What to do with stuff on bike while shopping?
 

On longer rides, I normally carry a flat kit and whatever tools it takes to tear the bike down and a pump and all. So question is, if I go shopping, what do I do with all that stuff? Leave it on the bike? Tote it around in the store and hope they don't think I'm stealing it all? What do y'all do?

I hadn't though of this until I made my grocery run with The Thing and started wondering what the heck I'd do if I had a flat halfway home.

I take lights, GPS, etc., off the bike and put them in my panniers. The panniers go in the store with me.

Depends on the bike and where I am shopping. On my usual grocery runs I normally don't bother with the tool/patch kit...it is only 1.5 miles one way. On longer trips I toss it in the front basket, it is small enough I can stuff it in my pants pocket if I am worried about it. On a couple of my other bikes I use a tool roll that is buckled to the seat and normally don't worry about it. My Raleigh Superbe has a full bore monster saddle bag, that bike is seldom parked out of my view, I never bother to remove the bag on it. Also my multi tool of choice is a Park MTB-3, again pocket sized.

Aaron:)

For starters I shop at a store that is a mile from home. So a walk home will be sweaty, but won't kill me so I can dispense with "seatbag" items. That leaves just my Cyclocomputer, blinkie, cooler, lock and cable. The Cyclocomputer and blinkie goes in my jersey pocket and the cooler either gets cabled to the trike or comes in with me.

My lights are bolted to my frames, and I use cheap-o computers (<$20) and won't be too upset if they grow legs, so I usually just risk it and leave stuff on the bike. Panniers I usually carry in with me as they are going put to use anyway.

Expensive things like my camera/computer never leave my side though.

It depends where I am and what I've got with me. In town, I'll lock the bike and take the computer module with me. If I'm using my lights, I'll take them as well. I keep tools and patches in a small saddle bag or a rack trunk. I'll just leave that on the bike.

If I'm in a larger centre, I'll lock the bike securely and take my rack trunk with me. I've never had a store clerk question me about carrying the bag.

In a big city I'd take the stuff in the store with me. I keep my pump (topeak road morph) and a spare tube etc. in my pannier so the pannier comes in the store with me to fill with shopping stuff. In a smaller place with low cycling population and hence low demand for anyone trying to sell stuff they stole off your bike I would leave bags, frame pump, tools in a seatbag etc. on the bike. I would just make sure to remove any valuables from the bags, things like camera, wallet, cellphone. Lockable rack trunks also look interesting for storing stuff but not worrying while popping into a store.

When I know I can make the complete run in daylight, I leave the lights behind. I also leave the patch kit, as it's a short walk back if I get a flat. So, that leaves my mace and pump. Those come in with me. I typically get my groceries at wal-mart, and haven't had an issue with them thinking that I'm stealing. I just leave them on the bottom of the cart, and attach my panniers to the sides of the cart. Hasn't been a problem so far.

Get a belt or fanny pack to put your smaller stuff in when you go in the store.

MACE? Is road rage that bad where you are?

Nope, just a crazy amount of loose pets and stray dogs, two of which have come up rabid in my small town in the past 6 months. So, I mace without prejudice. Chase = mace.

Thanks for the comments, all.

I usually just leave everything under $50 that's attached to the bike on the bike. I also only lock up one wheel.

I figure it's very easy for some malcontent to damage the bike regardless of what's locked or not locked. The seat tube and saddle can easily walk away. Someone could peel off the bar tape and decals. The dérailleurs are pretty expensive and very easy to take. Cables can be cut. A quick jab of the screwdriver to the tires and they're ruined. The quick-releases can be opened, loosened, and closed again. Braze-ons can be unscrewed. Cyanide can be added to the water bottles.

It's all about effort. Stealing my $20 light is going to cost more than $20 of your time reselling it, so it's probably not going to walk away. Peeling off my bar tape (or all of the other vandalism opportunities mentioned above) dosen't get you anything, and that's why nobody does it.

So I usually just lock the rear wheel (inside the triangle) to keep most of my bike from going away. Nobody has ever touched it. Sure, the front wheel could disappear. But again, resale isn't that great on a single wheel.

I should note that most of the time my bike is either parked in my view, or by a security camera in a bike parking area. If I were going to leave my bike outside overnight, I would probably lock the front wheel and carry everything else inside with me. But for 20 minutes in the grocery store, I'm lazy, and haven't had to pay for the laziness yet :)

(Edit: sometimes I even leave a pannier attached, when I'm really only going to be in the store for a minute or so. I figure the untrained dolt won't be able to get it off that fast :) Arkel++)

As for what tools and other kit you have, bring it inside along with the bag or whatever you have it in. Only at one occasssion have I been asked by a "Loss Prevention" officer to explain the bag. I decided to show him the contents(all tools which they don't carry, and a tube with a LBS price tag on it).

Anyways, I am cheap and know that kids around here would gladly steal something for fun or vandalize it for no reason if I left it on th bike. I lock up my rear tire to the frame, but at the same time my front axle uses hex nuts on the beater bike.

For that reason, I never buy Ice Cream while doing errands on the bike. Unless its at the nearest grocery. Ice Cream is bad for you anyway. Buy peaches instead.

For xtracycle folks, I like these

http://www.bikerubbish.com/bikey/index.php?itemid=231

I have Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires on my around-town bike, and usually don't carry a pump or patch kit. I'm not likely to get a flat (hasn't happened so far) and even if it does, I'm not that far to walk home anyway.

I leave the multi-tool at home too, most of the time.

The only thing I have to be concerned about is my front and rear lights, but since most stores sell no such thing, it's not much of an issue for me to bring them along inside. And if I know I'll be home before dark, I leave them at home too.

So often for my bike--there is nothing to take off or worry about leaving on--no bags or trunk at all, nothing to carry in, no part to worry about that comes off easily and might get stolen. Except for the wheels, which are chained up with the frame anyway.

My bike has Wald folding baskets that are screwed onto the rack, for carrying stuff in, and baskets beat bags in the utility world.
~

Always forget about the lights...I use Dynohubs for the most part so the lights are bolted on to the racks or to brackets. I don't think any of my bikes have a computer anymore. One bike does still have the little odometer that is bolted on at the front axle...

Aaron:)

You've jinxed yourself now. Go and buy a patch kit.

I run Stan's and I still carry a tube.

http://www.notubes.com/moviedemo.php

Still no flats on the Big dummy or my MTB though.