I'm sure this one has been asked before, perhaps even by me, but I'm damned if I can find an answer. So trying again.

I'm planning on taking my Friday (Pocket Rocket) to Munich next month, and use it as my main means of transportation. I have somewhere to lock the bike indoors at night, but during the day, it will be regular bike racks, while I spend time in other places.

But of course there's no triangle in a Friday, so while I could cable lock the wheels to something, and pull the cable through the bit that looks like a triangle, I was hoping to use something a bit more robust than a cable lock for a big city like that.

Anyone got any good ideas, preferably with pictures, on how best to go about it?

There is nothing more robust than a cable lock (per se) because all locks can be compromised but a cable lock can be threaded through wheels and frame making it more convenient.

i wouldn't advise trying to lock a bike friday in a rack on a city street. period. you can fold the bike and do all sorts of noodling with a massive kryptonite or arbus chain lock- that will deter an opportunistic thief, but it will not deter a pro bike thief.

go to 6:52 of this video doc about bike theft in london to see just how easy it is to chomp through the most massive locks:

+1. All any lock will do is slow a thief down, not prevent theft. I've even heard of thieves carrying liquid nitrogen, freezing a lock, then shattering it with a hammer. Even if you found a relatively theft-proof lock, doesn't stop anyone from stripping your parts.

Having said that, I've traveled through Europe with my BF, and met all kinds of resistance bringing my folded bike into a shop, so I know your situation well.

I know it's a risk, but I'll be mostly locking the bike in well-trafficked areas, and it's a risk I'm willing to take if I can get the frame figured out.

But it's the complications of locking the Friday itself that worry me, given that there's no logical way that I can see to lock the frame to anything. I'd hate to come back to two little wheels and no frame.

Because My Bike friday had the Heavy Rider Option , I have a front Triangle , rather than a big Oval Tube ..


Have you considered Contacting the company ? try service@bikefriday.com.

I Have an Abus Bordo Folding link lock's Carry Pouch, on my Top tube water bottle Boss'

and I have one of Abus' Steel 'o' chains with it's nylon sleeve inside an inner tube ..

more for grease protection .. as the nylon hose cover was Red color ..

think further on this , Chain Lock maybe a wrap around the Frame tubes , and put a padlock through the chain
then, another loclk around the Post,\ second chain around the wheels.. tied into the other one.


It can be done.. with a little planning.. and accepting you will be adding some weight ..
hardened steel square link chain..

Abus and AXA have a lighter link than the heck-for-stout Kryptonite NYC resistant stuff..


But in the larger picture.. bring a bouncer guy to mind your bike. for you.


Seen a custom Sam Whittingham built frame horizontal tube thru
top front of top frame tube to fit 1 leg of a U lock Through..

BiFri could pull that off , Alan Built a lot of Burly Tandem Frames for the CoOp in the 90's .
with the top tube pierced by the top of both seat tubes.

Cable through both wheels is probably a lot better than nothing, but if your Rocket has the same basic design as my Llama (pretty sure it does), you should be able to lock at least the rear "triangle" by threading the cable through just one stay. If you go through both, you know that it can just be unhinged to open that triangle, but either one by itself remains a closed loop even when folded. Maybe you could get a U-lock through there too?

For the front triangle, my bike has a little piece of flattened tubing curving up from the BB shell towards the headtube, which also creates a closed "triangle". No way you`d get a U-lock through that one, but a cable will fit. I thought that was the only way to lock the front triangle until I read Fietsbob`s suggestion. Inconvenient to the max, but it makes sense- if you arrange the padlock correctly in the right links of a chain, you leave a loop that isn`t big enough to get over the headtube or the BB/seatmast, effectively trapping your bike. I`ll shoot some pictures if you request, but I`m pretty sure you`ll see what I`m talking about if you look at your own bike with that in mind.

Does NY have any bike sting system? We got so many officers just walking around... Haven't bought my bike yet but looking for more information and locks are one of them. Just incase I need to go in a shop to take a piss otherwise it won't be locked at all.

When locking my Pocket Rocket in questionable areas I use a U-lock around a fixed post or rack and through the closed loop of the chainstays (i.e. over one stay and under the other) and around the rear rim. I supplement that with a cable lock through both wheels. It worked well at one museum visit in San Francisco where my two friends both had their bikes stolen (secured only with a cable lock).

That one I can picture, even without looking at the bike (which is inconveniently folded up in its suitcase right now). I'll do some experimenting between now and Munich, which is not until next month. I am going to visit a friend who will be in the hospital, and I think I'll need to ride there and back (and preferably further) from where I'm staying to keep myself sane. I am not a fan of hospitals, and she's having some pretty serious surgery, with many things that can go wrong.

Thanks all. I knew it had to be possible.