I hate the grid racks. Luckily my college has woken up and decided to replace them with a style that seems much more workable. I don't know what they are called, but they kind of look like a row of fat coat hangers welded onto an outer frame. You can get the bikes right underneath that outside frame and U-lock at several angles, and the racks are being bolted down into concrete.

They're also repositioning the racks so they are in higher foot-traffic areas and I think that should deter theives. Not that we seem to have too much of a problem - there's a Jamis Coda with a cheapie cable lock (that half the time only goes through the front wheel!) that's still around. I know this because I like to park next to it

I don't do the full front-wheel-off lockup as my bikes both have old and crappy wheels and brakes that are a pain in the neck to release/put back (and the Raleigh doesn't have QR skewers, it has an oddball metric size nut!). I'm more concerned about the frames. But yeah, that Coda makes me shake my head.