moving to philly in july and was wondering what the risks are in philly for locking up bikes compared to other cities? are seat thefts common? ive seen some bikes with a chain from the seat to the frame. any of u guys do this or have seen them around? finally, do u guys lock up both the front and rear wheel?

depends on where you are, when its locked.

Like anywhere, it really depends on the neighborhood, and the amount of passing foot traffic (the more the better).

I dont hesitate locking my bike anywhere during the day for short periods. Long periods I avoid the west and north. Nightime I only lock where theres plenty of foot traffic.

I always lock both wheels. Generally dont worry about the seat. If I'm gonna park it super-heavy, drunken crowds (like sunday), I bring a cable along with the U. Dont even bother detaching the front wheel, run the cable from the front wheel, through the brooks, down to the U. viola.

I don't leave my bike unlocked anywhere in philly at any time...not even for a few seconds. I don't worry about seat theft so much because my seat isn't quick release. I just use two U-locks (one big U for the rear wheel and frame, and one small U to lock the front wheel to the frame). For quick stops I'll just lock the back/frame, but I use both locks for any kind of extended stop. With that setup don't really worry about theft.

I lock up everywhere in philly. Just dont ever leave your bike anywhere overnight (outside that is).

Its like any other city, better safe than sorry. My friends have had their seats stolen (and they are not even quick release) .... one girl had her seat stolen, and the person tried to put another seat on in its place, but it didnt fit so they just kind of laid it in the hole. If you have a nice seat you should probably use a chaining tool and put an old worn out chain from the seat to the frame, cover it up with innertube.

I like to "**** up" my bikes... I put tape and stickers and human feces on them to make them look bad...

What part of philly are you planning on moving to? If you are coming to center city I will show you where to get some cheap beer.

That's basically what I do too. I park my old Trek MTB (quick-release everything) a lot in West Philly, and haven't had any problems. U-lock through the frame and rear wheel and a cable around the front wheel, up through the saddle, and down to the U-lock. I've been leaving the Trek outside (day and night) for the past three weeks or so to make room in my apartment for my new IRO. I see a lot of U-locks attached to wheels (but no frames) laying around the city, but they are all due to improper locking.

thats peculiar - i always see frames with no wheels, seat, bars, etc. I rarely see just wheels..

This is a great idea for anywhere. Thanks!!!

Well, there's a fair number of them, too. However, everytime I see just a frame it is 99% of the time because the frame alone was locked up (hence the improper locking comment).