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In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
201–210 of 240 posts
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#202In 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…
It... doesn't actually matter much; if a bike thief wants your bike, they'll get it. Most bike locks are to avoid them being picked up quickly.
If you have an expensive bike, insure it for theft and lock it up in a way that ensures someone has to break something to get your bike. That should cover your bases.
Don't get too attached to a bike either.
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#203Earlier 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 :-(
I saw these the other day: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ryobi-18-Volt-Cordless-Bolt-Cutters...
I'm sure if you were a regular bike thief they could pay for themselves in no time.
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#204Earlier 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.
Fyi, most bike insurances in germany will require you to have your bike locked up against a solid (i.e., non-movable) object with some even putting requirements on locks (shackle diameter, ...). I don't know how much those rules are enforced though I imagine for some claims they may be challenged.
That's probably the case for most insurances; they need to know you did at least some work to prevent theft.
Do you get to claim theft insurance on your house or car if you left it unlocked?
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#205For most bike "racks" here in NL it seems like the primary purpose is not security, but just having somewhere to lean bikes against and give people a sensible place to park their bikes (as opposed to "in a huge pile") Most people don't bother physically locking their regular city bikes to anything (only using a ring lock on the bike itself), primarily cheap beater bikes but also there's a guy in my street with a €200…
Those frame/ring locks are no joke. We had to have one cut off of one of our bikes after losing the keys.[0] It took the guy longer than I expected with an angle grinder, made a lot of noise, sparks flying, etc. Swapfiets rental bikes have become popular in Berlin. They have a frame lock with an integrated chain. But even if you don't use the chain, what exactly is the theft scenario? The bikes are rather heavy—which…
> It took the guy longer than I expected with an angle grinder, made a lot of noise, sparks flying, etc.
Your guy was probably being very careful not to damage your bike. With the right tool, even top-quality locks with hardened boron-carbide shackles can be cut in seconds: https://youtu.be/cbYVmRNzGLc?t=368
> Someone highly motivated could lift the bike into a van, drive home, and then worry about cutting off the lock. It just seems a bit far-fetched.
One mode of bike theft in the UK is: A white van pulls up to the university/train station cycle racks, men with bolt cutters grab as many as they can in 3 minutes or so, then drive off.
As they're going for volume rather than quality, the bikes with the worst locks are the first to go.
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#206Simple rule of thumb for me is: if I contemplate having to lock the wheels of the bike, or bring the saddle with me so it doesn’t get stolen, then I’m not leaving my bike there. I bring my other bike that costs less than a wheel of my expensive bike instead
. Or I just walk. If I’d lose a wheel in even several years of daily biking I’d probably never bike there again.
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You're supposed to fix the frame to the stand, why are you just attaching the wheel? Because the "wheel grabber" makes it very hard to lock the frame as well as the wheel. About all that is possible without a long wire (which are generally easy to cut and thus inferior to a D-lock) is to get the lock through the rear triangle. This assumes you're able to get the bike in rear wheel first, of course. I'd rather find…
generally easy to cut and thus inferior to a D-lock Is that a serious consideration? Jesus, I had no idea the environment in which these were used. I'd be scared to leave my house.
Yes, definitely. A saw or bolt cutters will go through a wire or cable lock very easily.
Just a few weeks ago I came back to my bike to find the bike next to it gone, with a severed cable laying on the floor in its place. The outer diameter of the plastic-coated cable was probably 10mm but the wire itself was likely only 3 or 4mm. It looked like someone had just used a hacksaw on it. I doubt it lasted even a minute.
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#208I work with a co-op that installs these around the city of Atlanta: https://www.ocaatlanta.com/mural-bike-racks-to-be-dedicated-...
They look great, but like a lot of the stands in this list they aren't always the most practical.
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#209Author just comes across as angry. And I'm not really sure why.
Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
No one locks their bikes in Japan, either. According to Wikipedia this is thanks to "strong policing and general public disregard for stolen items." I can certainly say I've never heard of a US police department doing anything proactive in response to a reported bike theft.
In Japan every bike is officially registered and has a sticker with a number (think of it as a license number that has to be read closely). Foreigners are stopped by the police fairly often in Japan to check their bike licenses according to reports in /r/japanlife.
I can confirm this as I experienced it when I was there.