Why is that? This is the utility cycling list is it not?

I never said it worked all the time did I?....

I lock if I can't reach out and touch my BD or if my wife isn't standing beside it.

Some companies make extra long U-locks, one of my most-used U-locks is that type. I bought it because I sometime use front panniers which add a little extra distance between the bike rack and my front tire & frame. The trade off is that it makes it a little easier for a bike thief to use a leverage-type attack, but if the U-lock has a highly rated level of security it helps negate that problem, especially if other bikers are using Wally World and cable locks, which will be much easier for a bike thief to defeat.

Although I do have a good U-lock, I am still a firm believer in the old style cable and master lock way of locking things up. Run it through both wheels, through the frame, around whatever object is there and most thieves-of-convenience will avoid it. That, and when I do have to lock up, I am usually not going to be inside anyplace for very long......

That's exactly what I wound up going with. I went to the local Home Depot and got a 6' steel cable and a master lock. Overall cheaper than what's available at Walmart or the LBS and probably just as good.

This, along with the other two prickly comments leads me to believe that you plan to be ornery and combative, regardless.

Hence the reason that this particular user is on my "blocked" list. Evidently the old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say" doesn't apply....

Oh good lord, you're a piece of work. Do we all need secret handshakes to show we're all the same now?

Pssst.... I'll give you a hint - take a look at my profile, a moment with Google, and decide which Big Box stores you buy those bikes at...


Or on a multi-week bike tour! You know, actually using the bike for enjoyment and pleasure, instead of sitting around behind a keyboard justifying a sad, lonely, obviously meaningless life.

Actually, I was just wondering if there's a proper term for people with unnatural attachments to inanimate objects. ;-)

Is there a purpose for your hatefulness? Hypocrisy is not a flattering look, you should try humility and kindness. Then again, I'd be ashamed to share such qualities with a person like you.

I'd recommend that you read the thread from start to end and find the source of the hatefulness.

Also, you might want to look up "Hypocrisy". It doesn't mean what you seem to think it means.

You must not understand the purpose of your post, then. Oh well, can't win them all.

This started with a discussion about locks and ended up with personal attacks. This is just one reason I rarely post in the bikeforums. Seems that there are always a few trolls that do nothing more than stir the pot no matter what the subject matter is. Frankly, I just ignore them, consider the source, and mark it off to ignorance. Just shows that there are people that, no matter what is said, they will have something nasty to add.

Ohh-KAY.....

I lock up my bike almost everywhere...except work, where it goes in the building with me, and the local fast-food joint with the kids, where we sit close enough to them that no one approaches.

I have a LARGE U-lock (made by MasterLock), and a 9'x 7/16 cable. MY bike can't be replaced, the frame is no longer available, neither is the fork or wheelset.

A few years ago, my sister let her then-17 son borrow her bike; he locked it up...through the frame. When he came out of the store, the wheelset was gone. He hasn't even ASKED since. (I replaced the wheels....)

Thief wants MY stuff, he's gonna have to WORK for it, and HOPE I DON'T CATCH HIM AT IT.

GREAT!!!!! making it as hard as possible is all you can do.

Where did you procure 9' of cable lock of that thickness? A custom cut at Home Depot? I investigated the local one and it only seemed to have 12mm (less than half an inch, don't remember the precise fraction) available, and just one common cutting tool to cut all thicknesses, and I shrugged at getting no more protection than a coated bargain-basement cable. Home Depot did provide the extra-long padlock though, with the extra courtesy of going "that way" and pointing straight at the locks aisle when I went in walking the bike, before I opened my mouth. :lol: If ever I tire of locking the padlock around part of the frame itself, I can get it engraved as a love lock and leave it somewhere.

I lock every time. But the lock is use is sort of ok combo cable. The intent of locking is to avoid a casual jump on and take off or throw in the back of a pickup and take off, not to thwart a dedicated thief

I don't leave the bike locked any place for long periods of time (probably the longest is when am in the library looking for books) and 90% of the time I lock where I can see my bike

When I'm alone, a heavy cable lock all the time. If I'm in the suburbs and run into a store, I'll sometimes just run the cable through the rear wheel and frame to deter "ride offs".

On group rides, 5 or more riders and we stop at a dinner, I don't lock it; kinda the "school of fish" mentality I guess.....funny thing is, that bike is worth 5 times what my utility bike is worth and that gets the heavy cable lock! Go figure?

I ALWAYS lock up my bike. My bike is my primary vehcile, I don't have a car. I am poor, so I can't afford to get my bike stolen. I lock my bike using this method I found on youtube. It seems to be pretty darn theft proof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPDHP...BB52E4991C3B3E

I don't understand why someone wouldn't lock their bike. Even if you live in a low crime area, there is always the chance someone could steal your bike. Why risk it?

Always. Three bikes stolen from my daughters convinced me that an ounce of prevention is...you know the rest.

Not everyone can easily replace their bike. I am poor and on disability, so getting a new bike comperable to what I have wouldn't be easy. My bike is my primary means of transportation. If I lost my bike I would be back to having to take the bus. I am as attached to my bike as I am because it gives me freedom I wouldn't have otherwise. I can carry stuff with my bike that would be difficult to do on the bus. I can't afford to lose my bike, so I always lock it up tight.

Not everyone wants to live in the boonies. ;)

I always lock my bike, in the small town where I live now, I just use a cable lock through the frame and front wheel. I have so far never seen another bicycle actually locked to something here in town.

I'm moving to a university town where bicycle thefts are more common at the end of this month, so I've bought a U-lock, and a Kryptonite NYC Fuhgettaboutit chain. My bikes/accessories are also specifically insured in my renter's insurance. I'm amused by some of the reactions and advice I've received in other forums, as if my precautions are all pointless and for nought and I'm sure to lose my bicycle and slip into dispair and I need to get a crappy beater to ride instead of the nice bicycle that I enjoy riding. But honestly, I'll be disappointed if it gets stolen, but such is life. I'll do what I can, and whatever happens happens.