The Chainlink

Today's Winner of the Poorly Locked Bike Contest

This was a single cable lock - used on a bike in Lincoln Square - that I think a fingernail trimmer could have defeated. Why even bother locking your bike?

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Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on September 28, 2013 at 6:14am

Those iBikes might get stolen 'cuz they used their iCable instead of their iULock.  Oh, those fan bois...
 
Yolondra Yarborough said:

This was outside the Apple store on North and Halsted. 

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on September 28, 2013 at 1:09pm

I believe that for new bikes that get stolen locked up with cable string that part of the blame should be on the bike shop. Why let someone ride out on a $500 bike with no proper locking instructions?  Why not encourage the person to buy a more expensive U-lock than a piece of cable wire? Of course, the cynic in me, says that they simply want you to come back and buy a new bike.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on September 28, 2013 at 4:14pm

Agreed.  Bike sellers (either shops or online) that don't do everything in their power to sell you a couple of decent U-locks and a front-back set of lights when you purchase a new bike, are part of the problem.  Imagine buying a new car without an ignition key, headlights or standardized VIN (vehicle identification number) that's tracked each time the car is sold. Yeah, you're still going to find many bike buyers who think a $5 cable lock is all they need, but at least they've made an informed decision to lock their bike poorly.  When the bike industry finally develops a BIN (bike identification number), fencing of stolen bikes will go way down.
 
El Dorado said:

I believe that for new bikes that get stolen locked up with cable string that part of the blame should be on the bike shop. Why let someone ride out on a $500 bike with no proper locking instructions?  Why not encourage the person to buy a more expensive U-lock than a piece of cable wire? Of course, the cynic in me, says that they simply want you to come back and buy a new bike.

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on September 28, 2013 at 4:47pm

The worst bike lockups are on the college campuses like Depaul and Loyola. However, when I stroll downtown I notice about 80% of people are locked up pretty good. I see locks like the NYC U-lock, monster chains by Kryptonite & Onguard, Abus bordos, locking skewers, ect... Yes, lights are another item bike sellers aren't really big on. I'm surprised because some of those are mighty pricey.

Permalink Reply by Haddon on October 6, 2013 at 5:56pm

Quick release wheel, not even one spoke.

Permalink Reply by daWillinChi on October 7, 2013 at 3:00pm

One time I was inside a restaurant (M Henrietta) and looked out the window and saw a girl was locking up her bike. After she walked into the same restaurant, I looked again and saw that this was exactly what she did.

I went up to her and told her that she didn't lock her bike correctly, or at all. She argued that she did, and I told her go and check for herself. She did and corrected her mistake. I'm glad I was able to thwart off a bike from being stolen.

Anne said:

From far away, this technique will totally fool the nearsighted thief

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on October 7, 2013 at 3:16pm

I once tried to tell somebody that they had missed locking their bike up like this; they got really pissy with me and insisted they had it locked correctly.

I picked their bike up and start to walk off with it; they then thanked me and locked it properly.

J.A.W. said:

One time I was inside a restaurant (M Henrietta) and looked out the window and saw a girl was locking up her bike. After she walked into the same restaurant, I looked again and saw that this was exactly what she did.

I went up to her and told her that she didn't lock her bike correctly, or at all. She argued that she did, and I told her go and check for herself. She did and corrected her mistake. I'm glad I was able to thwart off a bike from being stolen.

Anne said:

From far away, this technique will totally fool the nearsighted thief

Permalink Reply by Jenn_5.5 mi on October 7, 2013 at 3:54pm

Ugh! Remember the dumb*ss that locked her frame to a tree branch at a FMF ride, before she had anything to drink?! Thanks for pointing it out!  You are a good man!! Saving one bike at a time!


J.A.W. said:

One time I was inside a restaurant (M Henrietta) and looked out the window and saw a girl was locking up her bike. After she walked into the same restaurant, I looked again and saw that this was exactly what she did.

I went up to her and told her that she didn't lock her bike correctly, or at all. She argued that she did, and I told her go and check for herself. She did and corrected her mistake. I'm glad I was able to thwart off a bike from being stolen.


Permalink Reply by daWillinChi on October 7, 2013 at 4:00pm

Hahah, oh yeah and that one too!

Jenn_5.5 mi said:

Ugh! Remember the dumb*ss that locked her frame to a tree branch at a FMF ride, before she had anything to drink?! Thanks for pointing it out!  You are a good man!! Saving one bike at a time!


J.A.W. said:

One time I was inside a restaurant (M Henrietta) and looked out the window and saw a girl was locking up her bike. After she walked into the same restaurant, I looked again and saw that this was exactly what she did.

I went up to her and told her that she didn't lock her bike correctly, or at all. She argued that she did, and I told her go and check for herself. She did and corrected her mistake. I'm glad I was able to thwart off a bike from being stolen.


Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on October 7, 2013 at 4:16pm

I did that once when I thought I had locked my bike to my bbq.  Couldn't believe A) I didn't loop the bike to the lock and B) no one stole my bike. 

Anne said:

From far away, this technique will totally fool the nearsighted thief

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 8, 2013 at 12:23pm

Doh!

Julie Hochstadter said:

I did that once when I thought I had locked my bike to my bbq.  Couldn't believe A) I didn't loop the bike to the lock and B) no one stole my bike. 

Anne said:

From far away, this technique will totally fool the nearsighted thief

Permalink Reply by T.K. 3.5 mi on October 22, 2013 at 3:59pm

"But, I double checked and made sure I didn't lock my bike to yours", she said. 

This happened over a year ago.  It cost me about 30 minutes of waiting, but no hard feelings. Just laugh it off and try not to do it again!

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