Serotta chained to a parking meter

[sc53]

Spending 10 days in San Francisco and came across this nice white Serotta outfitted as a track bike/fixie chained to a meter near Union Square. Man this would not last long in DC. Is SF a safer town?

[ThomasRZ]

You'll see all sorts of nice stuff locked-up in SF. It gets stolen quite often, too.

[d_douglas]

My buddy leaves his CSI outside of his office all the time. I have given him several warnings, but he ignores it. It is a safe area, but still . . . it's a Serotta...

[Pete Serotta]

Hopefully it does not happen - - -but any bike is tempting to many... :crap:

[norcalbiker]

This bike most likely belongs to a messenger. They leave it for a very short time. Bikes do get stolen here in S.F. Financial District and Downtown area (Union Square). But they better not get caught by those messengers because it will be too late before S.F. Cops get involve.

[Pete Serotta]

This bike most likely belongs to a messenger. They leave it for a very short time. Bikes do get stolen here in S.F. Financial District and Downtown area (Union Square). But they better not get caught by those messengers because it will be too late before S.F. Cops get involve.
:D

[zott28]

That kind of stuff happens all the time here. The hipster level in SF is so high that locking up a 85 Colnago to a meter is an everyday thing here. There is an a lot striped bikes still chained to meters too.

Here's one of my favorites that I saw last month. Made me laugh so much I had to take a picture. Locked up his bike around the seat post, it wasn't a super sweet Serotta but a nice, and I'm sure he'd be sad if it was gone, cannondale.

http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/i/335389095045_0_0.jpg?outquality=56&ext=.jpg&limitsize=615,500

[fiamme red]

He didn't even lock the rear wheel. :crap:

[dookie]

He didn't even lock the rear wheel. :crap:

bolt on.

[fiamme red]

bolt on.And how would that stop a bike thief? He'd have the wheel off in seconds.

I live in NYC and lock my bike up every day when I go to work, so I've learned to think like a bike thief. :)

[fiamme red]

These videos are instructive and funny:

http://www.streetfilms.org/hal-grades-your-bike-locking/

http://www.streetfilms.org/hal-and-kerri-grade-your-bike-locking/

http://www.streetfilms.org/hal-grades-your-bike-locking-3-the-final-warning/

[flydhest]

I have locked my Legend (significantly newer than the one pictured) to parking meters and other stuff here in DC. Just today for a doctor's appointment, I locked my Look 585 (it was the one that I got my workout in on in the morning and so was with me at my office) to a bike rack.

Quick release wheels are secured, of course, but with a cable. In my decade+ of commuting to work here and using the bike as primary transportation, never an issue.

[gasman]

I've never locked any of the 386 bikes I've owed in Eugene.
I still own 4. The rest were "lost":)

[97CSI]

My buddy leaves his CSI outside of his office all the time. I have given him several warnings, but he ignores it. It is a safe area, but still . . . it's a Serotta...Any chance you could grab it for me? I need a CSI. :cool:

[spamjoshua]

I never locked my bikes up unless they were in a controlled room. Most often they were in my office, on my shoulder, or at home, when not being ridden.

That said, there are many great bikes in SF, not just hipster collections of clashing colors, but aficionado pieces from hip collections...

I also note, that when you build a relationship with your regular bar, dining establishment, cafe, corner store... you often get no questions when you carry your bike in with you. Many a bar also includes door guards (smokers) and friends watching out for you.

Parked next to the pinball machine at the back of the Kilowatt last saturday was a:

Ferrari Rosso(?) Yellow Cinneli track bike; record ti post, requisite brooks, sheriff star hubs to GP4s, campy record headset, record bb (I believe), and record track cranks.

There are plenty of city folks, earning good money, and having no reason to own, park, nor pay tickets on a car. That often leaves room for nice bikes. :)

Locking a nice bike up is courage I do not have. When I lived in DC in the late 80s and early 90s I had friends beaten, and their bikes stolen out from under them. That was a different world that left deep impressions.

Joshua

[jvp]

I rarely carry a lock, I just limit my destinations to where I can watch my bike, or take it in (work, coffee shop). For the grocery store I take a lock, but it's just a 1 mile trip.

[maximus]

SF gets more style points than DC in the bike department. I saw more bikes that got my blood pressure moving over a two day visit to SF than I have in 2 years here in DC.

[dookie]

And how would that stop a bike thief? He'd have the wheel off in seconds.

same way locking the doors of your car helps prevent theft. opportunistic thieves will look for easier pickins. no, that's not all thieves. you're right, a dedicated thief will break the window, or in this case have a 15mm and swipe the wheel.

[spamjoshua]

Folks looking for their next hit may well pick a $300 department store full-suspension bike over a serotta with a tired saddle and scratched paint.

The folks around college campuses seem to be able to clear 20 bikes in a night.

No need for a 15mm, with threadless,and a 5mm allen on 4 or 5 bolts (bars or brake cable?) ... you can have a wheel and a fork pretty quick.

Thus, why I seldom risk a thing.

Joshua

[fiamme red]

same way locking the doors of your car helps prevent theft. opportunistic thieves will look for easier pickins. no, that's not all thieves. you're right, a dedicated thief will break the window, or in this case have a 15mm and swipe the wheel.This is about as easy pickins as it gets, unless the bike itself were unlocked or the wheels were quick-release.

A light, cheap cable lock would also deter an opportunistic thief (assuming that the bike and lock couldn't just be lifted over the meter), who doesn't have the tools to cut a cable lock. But I know people who locked their bikes up for a couple of minutes in Manhattan with a flimsy cable lock, and came out to find the bike gone. Same with unlocked wheels. Track wheels are in demand, and fetch a nice price on Craigslist.

[anomaly]

Having lived in both bike theft is MUCH more common in SF than it was in DC. If I have to leave my lockup bike on the street it gets 2 u-locks and a bike chain through the saddle/seat stay. If someone steals my bars (which is very common) well...????.

[victoryfactory]

Does the average bike thief know the difference
between a 5K Serotta and a $100 Schwinn?
Or are they just grabbing anything they can and
figuring it out later?
I bet the actual thieves are fencing them for 20 bucks
and the next guy is the one who knows what he's got.


VF

[anomaly]

In SF the meth heads know very well what bike is worth taking. There are also a large number of bike theft rings that operate in the area and transport the bikes to flea markets and/or other cities to sell.

[Ti Designs]

No brake and a large gear in SF, and you think locking it on the street is dangerous???

[zott28]

In SF the meth heads know very well what bike is worth taking. There are also a large number of bike theft rings that operate in the area and transport the bikes to flea markets and/or other cities to sell.

+1, if your bike is stolen in SF, go to the ashby flea market in berkeley or coliseum flea market in Oakland, good chance it will be there.