What bike won't get nicked, that I would still want to ride?
Discussion
I'm thinking about doing a partial commute over the winter getting the train some of the way. This means I either need to use a folder or keep a bike overnight at the station (likely to be a mixture of London Bridge and East Croydon).
I think I've decided that I don't want to be lugging a folder around... So have been scouring ebay and gumtree for something cheap enough to be disposable, nice enough to ride 12 miles and horrible enough looking to be invisible to thieves. I'm not sure that such a thing exists, but does anyone have some ideas?
I was originally thinking single-speed for hardiness but they seem ever so popular and mostly ever so heavy too. Older bikes that I might previously thought that the robbers would overlook seem also to be all the rage.
Ideally I want something road bike like so as to be able to make progress.
I think I've decided that I don't want to be lugging a folder around... So have been scouring ebay and gumtree for something cheap enough to be disposable, nice enough to ride 12 miles and horrible enough looking to be invisible to thieves. I'm not sure that such a thing exists, but does anyone have some ideas?
I was originally thinking single-speed for hardiness but they seem ever so popular and mostly ever so heavy too. Older bikes that I might previously thought that the robbers would overlook seem also to be all the rage.
Ideally I want something road bike like so as to be able to make progress.
An aluminium-framed hybrid, ideally from a less known brand. Alu so even if the paint is ratty, it won't start rusting away (plus it's lighter). Keep the transmission well maintained, but don't start putting fancy parts on it. Put some reasonable wheels in it but go with plain silver Shimano hubs, Mavic Open Pro or similar rims and take the stickers off. Stick mudguards and a rack on it.
If you don't mind spending a bit on getting it up to scratch, then there's plenty of neglected hybrids on gumtree and ebay that have been languishing outside on someone's balcony or communal storage for years.
And accept that some people will nick anything, so it might still go missing.
If you don't mind spending a bit on getting it up to scratch, then there's plenty of neglected hybrids on gumtree and ebay that have been languishing outside on someone's balcony or communal storage for years.
And accept that some people will nick anything, so it might still go missing.
I had a knackered old Kona Dew hybrid similar to the post above, the drivetrain and wheels worked well, but the bike looked a state . The frame was so filthy and scratched that the dirt actually became ingrained to the paint!
Still never got nicked and I enjoyed riding it, it cost me £85 on ebay, I did 5000 miles on it , spending about £50 on parts and tyres over 3 years and then sold it for £60 on ebay when it was tired and worn out, best value bike i've ever owned!
I also had a similar single speed, loved riding that and the smoothness, but the parts were so cheap and nasty
Still never got nicked and I enjoyed riding it, it cost me £85 on ebay, I did 5000 miles on it , spending about £50 on parts and tyres over 3 years and then sold it for £60 on ebay when it was tired and worn out, best value bike i've ever owned!
I also had a similar single speed, loved riding that and the smoothness, but the parts were so cheap and nasty
I dont think think bike thieves care about the frame, as that's the only bit that can be identified. I'm sure they go after the shiny bits. My brother in law had his cannondale caad8 nicked, they cut through the frame and left the locks attached to the railings. Similarly a mate had the suspension forks and handlebars stolen off the front of his Mtb, they left the frame locked up. So don't put any expensive components on it, they know what they're looking for.
lufbramatt said:
I dont think think bike thieves care about the frame, as that's the only bit that can be identified. I'm sure they go after the shiny bits. My brother in law had his cannondale caad8 nicked, they cut through the frame and left the locks attached to the railings. Similarly a mate had the suspension forks and handlebars stolen off the front of his Mtb, they left the frame locked up. So don't put any expensive components on it, they know what they're looking for.
^^^ Very much this, in the case of organised bike thieves, sadly.When Hampshire Police busted a local gang targeting railway stations, they broke into several lock-up garages. The garages were full of bikes and frames.
Some owners were lucky and got their complete bikes back but the majority of the bikes had been reduced to frames. The components were long gone, moved on via internet trading sites and such. I'd imagine that the frames are simply cut up and weighed in. There was an appeal by the police for folk to come forward to identify their bikes to aid the prosecution. Seems many thefts are of "pub beater" style bikes, and as a consequence their theft isn't reported, so police weren't even sure where exactly many were stolen from.
Interesting. I suppose I probably had been on the look out for something that looks grotty but with nice, maybe older model components, but maybe that isn't the way to go.
I fell in love with this bike and planned to wake up at 3am last night to bid on it: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172412644179
As it happened I failed to rouse until 15 minutes after it had ended. I had pretty much decided that I wouldn't have had the heart to leave it over night at a station though so it would have been a bit of an n+2 and ended up getting a polish, sat in my garage waiting for the day I fancied riding it. I think I would have been gutted to lose all that campag kit.
Aside my road bikes (2009 Specialized Allez tiagra, 2013 Colnago CLX 105 (crashed, but I am rebuilding)), I have an old 26" MTB that I bought new in 1991. It's a bright pink Dawes "the edge". I suppose it's not really worth anything much, but with it's full deore XT groupset, I imagine it could get stripped down. It looked like this when new
I have narrower, slicker tyres on it now and use it for cycling back from the garage when I put a car in for MOT or towing a tandem trail-a-bike with the kids. With narrower wheels it would be an ok bike to ride, but I'd not want to lose it.
I guess I need to lower my expectations and accept that anything nice is going to be a thief magnet and just get something. The more time I invest in looking for the perfect ride, the more painful it's going to be to lose it regardless of purchase price.
I fell in love with this bike and planned to wake up at 3am last night to bid on it: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172412644179
As it happened I failed to rouse until 15 minutes after it had ended. I had pretty much decided that I wouldn't have had the heart to leave it over night at a station though so it would have been a bit of an n+2 and ended up getting a polish, sat in my garage waiting for the day I fancied riding it. I think I would have been gutted to lose all that campag kit.
Aside my road bikes (2009 Specialized Allez tiagra, 2013 Colnago CLX 105 (crashed, but I am rebuilding)), I have an old 26" MTB that I bought new in 1991. It's a bright pink Dawes "the edge". I suppose it's not really worth anything much, but with it's full deore XT groupset, I imagine it could get stripped down. It looked like this when new
I have narrower, slicker tyres on it now and use it for cycling back from the garage when I put a car in for MOT or towing a tandem trail-a-bike with the kids. With narrower wheels it would be an ok bike to ride, but I'd not want to lose it.
I guess I need to lower my expectations and accept that anything nice is going to be a thief magnet and just get something. The more time I invest in looking for the perfect ride, the more painful it's going to be to lose it regardless of purchase price.
I bought a bike for 50p when I lived in Oxford. It was a ladies sit-up-and-beg frame with fairly perished tyres (I replaced the tubes, for approx 10x the purchase price; extravagant), front brake only operated off the left hand bar, a saddle which flipped forward or backwards unless you sat perfectly centrally on it, single speed (with freewheel, whoop) and a really loose headset so it felt like it was going to fall apart. Nobody nicked it. It's probably still in the bike shed I left it in.
Really quick up St Giles though; you could beat the buses from the lights to the Woodstock/Banbury Road fork.
Really quick up St Giles though; you could beat the buses from the lights to the Woodstock/Banbury Road fork.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/viking-single-s...
It's a whole hundred pounds, but what do folk think of a viking singlesped/fixie for thief magnetism and ride-ability?
It's a whole hundred pounds, but what do folk think of a viking singlesped/fixie for thief magnetism and ride-ability?
Yeah, I am wary of the cheese components. There's a conflict because at the same time I want anonymous parts. By chance I know the vendor having checked the phone number and found I have it saved as a contact in my phone which would make it a comforting buy. I think it's a no though.
What about this £70 Kona: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/kona-bike-.-men...
Vendor doesn't say what size it is, I am 6ft - anyone able to estimate if it'll fit?
I suppose the best way is to ask the vendor if it fits him and how tall he is.
I went to http://www.fullcitycycles.co.uk/ at lunch time which was a super place. They can build a bike up from a vintage/knackered looking but decent steel frame for probably £225. Probably has the same cheese gear on it as a cheapie singlespeed I suppose.
What about this £70 Kona: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/kona-bike-.-men...
Vendor doesn't say what size it is, I am 6ft - anyone able to estimate if it'll fit?
I suppose the best way is to ask the vendor if it fits him and how tall he is.
I went to http://www.fullcitycycles.co.uk/ at lunch time which was a super place. They can build a bike up from a vintage/knackered looking but decent steel frame for probably £225. Probably has the same cheese gear on it as a cheapie singlespeed I suppose.
idiotgap said:
Yeah, I am wary of the cheese components. There's a conflict because at the same time I want anonymous parts. By chance I know the vendor having checked the phone number and found I have it saved as a contact in my phone which would make it a comforting buy. I think it's a no though.
What about this £70 Kona: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/kona-bike-.-men...
Vendor doesn't say what size it is, I am 6ft - anyone able to estimate if it'll fit?
I suppose the best way is to ask the vendor if it fits him and how tall he is.
I went to http://www.fullcitycycles.co.uk/ at lunch time which was a super place. They can build a bike up from a vintage/knackered looking but decent steel frame for probably £225. Probably has the same cheese gear on it as a cheapie singlespeed I suppose.
Ran one of those years ago, was great but heavy bike...Looks a bit small, see if the seller can find out size, you would want 19" at a minimum I would say. They were designed to run a lot of seat post out though What about this £70 Kona: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/kona-bike-.-men...
Vendor doesn't say what size it is, I am 6ft - anyone able to estimate if it'll fit?
I suppose the best way is to ask the vendor if it fits him and how tall he is.
I went to http://www.fullcitycycles.co.uk/ at lunch time which was a super place. They can build a bike up from a vintage/knackered looking but decent steel frame for probably £225. Probably has the same cheese gear on it as a cheapie singlespeed I suppose.
TwistingMyMelon said:
Ran one of those years ago, was great but heavy bike...Looks a bit small, see if the seller can find out size, you would want 19" at a minimum I would say. They were designed to run a lot of seat post out though
I'm going to try and get a look at it tomorrow. Vendor says it's 'oversize' and perfect for someone of 6ft.I bought the kona, bringing it home on the train for fettling now.
It's got a patina in places but I rode it 2 miles to Croydon from Anerley where I picked it up.
The vendor only mentioned the lack of a chain when we'd started emailing. I bought a kmc for £4 from Evans (price matched against wiggle) on the way.
I had to text him when I got to his road, then he brought the bike out to under a street light near his home to show it to me. It was a pain not being able to test ride it, but it looked like I could make it work, so I got him down from 70 to 56 quid.
Once he'd scarpered I fitted the chain and vowed to use large cogs only as I couldn't split the chain in the field not having a chain tool.
It has some issues, some a bonus for my purposes...
- the qr seat post clamp won't hold the post in place. Don't want a qr anyway.
- many rusty bolts, fittings and cogs - good for that tatty look I'm aiming for
- large chainring rubs on the front mech, should adjust out though
- slight sexy shimmy to the buckled rear wheel
- tyres running at about 4psi
- frame is a 54, so a little small in theory, but the short reach probably suits my 41 year old inflexible body.
It's got a patina in places but I rode it 2 miles to Croydon from Anerley where I picked it up.
The vendor only mentioned the lack of a chain when we'd started emailing. I bought a kmc for £4 from Evans (price matched against wiggle) on the way.
I had to text him when I got to his road, then he brought the bike out to under a street light near his home to show it to me. It was a pain not being able to test ride it, but it looked like I could make it work, so I got him down from 70 to 56 quid.
Once he'd scarpered I fitted the chain and vowed to use large cogs only as I couldn't split the chain in the field not having a chain tool.
It has some issues, some a bonus for my purposes...
- the qr seat post clamp won't hold the post in place. Don't want a qr anyway.
- many rusty bolts, fittings and cogs - good for that tatty look I'm aiming for
- large chainring rubs on the front mech, should adjust out though
- slight sexy shimmy to the buckled rear wheel
- tyres running at about 4psi
- frame is a 54, so a little small in theory, but the short reach probably suits my 41 year old inflexible body.
Edited by idiotgap on Friday 25th November 20:11
markoc said:
I'd recommend going retro. Components will have a nice patina and it won't stand out to anyone. The average Joe wouldn't recognise a nice lugged steel frame and some retro campag among all the hipster cut down bars and fixed wheel racers. Would probably be a lot of fun to ride.
This (assuming no snow involved). Relatively cheap. Quick, light, and low-key. Only negative is a lack of rack mounting points in the event that you need more than a backpack or shoulder bag. Find an old steel frame from a proper make, toss on some old Mavic SSCs, 25mm tires, some Campy, and a good rear fender and you have an indestructable commuting machine. Have used my current one for 10 years and have only ever replaced chainrings and consumables.
Edited by scherzkeks on Monday 28th November 10:51
scherzkeks said:
markoc said:
I'd recommend going retro. Components will have a nice patina and it won't stand out to anyone. The average Joe wouldn't recognise a nice lugged steel frame and some retro campag among all the hipster cut down bars and fixed wheel racers. Would probably be a lot of fun to ride.
This (assuming no snow involved). Relatively cheap. Quick, light, and low-key. Only negative is a lack of rack mounting points in the event that you need more than a backpack or shoulder bag. Find an old steel frame from a proper make, toss on some old Mavic SSCs, 25mm tires, some Campy, and a good rear fender and you have an indestructable commuting machine. Have used my current one for 10 years and have only ever replaced chainrings and consumables.
Edited by scherzkeks on Monday 28th November 10:51
Looks like the bike I used for years commuting and bashing about on, really miss it actually and regret selling it, as it was truly indestructible and had a nicer ride than my current steel road bike on the same tyres (which cost and is worth a lot more) . Even hit a car on it (their fault) and didnt even buckle the wheel!
One big advantage of running the kona over more retro machines is that parts were dirt cheap and plentiful, when I ran a retro machine some parts were a pain to get at short notice from your local shop, such as odd drop length brake callipers etc
One big advantage of running the kona over more retro machines is that parts were dirt cheap and plentiful, when I ran a retro machine some parts were a pain to get at short notice from your local shop, such as odd drop length brake callipers etc
idiotgap said:
Great idea in theory and where I was headed to begin with, but the conversation with Leather Lane cycle 're-finishers' Full City and my own research showed that in London at least, these retro frames and components are understood by thieves and get targeted.
Strip the frame of decals/identifiers -- or if you want to preserve, use electrical tape to cover up.Not necessary here in Germany, but that is what I did when I lived in Washington D.C. Very few theives will look at it if it looks old and a bit janky. Tape does wonders.
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