Originally Posted by
Bronsen
I'm fairly new to commuting by bike, and I just recently got a bike with quick release wheels instead of bolt on wheels that I'm used to.
Easily remedied. Get bolt-on skewers. They range from the simple hex-bolt variety (At
Amazon or have your LBS order them from JB Importers) to custom-keyed
Pitlocks. Between the two extremes are variations by Delta and Pinhead.
One caution about Pitlocks: The threads of their skewers are easily damaged. Replacement skewers are $11. But I've found using the skewers from the Amazon/JB Importers variety along with the nuts and shields from the Pitlocks is a reasonable compromise between security and durability.
Originally Posted by
Bronsen
Do you place your bikes by a security camera?
Any competent thief laughs at security cameras. You shouldn't concern yourself with them either.
Originally Posted by
Bronsen
I may soon be working in DC which has me wondering how I can protect my bike as best as I can.
Washington's Metro offers Bike Lockers for $120 a year at most stations. Nobody says you have to use the Metro in order to use their lockers. In my city, all the city-owned parking garages have bike lockers that are rented annually. Check around.
Originally Posted by
Bronsen
One more thing, when I was first commuting early on, I locked my bike from the front wheel, and I came out at the end of the day a few of my spokes were completely bent, like someone either knocked it over or tried to take it.
Now you know why those are called "Wheel-bender" racks.
I recently changed jobs. I used to have indoor parking in a wall-mounted rack in the server room. Now I park outside like everyone else.
As for U-Locks, I needed one to leave at work with the new job. I bought an
Abus uGrip Plus 501. (Not my pic, BTW.) It's the heaviest, most intimidating lock I could find. Not that much more expensive than garden-variety Kryptonites, if you get it at
Amazon.
I leave it locked around the signpost overnight and on weekends. What's interesting is that in the morning, it's almost always in a different position than how I left it the night before. I can imagine people encountering it and going WTF?