Best locks to use on your bike?

I’d be gutted if someone nicked my bike. Not because it’s worth much, but just because I love it and I’ve also spent the time respraying it and generally getting it the way I want it. It may not be perfect, but it’s mine and that’s why I don’t want to lose it.

So given that assumption, I did a bit of research before buying a new lock. Prior to this I was using a fairly heavy-duty combination lock. But then I saw a worrying demo on YouTube about how easy it was to pick one of these bad boys. Although the one I was using wasn’t as flimsy as the one in the demo.

The more I read, the more confused i became because it seems that pretty much every lock can be removed by a thief detrmined enough to do it. This means that you have to use a combination of a good lock and a careful application of the way it is attached to your bike.

There are a couple of principles it seems when it comes to locking your bike:

1. Some locks are easier to crack than others. But no locks are completely thief-proof. It seems that in order of difficulty, they go something like this:

Combination locks

Woven steel cable

Crappy D-Locks

Heavy duty chains

Decent D-Locks or U-Locks – i think these are the same thing, just a slightly different visual analogy.

Because the D-Locks/U-Locks also vary enormously and a cheap one could be less effective that a decent chain. A really cheap one can just be bent using a steel bar, so you need to spend a bit of money getting one that can’t. But, as I point out below, there is a tool that they can use to remove a decent D Lock, too.

2. From the thief’s perspective, the easier pickings are going to be the ones to go for: so the more heavy-duty the lock, the longer it will take to break it and therefore the riskier it is to try and do so (stand around long enough with a hacksaw and your chances of getting seen/caught rise).

3. The way the lock is attached to the bike can hinder the persistent thief. If you use a U/D-lock, then the way they crack this is by putting a kind of pneumatic pump between the two sides of the “U/D”. So if you make sure that there is no real gap for them to get the machine in there then this will be something else that puts them off. By this I mean, instead of just putting the lock over the crossbar and over some railings, put it through the bottom bracket so there is less room inside the U/D.

4. Use more than one lock. Again, it’s just more of a pain in the arse for the bike thief and chances are they will pass your one by to go for an easier prey.

Apparently police say spend 10-20% of the value of your bike on a lock. But I think that’s just stoopid. How would that have any effect on preventing your bike from getting nicked? From what I have read thieves are less likely to nick really expensive bikes because they are harder to sell. Imagine some teenage scrote trying to convince someone that the £5,000 carbon tri-bike that they are offering for resale is genuinely an unwanted Christmas present? Much easier to flog a £200 bike for £30 and be done with it.

I ended up going for a pretty expensive lock. It was a Kryptonite New York 3000D which I bought from Wiggle for about £60. Although I think you can get it cheaper elsewhere I subsequently discovered.

When it arrived I was a bit shocked at how heavy it was. I nearly sent it back, but actually, once I’d put it in my bag I couldnt really notice the weight. It looks the dogs in bright yellow and black and I’m stupidly reassured imagining that somehow it’s what everyone uses in New York. I also have a cable that hooks around the front wheel back to the lock. It’s not the best thing and probably I should just get another very small D-lock for the front wheel and frame. But all-in-all it feels fairly solid and so far I still own my bike.

Silent but deadly

One of the beautiful things about riding my bike is that it is so quiet. Compared to my mountain bike with all it’s full suspension chunkiness, my ‘city’ bike is as simple as I dare go. Single gear, fixed wheel and a front brake. It means that there’s nothing really to rattle or move about and as you can’t freewheel you don’t get that familar clicking sound either, which makes it so silent. It’s definitely quieter than walking.

On my route to work I cycle across Clapham Common and often share the path with pedestrians. Obviously it means that you have to slow down (actually it’s quite nice to have a bit of a breather because I have to climb a hill immediately before). But because of the lack of noise when you are approaching a pedestrian from behind you know they haven’t heard you and are liable to wander into your path. I thought about getting a bell, but then people would think I’m being arsey with them – as in “move out of the way”, which I don’t want to do.

Anyway, this morning I was cycling along a quiet dead-end street, so no cars, and a squirrel ran out in front of me and narrowly missed going under my tyres. Presumably my lack of noise meant that it wasn’t aware that I was approaching. The squirrel did a last second turn around and probably missed me by about 10cm. It happened so quickly that I hardly had a chance to react. But I’m glad I didn’t hit it, as much as they have wiped out the indiginous red variety and all that, it would have been pretty horrible. I wonder how much road kill can be attributed to cyclists?

Dealing with abuse

So I’ve been cycling for a while. And before that I used to ride around on a scooter. I have to admit, when I first started riding I used to get really angry with people. Mainly because I couldn’t believe how unsympathetic people were to vulnerable road users.

The two incidents that stick in my mind were as follows:

1. I was turning left into a side road at the same time as a car coming from the other direction was turning right. I was ahead of the car, which they obviously didn’t like and so they beeped their horn. That pissed me off but not enough to worry about it. We were on a one-way street with cars parked either side and so they couldn’t overtake me. The road was only about 30 metres long so it wasn’t a massive inconvenience to wait. But instead they drove up right behind my back wheel with the horn blaring. Really horrible to be on the receiving end of that. I went mad and wanted to have it out with the driver. They refused to open their window to talk to me and eventually just floored it as soon as they had the opportunity.

2. I was waiting at the traffic lights next to a car. In front of the car was a girl on her bike. The lights changed and the car drove up to within 2 inches of her back tyre and pressed his horn. Totally unnecessary. In any case, she was sat in a ASL so had every right to be there. I instictively whacked my hand on the top of this guy’s car, who went absolutely mental. He tried to drive me off the road and spat at me (each time he missed which was quite amusing on one level). I shouted back at him and then just rode off into the distance (he looked like he would have killed me if he’d got his hands on me).

Anyway – after this, I decided that my cycle rage wasn’t really going to help me and would very possibly land me in hot water if I wasn’t careful. So I have decided to not rise to it anymore. If someone cuts me up I rarely even acknowledge it. I occassionally mutter something when someone steps out in front of me, but I do it in a friendly way “woooah, you need to look where you’re going” as opposed to “what the fuck do you think you’re doing you fucking fuck”… that kind of thing. I kind of feel that keeping my calm also makes me feel less wound up by people. I feel I have the moral high ground if someone pulls over into the cycle lane and I coolly cycle around them. Half the time they probably don’t notice, but I think it’s worth it for the half when they do.

Last night, it was dark and I was cycling up a hill on my way home. I had a large bag on my back and I wasn’t exactly caning it. A car drove by and the girl in the passenger seat screamed “Come on, grandad”. It was more of a shock than anything – when you are deep in thought and someone suddenly shouts at you. But I saw that about 1/4 mile up the road there were traffic lights and I wondered whether she had considered that before her outburst. Sure enough the lights changed red and I closed in on the vehicle. Now, maybe years back I would have banged the car with my hand, or shouted at her through the window. But this time I slowly pulled up alongside her and just stared in through the window. The girl (well I say girl, it was a woman really), screamed and leapt away from the window – obvioulsy oblivious to the fact that I may just catch her up. I just smiled and carried on going past the car.

I dunno, but in my view, she shouted at me and then lost her cool completely. All I did was catch up with her and look at her. She wouldn’t just go up to a person in the street and shout at them, but somehow the anonymity of being in car meant she felt she could get away with it. Hopefully in future she might realise that in the city, bikes are overall faster than cars and if you abuse a cyclist, they will probably catch up with you in due course.

Smoky tea and chocolate

I definitely find that as it gets colder and the more I cycle in a day, the hungrier I feel. Yesterday I had a meeting first thing which I cycled to, then had to cycle back to the office. At the end of the day I had a sweet ride through the dark backstreets, which was punctuated with fireworks going off. It was lovely and surreal. But anyway, it meant more cycling than on a normal day and I felt really hungry by the end of the day.

I find the combination of Chocolate Hob-Nobs and Lapsang Souchong tea is amazing. Lapsang Souchong tastes and smells like bonfires. It’s great this time of year because it’s when you’re supposed to have bonfires. And you don’t get to smell that many of them in the metropolis. So in the absence of actual bonfires, why not have tea that smells like them?

Carbohydrates are something I crave quite a bit, too. Noodles are great comfort food.

And celementines. Not sure what else to say about them.

But it’s definitely different based on what you’re doing. When I go mountain biking and spend hours putting a lot of effort in, it’s ususally hot chocolate or coffee and a Snickers bar. Commuting and bumming around on your bike is more leisurely – well for me it is.

New month, new shit

When I got to the end of Friday I thought “that fuck that’s over with”. I run my own business and October wasn’t a great one for us. I am just hoping that it was a temporary blip and not the sign of what’s to come for us in this lovely recession we are apparently already in.

On top of that, we saw the death of a 16 year old in Tooting who was riding his bike to school when he got hit by an articulated lorry.

So, hopefully November will be a better one for everyone.

I’m looking out of my office window now onto a very grey London sky. It’s depressing when all the colours are muted. But it’s still a lovely time of year to be cycling to work, lots of brown and yellow leaves and people wearing scarfs. I kind of feel like taking off now and going for a spin around Battersea Park or something – just to fill my lungs with air and look at the Thames.

Fixed gear heaven

Anyone who rides a fixie must know how this feels: you end up explaining to someone you know about riding a bike with one brake, no gears and a fixed wheel and they look at you as if you are mad.

“Why the hell would you want to do that?” they quite reasonably argue.

Whilst I admit there is an element of fashion about it (I’m just trying to be honest) – it wasn’t my intention intitially to ride my bike fixed. I was going to get it converted to free-wheel and add a back brake, I honestly was. But when I picked it up and rode it across London I was already changing my mind. Within a week I was convinced. There is something amazing about feeling so connected to the road. And I love the idea of my bike being as pure as it can be. (If I was a better cyclist and had more balls I might even remove the front brake).

What I particularly like is going round a corner and having to continue to pedal, but feeling like you’re glued to the ground. I also really loved it this morning as the sun was really bright and winter-low. The air was crisp and I just stood up and pedalled into the sun. It just felt so …. I dunno, I want to say ‘free’, but it’s somehow more than that.

I also love cycling home late at night when I’ve been working late and the roads are empty and especially this time of year when it is dark and still and really cold. Your body’s own heater kicks in and you toastily sail around the streets knowing there is a big comfy sofa waiting for you at the other end.

Anyway, I know it’s a bit lazy, trawling YouTube and then pasting it here. But I saw this video, set to some sweet music and it really sums up that feeling of riding a fixed gear to my mind. No, clunking up and down your gears, just point your bike forward and move your legs as fast as you can until you’re grinning from ear to ear.

Bike trees

Is this good?

more cyclists = safer cycling

Interesting piece of research that shows that more bikes on the road mean less accidents involving vehicles. The report actually talks about cyclists and pedestrians and the basic premise is that, in areas where more journeys are done on foot or by pedal, then the number of accidents actually reduce.

You can download it for yourself from the BMJ, but you have to register first (it’s free to do so).

This is counter-intuitive on one level – surely more bikes would mean more opportunities for accidents? But what they say is that, in a city such as the Netherlands where 45% of all trips are made by bike, the awareness of what it is to be a cyclist is so high that drivers are much more empathetic.

According to the survey, “motorists in the United States and abroad drive more slowly when they see many pedestrians in the street and faster when they see few”.

I guess it kind of makes sense – if you see a lot of pedestrians and you are in a car:

a) you are going to be more likely to notice them

b) you are going to be more concerned that one of them might do something erratic like jump out into the street

I imagine it’s the same for cyclists. If you come to a junction and you are driving an articulated lorry and the junction is rammed with cyclists, you are going to be more cautious.

I really hope the policy makers take stock of this and really put a load of effort into encouraging more people to cycle. There will be a tipping point when cycling will become safer and the experience will become a more pleasant one as there are less cars on the road. My experience of cycling in Amsterdam and Berlin makes me believe that this is possible in London, too.

In Berlin, cycle lanes are wide and separated from the rest of the traffic in most cases. You don’t have to share cycle lanes with buses and cars don’t park in them. London, by comparison, is just a joke. Our cycle lanes are just designed to put cyclists off.

Here is a picture of a Berlin cycle lane.

If bike lanes worked like this in London, people would be much happier about cycling on them. I’m not sure they would be for everyone, though. I suspect messengers would prefer to ride on the road as it would be faster, but I think something like this would pursuade a lot of people to give cycling a try. It would also make it safer for children. Right now, not many parents would feel happy about their kids cycling to school, but possibly with well thought through cycle lanes like this, it would be a different story.

Watching me, watching you

Been watching a few videos on YouTube that have been posted by cycling vigil antes. Basically, these guys ride about with a camera permanently sellotaped to their helmets and then each time they encounter some bad driving, they post it on YouTube.

There are a couple of guys that do this regularly, you can see their videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud_tFrPf340 – by a guy called Paul Jones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaVHUrSvx-o – by a guy called Maganaton

What then follows is a series of predictable and trite polar views on the part of cyclists and motorists. In fact, if you want to see in a nutshell the anti-cycling argument, it is pretty much summed up in this video, delightfully entitled “Cyclists, get off the road”:

It’s worth just summarising what this guy’s main arguments against cyclists are (incidentally, I’m not 100% sure that he is being serious, this might be “ironic” I’m not sure):

1. Cyclists are scum/cunts on the road

2. They are miltant/fascists

3. They run red lights

4. They ride the the wrong way down one-way streets

5. They shout at anyone who gets remotely close to them

6. They don’t fucking put lights on

The one thing he doesn’t mention which comes up a lot is that cyclists don’t pay any road tax. Oh, that and the whole lycra-clad business.

The trouble with all these arguments is that they may be true about some cyclists. They may be also true about some motorists. But they simply aren’t true about all cyclists or all motorists. I mean, I don’t run red lights, I don’t ride the wrong way down one-way streets and I have lights when it’s dark. I also pay road tax because I have a car (even though road tax payment doesn’t in itself fund roads, so it’s a bit of a pointless argument). And I don’t own any garment made of lycra as far as I am aware.

Whilst this is all amusing, the more fundamental thing that comes out of this is the animosity between cyclists and motorists. Again not ALL cyclists and motorists, but enough to wonder why this is happening and why feelings run so high.

Which brings me back to my original observation. I  can see the value in filming roads to show how difficult it is to cycle down them: cycle lanes that go nowhere; obstacles in the middle of cycle lanes; confusing trafic signals etc, even examples where motorists consistently ignore things like ASLs etc. But when it comes to actually filming individual motorists being bad drivers and then naming and shaming them, how will that help? What are we trying to prove? That “some” drivers don’t drive with care and consideration. Well, I’m sure I could put a helmet cam on and drive through London and film examples of cyclists riding without due care and attention. But again it would prove nothing. I might as well film drunk people falling over, shop assistants not being polite, people jumping queues in supermarkets etc etc – all it really is, is a series of examples of individuals behaving inconsiderately.

But there’s more. What is the natural reaction of people being filmed and criticised likely to be? How popular have speed cameras been? Generally people don’t like it. And if they perceive that there are bunch of cyclists taking the moral high-ground by trying to catch them out and posting it on YouTube, are they likely to turn around and say “you know what, you’re right – I must try to accommodate cyclists more”?

I’m not defending bad driver’s actions – i think if someone drives recklessly they should be punished. Believe me, I have been on the receiving end of some pretty dumb behaviour in my time as a cyclist and I’ve often wanted to put my foot through a windscreen or two (not that I would ever have the guts to do that), but my point is that surely the way forward is to convince as many drivers as possible to become cyclists. In other words to encourage drivers to get off the road. But by heckling them and haranguing them at every point, I’m not sure how quickly we will achieve it.

Maybe I’m wrong, if people think that they will be outed on YouTube they may think twice about other, more vulnerable road-users. But my gut tells me that this isn’t the right way to go about it.

How can people be so complacent?

I wanted this blog to be a bit light-hearted and extolling the joy of cycling bla bla. But a few days after my post moaning about the lack of interest on behalf of Wandsworth Council about the whole question of HGVs and cyclists, someone else has been killed. This takes the total number of cyclists killed this year in London to 10, 9 of which involved HGVs. Let’s not brush over this, 90% OF CYCLISTS KILLED IN LONDON IN 2008 INVOLVED HGVs

Death is awful no matter who it happens to, but when it involves a child it is even more terrible. Tragically, this time it was a child who was killed. I understand his name was Syed Mohammed Sajjad Bilgrami aged 16. According to the news report:

“A teenage cyclist was knocked down and killed by a lorry at a busy south London junction labelled a “deathtrap”.

The 16-year-old boy was hit by the articulated lorry in Tooting High Street as they pulled away from traffic lights at the crossroads. Paramedics and police rushed to the junction with Blackshaw Road, where the Streatham Vale boy lay dying. He was treated at the scene and taken to nearby St George’s Hospital. Doctors worked for a number of hours to save the teenager but he later died of his injuries”.

When I think about the letter I got from Wandsworth Council telling me it would all be OK now because they had put some posters up in libraries (OK I am over-simplifying what they said, but you get the point), it makes me really angry.

1. Why is this not all over the news?

2. Why are people not totally outraged that innocent people minding their own business are being killed in the capital so needlessly?

3. Why is Wandsworth Council “not convinced of the logic” in banning HGVs from roads during busy times when people are cycling to and from work or school?

4. Is it just me, or is this absolutely and totally fucking wrong?

I just can’t imagine how terrible this must be for Syed’s family and my heart goes out to them. Something has to be done and has to be done now.

Read the Evening Stanadard news article here.