[steel515]

How do you people lock your bikes? do you lock it inside (in office) or outside?
Isn't there a possibility to get bike stolen and have no transportation to go home?

 

[MB1]

Theft is always a possibility.

How do you people lock your bikes? do you lock it inside (in office) or outside?
Isn't there a possibility to get bike stolen and have no transportation to go home?

As is getting too sick in the middle of the day to ride home. Or nasty afternoon storms. Or working late.

A bike commuter should always have an alternate prepared.

In DC office buildings are required by statute to provide secure bicycle parking. I lock my bike with both a Kryptonite NY Chain and a Kryptonite NY U-Lock which I leave on the rack at work.

 

[comuter]

Wow

I lock my bike with both a Kryptonite NY Chain and a Kryptonite NY U-Lock which I leave on the rack at work.

I'd say your bike is pretty secure.

I just lock mine up with an onguard bulldog mini. Then again, I'm also on a military base and there are 2 cameras pointed at the bike rack.

I also think my bike is secure.

 

[threesportsinone]

My commuter has no quick release levers, is ugly, heavy, and depending upon the day won't let you coast. I generally lock it up with a combination lock that I keep in my bag and wrap through both wheels and around some secure object if there isn't a bike rack near.

I have a bus pass in case I should have some sort of problem while commuting.

 

[gutfiddle]

my bike is outside w/ no lock but its a pretty safe community and i'm niave

//went grocery shopping today w/ my bike unlocked in the bike rack outside, still relying on my karma points

 

[Mr. Versatile]

I'm lucky. I have a storage room in the building with a secure locked door. The custodian and I have the only keys. I also keep a weeks worth of clothes there.

 

[Bobonli]

Use at least two methods if you must lock your bike outside. The concept is to use locks that require separate tools to defeat, which means the would-be-thief has to carry more tools and work harder to steal the bike. I think Kryptonite suggests their heavy NYC chain and a U-lock.

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TNTq3nhuh0

Scary, isn't it, how quick it can disappear. When I commute, I put my bike in a utility closet inside my office. When I have to run errands, I bring two locks and try to lock it in plain view, but not so much out in the open that people will feel tempted to let the air out of the tires or otherwise fool with it.

Yes, you need to have a back up plan if the bike malfunctions, your too tired to ride or the weather turns foul. That's why I prefer keeping it indoors. If I have to bum a ride home, I know it will be safe from the public and the weather.

Good luck

 

[chatterbox]

I lock mine with just one u-lock, but I'm on a college campus with many many bikes and people around. Also, I have no quick release wheels, so my bike would take much longer to get to than the 5 or 6 next to it that are quick release. We now have signs on all of our entry doors that no bikes are allowed in the buildings, so everyone has to lock up outside.

 

[Scot_Gore]

Minneapolis City Bike Locker

Scot

 

[treebound]

Scot

Has anyone ever been mugged and locked up inside one of these styles of bike lockers? That thought crosses my mind almost everytime I see one of these.

Maybe I watched too much TV as a kid, and saw too many skinny kids get stuffed into a public school locker or something.

 

[Scot_Gore]

Scenario:
Mugger wants to mug someone. Mugger goes to city transportation office and registers for a bike locker. Gives name, address, puts down a lost key deposit. Mugger waits about 48 hours for them to "process" the paperwork and returns for key to the bike locker. Mugger waits in very public location where most bike lockers are (bus stops, train stations, transit centers, etc) for victim to come by....mugs them, opens bike locker, stuffs victim into locker registered in their name using a key issued only to them...then escapes with no chance of ever being tracked down...the perfect crime.

Is that what you were imagining

 

[treebound]

Scenario:
...
Is that what you were imagining

Close, but without the registration part, more like hovering around until someone wanders in, then shoves and stuffs the victim into the locker and rides off with all their gear. But then around here people steal large TV's in VA hospitals during regular hours while walking past the security cameras and get their pictures plastered on the nighly news for a week. Probably why I don't know of any bike lockers around here.

Then at the place I have my day job they have security cameras that seem to get turned off everytime a vehicle gets broken into in the parking lot, an amazing coincidence that's apparently happened on more than one occasion.

Nice that things are so nice around your area. I've got a friend or two up there and have given serious thought to relocation, but can't bring myself to moving to a slightly colder place than here in Milwaukee.

Oh well, back to day dreaming up story lines and imagining being a published author someday. I think I'll give up the thought of writing detective novels.

 

[buck-50]

How do you people lock your bikes? do you lock it inside (in office) or outside?
Isn't there a possibility to get bike stolen and have no transportation to go home?

Open back door to office. Wheel bike down short hallway. Lean bike against wall in storage room.

On really, really nasty days, I can call my wife and have her pick me up. I've never had to use that option, even in a blizzard that dumped 18" of snow. Plus, I have co-workers.

 

[hankbrandenburg]

I lock my bike to a railing on our loading dock (no rack available) using kryptonite u-lock and cable. It is "guarded" intermittently by the office smokers who hang out there.

Also, I have an extra motor vehicle that I am able to keep at the office for things that come up.