Thread: Isla Vista
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Old 08-04-14, 02:31 PM
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woodybr
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Originally Posted by HBCruiser1
UCSB, yep where my niece went as well. Isla Vista is a wild place to live. Definitely get a crappy bike, don't waste your money on a nice bike. The ocean air will also cause a lot of rust and be hard on the bike so go crappy and you'll be glad you did. The main 2 things to do to keep that bike alive for 4 years is keep the chain oiled and the tires pumped up (low pressure stresses the tires and cause them to fail prematurely) and you'll generally have no problems. It's all flat around there so stick with a single speed, a multi-speed that generally comes with hand brakes will just complicate things and is something for the ocean air to attack and cause maintenance problems that require constant adjustments. Like another commenter said, if the seat is quick release either lock it with a cable lock or take it with you.

A quick note on the lock, it'll not make sense on the surface to buy a bike for say $40-50 bucks and spend $40 on a good U-lock, but if it's stolen you're without a bike until you can get a new one so spend the money and have some peace of mind and not have the hassle of shopping for another bike.

Good luck in your education woodybr.
Thank you for educating me on bike maintenance. I'm actually only going to live there for a year, the duration of my exchange program. After that, I'll probably sell my bike to the next Brazilian student that comes. I might keep the U-Lock, though. People there are always selling their used bikes on craigslist so I might get a used cruiser (not too wrecked, though) and a good u-lock.

Originally Posted by MattCycle
To be fair, Isla Vista, CA has a lot of bicycles and beach cruisers, mostly because rent is high, parking is poor and its less conspicuous or less far to walk back if you're drunk, so it stands to reason some of them would be POS.
Besides, I'm going to live really close to campus. I could walk, but a bike might just make my life easier.

Originally Posted by Artkansas
Yeah, a good lock and use it. Lights too. Fenders wouldn't hurt. You may want to disguise the bike if it's nice, bumble bee stripes, black paint, papier mache, duct tape or something.

Yes, the bike paths are good. Some can be thought of as bicycle freeways. Very high traffic in the mornings.

Have fun!
I certainly will !

People comment that one of the common 'attractions' in the beginning of each quarter are the freshman not knowing how to properly bike through their roundabouts and bike paths. I hope I don't do too poorly.
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