Honestly, I don't want to track my bike down. A thief who is sophisticated enough to get past my lock is probably sophisticated enough to look for a tracking device, so if I find it, it's probably already parted out or tossed in a ditch somewhere. I'm not going to personally track my bike down (seems dangerous), and the police are unlikely to make it a priority. And if I felt the tracking device would help, I'd probably let my guard down because I have a backup plan.
Instead, I make my bike unappealing to steal. I use a high quality lock, avoid parking where thieves are likely looking, and cover up anything that could indicate any sort of value.
I do the same. I’d add; make it a little more difficult/ time consuming to take than the next one. I use a chain lock and a u-lock for different bits of the frame. Hopefully a potential thief doesn’t want to spend twice as long on my bike and leaves it alone.
My area has low crime, so a ulock is an order of magnitude better than the micro-cable locks most people use. I also lock my bike to cart returns at stores if the bike rack is insecure.
So yeah, just be a little more secure than the bike next to you and you're probably good. Thieves are lazy.
Get a strong chain or a beefy cable. Fuhgeddaboutit locks are very reliable (they also make a fine weapon in a pinch). Make sure to wrap the chain/cable so that there is as little free space to get a set of chompers around it as possible. Make sure to include at least front wheel, if not both wheels, in the wrap. Lock should ideally wrap around the post, front tire, and frame. Try to make sure yours is either better secured or less valuable, or both, than your neighbor's. Install a discreet gps locator. Don't leave valuables attached to the frame while it is not directly in your custody.
Be careful not to include another's lock/frame/chain in your wrap. Not only is it extremely inconsiderate and inconvenient, it is a common tactic for thieves to lock someone's bike and come back to it later on the expectation that someone who doesn't know better will assume good faith and come back tomorrow, by which point the thief has had all night to work.
Back wheel is costlier to replace (due to gearing, assuming it's not a fixie/single speed), so I prioritize locking the back wheel if I can only do one.
If you have quick-release axles and don't want to worry about having your wheels stolen, most bike shops have security axles, which have a special key to loosen the axle. I've used them in the past for some extra peace of mind. Just dont lose the key(s)!
EDIT: if you get a LONG, beefy chain lock, you can carry it around your torso like one of those ammo belts. Convenient to not need a backpack or pannier for short trips. Be prepared to spend some $$ on a good lock. It's a great investment.
My then-sixtyish year old dad bought a unicycle. He also bought a pair of ski poles to help him balance while learning to ride it by traveling up and down a long hallway in his home.
This doesn't really add anything to the conversation, but I've always found it funny and rarely had an opportunity to share it.
I don't think there was anyone around at the time who suggested that it was a good idea, heh.
At the time, my mom - his wife of 27 years - had recently died and I think he was trying to find himself again. Unicycles with ski poles weren't the only odd decisions he made.
Sure that would be nice, but that ain't happening on these kind of roads, it would be a huge effort to do that. It was on the road up to Col de la Bonette, it is relatively narrow. I also don't think this is a transit pass, only tourists and joy riders go up there really. And lots of cyclists. The road did not have much traffic at all today, and everybody seemed very careful.
If it's just for joy riding it's fine then. I'm more critical of valley roads where there is a lot of traffic. It's not because cars have reigned supreme there for decades there that we shouldn't adapt the infrastructure for bikes.
It's a lot of work for sure. But it's sustainable development.
The hot wax was gone from the chain in under 200 miles.
Wow, that makes it functionally useless imo. My current approach is really simple:
Clean chain with a cleaning tool - 1-2 min
Rinse and dry with a paper towel - 30s
Add oil lube and dry with a towel - 30s
I do that whenever I remember (and check the chain stretch), and it seems to work pretty well. I keep a bottle of Simple Green for cleaner and dilute ~50/50, then lube with whatever my LBS sells. It seems to do a pretty good job...
I don't think they applied the wax right though, just hitting it with some WD40 isn't sufficient to completely clean off all the grease. Most people soak the chain in degreaser or even use one of those heated vibrating cleaners to really knock everything off and once it's completely clean/dry, then submerge it in a wax bath for at least a half hour to make sure it gets into everything.
Yeah, that could lead to pre-mature flaking of the wax. But the question is, is it closer to 200 miles, or the average time most people do between lubes (I do the shorter of 500 miles, every season, or if I went on a nasty wet ride).
Idk, it probably depends on where you ride. I mostly ride on dry bike paths, and I always store my bike inside. If I were riding on wet roads/muddy paths, I'd probably lube more often.
Silca makes a pretty good degreaser that's one step and is pretty effective. It won't work as good if the chain is caked with crap and well used, but it's quite robust and will certainly do a good job with a newer chain. Anything more is overkill. It takes like 15 minutes too, start to finish, and if you do a good enough job you will only need to wash with hot water in the future.
Perversely, while it would be easier for someone with no equipment to maintain in their home, it would be a bigger pain in the ass for a bike shop here to maintain than a typical cargo bike would be.
It makes me sad that these sorts of things never get released in the US, even on a "pay twice the price to get one for you and fund one for the needy" kind of scheme. We want them too!
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