On Apr 16, 2006, at 5:51 AM, prackley wrote:
> I'd like to hear from others on whether or not they think the "front
> disc" type lock/alarms are a deterent or not? What do folks do when
> going abroad where I would assume there is a higher likelyhood of a
> bike going missing?
Disc locks will keep hoodlums from joyriding, but a determined thief
will usually get a couple of friends and pick up the bike and load it
into a van. It's pretty rare to find something permanent you can
cable your bike to, too. Even if you do, thin cables are pretty
easily defeated but, of course, who wants to carry an inch-thick
cable while they're traveling?
In smaller towns I've had good luck when asking the hotel night clerk
if I could park in front of the lobby windows. In fact, quite a few
have offered without me even having to ask. That way they can at
least keep an eye on it for you. Not a guarantee that it'll still be
there in the morning, but better than sitting all alone in an
unwatched parking lot.
At motels I've also parked my bike right in front of my room,
sometimes on the sidewalk by my room's window. Honestly, I don't
think I'd wake up to the subtle sounds of someone messing with the
bike, but the thief doesn't know that. I guess one of those disc
locks with a motion sensor and alarm would be helpful in this
situation, but I don't own one.
If I'm traveling with someone else I'll sometimes run a thin cable
through the frames of both bikes. This makes it nearly impossible for
a thief to carry the bike away without having to first defeat the
cable; the more inconvenient you can make it for the thief the less
likely they are to bother with your bike.
Oh, and I usually remove all the bags from the bike at night so that
the curious aren't attracted, and the closer to a light you can get
the better.
I rode all around the mid-Atlantic area for a couple of years, and
out here in CA for the past six years, and have done several trips to
Colorado, Los Angeles and elsewhere. I have only had one instance of
someone messing with my bike, and that was in downtown San Francisco
where someone knocked my bike over while it was parked. They were
nice enough to put it back on its sidestand and put the broken
footpeg on the seat for me, but not nice enough to leave any
insurance info.
I guess that was a long way of answering your question! I typically
use a Kryptonite disc lock with one of those red "Remove Before
Flight" flags on the front disc while traveling, and I'll use a thin
cable if traveling with someone else who's carrying it. I haven't
checked to see if my Kryptonite lock can be picked with a Bic, but it
probably can so I'll need to get that replaced before the next trip!
--
Blake Sobiloff
http://sobiloff.typepad.com/>
San Jose, CA (USA)