I'll be moving to new yourk from philly in a couple of months, and my current bike is both too blingy-looking and crappy-riding to take up there. I'm building a fixed, and here are some questions for NYC riders:


Thievery related:
--I want to shell out for the quality track frame, but I'm thinking that anything shiny will be stolen. Steamroller or Marushi gas-pipe chipped-paint 10speed conversion?

--Same question, but for Suzue Promax/Level hub on one hand, or el cheapo track jr hub on the other?

--Are theives savvy enough to recognize a carbon fork?

--If I use 700x28s, will thieves think that it is not a "racing bike?"

--What about bullhorns?

Ride-related:
In philly, I've happily rocked a 39x13, giving 78 or so gear inches. Philly is stop and go, but with lots of places where you can/have to get going fast, and some hills. Should I down gear some for NY?

Thanks "you'ze" guys

Here's the bike I ride everyday in the city. I think the tape offsets the shininess of the frame and adds an air of crumminess, belying the money I've put into better drivetrain components. I lock this bike up (2 locks) in two places each day, each place for several hours. I also leave my helmet strapped to my handlebars, and no one has wanted to touch it enough to steal it away from me. While I do believe that there are bike thieves that travel around and steal bikes in 30 seconds with power tools, I think the only theft you can prevent is one of opportunity; being the most attractive bike in a 50-block radius isn't a great idea--- but you can have a pretty nice bike and keep it if you're careful. I rode a 'beater' for some time in the city but after a while the crappiness of the bike (Schwinn Roadie conversion) offset the feeling that I was pullin' one over on the thieves.

Hey boy, that bike's reeeeeaaal purty. Where'd ya say ya park it, and what kind o' locks d'ya use? Just askin', is all...

So what about all of the big time messengers and fixie riders in NY that all ride perfect, vintage Eddie Merckx frames with Campy components? Do they ever lock their bikes up? I would assume those would be goooooooooone within a week of being put out there for the world to see.

i've got two track bikes. one gets locked up at most for 2 to 3 hours (i bring it into my office during the day), the other rarely, if ever, sees a lock. i haven't seen too many messengers with 'perfect' bling bikes... most look lovingly beat-up to me.

i think the trick is, the nicer your bike, the less time it should spend unattended. it just lessens the odds of evil swooping down to snatch it. if a thief really wants the bike, he'll probably get it - try to avoid him seeing it alone in the first place.

agree with the above. lock it in a very visible spot for short periods of time and you are better off. nothing is fullproof though. i had a $75 dollar mountain bike stolen from me when i went in to watch a movie. i thought it was fine because i locked it up right by the ticket counter. you just never know. but whatever you do - take it in at night. that's a must.

theives will steal most anything that isn't locked well in new york. carbon fork or bullhorns are irrelevant.

just lock your bike well and don't lock your bike outside in a crappy neighborhood, on a deserted street, or overnight.

every day, i see a beautiful guerciotti frame locked up in manhattan on 5th ave around 17th street. i'd be fine with this setup too, as this street is crawling with (typically upscale) people all day long.

if the owner worked evenings in bushwick, i doubt s/he'd make the same decision.

get yourself a reasonable-to beat-up track or road frame. build it up with solid, but not overly fancy stuff.

as for wheels, i'd get some solid wheels built up locally (so you can just drop by the shop and have em trued when you need them). i happen to be quite hard on wheels, so the extra $50 spent up front pays off in free truing.

39x13 (on a 700c wheel, according to https://www.bikecult.com/works/wheelsizes.html), yeilds 81 gear inches, the same as 48x16. i run 48x16 on my SS freewheel bike and find it a bit stiff for bridge climbing and cold starts from lights. i run an easier gear (46x18 - 69.0 gear inches) on my fixie and it's a lot easier on the starts and stops.

i used to run an even easier gear of 43x18. spinning it got a bit tedious, but i could do the most glorious skids.

hmmm... i don't think i've seen these guys around???

--I want to shell out for the quality track frame, but I'm thinking that anything shiny will be stolen. Steamroller or Marushi gas-pipe chipped-paint 10speed conversion?

--Are theives savvy enough to recognize a carbon fork?

--If I use 700x28s, will thieves think that it is not a "racing bike?"

IMO, you should get the bike you want to get. Don't start off in this city "hobbled" in some way. You just have to be smart about how you go about presenting and securing your bike. It can't be too much diff't here than Philly...people round here will take anything that ain't bolted down. Good components, bad ones, racing bikes, rusty touring bikes, even kiddie bikes. Don't let the fear of theft dictate you into short-changing yourself on the bike. Get what you want, just be safe and smart. Of course, if you're gonna be in a position where you live/work in a particularly unsavory area, you will want to heavily consider options.




--Same question, but for Suzue Promax/Level hub on one hand, or el cheapo track jr hub on the other?

You're putting your bike to the test. The conditions can be rough. Don't skimp on the hubs!




Ride-related:
In philly, I've happily rocked a 39x13, giving 78 or so gear inches. Philly is stop and go, but with lots of places where you can/have to get going fast, and some hills. Should I down gear some for NY?

Depends on how you ride. You can keep your gears and still get around the city just fine. On the average riders I talk to are in some similar 70's-low 80's range...

i got my bike lifted when i lived in mantua/west philly, in the dead of winter. it sucked because that was the only reasonable way to get around. it was a beater too, really beat up crappy bike.

i think you just gotta be careful when you lock up. and if you've too many bling or ostentatious parts being shiny and whatnot you should probably be a bit more careful and paranoid.

i had a front wheel lifted from me right outside the angelika theatre on houston. it was a crappy front, but it ruined my day. i now lock both wheels to the frame.

Also you could try filling in your allen screws, to tighten them or take them off you'll just need to do some digging with a knife or something. I've experimented with hotglue, elmers, and candle wax and combinations of 2. If you want them to be really secure try some strong epoxy, although it'll be hard to get it out, hard for theifs too. Also I heard of epoxying a ballbearing into the screw but I don't know how that would be much different from just solid epoxy.

I've seen those "security" bolts which require a special type of hex key to get out. Seems like it would be pretty easy to replace all the allen bolts on your bike with security bolts, which would reduce the chance of small parts being stolen.
And it's a lot easier than chipping out glue if you want to adjust your bars or whatnot.

fatbat