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In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

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Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#181

Post by Cockbrand »

abainbridge wrote: post #169
markmark wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it, bike thieves will just use a battery angle grinder with a cutting wheel on your bike lock, and everyone will absolutely ignore them doing it in the middle of the day.

We're talking about this type of pipe cutter, right? https://www.screwfix.com/p/irwin-record-handicutter-15-45mm-... They're much cheaper than an angle grinder, and fit in your pocket. I've used one to cut through the barrel of a d-lock with ease. I don't buy d-locks with cylindrical barrels any more. I learned this trick when thieves stole my friends bike this way :-(

Yes, this is the tool I was talking about. For a d-lock (aka u-lock), you'd need a quite large lock with a lot of space between the crossbar and the bike for a pipe cutter to work. The risk does exist nonetheless, which I wasn't aware of before. Thanks for pointing that out!

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#182

Post by kilotaras »

Most of egregious stands are caused by principal agent problem.

You have

1. Person designing stand. 2. Person approving/ordering stand (usually business or city). 3. Person locking their bike.

If you're lucky (1) or (2) is also (3) at the same time. Otherwise, you get bunch of metal that at best looks nice.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#183

Post by Symbiote »

wink wrote: post #176
m000 wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the UK you absolutely need security No. You absolutely need to get a theft insurance for your bicycle. All bicycles parked outside can be stolen. Any "security" measures you may take just tip the risk-reward calculation of the bicycle thief in your favour, and against the folk parked next to you who didn't know better.

Not sure it's that easy. My contents insurance includes bikes but there are some weird clauses and this is in line with what I have seen with standalone theft insurance. I'm not hopeful they'll actually pay unless you maybe hand in a photo of your locked bike with 2 "good" locks.

I gave a police crime number (acquired online) and the receipt for the approved lock, and the claim was quickly approved. I think I chose the insurance company recommended by the London Cycling Campaign.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#184

Post by IshKebab »

Cockbrand wrote: post #45

In general, the author is right, and the simple design is by far the best. But the classic Sheffield stand with a circular cross section can be easily cut with a pipe cutter. Contrary to an angle grinder, a pipe cutter doesn't make any noise. Thus, the design has been improved by making it solid instead of hollow and giving it a rectangular cross section, like [1]. I used to hate the improved design because it's obvi…

That seems like an entirely theoretical risk. I've never seen a sheffield stand cut, or actually even any easier-to-cut stands cut. I've seen plenty of bike locks cut or attempted to be cut though.

I think it's not as easy as you think, and perhaps more importantly passers by are much more likely to challenge you if you're cutting a bike stand in half!

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#185

Post by IshKebab »

m000 wrote: post #172
twelvechairs wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK you absolutely need security - London especially anything not held down will be stolen quickly. Battery powered jigsaws to go through locks and chains, bikes stripped of components, etc. Its a whole different world from the safety of NL Granted some of this is because of a culture of more expensive bikes but still if you used a beater bike it wouldnt be safe either

> In the UK you absolutely need security No. You absolutely need to get a theft insurance for your bicycle. All bicycles parked outside can be stolen. Any "security" measures you may take just tip the risk-reward calculation of the bicycle thief in your favour, and against the folk parked next to you who didn't know better.

"Hello insurance? Yes I'd like a policy that covers my bike being stolen even if it's left unlocked in a UK city."

"Ah hahaha oh wait you're serious. Ok that will be £1k per month."

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#186

Post by pmyteh »

_false wrote: post #86

The ones my apartment block has installed can be simply unscrewed.

That can be made somewhat more secure by unscrewing them and inserting an appropriate epoxy before putting the screws back. Not as good as a proper fixing, but far better than losing bikes to everyone with a spanner.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#187

Post by heavenlyblue »

Cockbrand wrote: post #45

In general, the author is right, and the simple design is by far the best. But the classic Sheffield stand with a circular cross section can be easily cut with a pipe cutter. Contrary to an angle grinder, a pipe cutter doesn't make any noise. Thus, the design has been improved by making it solid instead of hollow and giving it a rectangular cross section, like [1]. I used to hate the improved design because it's obvi…

> Thus, the design has been improved

I re-read your message about 5 times and I still do not understand what was improved in the design?

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#188

Post by ohgodplsno »

Beltalowda wrote: post #106

These are my favourite: https://i.imgur.com/jpF0eZV.png Slightly more complex design, but easy to lock, easy to park, bike doesn't fall over, doesn't damage the paint on your frame, fairly compact if you have multiple bikes. They're pretty ubiquitous where I live in the Netherlands; although some stores have really crappy "wheel-only" stands like in the thread.

These don't work if your bike has slightly bigger wheels (and quite a few people use mountain bikes), and will bend your spokes.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#189

Post by gog »

ithkuil wrote: post #171
analog31 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> With a grinder and some elbow grease you can make it look like it was never welded. Like my 1963 Schwinn! As an alternative, how about threaded pipe and elbows?

Wouldn't that allow a thief to just unscrew the pipe? (Yes a tool is necessary, but no need to cut)

How would you rotate them to unscrew once the legs are fixed in the ground?

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#190

Post by mkl »

kqr wrote: post #179
mkl wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theft insurance isn't going to get you to your next destination. It's sensible to have, but not an alternative to a couple of good locks.

Depends on the conditions of the insurance. It could hypothetically pay for a new bike and a few taxi fares. Though at the premium required for that, I suspect locks would be cheaper.

It might later pay you back what you spent monetarily, but the inconvenience is not merely financial. It seems crazy that I'm having to argue that locks and insurance are not interchangeable.
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