Pedal Wench

My BF and I were politely asked to leave an outdoor/open-air mall in Miami by the security guards. I think they were worried that we would get grease on someone if they bumped into us. He just asked us to leave our bikes outside the area with the stores.

roadfix

I think most outdoor type, pedestrians only malls have srtict No Bicycles/ No Skateboards type signs posted.

John Wilke

Would you take your bike with you into church? a funeral? a wedding? in with you to apply for a job? There are certain conventions in society that we all follow to keep some order.

Bikes don't belong in the grocery store. If it's too expensive to lock outside, or leave by the door, then you should leave it at home. Get a $10 junker to take to the store if it's too far to walk.

I feel weird enough walking through a grocery store dressed in cycling gear while a riding partner stays outside with the bikes !

jw
milwaukee

cyclezealot

America we have these propertiary hang ups with custom. In many parts of the world it would be natural to walk your bike through a store and put your goods in the basket and save them the paper sack.

Cyclist0383

If you were more like Europeans you would lock your bike up outside and not worry about it.

We all love our bikes, but reading some of these post I think that some people's bikes own them. Buy a good lock, lock up your bike, do your shopping, and go home. It's really not worth all the worry and paranoia. Don't let your bike own you.

Cyclist0383

Where might that be?

cyclezealot

None of my bikes are cheap..Plus often I am many miles from home..Used to hang horse thieves when stealing a horse and getting one stuck in no where... Probelem often there is no where to lock your bike.
Have seen dogs .cats in stores in Europe .Quite often actually..Bikes..I can recall them being in stores.
It is not an issue I loose sleep over. But with wide isles what does it hurt?

Cyclist0383

My bike's not cheap either, neither is my wife's bike. Between the two of us we are riding around on about 4,000 euro. That doesn't stop us from using and enjoying our bikes. If you have the money for an expensive bike you have the money for an expensive lock.

If you'll excuse me my wife is expressing an intrest in pedeling off to the grocery store, where we will chain up our bikes outside and shop.

cyclezealot

Ziemas.I often ride alone. I have known of bike thieves to quickly cut through any lock

DnvrFox

I take my bike to the supermarket and place it near a very visible wall, out of the way, but still where I and the clerks at the Customer Service Desk can see it. They pretty much know me and keep an eye out.

The "official" bike rack is way around the corner where no one can see it.

I keep a lot of "removables" on my bike - panniers, computer, etc. I don't want these stolen, even if they can't get the bike.

At places like Subway, I lean it against the window and sit next to the window.

cyclezealot

Denver. That is my trick..I sit next to the window..Even with a lock on..A bike thieve has the equiptment to cut through almost any lock...Should I not be near my bike, I do not really enjoy my lunch.
By the way , for those unfamiliar with US shopping malls...The malls in states like Florida are often open air..I visualize the starter of this thread to be in that kind of situation..Plenty of room! No excuse for such silliness.

mike

That is cool and I believe it to be the feeling of most small business owners.

However, to simply wheel your bicycle into a store uninvited is not proper etiquette.

If we believe a bicycle to be a legitimate vehicle, then it surely does not belong inside a business or store. Not only is it obtrusive because of it's gangly size, it is simply goofy and suggests an image of road uncleanliness being brought into the store.

mike

Well put, John.

If you are going shopping, do it on a clunker anyway - with a basket or panniers.

I do my shopping on an old Varsity with a big milk crate on the back. I lock it up very simply and my son says to me, "DAD, shouldn't you lock it up better?" and I say to him, "son, if someone needs THAT bike bad enough to steal it, they should have it and I will get another".

DnvrFox

I think the "etiquette business" is region specific.

I know around here, there are bikes everywhere, and any store owner that ignores the biking community would lose business.

Other etiquette stuff:

In CA and Florida, folks are very casual about the clothes they wear into places, particularly along the beach in So Cal, while in the midwest and northeast, they are much more formal.

cyclezealot

I know of one church in Rainbow Calif. Sign says, RIde on in as you are. Not sure what that means..Not my church.

af895

Two words: "American Beer." <ducking>

Cyclist0383

we've returned from our weekly trip to the store and all is still well with our cycles.

As you can see from the photos below we did not need a bike rack to lock up to, just a secure lock for both the bikes and wheels. In very few places are people running around with giant portable grinders to steal your bike. It would attract way too much attention. Stores have security guards, no? It would take quite a bit of time and generate quite a lot of attention to cut a high quality chain.

We all like our bikes and love riding, but sometimes I feel that people are a bit paronoid about their bikes. I ride because I enjoy it, if I worried about theft at all times it would take much of the pleasure out of cycling. Buy the best lock that you can afford and stop troubling yourself and others.

KrisPistofferson

^^^^He's making sense, so listen up people. Some of you who insist there's "no where to lock up," I wonder what kind of desolate place you live in. There is always a light pole, stop sign or SOMETHING.

Flaneur

I have used my bike to bring home groceries for more than 35 years. For local errands an unlocked three speed is perfectly adequate. For larger amounts of stuff and longer distances, a tourer with panniers works fine; a triple chainset comes in handy when you are riding 20 hilly miles with 60 pounds of potatos in your Carradice Super C's..............

My LBS people are like family: they wouldn't object if I brought my bike into the store under any circumstances. I would feel impolite, however, if I deposited a bunch of mud on their displays and carpeting- and I do own a very good lock.

Local malls are very busy and the aisles quite narrow. I wouldn't wish to inconvenience other shoppers, especially those with disabilities, so I choose to lock my bikes outside.

af895

Ziemas,

I lived in Europe for years and I'm German on my mother's side.
I left my bicycle locked up outside without reservation there.

I live in Canada now. I don't "love" my bike. I chose to invest hard-earned money in a bike to enable me to get fit and combined with public transit, as I'm selling the car, to get around.

In NYC, they say, if you leave a bike locked up, it's not "if" it's "when" will it get stolen.
Perhaps you have the disposable income to purchase another bike "when" yours gets stolen. I do not.

Folding my bike up and putting on the rack below a shopping cart doesn't hurt anyone, it doesn't affect anyone's alergies and I don't have to include "replacement bicycle" in my monthly budget.

Perhaps you'd care to think about it from that perspective.
Regards,
Chris

EDIT: p.s. I don't own a lock. I figure a good lock is $50+. Even assuming I locked my bike up, replacing a damaged $50 lock is yet another expense not in my budget. Nevermind the damage a thief would do to the bike if they got frustrated at not being able to remove the lock.

GP

I've been to Rainbow. Is this a trailer?

DnvrFox

I guess you don't have those great big shopping carts disguised as toy cars with wheels for the kiddies. These are about 3 times larger than any bike.

I think it is mostly a matter of expectations.

Oh, I have two children who are/have been in wheelchairs. A bike would never "inconvenience" them, and our aisles are pretty wide.

Cyclist0383

I've lived all over the world. When I lived in the States and Canada I still didn't feel I had the right to take my bike inside where ever I pleased. I've also always invested in good locks and have never (knock wood) had a bike stolen.

It also seems that reading many posts of people from NYC that most of them leave their bikes locked up outside at some point or another.

As for your folding bike; how many other people who are griping about not being able to take their bikes inside are taking about folding bikes which are stowed under a shopping trolly?

Guest

Well, I'm about to take my bike into the movie theater to pay for tickets for later tonight... I'm thinking it shouldn't be any big deal, but if they protest, I guess we won't be going to the movies tonight.

Koffee

folder fanatic

People will gripe at anything especially if they are having a bad day. As for locks, I gave up on them a while back when my Schwinn World road bike's Master lock U-Lock was badly damaged. Even though the lock held, (it took my father a good hour to coax the lock apart-even with good tools, know-how, and time on his side), that was the last time I depended on a lock beyond a cable lock to protect my valuables.

To go beyond the lock issue, I no longer owned any non-folding full sized bikes with exception to a old Phillips three speed. My new purchase and future purchases will be folding, compact bikes that could be taken with me at all times when I cycle. Not left outside somewhere even in a "nice" area. As for being stopped by clerks and security guards, I bag the bike or at least cover it up in a slipcover-no one the wiser!