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How do you lock your bikes in your apartment/student room?

3K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  Ratt 
#1 ·
Hey was wondering if i could get some ideas on the best way to keep my bikes safe in my student house starting from october. I wasnt too botherd about it before because my last house wasnt too bad an area. But the house i`m in this year from october is known for car break in`s quite often around the house i`m staying in, my mates car got robbed right outside my student house ive signed a contract on for october...... And i might have three bikes in the room, the XC bike, free ride/ all mountain definately, and maybe the road,.. not sure if i`ll be riding that one. A fair amount of $$ anyway.
Wondering about getting a good lock but the bike can still be robbed that way!, even though it cant be cycled. A rack or something that i can lock it to maybe? would like to know how other people like thier bikes that don`t have garages or anything. Don`t want to come off as being paranoid but i`d hate it to have my bikes stolen.

cheers, mike.
 
#2 ·
I'm in a similar situation living in student accommodation on campus in a shared room. I only have one bike with me (my XC/trail bike)... What I've done is drilled in a hook into the top of my wardrobe - with a bolt on the otherside - and then have a damn heavy Kryptonite lock going through the frame & front wheel hooked up to it. I also have another lock going through the frame and rear wheel. NB: I store my bike on top of the wardrobe.

Call me paranoid, but I had one bike stolen and there's no way in the world I'd be able to afford another XC dually right now: not till I finished my degree and went back to working anyway.
 
#3 ·
I live on campus with my bike and I keep it in my dorm room. Is there any way you can do that? That way you can just lock it in the room when you're not there.

I know dorm rooms are small, but if you play with the setup enough, you should be able to work something out?

One trick I foudn that may or may not work for you: if your dorms have bunkbeds such as mine, take them down and have two separate beds, then invert the risers that would normally hold up the top bunk and put them under your bed so its "lofted" off of the ground. Then you can store your bike underneath. This is what I did all last year when my roommate and I had two bikes stored in a tiny dorm room with two beds, desks, dressers, and a futon. We still had room for partyin too :)
 
#4 ·
You can lock your bike up and all that, but if someone really wants it...they'll get it. The only way to have real piece of mind is to get the bike insured. If you bought renters insurance, it would cover everything in your apartment up to a certain amount. If you get an additional "rider policy" on your bikes, they will be covered for theft anywhere outside of your aparment. My renters insurance protects everthing in my house (computers, furniture, clothing, bikes, etc.) from fire, theft, or weather related damage. I also got a "rider" policy for each of my 2 bikes, which covers them from theft no matter where they are. The renters insurance (plus a $4000 rider for my 2 bikes) is around $400 a year. It's really not that expensive for some piece of mind. Since you are a student, you may be able to get the bikes covered as a "rider" under your parents' home owners insurance. That would be like $100 a year for the bikes, but you would have to talk to your folks and thier insurance agent. Sorry for the long answer, but it is worth checking out.
 
#5 ·
In addition to having a house alarm system I lock up some of my bikes. I have several methods: Kryptonite or cable 2 together (thieves couldn't ride them off), cable them to the double decked bike stand, cable them to home gym equipment.
 
#6 ·
Cable them all together

I have 3 cables and 3 different locks and cable and lock all the bikes together. My locks are hefty, the cables go through all the wheels and frames. And since I have a couple of U locks, I use them also. Ain't no one gonna walk off with 5 bikes chained together! While I know a thief with a cut-off wheel or a massive bolt cutter can get thru all this, it would slow him down. While this may seem a little paranoid, I can tell my insurance company about all the carnage if I should get ripped off. If you search the forum you will find some references to insurance claims denied if the bike was not locked securely.

Problem is to disentangle a bike to ride . . .

Rick
 
#7 ·
......

thanks for the replys, good to hear how other people are dealing with locking thier bikes. On top of the wardrobe sounds good lol, or under the bed! ye gotta keep the babies safe......thing is its a rented room in a five person house so alot of the time i won`t know who`s coming in and out when i`m not there. I`ll figure something out i`m sure, cable option sounds pretty simple and safe round the three bikes.
 
#9 ·
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Finch Platte said:
Better take remedial English while you're there. :eekster:

fp
Okay i post replys in an internet cafe, so i`m paying by the minute, last thing on my mind is good grammer......mainly cuz i can`t afford to buy a computer with the $$ i`m spending on bikes!! Anyway as lnog as the fisrt and lsat lettres are in the rghit plcae msot of the tmie u can still raed it.
 
#10 ·
Damitletsride! said:
Okay i post replys in an internet cafe, so i`m paying by the minute, last thing on my mind is good grammer......mainly cuz i can`t afford to buy a computer with the $$ i`m spending on bikes!! Anyway as lnog as the fisrt and lsat lettres are in the rghit plcae msot of the tmie u can still raed it.
Accodrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

I was wondering the same thing. I'm living in a 4 bedroom + living area + bathrooms with three other guys. I'm not sure if the rooms will have locks on them, and I was brainstorming the best way to lock up my bike to deter theft. I have no idea who's going to be in and out of my "community" while I'm not there. The best I could come up with was a U-lock around the frame/rear tire and then maybe another cable locking it to something fixed in the room. I guess I'll have to see when I get there.
 
#11 ·
....

56Bulldogs said:
Accodrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Ye i saw that a while back, funny.

Good luck with the bike lock, none of us want our babies getting stolen!
 
#12 ·
56Bulldogs said:
Accodrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.......
Dmam, i was fcknuig albe to raed taht.
 
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