locking your bike
 

i live in nyc so i am kinda concerned with how i lock my bike up...personalty I use this method

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/5...4c19d58d_b.jpg

hi-larouls
http://postbulletin.typepad.com/kige...basketball.jpg

Some of those aren't even locked to anything.

Sometimes when I see 8+ bikes stacked on top of each other to a single 'no parking' sign or the equivalent, I just want to take my New York chain lock and lock them all together. How cool are you now that your hip & trendy locking method just turned into a permanent art sculpture! Strangely enough, odds are it probably would turn into some renowned art sculpture.

until all those bike owners invest in an angle grinder.

i live in manhattan and i've seen people go to great lengths to steal bikes.

one night i was walking home and a van pulled up, some dude hopped out of the back with a plasma torch, cut a few locks, threw the bikes in the back of the van, and then they drove 1/2 a block up to do it again.

i called in the license plate number but i doubt they ever got caught.

WTF? How is that trendy? Have you never gone out with a bunch of your bike friends before? There is limited space for locking up bikes and sometimes it's just easier to lock your bike to your friend's bike instead of finding a free pole two blocks away.

i heard those locks can be picked. its something like you squirt salt water into the hole and it spits out quarters, then opens.

That bike is only secured by one lock on the front wheel.

I'd love to get some advice from NYers who lock their bikes up. I've been thinking about riding into work from Queens but I'm being a wuss about locking my bike up outside all day long. What locks would you recommend and what locking technique is best?

I use two kryptonite locks - a NY Chain which goes around a lamp post, my frame and my rear wheel. I also use a Mini U-lock to secure my front wheel to the frame.

I've been doing this for a couple of years now.

Thanks Yoshi. What about those Fahgettaboudit locks? Are they overkill?

What kind of bike are you locking up?

I think the fahgettaboudit is overkill and in many ways is worse than the NY Chain. The shackle of the lock is too thick to fit through any of the links save the two at the ends. The NY Chain shackle can fit through any link allowing you to easily adjust how much chain you are using.

I'm locking up an IRO Mark V for the most part. I have locked up a Torelli road bike and a Raleigh Rush Hour Pro on occasion, but I try not to leave those bikes out for more than a few minutes and generally don't ride them if I know I need to lock up.

Your reply is a bit inconsistent. First, you ask if I ever go out with a bunch of bike friends as an objection to my argument. Then you change the premise to an unrelated point, moving it from 'a bunch' of friends to locking it to a single bicycle. You can't offer the latter in defense of the former, as they're two different arguments.

Now, there's a difference between locking a bike to one other bike, and stacking eight bikes and locking them all together. Sorry if I didn't make my feelings clear. There's just something about daisy-chaining eight bicycles that makes no sense to me. If I lock it to one bike, I can leave when I want. If I lock it and have others locked to mine, I can leave when they want. Unless of course I ride in a crew and then we all leave at the same time, which makes perfect sense and you're completely right, is not trendy in the least.

See that's the issue I have. A Capo might not be the most valuable of bikes, it is of high value to me. I built it up with parts to my liking. The bike is a joy to ride. The though of locking it up and risking the chance of it getting damaged or stolen bugs the **** out of me. I might just get a cheap better and not worry about it.

The NY locks are the only ones actually insured by Kryptonite in NY. Someone mentioned that the use of power tools is not covered by the insurance though. Yoshi gives good reasons for using a standard NY chain-lock vs. the Fahgettaboudit. The Fahgettaboudit also comes in a U-lock, which is slightly bigger compared to the Evolution Mini (by .5" longer), but the shackle and lock itself is much thicker, and weighs much more, it won't fit in the back of your pocket.

I didn't really change the premise - if I go out with 8 of my friends and there is only one lock-worthy pole on that street, I'll lock my bike to one of my friend's bike - and presumably his bike will be locked to another friend's bike, and someone else will lock their bike to mine. A more likely scenario is if I'm at some bike event (the bike film festival, a race, etc) and there are 50+ bikes locked up. Then I'm pretty much guaranteed to be unable to find a place nearby to lock to - except for another bike.

We might not all leave at the same time, but I'll find whoever locked their bike to mine and they'll unlock for me, I'll grab my bike and they'll lock their bike to the bike I was locked to.

I agree that it's silly if there are alternative locations to lock my bike. I'll always look for another spot especially since I don't like to stay out late and so a bike pile is inconvenient. But I've never seen or heard of someone locking up in a bike pile because they thought it was cool, nor has that thought ever crossed my mind.