How likely is my bike to get stolen in college?

Paige: How likely is my bike to get stolen in college?
I’m heading to college in the fall and I’m contemplating buying a bike. I’m really into the Schwinn cruiser style bikes but everyone says not to buy a new bike because it will get stolen. I was just wondering if I get a good lock if it will be safe. I don’t particularly want to drive an old junker but I’d rather that than end up stuck with no bike. What do you think?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Carole B
Just lock it, and if you want, remove the front tire and take with you.

Answer by Shea
make sure that you get a lock with some type of protection against bolt cutters and not a $ 5 cheap lock. if you get a really good lock and make it hard to steal no one will take the time to steal it. just remember thieves are lazy and don’t want to work for they’re stuff if they did they would have a real job. ohhh and one more last tip make sure you put the cable of the lock through the frame and not through the spokes of the wheel because if you put the lock through the wheel they can just take the wheel off but if it is through the frame they would have to weld the frame in half to get the lock off or destroy the frame trying to get the lock off of the bike. hope you have good luck with your bike :]

Answer by Jimmy S
Bout all you can do is buy a good lock and hope.

How high the odds of it getting stolen depends on your school and the neighborhood. School security can probably help you answer the question, and maybe give you some advice about preventing theft.

A good looking bike is gonna be a more tempting target than one that looks like a clunker, but is mechanically sound.

Answer by el guapo
It’s more likely to be stolen there than in other places. Bike thieves know there are tons of bikes there, and a lot are easy to take. But…9 out of 10 times, a bike is stolen because it wasn’t locked well or the lock was bad. Invest in a good lock, like a Kryptonite Evolution. They have levels of protection. I wouldn’t go below 7 or 8 depending on the area.
Then learn where and how to lock the bike. You can do a search and find out. I saw this in their website:
There are other articles with pictures–maybe look in YouTube. I don’t work for Kryptonite or anything, but I know they make really good locks.

Answer by zBen
Well, i always remove the front wheels nut and lock the frame.

Answer by nathanb131
My freshman year in college I bought a new bike and had the seat stolen from it. Once I replaced the seat the entire bike was stolen 2 days later!

The two easiest things to steal off a bike are the seat and the front wheel because of those quick release levers. You can tether your seat to your bike with a permanent cable that is pretty inconspicuous.

For the front wheel, I always made sure to have my lock go through my bike frame AND the wheel rim. I used a flexible cable to lock it since it was easy to tie my bike to a variety of permanent fixtures. Of course, if your back wheel is also quick-release, you’d have to have one long cable to secure both front and back wheels.

I never secured my back wheel, nor did I bother getting a super heavy-duty cable. If people want it bad enough there isn’t much you can do. I won’t live in fear of thieves, just deter them, don’t make it more trouble than it’s statistically worth!

Remember what’s important. Using your bike. The most secure thing you can do is leave the bike at home. But riding your bike is a great way to travel, keep in shape, and is a great way to relax and clear your mind before class. If you go all-out with security devices that are cumbersome, you won’t want to ride it as much because it won’t be as enjoyable as it should be.

1. Tether that seat to deter those petty fools who had their seat stolen and want to get even by stealing forward.
2. Get a flexible cable with a 3-number combination lock (keeping track of a bike key is just one more thing you don’t need to complicate your life).
3. Don’t leave it in dark, secluded places where a thief will feel comfortable taking the time to cut your cable and make off with it when no one is around.
4. If it gets stolen, not the end of the world, don’t let it get you down. If it was a cheap bike, get another and ride again! If it was expensive, you can insure it and can replace it with a small deductible (could be covered under your folks homeowner’s insurance, for example).

A $ 200 bike loss is an unfortunate event, but not worth stressing over. Losing a $ 1,000 bike that you only used to get to class with and didn’t have insured? That’s just poor risk management!

Answer by Peter Griffin
If you don’t lock your bike, it’ll get stolen, no matter how crappy it is.

If you lock up a decent bike with a cable lock, there’s a strong chance it will disappear.

If you lock your high quality bike with two good locks, you’ve created enough of a deterrent that your bike should be fine, unless it’s impractically expensive or you leave it out of sight for long periods (read: overnight).

If you use the same two-lock strategy with a junk bike, no one will steal it. In fact, people will wonder what it is about the bike (or you) that would justify using locks that cost twice as much as the bike is worth. Your fellow students will probably give you a bit of space as you walk by for fear of what you might do to them if they look at you the wrong way.

Jokes aside, two quality locks will run you about $ 75. I’d use high quality locks regardless of bike quality or value, because…like you said…you don’t want to be stuck w/o a bike AND any improperly locked bike is susceptible to theft. One lock should be a u-lock. For this, the Evolution by Kryptonite is a good combination of security, weight, and price. For very high-theft environments, Kryptonite makes the New York 3000 u-lock; it’s extremely tough, but it’s a beast. Combine your u-lock with a cable to run through the frame to the front wheel. Add a small cable or chain to run through your seat rails if your saddle is nice.

Answer by mojo
i think college is an unlikley place for a bike to get stolen. there will be others riding bikes to college. i think if your bikes the only one there it means its a lot more likley to get stolen…ive heard that D locks are much more secure than cable locks…i have one of each but usially just take the cable lock because the D lock shakes about on the frame, its pretty annoying