14R 

What about one of these stickers:

ignant666

The second one has potential.

bhkyte

fit a bike alarm?

chucky

It happened to Walter at BF.

And what is up with you and vincent with the "this has never happened". You guys are like these idiots on the stock market who kept concentrating the risk and concentrating the risk, putting all your eggs in one basket until one day the thing that has never happened happened and the whole thing came crashing down.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Thing is you aren't carrying a lock nor will you because that's part of the reason you spent the $1000 is so you wouldn't have to carry a lock. So it's not lock $1000 bike once in two years vs lock $500 bike every week. It's leave $1000 bike on street unlocked once in two years vs lock $500 bike every week.

I'm sorry your Dahon was stolen in Italy, but concentrating the risk does not solve the problem. It delays and magnifies.

While I haven't personally inspected the tikit bag, but I'm skeptical of it weighing a small fraction of a lock while still being durable.

What I have seen is how cumbersome it is to deploy. Locking up is so much quicker that one can afford to ride a bike a fraction of the cost and still be faster door to door. Not that locking up is always the best option, but it's good to have options (something which you and vincent don't seem to appreciate).

feijai

I think Walter's situation is different. He didn't have a remotely conveniently folding bike (he had his trailer!). And he *still* didn't bring a lock along, which was foolish.

Even in your scenario, to break even the locked-up bike would need to be 56 times less likely of being stolen. I'm not convinced even *that's* the case.

But whatever. So far not bringing a lock hasn't really cramped my style. And I still have my bike, not stolen, in Rome, which to be honest is a huge accomplishment.

Trust me.

Sheldon aside, to lock up a bike properly you need to disengage the front brake and remove the front wheel and seat. In my experience there's no way in hell that's faster.

chucky

Yeah, but there are also other benefits to locking up. For example, you can use 406mm rims for better selection/availability, you don't have to be the guy with the giant package, and you can do things like strap a milk carton to your rack without worrying about how it affects the size of the fold.

I'm not saying it's not good to have a folder you can take inside all the time. I'm just saying that it's also good to have a bike you can lock.

Not if you have a folder.

I have the end link of a chain zip tied to the saddle rails on my Downtube. To lock I simply fold the bike in half, drop the saddle, thread the chain through the wheels and frame, and lock the ends together. Quick and secure.

"Why lock a folder?" Because folders lock better than nonfolders. I bet one could securely lock a tikit even faster. Or how about drilling a hole through the Brompton's seatpost and putting a small u-lock through it (can the wheels be removed without unfolding?)?

brh

Hello all,
First, sorry to resurrect this thread! But it's not that old, and I found special interest in this comment-
I'm about to get my first folder. I've thought about similar methods for locking it up - just fold it and run a U/chain/whatever through every nook and cranny. Any photos of your locked setup? Any thoughts on improving the security of the chain-seat connection, that is, something stronger than a zip-tie? This really seems like the way to go to me… I'm getting a folder so that I can keep it tucked away in my apartment, the precise reason that my Bianchi is in storage… I have no plans to ever bring it in a shop, I don't even use shopping carts because I feel I'm taking up more space than I need to with them. So the folder is definitely staying outside…

Cheers,
Brian

chucky

The zip tie is not to secure the seat. It's just to keep the end of chain in place when I lock up. That way I only have to thread one end of the chain around instead of worrying about holding both ends while simultaneously locking the padlock.

Of course, you could also put the middle of the chain through the seat rails and let the ends dangle, but then your padlock will be down in the puddles while riding. I did this for a while and it destroyed the padlock, so now I keep the ends of the chain and the padlock under the seat and the middle of the chain near the bottom bracket.

brh

I actually kind of figured as much… But it could be attached in a more secure fashion, to perform double-duty? The suggestion of threading the chain through the seat rails seems possible, but I wonder how many chains will thread comfortably through… Anyhow, it was more of an open question than anything, really seems an elegant solution to locking up a folder…!

Brian

chucky

The point of the zip tie is to avoid double duty.

If you want double duty you can just attach it with the padlock, but then when you take off the padlock for locking the chain falls off and you have to hold it in place while simultaneously threading the other end through the wheels and such. So it's better to have two separate mechanisms: one for holding one end of the chain in place and another for actually locking.

Also the chain being threaded through the seat rails is the reason why it needs to be attached and, in fact, the whole point (to bring all the folding parts together and together lock them to a permanent fixture).

brh

Okay, thanks. I guess I was envisioning your situation as securing everything but the seatpost, but now it all makes sense.

miamimike

Recent THEFT: As an owner who had his Dahon Boardwalk Stolen 3 days ago on Mon(1-18-10) I speak from the school of HardKnocks and experience. If your Folder is out of sight, fold'er up and take it with you or wheel it in with you if at all possible. I was shopping at our local Home Depot for no more then 10 minutes this past Monday and my recently purchased Dahon is now History. I usually chain my Bikes to the Bike Rack located in the HD Storefront but this night, the Bikerack area was all jammed up by those orange cargo carts, the type you carry drywall/plywood on. I then looked for an area close to the exit door and unable to use my HD case hardened trapazoidal linked chain, I used my cable lock,1/2 inch size. Not as secure, but hey, I was only going to be there for a few minutes and it was right outside the main exit door, just 10 feet out of sight of the Cashier & checkout area. After a brief purchase I left the Store, key in hand to unlock the chain and scoot home but SURPRISE ; No Bike, Cable on the Ground in 2 pieces with my lock on the concrete where my Bike used to be. The Police were called, report taken, store had cameras which the police went back to review but I doubt I will see the Bike again. I made Pics of the Bike, distributed them to our local Pawn Shops and am handing them out to several LBS should the thief visit in the future for service or parts. Posted on Craigslist as well.

Moral of the Story====If you cannot see it, Fold it and take inside on the cart with you! Or suffer the same consequences as I did with a cut cable in hand as a memory! It was a cheap lesson really-I bought the Bike used for $75 to see if I liked folders and I do. Regrets: sure, shoulda coulda woulda--wheeled it inside since HD has big aisles and asked the Manager if it was OK. He later told me I should have as he would have had no problem with my doing that. I did this once before but the Rent-a-Cop gave me a hard time so this time and being in a Hurry, was a costly lesson. Profit from my Sad Tale so you aren't here in the future penning a similiar tale,,,

bhkyte

sorry to hear about your theft,

I use an alarm if i am not holding the bike for shopping trips like these.it remote activated and easy to use, see the "alarm good idea on a folding bike?"thread"

JCFlack

I rode my bike to a Starbucks the other day. It was cold and I wanted a nice hot cup of coffee. The store was busy. Now what will take longer, wrapping a cable lock around a light pole outside so I don't have to bring a bulky package into a crowded store, or folding the bike into the aforementioned bulky package? Locking was faster and more convenient, and the bike was in view through the window. Under other circumstances, I might have folded the bike. Isn't having choices nice?

feijai

What's interesting here is that you live in the same city as myself (Alexandria). But you've got a Citizen Tokyo, correct? I think the difference in perspective here has two essential root causes: cost and folding convenience. The Tokyo is one eighth the cost of a Tikit Hyperfold. But it's also much slower and less convenient to fold, to get around in folded form, or to cover. They're bikes with different goals.

I have a similar experience with my Dahons, which are quite like the Tokyo in this respect. Despite the theft of one of them, I still regularly lock up my two Dahon Helii when I go shopping in Italy. I *never* locked up my Tikit when I went shopping in Italy -- I took it inside places. This is partly because the Dahons are worth about $400 each, and the Tikit is about $1300. But it was mostly because the Dahons (for me) take so long to fold and are sufficiently inconvenient to take into a store that I find myself just not doing it. But the Tikit's speed is well within the convenience threshold. The Dahons are great bikes, but utility rules against folding them for me.

So anyway: I've had the Tikit for about a year and a half, for long stays in two different countries, in and out of a lot of shops, people's apartments, train stations, restaurants, on a daily commute between home and work, and even in historical sites along the Via Appia Antica. During that time it's never had a lock. I have yet to be refused access anywhere: it's become a source of pride. Maybe that's because I don't live in New York.

Schwinnsta

I don't have a link but someone did manufacture a bike that used a cable as a downtube. The cable was attached at one end and locked at the other. When you locked the bike you did so by unlocking the cable and threading it around something like pole and back into the lock mechanism which was built in. I think the bike had a pivot to allow for this. When riding everything supposedly stays in place becuase the downtube is always in tension.

A thief could cut the cable but he would wreck the bike and could not drive away. I have no experience with this to validate how well it works.

I have an R20 that I lock. I think if were you loosen the second bolt just a little and take the clamping bolt off and lock it folded you discourage thieves.

bhkyte

Puma?

BWP

I think you're thinking of Slingshot -- they're still in business. I don't know about the locking technique.

Regarding the original poster's idea -- I do sometimes take off my QR pedals to make my bike less attractive to a casual thief. I hate to say it, but often the goal is to make your bike more of a hassle to steal than the one next to it. Other things being equal, this achieves that.

But mainly I follow Feijai's approach -- take it everywhere. And if a shop (or hotel, etc.) won't allow the bike in then I won't be a customer.

Also I do find a fast fold has value. When someone sees the Tikit swiftly folded and covered and then easily wheeled, they relax about it more quickly than with a more awkard process and package.

JCFlack

True, a Tikit folds faster, and rolls great when folded - I've seen demonstration videos. So if I had a Tikit, I certainly would fold and take it into places that I wouldn't with my Tokyo. Besides, a Tikit is far more expensive - a lot to lose if stolen. Still, a folded Tikit is an even bulkier package than my bike, and as I said, the store was crowded. My main point was that circumstances vary, and there are times when it might be more convenient to lock a bike than to fold and take it in.

elmergeorge

I usually have a back -up, but the couple times I haven't I had to remove my Frog from a cafe (which had lots of room) and my Brommie from the Library, the guard thought it was great but some admin person didn't. I've had no problems otherwise taking a bike in, but it doesn't hurt to prepare, in both these cases a bag would have worked... When I ride my Birdy I almost always lock it outside, I'm not that big and I have a bad back so I don't want to haul anything around I don't have to. I use two, both Kryptonites, and I've been lucky. There's no need being smug or snarky to each other it has nothing to do with the value of the bike or demeanor.

thirdgenbird

ive taken my full size road bike in wal-mart before. the only comment was from the door greeter as i left. she said something to the effect of "my son rides bike too, and i dont blame you for not letting that out of your sight"

bhkyte

Try a French cafe,they dont like you bringing in your own food! LOL.

A real "frog " rider,can i see a photo of the bike please?

feijai

Hmmm, I want to make it clear I really wasn't being smug about cost. I think the two differences here *are* cost and folding convenience. But cost in a *negative* way. I own both expensive and not-expensive folding bikes. If the bike costs more I have more incentive to bring it in. And if the bike is more convenient to fold and manipulate while folded, and to cover, it's easier to bring it in.

I *can* say that the convenience factor has proven itself so valuable to me that I will think twice about buying another folding bike which is inconvenient enough that I'd typically lock it up outside. I view it as a really important feature of a folding bike.

elmergeorge

I leave the Frog at work to do errands with, sadly a tech I work with liked to jump curbs with it. Quite high I found out, the name is apt. it is sitting folded waiting for a new tire, and I think the hub cable got a little damage too. Sad, as out of all my folders it elicits the most smiles....maybe in the spring when I have more incentive.

Thanks Feijai, you weren't so bad and you *did* get your bike stolen (sorry) which affects peoples feelings.

In regards to the OP's original question, I have different folders for different reasons and so would a new theft deterrent device be an incentive for me to buy it? not necessarily as other strategies exist that make it a less important detail, and I would base a purchase more on ride quality, fold quality, and/or portability quality. I am not sure spending R+D time/money on this would make sense if it was not an idea which could be easily adapted to a lot of bikes. Different reasons for purchase also affect whether I lock it, bag it, or wheel it, and my choice over one or the other is generally based more on convenience than value of the bike. These considerations have different weight with different people, everyone has their own *right* way.

gringo_gus

One of the things about radio fascias being removable is that it is not easy/straightforward to get a replacement. However, a disabling pin might be easier to get hold of. Like with the removable pedals on my TR, I have a spare set of the yellow washers in case I lose the originals, and if I had a disabling pin I would want a spare, which thieves could get also.

Having said that, I think it is a useful idea, although maybe some kind of inbuilt combination locking device would be good. There reality is that where I shop and drink coffee even taking my SL2-X folded in would be a very antisocial thing to do. The only place where I might get away with it are the big, big supermarkets which I don't/can't shop at.

For me, a folding bike is cool because I can commute with it, I can keep it in the house without upsetting my SO too much, and, well, because it is cool. My folders also do serve as shoppers, and remind one what a good idea the small wheel shopper concept was - in fact amazing how many older folks using them I still see, who must have had them from new in the 1960s. But they have to be locked outside, and at the moment, I am in the ironic position of an ultralite brompton which is so expensive that I need to carry a really heavy lock all the time. Not the biggest of life's problems, but one of those little paradoxes.

So the OP has identified a real problem, thanks for raising it.