Spotted this over on SF Citizen.

You can never be safe enough.

This has been making the blog rounds lately.

Suffice to say, you’re fooling yourself if you believe this is anything close to “professional grade”. A cheap lock won’t save you much if you have to factor in the cost of a new bike.

One more, detailing the locking job.

Caltrain Station, 4th and Townsend

The gray Marin has a u-lock around the frame and security skewers for the wheels. Unfortunately, they didn’t secure the handlebar so well. Despite this oversight, this is not the badly parked bike. That would be the purple Felt behind it, which is secured with nothing more than a flimsy cable around the front wheel (which itself is held by a quick release).

The building in the background, about 15 feet away, is Warm Planet Bikes, which provides free secure (and dry) bike parking. I’m not sure exactly when the Felt came in, but it was some time after the shop opened… and some time after the Marin’s handlebar got nicked.

Alleyway near 18th and Castro

Now here’s an odd one: on the one hand, you have a very nice road bike locked up in a high-risk area with the flimsiest of cables. On the other hand, you have the big sign announcing it as a bike to fight AIDS, perhaps in the hope of getting karmic protection?

Nothing against invoking karmic protection. Hell, by all means use whatever means you can to dissuade would-be thieves. You should still have a good lock, though.

Thanks to Kay for the submission.

14th and Church

Okay, folks, this is never a good idea.

AT&T Park

Strike one: you used a cheap cable lock around your bike.

Strike two: you locked your bike to a skinny cable instead of something more sold.

Strike three: you did it all within a few steps of the free valet bike parking.

A bike rack is pretty much the best thing to lock your bike to. That’s assuming, of course, that the rack is firmly attached to something.

Thanks to Mikey for the submission.

Market St, between Sanchez and Noe.

The classic oversight. There are no fewer than three locks on this bike: a u-lock from frame to post, a cable through the u-lock and the front wheel, and a thick cable around the frame and front wheel. Too bad the rider put two locks around the front wheel and none around the rear. Now the bike is useless, and has been abandoned and blighting the sidewalk for a month.

Ferry Building Farmers’ Market

Kryptonite’s New York Chain is one of the best locks money can buy. It’s only effective, however, if you put it around more than just the front wheel.