Dirty Thieves

Bad news this week: Tony the Light Rail Blogger had his bike stolen. In his first month of going carfree. Was that really necessary, Phoenix Bike Thief? I think not.

Unfortunately, far too many of us have had this terrible experience. Is it possible to avoid?

Well, unless you have a super crappy bike that no one wants to steal, I would say no.

Exhibit A: Super Crappy Bike
(but lovely photo)
Photo courtesy of thor.der

Bar loading your bike up with seventeen locks and chaining a bear* to it, if someone really wants to steal your bike, they are going to. So in the face of that depressing thought, what can we do? Well, we can make our bikes really annoying to steal.

There are two locks that seemed to rise to the top in my research as the most secure:

1. The Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U-lock:

Photo courtesy of Kryptonite

2. The Kryptonite Evolution Mini U-lock:

Despite the largeness of this picture, it is actually smaller than the Fahgettaboudit
Photo courtesy of Kryptonite

They are both warrantied and when added to a good cable lock or chain, should give the average bicycle thief pause. You can increase the irritation level of your thief even more by putting them on correctly (tips here and here) and parking your bike in visible, lighted, high traffic areas, avoiding those tempting dark alleys.

YES! Photo courtesy of Pete Reed	NO! Photo courtesy of The Doctr

So what else? Does anyone else out there have any great tips?

*I do not in any way advocate chaining up bears, to bicycles or anything else.

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*****Laura, a commenter over at the Light Rail Blog, left a link to an AWESOME video that rates different locking techniques. Check it out!! Thanks to Laura for the link!

Letter to Mayor Gordon

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Boeke

Dear Mayor Gordon,

It is with great hope that we write to you today. We are the people of downtown Phoenix. We are the faithful, the hopeful, the cycleful. And we have a special request for you:

Can you please put in more bike racks?

In case you haven't noticed, we are growing in number. The new light rail has increased our range and we are cycling, even in the heat, to the grocery store, the coffee shops, bars and restaurants, to the library, museum and ballet.

Can you do this for us? Maybe just a few for now with the promise of more to come? We know that you believe in us because you gave us light rail. Which we like. A lot.

If you do this for us, we will try really hard to ride on the correct side of the street.

Sincerely,

Your Friends in Downtown Phoenix