Chicago wheels

[RichardJDaley]

I am moving back to the city, and am worried about my new wheels getting stolen. I already have taken a couple of preventive measures to protect other individual components on my bike from theft, but I am stuck on pretecting the wheels. I want to add 5/16 nuts to the axles, like you would see on wal mart bikes in order to protect them from theft, but the axles are obviously to thin to be threaded. I was thinking about just simply slipping zip ties around the quick release and fork, as a simple mental deterrent for theft but obviously this will not fully protect from theft. I was wondering if anyone out there had any advice for overcomming this problem?

[jon_is_drunk]

Bike thieves are pretty common here, especially if you leave your stuff locked up outside for a long time in a low-visibility setting. There's one guy you can always find around Wicker Park and Bucktown riding something extremely stolen and trying to sell it to anyone he can come across for whatever they have in their wallets; I've had several acquaintances have seriously unfortunate experiences with him, not limited to him stealing the bicycle back that they mistakenly and naively purchased.
Anyways; the most common solution here is the u-lock and krypto-flex cable. This seems to work well on keeping the tires from flying away on old cruisers, low-grade Treks, heavy new Specialized, and various 'etc. etc.' what have you fuji, marin, entry-level city bikes, *provided the bicycle is locked up properly.* Insofar as I've biked in this city, I've seen at least four dozen back tires orphaned and still idiotically u-locked to a parking meter, being that some unfortunate individual felt that the most secure way to lash their bike to the meter was simply by locking the back tire to it. Somehow it did not occur to them that rest of the bike could be quick-released by a thief and magically unicycled away on just the front wheel...
The thing about the k-flex cable is that capable cable-cutters are pretty cheap over at the home depot... You're right on as far as bolting your wheels; I've also heard good things about locking skewers, as most experienced thieves carry wrenches. However, for the truly paranoid or insecure, you can use the locking scheme I use: a big ass new york faghettaboutit kryptonite chain around the front and a u-lock in back. Not only does a big chain wrapped around my body bandolier style make me look like a complete badass, but this also allows me to keep my quick releases and not have to **** around with too many wrenches when I blow a flat in the ghetto in the middle of the night, and the chain also has the extreme advantage of opening up all sorts of things to be used as locking anchors; this is especially useful on streets devoid of parking meters, bike racks, etc. etc. You can always wrap the chain around a light pole and go inside; the disc lock on the faghettaboutit also rocks in that it clasps around a tube on your frame, making it almost bombproof as far as locks go. At that point, it's as secure as it can be in public; if a thief comes along with a jaws of life, a cutting torch, or a chain-destroying dinosaur of some sort and steals it, be confident you did everything you could have. Just be careful if you lock it around a parking meter, as if you do it too loosely, someone can simply lift your bike over; this is also a concern with locking your bike to any sort of signpost: theives can unbolt the sign either at the top, and stand on each other's shoulders to lift it over, or unbolt the post at the bottom and pull it out from beneath the bike. Always try to lock your bike in a fashion obnoxiously visible to the general public. Do NOT leave it in your apartment hallway unlocked; this is the most common way shit gets stolen around here.
On keeping componentry yours: Expensive seats can be wrapped in duct tape, in fact, most people I know wrap electrical tape, old tubing, or old grip tape over their top and down tubes to not only cover up expensive manufactuer names, but also to keep the paint from scratching/chipping off from general wear and tear. Always bolt your seat; use annoyingly super-long-length screws to secure full fenders, thread your u-lock so it encompasses your back tire, loops through the seat tube, chain rings, chain... Pedal theft is a rough thing to deter, come to think of it... And people can always come by and kick in your spokes, or cut a brake cable, or steal a bar-end shifter, or whatever... If they want it badly enough, they'll take it, even if it involves cutting the head off a parking meter. There's no absolutely 100% secure way, but you can get damn close. The only thing I've ever lost in all the time I've been riding is a planet bike clip-on fender and a cars-r-coffins water bottle.
Pointless anecdote: I had to break a u-lock on a friend's bike one time when she lost the key when drunk; it took about three minutes for two guys working at opposite ends with a big crowbar and a big chunk of old steel down-tube we had laying around. Came off like butter after the initial leverage force fatigued it enough.

[The Gordo]

Yeah...

On a recent visit to Chicago, the wife and took our bikes and on the first trip into the city, opted not to take them. We saw the remains of a thousand bikes chained to parking meters. Frames and wheels just haphazzardly decorating the urban landscape like forgotten campaign signs. I later told her that our bikes where too pretty to ride in Chicago.

We ended up taking one good long ride from Northwestern U all the way down the lake front bike path. But we never left them unattended, and that my friend is the only real way to prevent a bike theft. I found all of the bike skeletons very intimidating, should I live there, I'd have a camo beater bike for city use.

Aces:
The Gordo

[Andy in Wi]

I think the oddest sight I have seen is a bunch of homeless guys taking apart a no parking sign in order to retrieve the remains a of a raleigh hybrid.
Having a pretty bike is something that usually doesn't last long in chicago. But the best way to keep the bike from walking away is not having brakes on it. Hell, at worst, you'll drunklly careen into a jaywalker (also conviently drunk), fly over the bars, smash your head into a volkswagon, run, ride, and generally flee from 3 strange guys who didn't quite understand the situation but want to play hero, all while trying to repack the spare wheel and rim you are trying to haul home on your back, finally escaping after some crazy guy / teacher who pedals his freeride bike all over creation calms them down. It's not bad, really. The track pro I came to own never had any problems, even with the previous owner. Of course, it never had brakes either.
-WiBA

[RichardJDaley]

I was considering buying a certain bike for commuting in chicago. I am originally from gold coast area where my rich parents live and work, and I wanted to migrate to either wicker park or bucktown where crime is obviously more prevelant. I was considerig buying a standard 18 speed "cross" bike, but now am more in favor of getting a track/commuter for traffic and speed. I was wondering what you guys rode - i have been searching for opionions over the net but haven't found anything but opinions written by people obsessed with the soul of the ride. I am more concerned with practicallity and theft. I am not sure if i want to go totally fixed for traffic reasons yet i am not totally excited about one speed free wheel due to traffic signals, I.E. idalling (s.p.?). If i go totally fixed i can have a pretty quick bike for cheap and also have all the parts bolted on for theft protection.

By the way where can i find that guy in wicker park?

[jon_is_drunk]

I know a ton of people who ride homebrew fixies with front brakes; they seem to have pretty solid success with them. Chicago is VERY FLAT, so tons of gears really aren't needed here, but I like 'em anyways, so right now, I primarily ride this crazy cross bike that I built out of a light old specialized rockhopper frame... bmx style pedals, drop bars, high seat, single front chainring (took awhile to figure out how to keep it tight enough so that the chain would stay tight through rear shifts) and 7 in the cassette, with a fancy old barend shifter. The front wheel is a rhyno lite, the back is a bombproof velocity; they're both laced out with skinny 100psi slicks amd they're pretty damned fast for 26". Minus the wheels, it all cost me maybe $200 to put together, and it can cook the spandex crowd along the lakefront trail with no problem. It looks like a monster, it can withstand a hell of a blunt impact, and I profusely lock it up. Nobody will mess with it.
A lot of people questioned my getting the kryptonite chain when I started wearing it around, being that my bike doesn't carry an immense monitary value; but the facts are: I AM a little poor, so I can't throw another couple hundred into replacent wheels if they get stolen; I built that damn thing myself, so I feel an immense love for it; and the chain will almost be a lifelong lock for me, it'll lock up my Surly, it'll lock up my GT, it'll lock up the shogun fixie, it'll lock up anything; plus, I can wear it if I feel like going out for a light, long ride without my bag.
That guy in wicker park is a dickhead. One day, everyone in the neighborhood is going to get together like in the old west and u-lock him to a bike rack with a sign around his neck that says 'BIKE THIEF'.
If you do make a fixy, don't be like Andy: Put a damn brake on it. I saw that guy make a sharp right hand turn off the street and into a wall once.

[Andy in Wi]

Hey, that was on a cross bike.
Oh, yeah, once you have a city bike, paint it some dull color, such as gray, primer gray, brown, or flat black. Stickers help, too. Try to find the 'satan has your nose' sticker.
There is no limit to the fun that can be had with an inkjet and stickerpaper. Oh, yeah- everything shimano (and most other components) screen logos onto your components. One of those brillo pads takes it right off.
-WiBA