The paradox of having a good bike

[1982john]

When shopping for a new bike for the first time in many years and for the first time ever having enough money to buy something half decent I've found myself holding back on extravagence for fear of making myself a target.

This to me presents a paradox that I've not considered before. I want a bike that is enjoyable to ride - it would be an hours commute either way and the train is very tempting on rubbish days. While it is not a linear equation but with some consistency bikes are better as they get more expensive. Just the mere tbought of not having to pull those extra KGs up a hill on windy days is worth the extra £££.

The unfortunate downside of having a somewhat flashy bike is that it makes you a target. Probably more so in Britain than other european countries where people tend to spend on average a lot less on their bikes so antyhing which is not a tesco <£100 with double suspension makes you stand out. Mine would have to be left in a sheltered bike rack. Whie I can of course use a gold standard lock I'd still be suseptable to thieves waiting in the bushes and to mug me as I leave. This is has happened to other students at my place...

So I seemed to be left with the choice: I either get a bike which is boring but wont make me a target or something flashy and forever unsure to leave it unwatched for more than a few minutes.

[pwa]

My son has a good bike and was going to use it for commuting to Uni but I convinced him to use a skip rescue bike I'd done up for him instead, and always lock it up near a more attractive bike. He uses two good locks that are left on the bike stands so he doesn't have to carry them.

[foxyrider]

My son has a good bike and was going to use it for commuting to Uni but I convinced him to use a skip rescue bike I'd done up for him instead, and always lock it up near a more attractive bike. He uses two good locks that are left on the bike stands so he doesn't have to carry them.

+1

By all means buy the nice bike but use it for leisure not commuting.

[Mick F]

I depends on where you commute to. If it's so you leave your bike in a public place, yes, use a skip bike.
If it's to a secure place, why not use a nice bike?

I understand that not all cyclists can have that luxury of course.

[meic]

You can have a good bike that doesnt look flashy.

Most people (and potential opportunists) dont have a clue what is CF, titanium, XTR, Rohloff, Mercian etc and would happily steal the Tesco's MTB next to it instead.

Insulation tape, scratches, old components, scuffed panniers and even a bit of surface rust work wonders.

[horizon]

Just to help you get your head round this:

You say your commute is one hour. That's say 12 miles at peak time giving rise to a return train fare (I would have thought) of about £10. That's £50 per week or about £200 per month. In six months you could have paid off your £1200 bike (if you want to leave something even more expensive then that's a different ball game).

With a good lock, a reasonable locking-up spot and some household insurance you shouldn't lose your bike more than twice a year.

But my advice would be to find a better, safer place to leave it.
Enjoy!

[JohnW]

+1 to MickF, pwa and foxyrider et al.

You can keep a bike that LOOKS like a mobile scrapheap in good, efficient and safe condition - I did it for 27 years, to commute 10 miles each way every day. Another advantage was that I didn't mind getting it wet and mucky. I'd have been very conscious of the winter salt and crud getting into and onto decent components. I used to replace the badly worn (otherwise described as 'clapped out') bits from my commuter bike with part worn ones from my better bike and that meant that my better bike was always pristine.

[JohnW]

................But my advice would be to find a better, safer place to leave it.
Enjoy!

I agree with that, as well...............but experience says that you can't always find a better place. Not all employers are as good as mine became.

[TrevA]

Ive had 3 bikes stolen over the years. One locked up outside work, another from Uni and a 3rd borrowed by my son who was stupid enough to leave it locked up in the city centre overnight. I wouldn't leave a good bike in a vulnerable place.

So, either buy 2 bikes - a good one for leisure rides and a cheaper one for commuting, or disguise your good bike as a "rat bike" - make it look tatty and old, but you can still enjoy the lightness and efficiency.

[Brucey]

I am also a subscriber to the 'ratty-looking-bike' principle.

It helps if it is fitted with weird or undesirable components, too. I have one bike that is so ratty looking that it has been taken and dumped again. It has scruffy bar tape, scruffy paint, some rust, an IGH (that looks like a SA 3s hub but isn't), weird looking shifters mounted on the stem pinch bolt and a plastic bag over the saddle. It has dropped bars but non-aero levers, a drilled stem (for canti hanger), the roughest looking pair of MTB SPD pedals you have ever seen (which seems to deter opportunist thieves who just want something to ride). It does have a modern hub dynamo in it, but that is the only recognisably recent or even vaguely desirable part. The frame is covered in braze-ons that make it almost unique.

This bike looks dreadful but is actually very competent and I will happily ride it 50-100 miles at a stretch on occasion. It is usually fitted with a setup that gives it ten gears from ~22" to 100". Sure it could easily be two or three pounds lighter in weight, but I'd probably have to carry a lock that weighed two or three pounds more if I wanted to keep it too....

I didn't set out to make the bike this scruffy, it just kind of happened by itself. I could make it look tidy again but I probably won't, because it won't make it better to ride, but it will make the bike more likely to be nicked.

cheers

[Vorpal]

Most of my miles are commuting ones. At least, when the weather is nice, I want to do it on something that is a joy to ride, rather than something that isn't a theft target.

I had a friend in the UK who had a number of hand-built custom frames. They were all painted with a tatty looking matt black & battleship gray, as if someone had just done it with a couple of cans of Hammerite. Even though they were really nice bikes, they didn't at all look it, and as far as I know he never had one stolen, despite being fairly lax about security.

[AdamS]

I'd have been very conscious of the winter salt and crud getting into and onto decent components.

+1
Year round commuting in the UK can do horrible things to bikes.

[Brucey]

one of the reasons my scruffy bike looks so scruffy is that it is coated in waxoyl in places to stop it from corroding. I believe that storing it outside also helps with the road salt problem; the salt simply gets washed off by the rain. I don't think my scruffy bike is much different to ride than my favourite touring bike; it is similar weight and geometry etc.

I have various bikes that are more of a 'joy to ride' and whilst I might occasionally use those to commute to a workplace (with secure storage), I'd never leave those locked up anywhere.

BTW shiny bits attract crims; a chum of mine had most of a campag groupset nicked from his bike when it was parked. All it took was a thieving sod armed with one 5mm allen key to do it. Having odd/obscure sized fasteners may make your carry-about toolkit a bit more bulky but it does presumably slow these blighters down.

cheers

[Vorpal]

I have various bikes that are more of a 'joy to ride' and whilst I might occasionally use those to commute to a workplace (with secure storage), I'd never leave those locked up anywhere.

BTW shiny bits attract crims; a chum of mine had most of a campag groupset nicked from his bike when it was parked. All it took was a thieving sod armed with one 5mm allen key to do it. Having odd/obscure sized fasteners may make your carry-about toolkit a bit more bulky but it does presumably slow these blighters down.

cheers

We have indoor cycle parking at my work, with secure (card reader) entry. My bike is likely safer there than at home. I do make the occasional stop on my way home from work; I carry a good quality, gold standard lock and am careful about where and how long I leave my bike. I've been known to wheel it around a shop or a shopping centre, if I'm not happy with the cycle parking arrangements.

p.s. I'm with those suggesting the OP find a better place to park the bike!

[fastpedaller]

I've seen a product recently that could be useful in making a good bike look undesirable!
www.rustypaint.com
I have no connection with the company and haven't see the results 'in the flesh' but have seen photos of it's results in a car magazine.