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.
