Folding Bikes - Big City Folders-Do you bring your bike into the building at work?

Just wondering what people are doing after they commute to work? I'm bringing my bike up to my desk. The building has a strict no-bikes policy but they never giged me on it until today.

My lock is at my desk so I suppose I could wait until I see someown I know at the door and then ask them to grab it (or I could commute with it every day).

So after 5 months of no problems I finally might have to give up the whole folding bike thing because I don't think its viable to lock this bike up outside. I guess its possible because there are pleanty of bike racks on the street. Heck there is even one across the street that I can peep at through my window.

But these same racks are notorious for thefts and I don't really think my folder is really safe to lock up outside.

Anyone have any perspective on this?

Have you tried to bag it before bringing it in the building?

Today is the first day that I brought my bike in to work. I folded it and covered it before entering it to the building and just wheeled it in. No one said anything. Perhaps enclosing it will work for you.

our building put up free racks in its guarded garage, that solved the problem.

I was approached by the property management when I brought my bike into the office. My response was "This is an $1100 folding bike...if you make me lock it up outside and it gets stolen, I want you people to reimburse me for it."

They never bothered me about it again.

i tried bringing my folder up to the office every day. i absoultely hated lugging it around (it's about 30 lbs) and putting it into the bag out on the street.

i ended up just folding it up and locking it outside. my thought is that having it all folded up would make a theif less likely to deal with it.

i ended up just folding it up and locking it outside. my thought is that having it all folded up would make a theif less likely to deal with it.

That's a good idea, especially since I can sort of watch it out my window. Not that watching it will prevent a theft as I can't possibly keep an eye on it all day. Plus it would take me too long to run down the hall, wait for the elevator and then dash across the street. By the time I'd be at the rack the thief would be long gone.

I did try to fold and bag it for a long time but like someone else said carrying the 25lbs gets old quick. I'm going to do this though until they finally won't let me in. Today I managed to bag it and enter through a different door.

I've managed to bring it into a Manards once. They stopped me at the door and told me I couldn't bring it in but I told them that I needed a replacement bolt for it (true) and that was why I was shopping there in the 1st place.

Then I asked why they were concerned when people carry 12 foot 2x4s through the store. If they wouldn't let me in I'd have just put it into a shopping cart.

Just wondering what people are doing after they commute to work? I'm bringing my bike up to my desk. The building has a strict no-bikes policy but they never giged me on it until today.

My lock is at my desk so I suppose I could wait until I see someown I know at the door and then ask them to grab it (or I could commute with it every day).

So after 5 months of no problems I finally might have to give up the whole folding bike thing because I don't think its viable to lock this bike up outside. I guess its possible because there are pleanty of bike racks on the street. Heck there is even one across the street that I can peep at through my window.

But these same racks are notorious for thefts and I don't really think my folder is really safe to lock up outside.

Anyone have any perspective on this?

I covered this topic in depth in my World Of Folding Bicycles Web sites. I cannot stress more not to lock up your folding bike no matter who orders you to take the bike elsewhere (chances are he/she is an minimun wage worker with no clout or future with the company) or the circumstances are if you live in a large urban area like I do. For more information on this topic see my Geocities Web site and my new Flickr set at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/world-of-folding-bicycles/sets/72157601331380862/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/world-of-folding-bicycles/sets/72157601331380862/)on how to make your own bag for that purpose (it's easy and fast)!

Good call. I'm going to use a different (side) entrance and bag it every time I enter the building. I used to do this 100% but when it started getting so humid that I was sweating like a pig after lifting it the 1/2 block length to the elevators I gave up.

Shame on me? I suppose.

I even rigged up a shoulder strap to make carrying easier but it was scratching the paint. Oh well.

Yup. Bag it. Then deny you are carrying a bike if asked. You'll be golden.

Yup. Bag it. Then deny you are carrying a bike if asked. You'll be golden.
Exactly! Of course, I have been told that there are people who find such falsehoods distasteful (don't worry, I'm not one of them).
I always bring mine into the office with me; I'd hate to lock it outside. But if it comes to that, you know, you don't have to carry the lock with you. You can leave it locked without the bike. Now if that gets stolen, you'll really have something to complain about....

Different buildings have different policies. Most of the standard NYC buildings will let you transport a bike on the freight elevator, then you can keep it folded under your desk. Personally I'd find it a HUGE drag to carry a folder in and out of a building every single day.

If you're going to leave the bike outside, I recommend you get a cheap one-speed beater bike, a massive lock, and don't park it in the exact same spot every day.

By the way, Dahon Boardwalks can be had for $200 or so; the wheels are bolted on, so you could fold it outside and chain it up very securely. Downtubes are pretty cheap too. I suspect there are lots of places in Chi-Town to get an ancient bike for $100 too.

My building allows me to bring a bike in the freight elevator.

I have a Curve so the wheels are bolted as well. I thought about leaving the lock outside but since 1/2 my building is students the racks are always jammed and people complain about rack etiquette, namely my cuvbe mates (who are already miffed that I bring my bike inside but they are turned away by security with full sizers). I might look for some inconspicuous place to lock up the lock like back by the loading dock but this is a last resort so what I probably will do is just hang out by the door until a co-worker shows up and can grab it off my desk. Otherwise the lock will probably sit out there so long it'll rust and be worthless when I need it.

Anyway, I've had this trouble before in Chicago. Mayor Daley is a huge bike fan and the Mayor's Office sponsors a bike month and a bike to work rally but once you get all the way downtown no class A office space will let you inside. Hell, class C office space won't even let you inside.

Sort of rediculous IMO. I'm surprised you NYC peeps get away with it.

My building doesn't have a front desk so I can circumvent some of the security guards since they just troll around the information desk checking out college girls anyway. But I certainly would have to be "tipping" the front desk staff to get past them in a better building.

Sometimes I wish I worked in a little dumpier place. Then again, na.

Sort of rediculous IMO. I'm surprised you NYC peeps get away with it.

We're more progressive :p (I guess I can't say "we" since I don't live in NYC anymore...oh well)

have you tried to convince the company you work for that they actually should specifically allow folders into the building as it would be a good marketing tool for them... You could convince them and give them some carbon credits for using the bike..... in todays... world buzz words like carbon footprint go a long way....

if you are not successful at the chicago office.. maybe there is a corporate office....
make sure taht all the letters you going to write are from you home computer and not from work....
:-)
thor

Too lazy to fold it... I just bring it in and leave it in the basement (a norm in my workplace).

You could convince them and give them some carbon credits for using the bike..... in todays... world buzz words like carbon footprint go a long way....


Even better, I've done some work for our facilities manager so he gave me one of the 3 lockers in the mens room and asked if I'd serve as the building's "Green Liason" to the building's management. They gave me a few hundred $$ to promote my plan.

What to do?!?!

We're more progressive :p ...

Maybe NY'ers are just more accustomed to anarchy?