible; I lock it up it way out in the parking lot where it's less likely to be seen by people going in & out of the store. I'm of the school that believes any bike/accessories can be stolen quickly from any location without interference from witnesses, so the less conveniently located it is, the less attractive it is to thieves.

And, yeah, totally: vandalism from jerkwads is more likely than actual theft in the places I ride to. But then again, where I ride, I see bikes parked, unlocked, outside stores all the time. Suburbia is terminally boring, but there are a few good facets ...

Hey, this is kind of the same topic: how do you secure your accessories? My headlight and tail light currently use the factory-provided attachment method, which is a circular plastic grip that goes around the bar, and a small handle you use to tighten the gri). The lights click into the attachment, and you push a button to release the light from the attachment. You know what I'm talking about. They could be easily stolen if someone wanted to.

How do you make that stuff more secure?

Edit: I guess I could just quick-release them and bring 'em inside, but what a lot of junk to be carrying around.

Hope I don't hijack the thread here but how about panniers? When you go shopping in the mall, x-mart, where ever do you leave your panniers on your bike or take them with you? If you take them with you do you just carry them around while shopping or ask to leave them at the "customer help/courtesy" area?

The lights click into the attachment, and you push a button to release the light from the attachment.
...
How do you make that stuff more secure?
...
I guess I could just quick-release them and bring 'em inside, but what a lot of junk to be carrying around.

Lights usually go in my pockets when I go in a store. Bike helmet sometimes stays on my head, but I have to admit that I've been laughed at for wearing a bike helmet inside before, so if I'm going to be inside for more than a short time I sometimes take the helmet off and carry it. At stores with carts or baskets, one can put the helmet in the cart/basket.

If you take them with you do you just carry them around while shopping or ask to leave them at the "customer help/courtesy" area?

Depends on whether or not they insist on taking them. :D

Az

When I'm shopping, (mall or grocery), I'm usually on my shopper. It has big lockable baskets on the back. I drop any detachables into a small ammo box, and lock it the basket. The ammo box is sturdy, can't be opened through the bars of the basket and "hides" everything from prying eyes.

My commuter has luggage locks on the panniers, which are zip-tied to the rack. Anything that can be popped off of my bike goes in there. I wouldn't do this on extended shopping trips, but it is enough of a deterrent for quick stops at the store.

How do you make that stuff more secure?

Edit: I guess I could just quick-release them and bring 'em inside, but what a lot of junk to be carrying around.

I carry them in the helmet. Usually have my lights, gloves, cyclocomputer, and geek strap (reflective band that keeps my pants leg out of the chain) in my helmet when I'm shopping.

At school I put them in the drink holder pockets on the sides of my backpack.