interesting...from roadbikerider.com

[MM_QFC!]

A disposable cardboard bicycle that could cost as little as $30 has been created by a design student at England's Sheffield Hallam University. The idea, according to inventor Phil Bridge, is to make a bike so cheap and disposable that it's unattractive to thieves. He explains, "I was looking at bicycles and how people use them and one of the main problems to me seemed that they were too valuable. So my main goal was to completely devalue the bike into something that everyone had that could be thrown away, left anywhere and you wouldn't have any worries about it." A revolution in bicycle manufacturing? Or an arsonist's dream come true? See the cardboard bike on U.K. journalist Carlton Reid's website at:
http://quickrelease.tv/?p=505

[Trek420]

Sounds like a waste of paper/trees.

Sure, I don't commute with my road bike or would not do that often. I just think more people need a "comuter", the errand bike.

We need more programs that teach bike repair and get used bikes back on the road. In my 'hood it seems like many start out riding then quickly the bike fails and they toss it. "Dude, if you don't inflate the tires they go flat and the bike stops rolling"

[Blueberry]

And we need more, good racks. Lots of bikes get stolen when folks have to lock them in less than ideal places. I'm hyper on locking. I do a mini U through the rear wheel (inside the triangle), and then use a cable to get the front wheel and frame separately locked to the rack. 2 tools - too much trouble for most thieves (I hope).

CA

[Eden]

And we need more, good racks. Lots of bikes get stolen when folks have to lock them in less than ideal places. I'm hyper on locking. I do a mini U through the rear wheel (inside the triangle), and then use a cable to get the front wheel and frame separately locked to the rack. 2 tools - too much trouble for most thieves (I hope).

CA

I switch that if I were you. Mini U from frame to bike rack and wheel(s) with the cable lock. Cable locks are so easy to cut, toss the bike in a truck and then the thief could work on the U-Lock at his leisure...

I had a bike stolen in college from a locked room. The bike also had a U-Lock from the frame to the wheel... obviously it was not a deterrent...

[mimitabby]

I switch that if I were you. Mini U from frame to bike rack and wheel(s) with the cable lock. Cable locks are so easy to cut, toss the bike in a truck and then the thief could work on the U-Lock at his leisure...

I had a bike stolen in college from a locked room. The bike also had a U-Lock from the frame to the wheel... obviously it was not a deterrent...

Eden, i have a Mini-U too. I always try to connect it to the rack, but sometimes
it's just not big enough and I do what CA does then.