Sometimes I wonder if my habit of leaving the bike unlocked outside the shop is going to come back and bite me one of these days. Theoretically, I’m only popping in for a few seconds, but sometimes there’s a queue, and even if there isn’t there’s usually a tale to be told, or at least some bantering to be done, and second turn into minutes. And the bike’s there regularly enough that if it should catch someone’s eye… I’d feel a right fool if it was stolen, and I’d have nobody to blame but myself. And the person who nicked it, of course.
But then, but then. My London-issue U-lock weighs a ton so I’d rather not cart it about, and really what is the point of living in the country if you can’t boast about leaving your bike unlocked outside the shop to incredulous Londoners? And why bother fiddling about with keys and locks for my bike when everyone else doesn’t just leave their car unlocked, but their engine running too and sometimes – like the van outside the shop this morning, while the owner was inside having a chat – the driver’s door wide open as well.
One of these days, if it’s raining, I might just be tempted myself.
I have one of those under sadle bag thingies with a cheap Halfords lock in it. I suspect the lock wouldn’t cause any determined thief for anything more than a few seconds but it saves me lugging a D lock about and it means that when I do need to leave the bike for a few minutes it’s at least going to require more than just jumping on it to steal it.
The girlfriend has a much sturdier lock on hers which is long enough to lock my bike too so if we’re out for lunch we don’t need to worry about them. She also has the pump and a bike that isn’t silly so there’s space on the frame for all this stuff
I have a couple of those lightweight cable lock things – they’re easy to wrap on the frame and I can just lock one frame to lampost if I’ll not be long or can do the whole looping through saddle and wheels if I’m in town. That said, if I lived in the sticks, I’d probably not bother.
I do remember leaving one unlocked in town, however, and chasing after it for about half a mile before giving up exhausted and angry.
Dom – we’ll make a cyclist of you yet…
Pete – were you chasing it on foot? I’m surprised you got that far!
For what it’s worth I usually stop on my commute into work to buy a paper, and don’t lock the bike – and that’s where Bermondsey shades into Borough and Elephant and Castle. Likewise, don’t lock it when I occasionally stop at my local convenience store on the way home (in Millwall). But in both cases, it’s possible to see the bike from inside the shop, and, as it happens, I know the street cleaner in Bermondsey keeps an eye on it (because he asked me about my wing mirror device) and my local shop owner is for some reason fascinated by folding bikes.
But who knows whether some tearaway isn’t going to take a chance? Once I locked it up outside Burlington Arcade and came out to find someone had decided to use my basket as a rubbish bin.
I think it’s exactly the sort of situation a wheel-lock is called for – very little hassle and at least likely to slow the thieves down. Although that won’t help with the basket-as-litter-bin problem (which I remember well from my London commuting days)