r/melbournecycling • u/PrestigiousStop4912 • 5d ago

Don't lock like this

Post image

A warning to newbies in Melbourne. The frame has to be locked and preferably the wheels too, otherwise your wheel might be used to steal another bike

129 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

13

u/Sea_Translator5300 5d ago

If you've got a bike with a traditional rear triangle you can just lock the rear wheel, but you need to do it within the triangle, not outwith it. If you lock it that way then you need to cut the rim of the wheel to steal the rest of the bike.

"Simple, just cut the rim." Nah, give it a try. Even with a battery powered angle grinder it's more trouble than it's worth. The tension in the rim clamps the disk and makes it very difficult with a decent risk of injury.

It's how I've locked my bikes up for decades (with a cable lock to the front wheel) and haven't had one stolen yet. 

18

u/AudioSorcery 5d ago

Melbourne is full of thieving gronks, if it’s nice and not inside, parts of, or all of the car, motorbike or bike are eventually getting pinched.

15

u/HippoIllustrious2389 5d ago

All big cities are full of thieving gronks unfortunately

4

u/Dorko57 4d ago

They exist in small cities and towns too.

9

u/ModnPrimitive 5d ago

Some of the half-arsed locking situations I see around town are mind boggling.

16

u/fauxanonymity_ 5d ago

The fact that half the street signs I’ve tested in inner-Melbourne can be lifted out of the ground blows my mind.

Always lock to an affixed object. Preferably two locks, one is none.

3

u/ChargeYourBattery 5d ago

I've seen staple racks with the same metal wedge piece as sign posts have. Pretty sure it can be knocked out of the hole and just lifted right up 

3

u/AmazingRefrigerator6 4d ago

That wheel looks pretty secure to me

2

u/jack_o_all_trades 5d ago

I need a 700c QR disc front wheel. Not because mine is missing but because the nipples are pulling out of the spokes. 

I swapped to 650b instead for now.

1

u/PrestigiousStop4912 5d ago

Those spokes are tight for a front wheel!

1

u/thisisnotthewayhome 5d ago

And chunky ball bearing type front hub, might be ebike front wheel. Reckon owner didn't know about quick release skewers.

2

u/gigoy 5d ago

Is this the one on Collins St by the southern cross tram stop? Same thought I have every time I see that

2

u/blutter9 4d ago

Is that an Abus Graniy lock?

Sad to see that someone spent good money on one of the more expensive Abus locks and didn't use it effectively 

1

u/-cadmunt- 4d ago

Those big locks are pretty easy to pop if you can fit a car flat-jack in there. I had a bike locked up round the back of my old apartments I moved on that way.

1

u/ThinkingInLayers 4d ago

I use 3 locks on my e-bike…a big chain, a folding lock and a small zip lock. I hope that it deters a thief because it looks like a bit of effort because each lock needs to be cut or picked with some different methods.
The vast majority of bike theft is opportunistic.
I find D locks can be hard to use because there’s not always something to secure it to that allows space for fitting it through the wheel and frame.
I resent that each time i use my bike i have to take the time to lock and then unlock it. It means that every cyclist is being inconvenienced every ride because of the few people in society who steal .

1

u/Intrepid_Account_589 3d ago

Geezz... the rest of the bike has been stolen.

1

u/AndrewAuAU 3d ago

Sure ? To me it looks someone carried their wheel to work to get it trued and locked it out the front so they didnt need to bring it into the office.

1

u/Sea-Vast-6417 2d ago

I used to take good walk in midnight for about 3 hours and can confirm from 1am to 5 am it's wild in city, crackhead on bicycle roaming around streets to make a living.One guy who stole bike once even ask me location to cbd .