Originally Posted by
cncspinner
For the most part I have been a "recreational rider" always loaded my bike into my truck,drive where I wanted to ride, ride and drive home. This past year or so I started commuting to work a few times a week and have since started riding to stores and such. I bought myself a decent u-lock and thought I was all set. The problem is 99.9% of the business's locally do not have anything I can lock up to with a u-lock, alot don't even have a place to use a cable lock. The bank for instance doesn't even have a tree nearby that isn't 20ft around or is smaller than my arm. When I'm downtown it's not an issue there's plenty of places to lock up with a u lock. My question is do most of you carry multiple lock devices or just try and find the nearest place to secure and walk a few blocks if needed. The less things i need to attach to my bike the better.
I get the same problem if I have to go out to a suburban strip plaza. Those places never have bike racks, but they usually have gaudy billboard signs, out near the sidewalk, with heavy steel frames. You could also lock up to the steel cable coming down from a telephone pole.
I bet the "less attractive bike" option won't do you any good; it sounds like you're going where there aren't any other bikes at all. But those areas probably aren't trolled by hardcore bike theives either.
I get by with a U-lock, but the Abus Bordo would also be a good option for you.