What does this mean?
 

Seen at the bike rack where I parked my bike downtown:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/83...g=w545-h726-no

I cannot for the life of me think of any logical explanation why there would be an unlocked, single, front wheel lying near a bike rack. Any theories?

Somebody thought the front wheel was locked and therefore took the rest of the bike off of it?

Front wheel WAS locked and the rest of the bike was stolen, so owner simply unlocked the front wheel because it's of no use?

Someone found a front wheel along the road and didn't know what else to do with it?

+1
Finding one bike only locked by the front wheel and another locked by the frame but with a "free" front wheel is the least tool consuming way to steal a bike.
A lock can be worth hanging on to even for a casual rider who've lost his bike, but only a few would store a front wheel in wait for better times.

Rather than fixing a flat, the person bought a whole new wheel and left the old one behind.

Somewhere, a unicyclist is walking home

My daughter's college roommate was victimized because she only locked the front wheel - she came back to a U-lock and front wheel. As a reminder, she saved the front wheel in their room for the rest of the year. Expensive lesson.

We were able to lend her a bike until she could buy a new bike.

Perhaps someone stole a wheel, and had to leave it there for some reason. He got nervous, or someone was chasing him.

Wheel has been there for months.....Added a new rack.

Abducted by aliens. Their transporter beam missed the front wheel.

A child with a flat tied it to his older brother's bicycle and pedaled for miles to get his tire repaired at the LBS. The LBS charged the child what was his entire allowance and life's savings. On the return trip... the repaired and inflated tire slipped away as the excited child continued his ride home. A passerby saw the (free for the taking) bicycle tire and placed by the bicycle rack.

Once home the older brother that owned and needed the working bicycle.... pummeled the younger brother. And then rode away on his bicycle to join his friends.

(I went for sad)

Someone finally mastered wheelies and no longer needs their front tire?

There are more things in heaven and earth.....

Odd things happen all the time, and there are countless possibilities, but that doesn't mean that they have any meaning, or that someone should care.

Add this wheel to that long list and forget about it.

Raptured Up.

In other words, FB doesn't want to play...

My guess: somebody had a bike locked up at the rack, but got a ride home in a car. They took the front wheel off so the bike would fit in the trunk, and accidentally forgot and left the wheel behind.

Some guy has had this old wheel hanging around in his garage for longer than he can remember. He's never been a cyclist and actually has no idea how he found himself in possession of the darned thing. So, being a decent, environmentally conscious kind of guy, he brings it over the the only bike rack he knows of to "donate" it to someone who might be able to use it.

Somebody "donated" a helmet to me on the seat of my motorcycle this same way many years ago.


-Kedosto

The wheel lost the rest of the bike, and is trying to find it again by retracing it's steps.

Multiverse shenanigans, trust me.

Maybe it's a folding bike that folds up impressively small.

This one gets my vote. Owner had no use for the front wheel by itself but did want to reuse the lock for their next bike - and presumably will be careful to use it around the frame and both wheels in the future.

This thread has given me the best laugh of the day. Keep it up, folks.

Other than [MENTION=252435]RubeRad[/MENTION]'s post, which is the only one I can believe.

[MENTION=158672]FBinNY[/MENTION], that's your worst post ever. No fun!

Gee, if that's my worst ever, I must be doing OK.

Indeed you are.

This.

I suspect Fauxlivia. Naughty girl, always the third wheel.

Maybe the funny bone needs a little Chain-L.

Possibly.

OTOH - that may be why it's so quiet.



Actually, it might have been my mood or the phrasing of the OP and the answers so far, but I didn't see it as a straight line begging for a comic response. So I answered is straight, reflecting my attitude of not worrying about stuff that doesn't matter.

I grew up in NYC and there you see odd stuff daily, often more than once in a day. If you started wondering about everything, you'd go bananas.

I'm just teasing you for not seizing the opportunity. Your response is actually fine, because it's rational.

This is quite true, and it can't be overstressed. Some people have no idea how extremely true it is. Just as an example, I see threads about "Hey, I got cut off in traffic! Can you believe it! People are mean!" If I even came up with that many words for each time I got cut off, I wouldn't have enough disk space to type them in. Living here, we become masters at letting things go, or else we'll die of the stress.

I've seen plenty of partial bikes around Edmonton, but the part that's left is usually still locked to something. This just seemed weird. Anyway, I'm not obsessing about it, and I'm glad people are having fun with the thread.

That's my guess, much like the cups of coffee that are left on the roof before people drive off. Someone else must have found it and returned it to the rack.

Couple months ago I saw a couple getting on the highway with a leather case of some sort sitting on the trunk of their car. I and several others honked, flashed lights, waved and pointed trying to get their attention, but it was like they had blinders on. Kind of scary they were so oblivious to their surroundings and operating a car on the highway. I passed them and wished them the best in life.

When the extremely strong Neodymium magnets came out in the early 90s I got a set. Experimenting, I found they were strong enough to hold a thin styrofoam cup to the roof of my minivan, even at freeway speeds. It made commutes interesting for a few days, but I soon realized other drivers' reactions made it a foolhardy stunt. I'm waiting on some Youtube prankster to revive the stunt.