irwin7638

If you like the Nexus hubs you might want to read this before converting them all:

https://simplecycle-marc.blogspot.com...black-box.html
there are 4 other posts but it came down to this

https://simplecycle-marc.blogspot.com...b-v-final.html

Marc

FlatTop

Getting back to that much-loved Superbe; I take the view that it is so striking and otherworldly in urban surroundings that it would have the same effect on thieves as a mint 1959 Rolls Royce parked in Bed Stuy...they would simply rule it out as something not understood, an anomaly in that environment, not to be messed with.

lostarchitect 

Ha! I went to look at a bicycle in Bed-Stuy the other day and there was not one but TWO vintage Rolls-Royce cars parked on the guy's block!

FlatTop

Ya see! They has invisibility to thiefs!

noglider 

I've forgotten my lock a few times. I then pretend to lock my bike. I once used a bungie cord in Manhattan. That was taking a chance.

Also, when I leave my bike locked or unlocked, I sabotage it. I open both wheel QR's. I shift it into the big-big combination and then push both levers all the way forward. I disconnect the brakes. This makes the thief ride away slowly and loudly, if at all.

Unfortunately, I can't think of a way to sabotage my three-speed.

photogravity

Actually, I'm trying my best to avoid putting a Shimano hub on any of the bikes I'm planning to convert/retrofit to IGH. I like the Sturmey hubs a lot but finding 5-speed hubs is a challenge in the US. I have a Sturmey 8 hub on my Peugeot, but I don't want to change the cranks or chainrings on all my conversions so that's sort of out of the equation here. I've been thinking about SRAM P5 and S7 hubs, but I have concerns with SRAM's support of their IGH line, so while I'm trying to avoid Shimano hubs, some of my conversions may end up with them nonetheless. <sigh>

Dav305z

Ugh, why'd I have to read this. I've ridden to downtown Ann Arbor and locked up so I can shop around, but this thread has made me paranoid. No more. And I do lock up at home.

frantik

i don't like to lock up the ironman.. i ride the diamondback when i know i will need to lock up a bike. even then i'm pretty paranoid.

i want to get a mini ulock.. they look like the perfect size to fit in my saddle bag

rootboy 

It really depends on where you live, doesn't it? And you haven't said, Rookgirl, which , of course, is none of our business. But you have to make your own assessments based on where you might want to leave the bike. Of course, a thief could be anywhere. But they're not everywhere.

Pars 

I've owned my RRA (only bike) for 37 years. It has never had a lock on it, though that may change soon. I bought a bones bike carrier, so I am going to get a cable lock to lock it to the car frame. But it basically will not be out of my sight.

eschlwc

i take my bike inside wherever i go. if a retailer stops me at the door and asks that i not bring it inside, i'll say, 'it'll be ok' in a kind of obi-wan kenobi "these are not the droids you're looking for" kind of way and continue in graceful movement without stopping. it helps to smile. if the retailer is insistent that i not continue, i will leave and never return to that place with or without my bike.

tmh657

I didn't want to start a new thread so I'll dig up this one. Would you lock up your De Rosa? Granted this one is not cosmetically perfect and has, ahem, custom bars but it has 8 speed Dura Ace. It may belong to an employee who took in the front wheel or just someone shopping. I went inside the store with my bike and asked if I could bring it in they said no, (thank you Karen at Mother's Market) so I walked over to the bike rack and saw this. I don't carry a lock with my bike because I would not lock it up therefore it can't be stolen if it does not leave my hands. A beach cruiser maybe but not my Tommasini.

At least a thief could not ride away on it with one wheel but that's a pretty thin cable lock. Location is SoCal.

fietsbob

My favorite ride is My Brompton, because I can Bring it inside with Me.

cale

Well, along those lines, you could let the air out of the tires. Haha

Edited to add, some topics never grow old.

Bruce27

Never out of my site, unless there is a guard on duty.

Wileyone 

Same here. I never use a Lock because I never leave a Bike behind. If a retailer doesn't like my Bike in their Shop we don't do business.

bmthom.gis

I lock my bikes all around town. I locked my Bianchi Volpe locked up overnight outside a hotel in Savanah. All was well. My Raleigh Sports lives at work and gets locked up where ever I need to leave it for a time (but when not out and about it is in the office).
One time, I was riding my Peugeot home and had to make a sudden bathroom break. Pulled into a gas station, and by the time I fished out my wallet, I couldn't find a place to lock it to, so I stuck it out of view behind the dumpster. That was nerve-wracking.
At home, they are in the garage and that's locked enough. I once left my Schwinn Suburban out for a week in the porch and no one bothered it

clubman 

40ish years in the city trained me to lock up well, always.Then we move to this small east coast university town where nothing gets locked. Total bubble. Can't remember the last time I locked up riding into town. Three vintage bikes are leaning against the garage tonight, no locks. Like a "Trueman/Stepford Wife" film.

No geo tagging, leave my bikes right where they are.

Vintage Raleigh

Bit like that here Bob. Would take a lock if I was riding to the city though

noglider 

Here in New York, I occasionally see a formerly very fine bike locked up outside, clearly being used as a daily beater. Often it has upright handlebars but few, if any, other changes. Sometimes it has a Wald basket or something else incongruous. And I think about it: if you don't care that it gets wrecked along the way, why not enjoy it while you still have it and it still runs. It could be a fun bike to bop around on and not care about. The trick is to get yourself to stop caring about it.

Fahrenheit531 

I lock up my bike in front of work daily. Usually it's a Super Sport beater or my Raleigh Sports, but sometimes it's the Paramount. High traffic area as far as people going in and out, but low traffic when it comes to people that don't actually work there. I trust my ABUS, combined with the fact that most everyone there knows exactly whose bike is in that spot. Anyone not named me trying to disable the lock would be a real attention-getter. (Cue scare-video of people not bothering the bike thief in 3... 2... 1....)

Of course this is Tucson, not Chicago or NYC.