Expensive Commuter to School?
 

Hello commuters, Is commuting on an expensive bicycle to my highschool suggested?
I love my road bike to death but I paid $1500 and cannot afford to replace it.
I use a fahgettaboudit mini lock and a cable to lock rear triangle and tire along with saddle and front tire.

My school has practically 24/7 during school security guard in his gold cart surveying the front gate area where the bike racks are. The racks are not held in place, so i might lock it to the school gate.

Problem: I am paranoid that the Security Guard will steal my bike. If not, the security guard might call his friends to steal it for him.

Besides my paranoia, I believe the students don't have time/nerve to touch my bicycle.

My school has never had a problem with bikes being stolen before and is a very very low crime rate area.

Am I being paranoid? Is my fear realistic?

I am a teenager and hope to postpone car-driving until I hit college.
Also, I'm tired of having my mom take me to school.

What do I do?

I'm not sure about where you live, but at my high school, I had never heard of a bike being stolen, and my friends rode some pretty nice mountain bikes to school.

Depending on where you live you could be either paranoid or not paranoid enough. :thumb: If it were my bike I'd keep the "Crown Jewel" at home and find a used '90s MTB or other used bike that floated my fancy for not much money. That way if the "Throw down" was stolen, I wouldn't be out $1,500 and I'd still have a sweet ride for racing and riding on the weekends.

Thanks for the responses. I would totally dig a vintage roadie to ride...

Vintage road bikes are plentiful and cheap. Look around. Estate sales, garage sales, craigslist, eBay. Ask around. One of your parent's friends or friend's parents probably has one that is gathering dust in the garage and would be happy to give it to you.

Steel is real. ;)

I know that security guard. You're right, he is trying to steal your bike. And your milk money. To finance his gold cart.

Garage sales are the best for used road bikes. I scored this 1987 Bianchi Campione Del Mondo for $10.
It needed a new cassette $25, chain $8 & tires $40 but after that, its been a perfect commuter.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c7...006148copy.jpg

Score indeed my friend...

Since you're in HS, I wonder if "your" bike is covered by your parents' property insurance. I think it's worth a look.

Otherwise, I'd love to score a vintage roadie. I'm always cruising garage sales but haven't had any luck, yet.

That bianchi is beautiful! i want something like that :P

No, it's not covered by a homeowner's policy if it gets stolen at the high school.


$1,500 is too much to risk in your circumstances especially if you're not sure and will be uncomfortably paranoid about it. Just get a beater for commuting. Save the expensive bike for touring.



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Depends on the policy. Most cover items regardless of location. My insurance covers portable items like bike and laptop at any location, minus deductible of course. Which for my bikes pretty much makes the insurance only useful if they are both stolen together or in conjunction with other items that the insurance covers.

Check your policy or call insurance company for a ruling. If it is not covered, a rider to add it may cost as little as a few dollars per year. With deductible, their risk is only around $1k, peanuts in the world of insurance.

My policy covers theft regardless of location. But I would not take my expensive bikes and leave them anywhere I was worried about them, mine are customs and the work of getting all the various parts together would take a lot of time, its not the money (which I could recoup); its the time. If I was going to do something like that I would get a cheaper bike.