New to commute

[melly]

My question isn't about the commute itself, but how I might keep my bike safe when it's locked up outside lecture theatres. When I got my bike (8 months ago), uni seemed much too distant to commute to and so I, being superficial, picked the prettiest in-my-garage lock-up-able Electra Amsterdam Balloon 8 I could find. Having moved house, uni is just a tantilising 11 kms away but now I am worried that my brown leather grips and cream tires are too flashy and ridiculous and expensive looking for outside safety. Should I just throw a bike cover over the lot of it? Or maybe a dodgy-looking tarpaulin ...

[Triskeliongirl]

Get a very good lock (like a kryptonite NYC), but leave it attached to the rack at school since it will be too heavy to want to bike around with.

[sfa]

My Electra got stolen within a week of bringing it home. These bikes are magnets for thieves--when I searched Craigslist for "Electra" in my area, every single one of the listings was someone posting a stolen bike. Sigh.

That said, there's no point in having a bike if you're too scared to ride anywhere on it for fear of it being stolen (and FWIW, mine was stolen from my house). I usually go for the two lock method--use a U-lock and a good cable lock and lock it somewhere that gets a lot of foot traffic so a potential thief might think it's not worth the risk of being noticed trying to steal it. I also tend to try to lock my bike near a bike that is less protected than my own, figuring that if someone is going to steal something, surely they'd go for the easy one first? It's probably all voodoo, and in any case it's not like I have a lot of choices of where to park my bike (on a busy day there might be two other bikes on the rack). And make sure to write down the serial number so you have it for the police if necessary!

Sarah

[Biciclista]

must be a posse of bike thieves somewhere on Elecktras!!

buy the best lock you can afford and use it diligently

[Tri Girl]

I like the two lock method, too. I've used that method with success.
I went a different route recently, tho. I have a really great Bike Friday that I adore, but am worried it will get stolen when I run errands because it's so unique and different. I went on Craigslist and bought a junker Schwinn World Tourist for $20. It's old, it's paint is ugly and rusted and I put stickers all over it. I use that for the grocery store (when I'm inside for a long time) and for when it's raining/wet (when I don't care if it gets dirty). I still ride my nice bikes for long rides, but the "grandma" bike is for those times when I am running errands and am "worried" something might happen to it.
Maybe you could do that? Save the really nice Electra for rides when it doesn't have to be locked up or left unattended for long periods of time.

[melly]

I did my first commute today (25 km woohoo. Endorphin happy) and the bike certainly got a lot of (positive) attention. I'll buy a second lock, thanks for the advice, and wait and see about a second if my nerves get too shot. It's only ever out of my sight for an hour or two, and in heavy foot traffic, so I hope it'll be okay.

[Tri Girl]

Congrats on your first commute!!!! I hope it's the first of many to come.