No, I’m not talking about bikers/cyclists in general. In fact, I am a complete supporter and advocate of using pedal powered transportation. It is my own form of transportation.
What I am talking about are those people who don’t know how to lock up their bikes.
Short Background
I go to a large state university, the University of Michigan, for grad school. I also ride my bike everywhere. In doing so, I see how other people lock up their bikes on a daily basis. I see everything from the over-protective (a cable lock per wheel, cable for seat, and a U-lock for the frame) to the apparent community bikes (not locked up at all).
The ones that make me think “this person should not be allowed to be in control of any security device, be it a bike lock, their home door lock, or a password” are the ones who come up with inventive ways of “securing” their bike.
Example 1
One such example, which I unfortunately did not have my camera at the time to take a picture, involved a roughly $1000 Trek road bike.
I stopped to get some soup from the best soup place in Ann Arbor (Le Dog on Liberty) and noticed this bike near the shop. After getting my soup I took a second look at said bike and just stood there for a moment; I couldn’t believe my eyes. This person had used a $10 cable lock (ie: easily breakable) to lock her $1000 bike. That isn’t the issue (although, never use those $10 locks, you will be sorry). The issue is the way in which they choose to use that $10 lock.
They looped the cable around the seat post and then through the bike stand. Let me say that again. They looped the cable lock around the SEAT POST and then through the bike stand.
If you can’t readily see the issue with this, let me explain. First a picture:
CC:BY – by “faster panda kill kill”
Look at the seat. See the seat post (the metal tube that goes from the seat to the rest of the bike frame)? They had simply looped the cable around that and through the bike stand. Anyone, and I mean anyone, could just grab that cable, lift upwards at an angle, and the bike would be completely free.
This is what I will term from now on as a “DSSTS,” or Dip Shit Simple To Steal.
The Future
I plan to start taking pictures of people who lock up their bikes in interesting yet idiotic ways; in fact, I already have one example but I do not have my camera cord with me. With these pictures I will produce a Bike Lock Failure blog post as time permits. If you have some examples please feel free to email them to me; greg@ this domain.
Note to Planet Ubuntu subscribers: I will be putting these forthcoming blog posts into a category which will not be picked up by the planet, if you want to see them, subscribe to my main feed.
Not really new. My favourite is still looping the cable through the rear wheel and the frame so that the wheel doesn’t turn. (Of course someone can now take the bike and carry it away).
Also, in my town they stole some bikes by lifting the bike stand with four bikes on a truck and driving away. Never trust the bike stand either :)
Regards,
Armin
Posted by Armin Ronacher on September 11th, 2008.
There are a few photos on the net of bicycles stupidly (non) secured so you can have fun just tracking them down. But think about it for second: if you do park your bike next to one of these and you secure it properly, they will take theirs and leave yours! So, their stupidity makes your bicycle safer!
Bicycle thieves should be castrated though, or forced to ride a bike around town without tires and a seat on the seat post.
Posted by Aristotelis on September 11th, 2008.
He he… I guess this is Darwin at work…
Hey, at least it lowers the probability of our ( : people equipped with a brain :) ) bikes getting stolen.
PS. You could submit your images to shipmentoffail.com
Posted by meastp on September 11th, 2008.
@Aristotelis and meastp: Good point about my bike being safer! I didn’t think of it like that.
Also, one of my favorite biking related stickers says “There is a special place in Hell for bike thieves.”
Posted by Greg on September 11th, 2008.
Check this out:
http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/hal-and-kerri-grade-your-bike-locking/?autostart=true
Something similar in NYC.
Posted by Paul on September 11th, 2008.
Off topic,
Maybe we should hunt for more cyclists in Ubuntu Community and run a small group, I’m a cyclist myself and I love it.
Posted by Jad on September 11th, 2008.
@jad: Ubuntu-Cyclists on Launchpad? :)
Posted by Greg on September 11th, 2008.
Done: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-cyclists
Posted by Greg on September 11th, 2008.
That’s a classic feminine way to lock it, I could observe.
Yes, I know, this seems to be sexistic but believe me, I’ve checked this in a study on masculine and feminine behavioural psychology.
We are dumb in different and very specific ways.
Never got stuck about how different drive men and women? They make completely different mistakes and no sex is better or worse.
;-)
Posted by Thempleton on September 11th, 2008.
@Thempleton: I wasn’t going to bring it up (you’ll noticed I used non-gendered pronouns), but it was indeed a woman in this situation.
Not sure if it is generalizable or not, I’m not touching that ;)
Posted by Greg on September 11th, 2008.
[...] Consilience The Blog of Bringing Things Together Skip to content « Idiots and their bikes will soon be separated [...]
Posted by Announcment: New Launchpad Team - Ubuntu Cyclists on September 11th, 2008.
As Bruce Schneier has said, security is not an absolute, it’s a sliding scale. What is or is not an appropriate level of security depends on the risk you face, the value of your loss and the cost (in money, hassle and worry) of the security.
A cheap tin-plate lock through the rear wheel, not bolting the bike to anything, still protects you from well over 90% of all prospective thieves – the drunk looking for a faster ride home, opportunists not looking for a bike but not averse to picking one up “for free”, children and so on. It depends on the place too; I live in Osaka and I, like everyone else, just lock the bike through the rear wheel. Bikes just aren’t stolen that much here (or rather, there’s so very many bicycles around that the risk for any one person is very small).
Sure, a 5kg bike chain would protect the bike far better – but with that kind of bulk and weight dragging around, the point of getting a very light (expensive) bike is gone; you could add those kilos to the bike itself, making it far cheaper in the process. And locking a cheap bike with an expensive lock doesn’t make much sense either.
Again here in Osaka, there is a wrinkle: it’s not allowed to lock your bike to things. Many, many people ride bikes here (more common than cars as transportation) and there is a constant struggle to avoid snarls of parked bicycles stopping traffic or pedestrian access. If a bike is locked, it can’t be moved to clear the way. So the local police and guard companies have a tendency to cut the locks and confiscate the bike if it’s locked to public property, and it’ll cost you a fair amount of money to get your bike back. In other words, “securely” locking your bike to things actually increases the risk of losing your bike than just having a symbolic wire going through your rear wheel.
Posted by Janne on September 11th, 2008.
Greg,
Lovely :-)
Posted by Jad on September 11th, 2008.
hey guy, you live near me, you interested in, or have you done any “scenic” or non-commute type cycling in A2?
I am trying to commit to every sunday post-yoga cycling in the afternoon hours…let me know, the warm weather is almost gone
Posted by joshp on September 11th, 2008.
re: photoblog of bike idiots = awesome
Posted by tvol on September 12th, 2008.
[...] For those of you just tuning in, see the first intallment: Seat Post. [...]
Posted by Bike Fail Blog #2 - Handle Bars on September 13th, 2008.
What I found amazing is the courage of this person to actually go around the town with a $1000 bike. There is no warranty that the bike will not be stolen, even if you triple lock it or do something similarly obscure.
Posted by Zan Dobersek on September 13th, 2008.