Cycling UK Forum

Have to agree with the old knackered looking bike route.

I have found from bitter experience that if I left a newish bike at the station, it didn't matter whether there was a single or multiple locks and cctv, Mr thief would come along with a transit and 6ft bolt croppers and your bike would be gone if he wanted it.

The best £20 I spent was on an old Dawes Mean Street from the LBS. little bit of TLC and it rides like a dream, but it looks so bad (bits of rust on the frame etc) that I have even left it at the station without a lock and it has still been there when I got back.

If your beater bike doesn't quite look quite beat enough.

http://www.rustall.com/

I like the rust thing, I guess it might even make a good barrier against real rust! Any idea what it's made of?

Whatever you do get a good lock but also remember to..................... after locking the bike remove your speedo, tail pack pump etc.Why I say that is because I have just got back from Croydon with the wife and whilst waiting outside a shop for her I watched a cyclist take the time to secure his bike with a D lock and a thick cable lock and was about to walkaway until I reminded him to remove those items.
To be honest given the level of bike thefts in Croydon he was brave to even leave it there because I no longer take the chance.

scottg wrote:If your beater bike doesn't quite look quite beat enough.

http://www.rustall.com/

hmm, hmm........rustall

I can go better than that. Ever since the Duke started investing in human faeces (For a substantial fee he allows sewage companies to dump it on his land. Nominally it's ploughed in within 24 hours; in reality the 30' high piles of human faeces spreading out in a twenty mile radius from his castle, are left untouched for a minimum of 12-15 months).

A bike covered in human faeces is not prized by the thief. And given every back road within twenty miles is 6" deep in the stuff, it doens't take long to cover the bike.