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When I was in college, I didn't have much money, like a lot of us when going to school, so I bought a beater bike at a garage sale for $5. It was a 3-speed type
by zw123456 5y ago
When I was in college, I didn't have much money, like a lot of us when going to school, so I bought a beater bike at a garage sale for $5. It was a 3-speed type with big tires back before that became cool. The security mechanism was not only that it was ugly, but the 3-speed shifter mechanism was messed up and the pedals only worked if you had it just so between 2nd and 3rd gear, sort of halfway in between, otherwise the pedals would slip if you stood up on them or put much pressure on them. I never locked it. I would just put it in 1st gear and walk away. On campus I don't think anyone tried to swipe it except I noticed a few times it was laying on the ground instead of the bike rack. One time I went to the 7-11 just to grab a soda and while I was in there I hear a scream outside. I went out and saw my bike laying on the ground and some guy hobbling away grabbing at his groin. My friends would ask me "how can you ride that thing" and I would say, very carefully.
- djmips 5y agoWhere I live, your bike would still be stolen. Bike thieves here don't generally ride the bikes they steal, they ride their own bike and kind of hold the stolen bike with their other hand and tow it along. Also they would steal any bike.
- zw123456 5y agoYa, I heard in some big cities now days they drive around in trucks with bolt cutters and grab the bikes and toss them in the back of the pickup and are gone in seconds.
- dddw 5y agoI've witnessed that happen to my own bike. Seems to happen in university cities where lot of student have bikes.
- eloisant 5y agoWhere I live it's not the fancier bike that gets stolen, it's the easiest to steal. If they can flip it for $10, so be it! They're not going to find the customer who accepts to put $500 in a quality stolen bike anyway. Also, sometimes people steal a bike just to use it for a few kilometers then throw it in a ditch when they no longer need it.
- zw123456 5y agoya, just like on the internet, crooks go after stuff that is the easiest to crack usually.
- bipson 5y agoI had a bike like that (quote a friend of mine after borrowing it for someone else: "That bike is plain dangerous!") stolen after I left it on a bike rack on the sidewalk for a few days, since I needed it out of the flat. And it was locked - but with a flimsy lock. The best deterrent I found? No air in the tires. Bike will remain there for weeks. Had a loved bike stolen from me on the bus stop since I had no time to lock it. My brother found it in the schoolyard on his way to work with empty tires (tube lost air very slowly).