Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - attention philadelphia: security lies within

I learned something important from a subway construction crew tonight. The upside down Us that we all lock to on the street are very very insecure. All it takes is a ratchet to take them off of the ground, rendering our fancy ulocks and chains pointless. But there is hope. If you lock to the same U regularly, bring a tack hammer next time you lock up. Enough of the bolt protrudes beyond the nut that you can bash it down and prevent the nut from being removed. If you have no hammer handy, eschew these seeming oases of security and lock to the nearest secure pole.

meh, it's obviously so just by looking. so far so good. it's all about the illusion of safety anyways.

-jason

Yah I realized that. They're just bolted down. But the guy will have to remove 4 bolts....

Yah I realized that. They're just bolted down. But the guy will have to remove 4 bolts....

Yeah he just has to unbolt it, but if we're talking about a thief intent enough to bring tools, then there's really not alot you can do. I'm far more worried about the casual thief and the thief of opportunity than I am about the guy who brings a rachet, it just seems like the latter are extremely rare.

if I theif wants your bike, he/she will take it. As far as those bike racks, if you are using a Ulock it would take MORE than just removing all 8 bolts from the ground, the bottom of the Urack is much wider than the average Ulock, so the person would also have to cut the bottom off of the Rack.

I think you should be more worried about locking to a street sign that can be pulled out of the ground.

I usually lock to Meters... the city is usually pretty secure when it comes to their parking money.

I am not bringing a hammer with me to hammer bolts into the ground.

yeah, its not clear what you mean with a hammer, i hope you mean bending the bolt over and not hitting the nut itself, if you bash the nut you could strip it off the bolt (useless) it'd be better to just petition the city to replace them with racks that don't have such obvious design flaws.

Good luck getting those bolts out without pneumatic tools. I'm sure there are some racks where they've loosened over the years because of vibration, but I'd bet that the large majority of those bolts are in there too tight for anyone but Superman to loosen with hand tools.

gas pipes. gas pipes are your friends. i always lock to those if i can. i hope no one is actually going to cut up gas pipes for a bike.

you can also put a dollop of epoxy over the nut and bolt so the can't get a socket or wrench on the nut...

gas pipes. gas pipes are your friends. i always lock to those if i can. i hope no one is actually going to cut up gas pipes for a bike.

this man knows what's up.

just lock to the closest police officer's leg, no one will steal it.

if I theif wants your bike, he/she will take it.


and if i want it, i just take it right back.

trust me, i have.

and if i want it, i just take it right back.

trust me, i have.

don't mess w/ TIP...

I usually lock to Meters... the city is usually pretty secure when it comes to their parking money.


I pulled a meter out of the ground once. We would have taken it and put it somewhere fun but those things are damn heavy.

I lock to small children, as long as they are with there parents your bike is safe

My friend picked up a PPA parking meter that was uprooted at the scene of a car accident that he just happened to be walking past. (BTW, we are talking sub 15 year olds, here) He threw if off a four-story roof onto concrete/blacktop multiple times and also hit it repeatedly with a sledge hammer. Finally, a blow torch was the key to opening it. $50 was a lot of money back then - it still is now, actually.

I'm a fan of street signs.

I'm a fan of street signs.

Until you come out and the sign is still there but the bike is gone and you realize it wasn't cemented in properly and someone simply lifted the signpost out of the hole, took the bike, and slid the sign back in. I test all signs I lock to now just in case.

Hey don't those upside down Us on the sidewalks here have a flanged plate thing at the bottom that a narrower lock wouldn't slide over? That'd keep them from walking off with the bike unless they also want to walk off with the entire U-shaped piece of metal it's attached to and I THINK that'd be pretty suspicious.. haha.

You guys think you have a problem with your bike racks? Check out the ordeal we are going through in Toronto:
http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l24/mitchkaiser/?action=view&current=Torontoringpostbreak.flv

OH MAN! that just reaks of a group decision!

just don't lock like this:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/19/23069934_09ba9a937d.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/17/23069935_9591772441.jpg

I'm a fan of street signs.
not a fan of your bike, though, huh.
my friend locked his very very nice bike up to a street sign outside of his apartment building and it disappeared. dah. they're unreliable.

edit to 3Lph: i just laughed for a really really long time. that is incredible.

You guys think you have a problem with your bike racks? Check out the ordeal we are going through in Toronto:
http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l24/mitchkaiser/?action=view&current=Torontoringpostbreak.flv
Clearly the cucumber and the cardboard tube weakened the post enough for the 2 x 4 to break it.

street signs take about less than 30 seconds to cut through. The metal is pretty soft.

I grew up in a small town, not much to do in the evenings, so I walked down the street one day and cut the heads off all the parking meters. Didn't take the money, just cut all the heads off one by one.

I grew up in a small town, not much to do in the evenings, so I walked down the street one day and cut the heads off all the parking meters. Didn't take the money, just cut all the heads off one by one.

I grew up in a small Wisconsin town, too. In fact, I lived there until a few months ago. I never ever locked up my bike there. Never. I'd do things like lean my bike against the front of a store and walk in for 45 minutes or leave my bike on my lawn in front of my house overnight. I never had a bike stolen. Not once. Pretty weird.

I'm just glad I don't keep my car in a garage.
http://media.damnfunnypictures.com/dfp/funny_cat_pictures_01.jpg

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

http://www.pbase.com/image/74607911.jpg