How Not to Lock Your Bike

After seeing all the media hullabaloo about Dear Mom's new bike racks, I eagerly threw on my favorite ill-fitting flannel and rushed over to check it out.  Yup, it's a bike rack all right.  A well used one at that, but not used well.

See, after some years living in San Francisco, I've seen all sorts of lousy locking jobs: u-locks around quick-release front wheels, locking around seat posts and handle bars, cable locks around fire hydrants… real smooth stuff.  However, none quite so bad as this fellow's quality lock-up of simply discarding their bike on the pile.

That's not to say that simply abandoning your bike for the thieving masses isn't a good locking strategy should you be fishing for an excuse to hit up your parents for a new ride.  But for everyone else, might I recommend at least zip tying it to a thin tree?

Comments (3)

Maybe the owner is just looking to ditch the fixie and get a real bike instead?

Saw a nice Brooks saddle secured by crochet alone tonight outside duc loi.

I visited Crested Butte, Colorado last summer and this was the *default* way of parking your bike outside of bars. I don’t recall seeing any locks at all. Ah, what we trade for life in the grunge lane.