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If keeping your bike inside isn't an option....

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If keeping your bike inside isn't an option....

Old 07-16-08, 08:08 AM
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If keeping your bike inside isn't an option....

What do you do?

I share a 400 sq ft apartment with GF, and there's simply no way to keep my bike inside.

My technique so far has been to keep my bike looking ratty as hell so it doesn't attract attention. To do this I'm riding a 70s Motobecane with pretty decent components. I really want to get a better frame but I'm afraid it will then be a target for theft.

Any tips on how to keep it safe. Should I just splash paint all over my new frame and put random tape all over it to make it look bad? Or is there some lock out there that would make it not worth the thief's time?
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Old 07-16-08, 08:18 AM
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hang it from the wall or ceiling?
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Old 07-16-08, 08:21 AM
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Whats more important, the bike or the girl?
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Old 07-16-08, 08:27 AM
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Here in Edinburgh, UK, I use a Trelock BS610 D-lock (the good one) and a Krypto-Flex cable to secure the wheels. All quick-release pins on things like seat-posts have been replaced with bolted ones. Of course, you'd need to attach it to a fixed object too, as you know. You'll never deter the professional, just the casual thief.

So far (touch wood), after nearly three years of city riding and storage, my 80's Kona Cindercone MTB with the custom "bird-barf" splatter finish has been untouched... well, the lock was investigated and passed by on at least one occasion because I always put the rain-flap down over the keyhole so I noticed when it was in a different position when I got back.

As Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean said... "Not where I left *you*!"
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Old 07-16-08, 08:30 AM
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...don't move to Toronto.
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Old 07-16-08, 08:32 AM
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Put the bed on risers and slide it underneath. Hang it from the ceiling with a hook or two depending on whether or not you wan it vertical or horizontal (I hang two bikes in my garage from their rear wheels). Put hooks on the wall and hang it there as a piece of functional art.

No way in hell I'd leave my bike(s) outside. Even if they can't steal them, they can vandalize them.

Chris
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Old 07-16-08, 08:33 AM
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Just get a nice u-lock and like the guy above me said change all your quick release to standard bolts and you should be good. Unless the person stealing your bike, is a bike guy himself i doubt he is gunna understand that an old motobecane is any less valuable than a brand new Pista or something. Aside from its going to look alittle flashier but in most cases he/she probably is just looking for a bike to ride.
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Old 07-16-08, 08:38 AM
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Originally Posted by Zodiac71
hang it from the wall or ceiling?
+1
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Old 07-16-08, 08:48 AM
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I moved into a small apartment with an ex. She told me there was no room for a bike inside it. I locked up her bike and my bike in the laundry room of the building to a bolt in a concrete wall. Two weeks later my bike was gone.
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Old 07-16-08, 08:50 AM
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I bet she has something in that apt thay she couldn't live without. relationships are about give and take and sacrafice. she needs to sacrfice a little and live with the bike in the studio. maybe if you cleaned the bike up and made it look better it would actually look cool hanging up. Mine do.
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Old 07-16-08, 08:55 AM
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another system, if you have a taller ceiling


attach a pulley to a rafter in the ceiling...make a cable that splits into a Y w/ 2 hooks


attach hooks to the wheels and then hoist it up


that's how the last guy who lived in my apt did it...he had 2 bikes like that (ceilings are 16ft.)

I just stack the bikes up against the wall in here and I have a rack for the good ones above my closet
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Old 07-16-08, 09:02 AM
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I would never leave my bike outside overnight. I'm sure you can find some way to fit it in the apt.
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Old 07-16-08, 09:05 AM
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Yeah, I would really feel compelled to leave someone who would refuse to let me keep my bikes inside. It doesn't necessarily mean that the bikes are more important than the person, I just see the refusal as a precursor of more to come.

Hanging has always worked for me, it keeps them out of the way and looks pretty nice.
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Old 07-16-08, 09:14 AM
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if i had to lock my bike outside, i would use two u-locks on the frame and a cable lock through the wheels.

in fact, i did that with a cannondale mountain bike in ghetto west philly for over a year and it never got stolen. i keep my bikes inside now though.
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Old 07-16-08, 09:16 AM
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i don't think the OP is saying that she won't LET him


I think he's saying w/ 400 sq ft and 2 people living there, it's a tight squeeze.


I would definitely try to figure out some sort of system for hanging them up...Some sporting goods stores sell these great wall mount racks too, which I also have (my neighbor gave it to me when he moved)

I can take a picture and post it
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Old 07-16-08, 09:27 AM
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Another option is to put some hooks in the ceiling and hang the bike horizontally tight against the ceiling (assuming it's a normal one and not 16' high). Unless you're 8' tall, it will be out of the way, yet safe inside your apt.

Chris
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Old 07-16-08, 09:33 AM
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actually, funny story


my gf's parents had bikes stored like that in the garage and i nearly gave myself a concussion


i'm only 6'1
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Old 07-16-08, 09:34 AM
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Originally Posted by xylophonecks

Hanging has always worked for me
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Old 07-16-08, 09:39 AM
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get a folding bike



who's gonna say you don't got room for that?!?
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Old 07-16-08, 09:46 AM
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See if you can lock it up on the roof. I once put mine their attached to a vent pipe under a tarp. Also, speak to the Super and see if he has any idea's like putting it in the basement next to the boiler. Offer to carry out the garbage pails in exchange for a spot.
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Old 07-16-08, 10:46 AM
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i have 2 bikes in my 234 sq. foot studio at the moment, and that is super tight
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Old 07-16-08, 11:36 AM
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OP, an important factor in this is WHERE YOU LIVE. So...where is it?
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Old 07-16-08, 11:49 AM
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Originally Posted by solly81
OP, an important factor in this is WHERE YOU LIVE. So...where is it?
Cambridge, Ma. I think the Boston area has a pretty bad rep for bike theft, but I've seen people that have mid-range hybrid bikes locked up to street signs on my street for months and they never go anywhere.

I suspect the bike thieves are very brand conscious, but I still want to minimize risk as much as possible.
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Old 07-16-08, 12:32 PM
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no patio or anything?
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Old 07-16-08, 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted by dddave
no patio or anything?
I'm in a medium sized building with a fenced in back yard. I currently keep my bike locked to a giant water pipe on the outside of the building. It's very much hidden from the street and would be tough to find. Problem with that is that if the thief finds it, he'd also be quite hidden and able to do his work unobserved.

There is a fire escape and my living room has a door that opens to it. It would be very convenient to lock it there. The problem with that is that my bike would now be in full view of anyone walking on the sidewalk, and if it attracts a thief he'll be doing his work 15 feet away from where my GF sleeps.

I was thinking if I put the bike on the fire escape and put a motion sensor on the light that's on the door, it'd take a pretty ballsy thief to stay there and hack away at my lock when the light switched on.
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