Originally Posted by
ShadowGray
The way I approach bike locking is never to lock a bike that I can't afford to get damaged or lost. Also, don't lock up a bike in a place where it's the nicest bike.
As a rule of thumb, if you don't feel comfortable leaving a bike there with a cheap lock, you probably shouldn't be locking it there in the first place.
There is a guy I met a couple of years ago, he was kind of a spiritual advisor to one of my clients. After a court appearance with this guy, I start walking towards the exit of the courthouse and I ask the guy if he is parked nearby or if he needs a ride somewhere. No, he says, I rode my bike here. Now, the courthouse is in a sketchy inner city neighborhood, the kind where I would not want to leave my bike unattended at all, or at the very least, secure it with a U lock and a couple of thick chains. So we walk outside to where he has his bike parked, and he has his bike secured with the thinnest cable lock I have ever seen. Looks like you could cut through this thing with a scissors, or at most a steak knife. But as we got closer, I realize why he isn't too worried. He is riding a seriously beat up frankenbike. Literally looks like a bike coop put it together with whatever they had laying around. And that is what this guy told me, that if some thief steals his bike, he will just go back to the coop and get another one just like it for $100 or less.