Bikes at College Dorms

My son just went away to college. It's a big campus and having a bike up there would be very helpful. They have a policy, though, that bikes can't be stored in dorm rooms (he lives in the dorm). No way would he want to chain his bike to a rack outside. There are racks flipped over with bikes chained to them with bike wheels bent, seats missing, etc. It's a waste - even for a beater bike.

When I was in college, I was able to store a bike in an indoor storage room. It was a women's dorm, though, and it was a smaller college and security wasn't a big problem.

He's going to check into the cycling club up there, but we don't know if maybe they'd know of a good storage option. I think at most, he'd only be riding recreationally.

I was surprised. Is it this bad everywhere now?

Deb

Biking down the main drag at the UofO was pretty much the same scene- rows and rows of bike racks, with stripped, broken and bent junker bikes still chained to them. I suspect quite a few of these bikes are left there for a pretty significant amount of time (Campus workers don't want to try to cut the shackle or cord holding it to the rack, so it remains, and because it's 'there' and already damaged, people continue to trash it)

That said, there were relatively nice racks just outside the dorms, more carefully guarded, but I'd still be nervous about keeping a *nice* bike there... If I had to, though, I'd consider painting the frame or covering the brand names with stickers, removing both wheels (quick releases) seat post, and lock thru frame AND fork. I say this b/c my ex's bike was stripped in a concrete bunker of a bike storage facility- fork, both wheels, seat and seat post stolen.

Hope this isn't too scary, but then again, if you read the 'fine print' on Kryptonite locks, the only places they won't guarantee their locks are New York, Eugene, and a few other places.
I hope someone else has more hopeful tidings...

Which U of O, kitsune? I was just going to give a whole handful of horror stories about attempting to own a bicycle in Eugene!

That being said, yes, bike theft is a huge problem. I honestly wouldn't recommend bringing anything but the most beaten of beaters on campus. There are things you can do to avoid having to bring your seat and wheels into class, which kitsune covered, but in my experience, anything that seems remotely nice gets trashed. I wrapped my frame with duct tape.

I eventually transfered to another university, and it was just as bad there. A friend of mine went to the Univeristy of Washington and was walking down the street when a pickup truck drove by with an entire rack of bicycles in the bed. Apparently it had been removed for sidewalk construction and someone had seized the opportunity.

Campus security might offer a bicycle registration program, but ours was more symbolic than anything else. I didn't bother having anything nice until I moved off campus, and then I kept it locked in my apartment.

I'm hoping someone else has positive things to say, too.

my sons both have lower grade bikes on campus; a Cannondale mtn bike and a nice fixie bike. I'm talking about the U of Washington, they lock their bikes. They've been doing this for 3 or 4 years now, and the only thing they've lost was a multitool

When I was in college I had my locked bike stolen from inside one of the dorm buildings - and our campus was out in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn't suggest having anything nice on campus.

At the university where I teach, the students also have to keep their bikes locked to outside racks, but I've never heard of any significant damage being done to any of them. (And I'm pretty sure I'd hear about it if it happened, since my students generally know I'm a cyclist.) But, our campus is several miles outside of town, so there aren't a lot of non-campus people who bother to come out there--though it does happen occasionally.

On the other hand, I'd be hesitant to keep a nice bike outside all the time, even if the risk of gratuitous damage is minimal. You've still got rain, thunderstorms, snow, and possibly high winds to think about.

This is a major issue for kids who are serious cyclists and people who just want to use their bikes to commute. When my younger son left to go to U of A in Tucson, he went with the intention of continuing to race. He had a brand new carbon custom bike that was his graduation present. He found out that he could not keep his bike in the dorm and that sent him into a real spiral with several phone calls back and forth to the dean from my husband. There was a locked area inside a parking garage, but he did not want the bike to be exposed in any way to the elements, especially the dust/wind whipping through the garage in a desert climate. The cycling team laughed and said,"Oh yea, every year some poor freshman gets caught keeping their bike in the room." So, this is what he did. he kept it inparts under his bed. He convinced the RA to look the other way. But eventually, it wore on him and he stopped riding.

At my university, bike theft was a problem, but if you were smart, it wasn't too bad. I think (not positive) there was a place in the dorms where you could keep your bike. It was a locked storage room, but multiple people on the floor had access, it was not just your room. So, there was a risk involved. We had to register our bikes on campus, and like someone else said, just make sure you have no quick releases and lock the frame and wheel up. If you are concerned about the seat, just take it with you to class.

It didn't seem like the people who stole bikes really know what was a good bike. They just went for the easy target!

What about a folding bike kept in its bag? My downtube cost about $$250 and came with a bag to keep it in when folded up. I use it to commute to my office on a midwestern campus. This is my second year using it and it has been reliable. I don't regularly bag mine - it is just easier to carry up the stairs when the elevator is out and fun to ride. But it did come with a bag.

Oooh, the folding bike is a great idea!! I'll have to remember that when SKnot starts college.

I went to the University of Washington and had bikes the whole time. We could keep them in our rooms at first, then later we had to keep bikes in a "Bike Room" on each dorm floor. (what had been a study room)

When I lived off campus I kept my bikes in my house or apartment. When I locked up on campus during class I never took anything off the bike. Never even locked up the front wheel. Nothing got stolen. I guess I was lucky. Or my bike was crap...

Perhaps the campus has bike lockers? The University I go to has these bike lockers placed around campus and can be rented for the year. Maybe that campus does too?

Yea, bike theft and vandalism and pieces-parts stealing is horrendous on campus here, too (U of I), but not so bad here-here (Parkland COllege, outskirts of same town). Guess the thieves know they get better pickings at the U.
It's a big motivator for off-campus housing (where theft is still awful but you can at least keep the thing in your room).

Yikes, times have charnged-yes it has been 16 years since I was an undergrad, but good grief. I will keep this in mind for when my sons are considering schools. We have been to 4 different locations. As students and now as a professor. I asked my husband if he sees a lot of bikes on the campus he is at and he does not. Although he is fairly certain bike riding is discouraged (we are in Ohio). The previous University (Wyoming) he was at doing his post-doc, almost everyone had a bike and they were very safe. Where we went to grad school, the University (Wisconsin-Madison) was in an extremely bike friendly town with beautiful bike lines and again, all you saw were bikes and they were quite safe ( this was in the early 90s).

Not much help-sorry.

The college Elder Daughter went to (Carleton in MN) has a Yellow Bike program. Beater bikes are donated, painted baby-poop yellow and just left about campus for all and sundry to ride as needed. I think the bike club takes care of maintenence.

This seems to ease the theft program, as Elder Daughter didn't say much about theft problems, and I saw some reasonably good bikes chained to racks outside the dorms.

Of course, Elder Daughter isn't in the least bike crazy (where did I go WRONG???!!!) so she may not have been aware of problems.

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Originally Posted by MomOnBike

The college Elder Daughter went to (Carleton in MN) has a Yellow Bike program.

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Small world, I was right across the river attending college. :)

We have dealt with this problem in two ways. I had my precious bike friday stolen while locked to a bike rack at the medical school where I work. My daughter had her bike 'stolen' or rather confiscated by her campus police by not following a registration procedure she was unaware of. After a couple months the bike was located and returned to her. If we were too do it over, I would buy my daughter a used bike friday that she can fold and put in a bag and carry into her room so it no longer looks like a bike. Another option is to have our kids lobby for indoor secure bike storage. My daughter's current problem is not so much theft and vandalism, but damage from the wet cold new england winters.

When I was in school (74-78) the campus opened a secure bike parking facility that always had a guard who would check in your bike and give you a tag to reclaim it with later in the day. That was for daytime bike parking on campus. This was Cambridge, MA so bike theft was a serious problem. Not sure how the dorms worked, since I never lived in one. I lived in a 30-person co-ed fraternity with lots of bike nuts, so bikes were kept inside the house and the "Pit Bike Shop" was open on request.

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Originally Posted by Eden

When I was in college I had my locked bike stolen from inside one of the dorm buildings - and our campus was out in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn't suggest having anything nice on campus.

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Ditto, exactly. My lock was cut off a rack in the dorm basement. :(

My roommate had a beautiful Trek mtb back in the day when no one knew what mtb's were (barely) and she kept it locked up in our dorm room! :eek:

And we went to a small, weathy school in the middle of nowhere. Go figure.

I forgot to add that my daughter's current solution is to keep an older, relatively inexpensive hybrid at school (i.e. beater), and to use both a U-lock and a cable lock, to at least make it not the easiest bike on the rack to steal.

I second the beater bike route. Craiglist??? Goodwill??? Garage sales????

At the college where I work, I've seen bikes stored in the stairwell-even though I'm sure it was against policy, but no one said anything and I would've put mine there too. locked to somethng sturdy of course-out of the weather. At my Univ- nearby town, bikes are left outside locked to racks. I'm sure some got stolen, but I've seen them left alone too. On one rack I saw the same 3 bikes and no one touched them(one was a beater mtn bike and one a cruiser) and it was a high traffic area. So I guess it's where you are. I agree that campuses should have storage for bikes, that can't take up that much space can they?

This is why I rent a bike locker to the tune of $15/month. The City of Portland has a bank of them installed on campus at Portland State, and it's worth every penny to me.