How to lock up a bicycle in New York City

[Music] i'm evan weiss also known as bike snob nyc i'm with terry berenson here on the lower east side of manhattan and today we are going to talk about paddle lock your bike in nyc riding a bike in new york city is challenging but the real challenge is keeping a bike in new york city holding onto your bike in this town is difficult this city wants your bike it will take it you cannot leave it unattended for a second to learn about how that works one of the best things to do is walk around and check out the bikes that have been sitting around for a while look what happens to them you can learn from this you see what people take and how they take it the wheels are gone okay that's one of the first things to go is your wheels anything that can be taken will be taken so learn from the cityscape any bike you have in new york city is liable to be taken from you at any moment no matter what precautions you take you have to know the bike you have to know its vulnerabilities someone could steal your entire bike or they can steal pieces of your bike uh know about your frame know about your frame's tubing how delicate is your frame soothing is it that thin walled aluminum tubing that can dent with the flick of a fingernail or is it some nice stout cheap mail order steel that you can slap up against the bike rack and not worry about how do your wheels go on and off your bike do you have quick release axles which are exactly what they sound like quick to be relieved of your wheels you have nutted axles which at least require a tool and add an additional layer of security when you need to adjust your seat it's not too hard to raise it up and down is it just as easy for someone to unbolt your saddle and take it with them if it comes off easy either take it off yourself or secure it to your bicycle something like this chain lock is the most secure you have the strength and you have the length to wrap not only your frame but your wheels so great for security not so great for carrying around a lock like this weighs more than your bike it probably weighs more than you the u-lock has strength is nicely portable however uh u-lock by itself is probably not going to be big enough to secure your components as well as your frame you want to supplement that with something like a cable lock they're not too heavy you can throw it in your bag along with your u-lock the more locks the thief sees the more likely that thief is to move on your lock is only as good as what you are locking to if you're locking to something that's not secure the best lock in the world isn't going to keep your bike there these new york city standard issue bike racks are a good choice but believe it or not sometimes they're loose in the sidewalk sometimes they've been backed into a few times by cars and trucks and they're kind of loose make sure it's in there good street signs are absolutely everywhere another good choice provided there's an actual sign up top looking around the new york city streetscape we see yes trees we have trees here and yes people will lock their bikes to trees don't be one of these people it's not nice for the tree uh it can damage the tree what if someone comes along decides they want your bike and cuts down the tree that's on your conscience and dogs like to be on trees and why put your bike right there in the line of fire new york city is a big city it feels like it belongs to all of us some of it is private property these planters can be a good choice for locking your bike up really quick but their private property what if someone decides to cut your bike off because they don't like your bike on their property uh know what belongs to who and you can't always get away with locking your bike to private property for a long time and then one of the most abundant and tempting aspects of the new york city streetscape is the scaffolding scaffoldings are everywhere scaffoldings however are not always a good choice for locking your bike if you lock to this piece here held on by a single bolt so that's all it will take to take your bike okay let's do a nice garden variety street sign u-lock lock-up job we're gonna get in right up against the pole here we're gonna take out the u-lock open her up just the right angle we can get the frame and the rear wheel right there in the u-lock and not only have we secured both the wheel and frame but we've taken up a lot of space here inside the lock which keeps the bike from falling over all right so we're locked up we've got the back wheel and the frame secure if you've got that extra cable lock you can take the next step here you come in you get your front wheel locked up to your frame now you have some extra security both wheels secure frame secure you're in pretty good shape [Music] a quick trick to secure your saddle is you find a piece of bicycle chain you take a piece of inner tube you wrap the chain around your saddle rails and around your frame and you attach the chain and look at that they can't take your seat if you have a bike with quick release skewers go to the hardware store spend a dollar get some hose clamps you just clamp the skewer lever right against your fork and that will at least inconvenience a thief so if all this how to lock your bike in nyc stuff is too daunting for you and you really can't bear the thought of leaving your bicycle outside in all this craziness there is another way and that way is to simply take the bike with you i'm evan weiss you've been watching so we bring to a close the story of rigid control through the unceasing research and the highest quality you

Channel: Terry B

Views: 463,358

Keywords: lock up bicycle new york city, terry barentsen, cycling, Terry Barentsen Hotline, Terry B, Terry B hotline, hotline bike, lock up, bicycle, new york city, holtline, bike snob, bike snob nyc, terry barentsen bike check, terry barentsen nyc, terry barentsen camera setup, cycling documentary, cycling benefits, new york city vlog

Id: WGcuc20SqCU

Length: 6min 53sec (413 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 28 2021