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In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

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Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#91

Post by causality0 »

cranekam wrote: post #34
contravariant wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're supposed to fix the frame to the stand, why are you just attaching the wheel? Wheel "grabbers" (usually just called 'fietsenrek') are pretty common in the Netherlands, especially the 2 level ones, because they allow the greatest number of bikes in a small area. This does have some downsides obviously, but in the Netherlands 'largest number of bikes' tends to outweigh other concerns.

> 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.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#92

Post by bayindirh »

mrsuprawsm wrote: post #37

For 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…

IIRC Van Moof bikes have internal security built-in, so you can't easily stole one of them on a whim.

Even if your bike cannot be recovered, Van Moof gives you another one [0].

[1] also tells that the bike locks automatically when you open the kick-stand, and unlocks when you're around.

[0]: https://www.vanmoof.com/en-NL/peace-of-mind

[1]: https://www.vanmoof.com/en-NL/s5

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#93

Post by thrwyoilarticle »

levpopov wrote: post #39

While the overall point of simple racks being better definitely stands, the premise that a bike needs two locks is just silly and impractical. Get wheel locks for your bikes - pinhead, hexlox (my favorite), etc. If your wheels are secured to the frame you just need to lock the frame with one lock/chain. Takes way less time to park and you dont need to lug multiple 5lb locks (unfortunately thats how heavy secure locks…

With wheel locks + 2 D locks you can get around the problem of the bike being used as a lever to break a single D lock. It also means thieves are less likely to screw with your bike trying to take the wheels off.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#95

Post by OJFord »

twelvechairs wrote: post #69
mrsuprawsm wrote: post #37

For 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…

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

> London especially

Cambridge too, which I think is interesting because it's otherwise often compared to NL et al. for density, relative friendliness, prevalence of attached buggies & wheelbarrows, etc.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#96

Post by ohg »

These stands are definitely my favourites. But I use a kryptonite fuhgeddaboudit d-lock and have come across some of different thicknesses which means I have to work the angles a bit if I want to lock both the wheel and frame at the same time as the d lock is quite small. It's not always possible.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#97

Post by mrsuprawsm »

bayindirh wrote: post #92
mrsuprawsm wrote: post #37

For 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…

IIRC Van Moof bikes have internal security built-in, so you can't easily stole one of them on a whim. Even if your bike cannot be recovered, Van Moof gives you another one [0]. [1] also tells that the bike locks automatically when you open the kick-stand, and unlocks when you're around. [0]: https://www.vanmoof.com/en-NL/peace-of-mind [1]: https://www.vanmoof.com/en-NL/s5

Still, if I had one of those I wouldn’t leave it just on the street!

I thought about buying one but figured it was a bit much money for something I didn’t particularly need and would be fairly vulnerable to getting nicked, even with the security features. And I think the Bike Hunters thing where they retrieve a stolen bike for you is only for up to 3 years now, which is not really great, since you want to own the bike for much longer at that price.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#98

Post by madeofpalk »

bayindirh wrote: post #92
mrsuprawsm wrote: post #37

For 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…

IIRC Van Moof bikes have internal security built-in, so you can't easily stole one of them on a whim. Even if your bike cannot be recovered, Van Moof gives you another one [0]. [1] also tells that the bike locks automatically when you open the kick-stand, and unlocks when you're around. [0]: https://www.vanmoof.com/en-NL/peace-of-mind [1]: https://www.vanmoof.com/en-NL/s5

Vanmoof owner - it doesn’t automatically lock when you open the kick stand. There’s a ‘pin’ in the back wheel that you can just tap with your shoe to engage the lock. https://youtu.be/BpeRUGgw8JQ

I disable the Bluetooth proximity unlock - I often lock and leave it when I’m staying nearby (outsiding seating at a pub, for example) and I don’t trust that it’ll stay locked if I’m still within a relatively close distance.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#100

Post by Fricken »

wffurr wrote: post #59
orbital-decay wrote: post #38

Sadly, no amount of locking points provides sufficient protection against an experienced thief. In London, I've seen some of these Sheffield stands cut with an angle grinder.

It doesn't have to be perfect; just good enough. You don't have to lock up perfectly, just better than the bikes around you. And carry insurance and be prepared to replace your bicycle. Or just ride beaters.

I remind myself that taking transit costs $1200/year. That's what the poor people who can't afford a nice bike do.

I don't come anywhere close to having a $1200 worth of bike stolen every year (I'm 45 and have had 7 bikes stolen in my life of commuting by bicycle).

I just lock the frame to whatever with a U-lock.

Once I had my seat stolen, and once someone made off with my pedals, and again, that isn't enough to warrant threading cables through all my components every time I lock up.

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