bicycle security

bikecrib

I have been dipping in and out of this forum over the past two years and have always been struck by the spirit of friendly helpfulness. I am a jhonny come lately cyclist with a decent Felt roadbike and a trek commuter. Like many of you on this forum my bicycle was stolen and I took it more personally than a grown man should.

I vowed to get even. With the help of two PhD mechanical engineers in Dublin I have developed an all enclosing on-street bicycle parking solution that will not only lock in the bicycle, but all its constituent parts. Trouble is, it doesn't come cheap and to get it on the streets may necessitate a small charge for usage which could be paid for through a smart phone.

To help me with the business case, I would be grateful for the views of members here. Would you be absolutely steadfast in your opposition to any form of charge? If you thought your nice expensive bicycle and its parts would be 100 per cent secure in the city centre would you be willing to a) pay 25 cent per hour b)50 cent per hour; 1 euro per hour. Your thoughts would be gratefully accepted.

Andy-Pandy

If you where paying to have your bike secured would that mean you would cover the cost of replacing a bike if it was stolen?

MB Lacey

I would happily pay 25c ph for ultra safe bike storage in town.
I don't think I'd pay €1 ph as I'm usually in town for long periods and taking the bike then paying €5/€6 defeats the purpose of how handy and free it is to park my bike in town.

bikecrib

Andy, it would be commercially impossible to give a blanket guarantee to all bicycles. This is early stage yet, but we are seeking gold security status from bicycle insurers. We would say you're bike would be many times safer with this than any other existing solution. It would be like having a decent security system in your home. The thief is almost always likely to look for an easier target.

Jk_Eire

25c - 50c an hour I'd happy be to pay for short stops up to 3 hours if I had peace of mind that the solution was 100% effective.
Anything more, it's possible to see the costs racking up.

bikecrib

MB , see where you are coming from. Another option is a commuter rate of around 2 euro per day 7am-7pm.

monument

It's worth pointing out that the NTA and Dublin city council are looking at mass / large scale secured parking for the city centre. Early stages yet but it would likely be paid parking.

dazed+confused

Good idea OP, but you will really have to keep the cost down or you will defeat the purpose of using a bicycle in the first place!

bikecrib

Thanks for that monument. These will be indoor solutions, following the Dutch model. They will certainly help. However, some people will still want secure parking on the streets.
Dazed - I agree. I'm a thrifty cyclist myself. The price would need to be considerably less than your bus fare into town.

dearg lady

Even at 2 euro a day, 5 days a week, you're looking at over 500 for the year. Many cyclists bikes might not cost much more than that, so they may feel it's not worthwhile. More appealing to those with more expensive bikes.

AltAccount

I wouldn't avail of this, I'd rather invest in a decent lock that allowed me to park anywhere rather than rely on a static solution, no matter how secure that is.

padjo5

If i were to use such a facility i would prefer if it were free! Or at max a small annual subscribtion like Dublin Bikes? How many 'stations' would you plan to place in the city centre? I like the idea.

Coolbreeze2809

Well considering these are only €75 for a year....

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-station-lockers-step-bike-security-up-a-gear-3217945.html

DBCyc

AltAccount wrote: »

I wouldn't avail of this, I'd rather invest in a decent lock that allowed me to park anywhere rather than rely on a static solution, no matter how secure that is.

+1. OP are you proposing multiple sites across the city, at key destinations? This would be key to getting something to work. I'm sure plenty of people would pay if they had a secure facility near their place of work or wherever they are going.

How many bikes would it store? If it becomes popular then you would have the problem of sites becoming full. Think of the popular Dublin Bike sites and the work required to reallocate bikes between sites. Anyway best of luck with it, any solution that makes bike theft more difficult is a welcome one.

AltAccount

Yep, good point. If there's a chance they'll be full then I need to bring a lock.

If I buy a lock to bring, it'll be a lock worth buying that will keep my bike safe.

If I have a good lock with me, it makes this service largely redundant to me.

bikecrib

Alt you would be able to book and pay through your mobile. Dbc the amount of sites would depend on uptake. It would require some selective testing first. Coolbreeze, No one solution is going to stamp out bike theft, but a number of different systems including railway station lockers should greatly reduce it.
Dearg,
If you look at existing parking areas in the city centre there are very few bicycles worth 500 plus. Bicycle shop owners will tell you that since the bike to work scheme 80% of bikes sold are 500 plus. There's a disparity there which suggests people with higher value bikes are afraid to park them in the city centre

jimmycrackcorm

AltAccount wrote: »

I wouldn't avail of this, I'd rather invest in a decent lock that allowed me to park anywhere rather than rely on a static solution, no matter how secure that is.

Not much use for the many bikes I've seen locked up in the city centre where someone obviously maliciously bent one or both wheels

bikecrib

Too true Jimmy. Maybe I should have stressed that all the constituent parts will be protected as well as the bicycle itself. I have a decent roadbike. The wheels, probably worth about 400 euro a throw, can be whipped off in seconds. That is why I do not bring my bicycle into town.

AltAccount

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Not much use for the many bikes I've seen locked up in the city centre where someone obviously maliciously bent one or both wheels

People can bend my wheels.
My bars and stem are Raceface and would come off with an allen key - total value of bars, stem, shifters, grips etc must be a few hundred quid.
A hundred quid for a decent saddle - again removable with an allen key.

Lots and lots of bits you could steal or break, but I've been lucky so far, I guess.

In reality my lock is probably stronger than the sheffield stand it's locked to, so a couple of seconds with an angle grinder and you'd have my bike and lock.

My €0.02 is that bike thieves, by and large, steal complete bikes. They steal the bike with a bad lock or that's badly locked.
If presented with two bikes, they steal the one that's easier to steal rather than the one that cost more.

I'm not knocking the service bikecrib is offering, I'm just giving my honest feedback as to why I don't feel I'd avail of that service.

bikecrib

Good points alt. however, I suspect you have been lucky. If I wanted to cruise into town on my good bike to meet for a coffee or pint , I would pay 50c to 1euro for peace off mind. And i would be careful enough with my hard earned cash!

AltAccount

It depends very much on locations.

If you were able to position yourself near DB stations, I could see myself leaving my bike locked up properly with you while I used a DB for the A to B to C journeys.

karl_m

I know I will be using those bike lockers at the train stations because my old bike was robbed (my own fault), and my new one will be at least 5 times as much as my old one, I'd be willing to spend money for the security, but I'd rather there to be a security guard watching over the place, but that's an ideal world.