Who Rides to Starbucks?

[la bicicleta]

Let's say I want to ride to Starbucks, what lock is good? Key or combo?

I haven't seen a bike rack at Starbucks. What do you normally secure your bike to? Anyone carry it in? Drive-Thru?

[Tri Girl]

Well, I don't ride TO Starbucks, but we do a weekly ride that starts there and ends there. We do enjoy a nice drink afterward, however. I have been known to bring my bike inside the coffee shop and set it near my table (I try to sit near the door). I suppose you could go through the drive through- although some places frown on that. Not sure about the Starbucks..
There are really no bike racks anywhere in our town (aside from schools) , so I just have a cable lock that's pretty long (key kind), and lock it to whatever is bolted down (garbage can, railing, bench, sign post). You have to get creative sometimes, which is why I have a 3 foot cable lock.

[PscyclePath]

Let's say I want to ride to Starbucks, what lock is good? Key or combo?

I haven't seen a bike rack at Starbucks. What do you normally secure your bike to? Anyone carry it in? Drive-Thru?

U-Locks rule!

But then I'm in a bad part of town...



I don't ride to Starbucks, but our little Sunday afternoon group ride often winds up at a little coffee shop, Community Bakery, over on the south side of town. What I've found to be most versatile and still easy to carry is a 3-foot, key-locking cable, and locking up to a lamp post or steel railing if there's no decent bike rack around.

Tom

[KnottedYet]

Starbucks around here have racks for the most part. If you ride up thru the drive-thru they refuse to serve you. (I've tried it, they say you are a hazard... Hmmmm... and they aren't allowed by company policy to serve bikes in the drive-up.)

I tend to prefer independent espresso stands who WILL serve me at the window or coffee shops that let me bring my bike in (Yay, Diva Espresso!). But if I were to need a lock, I'd use my On Guard u-lock with cable.

Used it with just the u-lock part at the beer garden for Oktoberfest.

[fastdogs]

how do you carry your u-lock on your bike? When I got my trek, I bought a heavy cable combination lock, and they put it on the seatpost. But I don't carry it there much. I looked at U-locks in REI, and they seemed very large and heavy- just not sure how you'd transport one so you'd have it when you needed it.
vickie

[KnottedYet]

If I'm carrying a pannier (which I usually am) I put the u-lock and cable in there.

If not, I bungee it to my rack.

[kelownagirl]

I always leave my bike outside against the window and sit where I can watch it. I live in a pretty safe area where no one would walk up and steal it under those conditions.

[Eden]

Some U-Locks also come with a frame clamp if your frame has space for it.....
I vary my approach depending on which bike I'm riding. My race bike is never left, locked or not, unless its locked on top of the car, and even then not for very long. My other bikes are not usually left for very long (like not locked outside during say, a work or school day - just while I'm in a store or running an errand). I use a cable lock mainly for ease of transport- I do not have space on my frame for a U-lock. I figure that the lock is just to keep honest people honest.
There is one place I will leave my bike somewhat unattended - and it happens to be Starbucks... our team meets and ends there often, as do many other teams and groups of cyclists. There's always a big pile of bikes parked outside and rarely do I see anyone lock them - its a pretty safe area and there's a lot of sets of eyes there almost all the time.

Kind of funny/not so funny story - I was downtown waiting for a bus once and this very homeless looking kind of drunk guy comes walking up, pushing a bike and talks to another homeless looking guy. Homeless guy two says "I didn't know you had a bike", homeless guy one looks startled " where did I get this"........... This is why I lock up my bike - I don't think I can keep it safe if one of the bike thief pros wants it, but I certainly don't want some drunk homeless guy walking off with it either.

[smilingcat]

I always remove my front wheel and carry it with me.

The bike is left were I can either see it. If I can't see it then I don't go to the store.

smilingcat

[TsPoet]

I love my street cuffs for places that make me nervous (like WalMart ). They weight 2.5 lbs!!! I lost my key once and had to leave my bike locked to the back of my truck for a week. I took it to two locksmiths and an auto mechanic that I know, all three of them said I was SOL, that the street cuff was impenetrable with anything they had. One of the locksmiths recommended I befriend a fireman, that the jaws of life should be able to cut it off.
(I found the key!)

http://www.masterlockcycle.com/product_9link.shtml

[mimitabby]

Eden, is that in Leschi?
We stop at the Pert's deli across the street from that starbucks.
When stopping at a coffeeshop for a break, we usually lock up about 3-8 bikes all together with various numbers of locks. We feel some safety in numbers.
When it's just one or two of us, we do the same thing.

i have the smaller size krytpo lock with key, dh has the larger size with combo, both seem good.

[horsemom]

Ha! I bike to Starbucks so I can justify the 300+ calories in a grande soy latte! Our local shop (only 8 miles each way) is on a college campus and has a bike rack. I don't carry a lock, but I watch it out the window. Salsa is definately the prettiest (and certainly the most expensive!!) bike on the rack, but this is a sleepy little midwest type town, so I don't get too worried.

Caffeine fueled,
Laura

[Xrayted]

Kitsune and I both have Street Cuffs. They fit in the same space as a water bottle basically. We have the 2 link ones that are good to lock up one bike. The one Tspoet posted is made for motorcycles or to lock up 2-3 bikes. Ours are around 2 lbs I think. Here they are mounted on a couple of our bikes. They run roughly $50-60. The holders are $10 and fit perfectly to the water bottle bolts.







These things are very strong. The recommended way to lock up is to remove your front tire (if you don't have locking skewers) and put it next to your rear tire. Then lock the cuff to the rear frame, run it through both wheels and then around something solid.
We go everywhere we can with our bikes and have no qualms about locking them up. I have a big thick cable lock for when they are on the bike rack, along with using the cuffs.
If you ride to work everyday or something, you may just want to leave your lock hanging there so you don't have to lug it along everywhere. Most of us where I work do that so they've installed a big ring for that purpose.

Like Eden said, it will keep the honest, honest and if someone really wants to steal your bike, they will find a way. Happy trails.

[rhiannon008]

The kryptonite New York u-lock seems to work really well (I still have my bike),especially in conjunction with a cable lock. It may seem like overkill, but after having the same bike stolen twice , I gave up on the idea of just using a cable lock no matter how strong it may appear.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Warning: Don't linger TOO long over your Starbucks triple latte while your bike is outside chained to a tree.....
http://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/...ke-in-tree.jpg