Moving to Cambridge - bike safety and other tips?

[robjh]

I'm going to be moving to the Cambridge area shortly, and expect to be riding into and around the city quite frequently.

I've heard a lot about organised theft of bikes in Cambridge, and want to know from people who've lived and ridden there how bad it really is. Does it feel more unsafe than other towns?

I've got 2 bikes - a light road bike and a heavier tourer, both about 10 years old and in good nick, so they're not old junk but no longer shiny top of the range stuff either. I've been living in Leicester and have been used to locking them up to street furniture and not worrying too much after that, and have never had a problem. Will I need to be more careful in Cambridge?

I'd be grateful for any feedback about this, and any other tips people might have for a cyclist moving to the area.

nb. I've looked at the Cambridge Cycle Campaign stuff on http://www.camcycle.org.uk/ which looks impressively comprehensive, but I'm really after some first-hand impressions and tips from Cambridge cyclists.


cheers,
Rob

 

[Red Light]

Get yourself a cheap second hand bike from the Bikeman in the Market for cycling round town and leaving locked up. Keep your road and touring bikes for best. There is secure cycle parking you can use if you are commuting in the car parks but Cambridge is so small that most journeys are short distances so you want to lock your bike up when you get there, not cycle to a secure park and have to walk. Its not just theft but with so many bikes jostling for parking places, minor damage as well.

I got my daughters OK bikes for £30 ea from the Bikeman for use round Cambridge and nobody has tried to steal them over 3 years. A bit slow and heavy but Cambridge is flat, distances short and its far nicer not to be worrying about someone stealing a favourite bike.

 

[Becs]

Get yourself a cheap second hand bike from the Bikeman in the Market for cycling round town and leaving locked up. Keep your road and touring bikes for best. There is secure cycle parking you can use if you are commuting in the car parks but Cambridge is so small that most journeys are short distances so you want to lock your bike up when you get there, not cycle to a secure park and have to walk. Its not just theft but with so many bikes jostling for parking places, minor damage as well.

I got my daughters OK bikes for £30 ea from the Bikeman for use round Cambridge and nobody has tried to steal them over 3 years. A bit slow and heavy but Cambridge is flat, distances short and its far nicer not to be worrying about someone stealing a favourite bike.

+1 No one locks up anything decent in Cambridgre so your bikes will stick out like a sore thumb. Kingsway Cycles is another good place for second hand bikes. Cycling in Cambridge is a lot less aggressive than cycling in London (for example) but keep an eye out for lots of numpty tourists doing stupid things either on bikes or on foot!

 

[pshore]

If you are going to go to the city centre at night, don't leave your bike vulnerable to wheel stamping - leaned up against a wall so a drunk can jump on it and fold the wheel.


^^^ I do what they say. Nice bike in the office, 'town/old' bike locked up at work ready for action.

 

[Alien8]

Cambridge likes to see itself as a cycling city but this is based only on the large (LARGE) number of bikes. Like everywhere else it has loads of inappropriate cycling "facilities". I'd only lock my hack bike up in the town as it cost me zero pounds. Anything else - no way!

 

[zombryn]

Some great information in here I moved to Cambridge about 6 weeks ago and have just bought a bike for commuting. I feel a bit safer where I work because we have an underground car park, CCTV and constant security and work mates have never said anything about it being dodgy for bikes down there.

So you guys wouldn't recommend taking it into town and locking it somewhere whilst doing a couple of hours shopping? I always see so many nice looking bikes up near the Grafton centre on the way to work but I suppose they're quite safe as they're locked up right outside the shops where the people that own them work.

 

[Becs]

Some great information in here I moved to Cambridge about 6 weeks ago and have just bought a bike for commuting. I feel a bit safer where I work because we have an underground car park, CCTV and constant security and work mates have never said anything about it being dodgy for bikes down there.

So you guys wouldn't recommend taking it into town and locking it somewhere whilst doing a couple of hours shopping? I always see so many nice looking bikes up near the Grafton centre on the way to work but I suppose they're quite safe as they're locked up right outside the shops where the people that own them work.

you'll probably be fine with really good lock or two, but finding somewhere good to lock it to has always been a problem for me (I grew up in Cambs). You definitely want to secure both wheels and I'd probably take your saddle with you if it's half decent. I lock my 20 odd year old peugeot racer in town with no problems but I wouldn't leave my road bike or tourer unattended.

 

[Red Light]

Some great information in here I moved to Cambridge about 6 weeks ago and have just bought a bike for commuting. I feel a bit safer where I work because we have an underground car park, CCTV and constant security and work mates have never said anything about it being dodgy for bikes down there.

So you guys wouldn't recommend taking it into town and locking it somewhere whilst doing a couple of hours shopping? I always see so many nice looking bikes up near the Grafton centre on the way to work but I suppose they're quite safe as they're locked up right outside the shops where the people that own them work.

If you want to take it into town park it in the Grand Arcade cycle park (entrance opposite the east wall of the Corn Exchange or in the similar one in Park Street. Both have CCTV monitoring and the former is slightly better as its outside a bike shop. Details on Cambridge cycle parking here

 

[seraphina]

Car drivers are more on-the-ball with regards to cyclists than in other towns. Second the Grand Arcade secure cycle park if you want to leave a nice bike in town; you should be pretty safe with a decent lock - there's always loads of bikes with pretty crappy locks around so I work on the principle of making my bike harder to steal than the next bike along. Watch out for foreign students on cycles who have no idea how to behave.

Chris's Bikes in Girton is a decent LBS.

Best thing about Cambridge is that it's as flat as a pancake!

 

[zombryn]

Thanks for the information about the bike parks in town, I had no idea! Are they fairly busy/full or is it mostly always possible to get a spot in there? I was going to order a Kryptonite series 2 lock, do you guys reckon that'd do the job around here?

 

[Red Light]

Thanks for the information about the bike parks in town, I had no idea! Are they fairly busy/full or is it mostly always possible to get a spot in there? I was going to order a Kryptonite series 2 lock, do you guys reckon that'd do the job around here?

Should do with a cable lock for the front wheel.

 

[jonas123]

I cycled around Cambridge for 4 years and it seemed fine - the centre has very little car traffic as it has driving restrictions in place.

My bike wasn't particularly special, but had no problem leaving it around town as long as it was locked up.

It's worth following the one-way system when in the centre as police have been known to stop and fine people for going the wrong way.

Otherwise, all you need to watch out for are the tourists and hundreds of other cyclists!

 

[robjh]

OK, thanks for all the replies.

On the risk of bike theft, there seem to be two streams of thought:
1) that Cambridge really is more risky than other places, and you have to take extensive precautions
2) that it's not really that bad, and if you lock it up properly you're likely to be OK.

Think I'll buy an extra lock, move down there then suck it and see.

 

[zombryn]

I went into town today with my bike and left it in the Park Street cycle park with no problems at all. Probably helps that there's pretty much a decent sized bike stall/shop operating right next to the park and seems to always have people there. Thanks for telling me about that place, going to be using it a lot

 

[Canardly]

Chris's Bikes in Girton is a decent LBS.

+1