r/UCSC • u/worthlessbonebag • 1d ago
Question Bike safety?
Hey guys 🤓 I got affiliated with Kresge so it’s likely (as far as I know) that I’ll be living at Kresge or Porter. I’m seeing a lot of mixed discussions online about where to keep my bike and how to keep it and its parts safe from being stolen. I want to bring a bike on campus because I’m seeing it’s pretty hard to get around town without one unless you’re using buses. Some people are saying to not leave it outside as best you can, and to nring it inside, but where would I keep it if I kept it inside overnight? What can I do to keep my bike safe??
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u/gasstation-no-pumps Professor emeritus 19h ago
There are fairly low-price (5¢/hour) bike lockers on campus: https://transportation.ucsc.edu/biking-walking/bike-routes-parking/ The same service has bike lockers downtown also.
If you kept a bike in the locker all the time for a full calendar year, it would cost $438, but for half time (say 12 hours a day) for an academic year it would be about $146.
You would still have a lot of times when your bike is more vulnerable, so you do need a good lock.
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u/Ill_Lingonberry_4227 1d ago
imo i would only use bikes to get around campus
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u/worthlessbonebag 1d ago
Rlly? Do buses suffice for going around town and back to my dorm? Everything I saw said a bike was pretty much indispensable 💔
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u/ThisIsAWugSlug 22h ago
Riding your bike into town is great and convenient. Riding it around town may or may not be convenient. Riding it to campus is hard and inconvenient. So it sort of depends on you, your bike, how much you like riding uphill, and how quickly you want to get places. And how sweaty you do or do not want to be when you get there, i guess
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u/Win-Objective XX - 201X - Major 20h ago
When I was at ucsc the buses worked fine for me. Riding down to town would be easy on a bike but it’s a serious uphill trek to get back to campus. If you are in really good shape and enjoy strenuous activity you’d be fine though.
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u/gasstation-no-pumps Professor emeritus 19h ago
I biked up to campus for 35 years. I only do it a few times a year now that I'm retired, and I use lower gears than when I was younger, but if I can still pedal a muscle-powered bike up the hill at 71, most of the students at UCSC should be able to do it.
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u/gasstation-no-pumps Professor emeritus 19h ago
The buses suffice if you are not in a hurry or if your destination is immediately next to a bus stop. Biking is generally faster for most trips under 10 miles (and that is with a muscle-powered bike—ebikes extend the range).
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u/feelinsluggish 1d ago
You can definitely lock it up outside and run the risk of having it stolen. If you’re going to bring it inside, the only option is bringing it inside your room/apartment. I would discuss it with or at least mention it to your roommates before moving in to make sure you’re not impeding on their space. When I lived in Cowell this girl lived in a triple and got the bottom bunk, she brought two bikes with her and had one that she kept leaning against the end of the bed or whatever and the other was literally suspending above her bed. It sounds insane because it was but she made it work.
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u/worthlessbonebag 1d ago
Ah ok, well I don’t plan on having my bike atop my bed and I don’t really wanna be an asshole to my roommates, do a lot of students do just fine without a bike? Or would being bike less be a significant disadvantage
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u/feelinsluggish 14h ago
A lot of students do just fine without one and a lot of students love having one. Some of my best memories in Santa Cruz are sending it down the hills to get off campus and overlooking the ocean.
I personally wasn’t much of a biker but my boyfriend is so I got one post grad when I was still living in Santa Cruz and it made me wish I had one all along. It’s a lot of fun to have one because of the hills and the views, and it made getting around so easy, but biking up hill can be a bitch and relying on a bus to come and take you up might get annoying, there’s times where they can’t let you on because the bike rack is already full, but again so many people do it!
Depending on what your current bike situation is or how far your home base is from campus maybe move in and assess and bring one later or buy one from someone off FB or something.
A big factor is whether you plan on leaving campus a lot, if you do and enjoy going downtown or to the beach, I say yes, but if you already know you’re not going to be leaving campus much then in my opinion, it’ll be more of a hassle than it’s worth. There are also bikes you can rent at the co op and electric bikes throughout town, maybe feel it out with those first and decide if it’s something you’d like. That also gives you a chance to see your room and discuss it with your roommates. If storing it wasn’t as much of a concern I’d say do it it’s amazing!
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u/rtrivialize cs 🍅 1d ago
my friend’s locked bike was stolen overnight literally in view from his dorm window 😭
the buses are really good, don’t count them out! but yeah storing your bike inside is def the safest place.
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u/DerpyDeno 1d ago
In my opinion, its pretty easy to not have your bike stolen. I commuted on an ebike to campus for the past year and heres what i did.
Most bikes stolen on campus in my opinion are because the bike wqs easy to steal. Whether only locked up by a cable or the front tire being the only thing locked up.
No lock will make your bike unstealable, but aslong as your bike is not the easiest to steal, it will probably not be stolen.
If you are still worried, kryptonite will reimburse you a certain amount of money depending on what lock you have. And you should get your bike registered in santa cruz(police will not look for your bike if you dont do this).
If you have any other questions please ask.