Leaving a bike locked in London

[vickster]

Hopefully he can get the secure storage at work

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Son has no cycle mantainece know how. That is why he went for that type of bike, an old klunker would be no good for him

It's time he learned those skills then. An old rat bike is the ideal thing to learn on, as it will probably need tweaking to make it work properly and it won't have fragile high cost lightweight parts that are easily damaged by the ham-fisted mechanic.
Drag something out of a skip, get spannering DIY, and forget about bike theft problems. The cost of opening and replacing the damaged D-lock will have been more that the cost of acquiring a functional rat bike. It's just not worth the hassle of commuting on anything that is worth enough secondhand to pay for a drug purchase, because that's what a lot of street crime is funding.

 

[avecReynolds531]

Sorry to hear of the damage & hassle.

Here is the bike I used in London for commuting, shopping & seeing friends, events etc... I thankfully had no problems at all, even with the one (& only!) time I forgot to lock it up. Abus Granite D locks have been good for us.

It's a Trekking bike: a peculiar niche of European bike - half MTB, half upright roadster & dynamo lighting. What helps is it's hideously ugly in any case, and extra hi viz highlights & tape that inevitably become scruffy don't hurt either.

They are deeply unfashionable yet versatile - I use it for pretty much any cycling, including touring, off road, and faster training rides to push fitness. I should say that it's been brilliantly reliable and tough.

Maybe I was lucky, but I reckon this kind of bike is a option for someone in London: that ugly confused mix of what it is & unpopularity in the UK, meant the public & thieves left mine alone.

Don't get discouraged & hope you get a good result!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Shiny paint and bling is mainly what makes bikes easy to resell quickly. If a thief can nick a £400 or £500 bike in five minutes and flog it for £100 in cash an hour later they'll keep doing that all the time the supply of shiny bikes is there to take. Crappy brushed on paint jobs and reflective tape plastered all over the frame tubes make them unattractive and too distinctive.

 

[Blue Hills]

With regard to shiny paint, the paint jobs on those older bikes is often far far superior to the modern jobs. May be shiny shiny but often very easily scratched pretty much to the steel. My £1,500 hewitt scratches from an unkind look. My old 90s hybrids may have lots of micro scratches but more like a patina - steel still well covered.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I've always been impressed with Raleigh's paint from the late 80's and 90's. Very tough and the colours have held up well to light exposure considering the age.
On a commuting or pub hack though, a decent paint finish is NOT a desirable attribute. Really you want it to look very dull and unappealing, so the bike blends into the background of where it is parked and in no way stands out and catches the eye. Dings and chips and rust spots are a bonus. If it catches the eye of other cyclists, it will also catch the eye of the rogues out there looking for stuff to nick..

 

[vickster]

The issue is the OP only has room for one bike for commuting and leisure and wants a nice modern bike to go out with friends. Tough one.
Is a Less space hungry n+1 folder out of the question for the commute? Although going to be another few hundred minimum

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Might as well just regard this one as a hack bike from now on. The frame damage from the attempted theft has destroyed any secondhand value it had prior to that. Even though it's only a few weeks old it's worth bugger all. Take the decals off it or give it a quick rattle can paint job to hide exactly what it is.

 

[vickster]

True dat

 

[icowden]

It.s a bit worse than I was told last night, wrecked the top tube trying to get lock off. Rode it home last night and seems ok but taking it in to Evans for a safety check just in case. Boss is now letting him park in shop and E mailing building owners for use of underground parking space. A bit late now !

At least its a start. Given the amount of cycling now, the underground car park seems like the best place to create a secure bike storage.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

View attachment 534910

Not the best deterrent, this is in a gym car park

I reckon that's in Kew Bridge Road, up near the Chiswick Roundabout. if so, that front wheel has been there for ages, at least a couple of months if not longer. I've been past it loads of times. You pay the price in London for locking only your wheel and not the frame - no bike when you come back!

 

[Blue Hills]

I reckon that's in Kew Bridge Road, up near the Chiswick Roundabout. if so, that front wheel has been there for ages, at least a couple of months if not longer. I've been past it loads of times. You pay the price in London for locking only your wheel and not the frame - no bike when you come back!

Cripes. If true, nothing escapes the cchat collective

 

[ColinJ]

Cripes. If true, nothing escapes the cchat collective

He has been eyeing it up for his next bike recycling project...

 

[newfhouse]

Don't lock your bike like this...

The horizontal bar is on the other side of the glass, inside the shop.

 

[gasinayr]

Son just phoned, building manager told his boss that he has it on CCTV and has been advised to hand it to police, Not that will do anything.
Stars on film are 4 ( as we call them in Scotland ) "Jakies" that look like they are sharing one brain between the 4 of them.