Unicycle Locks?

Like the post about how to carry a unicycle, I too am trying to integrate my school life with unicycling. I go to a school with a high amout of bike racks and a high bike theft rate. Has anyone any ideas about what types of locks best secure a unicycle, since the seat and the wheel are both risks to be disassembled and stolen? Are there mods to the cycle which could add a ring to put a lock through?
Thanks -Joel

Boy, thats a tough one. I’ve never heard of a kit to attach a ring but then I’m rather new to uni-ing myself :smiley:

But even if you can’t find a kit it shouldn’t be to hard to weld a ring onto the frame :slight_smile: Then if you looped a normal lock through the spokes and that the only thing anyone could steal is the seat. (if you have an expensive one you might want to think about that as well :wink:

Sounds like you are worried the thieves will take apart your wheel at the bearings and walk away with the frame and seat? Somebody earlier mentioned using a Hunter frame for this, but that’s a lot of expense just for locking up.

If your local thieves are really so industrious as to take apart 4 screws or more, my advice to you is to never let your unicycle out of your sight. You might try for permission to bring it into the classroom, or talk to a custodian or someone who has an indoor place you can put it during the day.

And somebody should do something about your school’s bike theft problem.

I didn’t mention this before but you also have to consider whether the thieves would even WANT a unicycle :wink:

The percentage of the population that can ride them is very small.

That could be irrelevant. I think some people steal to stick it to people, regardless of whether they can use the item.

I’ve got a really flexible bike lock, can’t remember the name of it. But it’s about 4 feet of cable with ends that lock together. Maybe you could buy one of those and thread it through the tire, then tightly wrap it around the whole uni, including the seat? Finally locking it into place on the bike rack. It’d have to be a REALLY tight wrap, though.

I’ve been uniing to class for 3 years on two campuses and so far have never been told that I can’t bring my uni into the classroom. However, if it’s a big lecture hall and I can’t keep my eye on my uni, I lock it up through the rim with a U shaped bar lock. If I’m feeling really paranoid I take the seat off. I also registered a uni with the campus police for whatever that’s worth.

I could just imagine my $600 muni being sold in a pawn shop for $15.

Get a few different locks. Put them through the spokes, the frame, and then (if you have a KH or Miyata) find one small enough to fit through the handle.

Or, take it apart. I store the seat in my locker at school, but the frame could easily fit as well if I wanted it to.

I just had an idea. If you tie a knot around the fork like this and there isn’t too much slack, it would secure your uni :smiley:

knot.jpg

Actually, forget that, I accidentaly didn’t make the knot right :frowning:

In this image the red line is the continuation of the chain (i deleted the scene before I realized my mistake :angry: )

knot.jpg

That’s what might have happened to my carbon MUni and my DM ATU when they were stolen in 2000. The thief offered the carbon uni to the bike shop in exchange for removing the (splined) cranks from the ATU.

Some people will steal anything that’s not bolted down, just for laughs.

Others will steal a unicycle if it’s attached to something else. Like a car. My first unicycle to be stolen was in my car. I assume the thief wanted the car, but the unicycle (my first Miyata) and my toolbox, went with it.

These are all good suggestions. I tried to use one of those compact computer lock down cables with the attachment you “super glue” to the frame. However it didn’t work because there is nowhere on the unicycle that is perfectly flat to firly attach the d-ring so it fell off after 3 hours. Someone could make some money if they came up with a lock designed for unicycles. Thanks

yep ,bout 5 bucks at least :slight_smile:

drill a hole in the seat?

my suggestion fer keepin yer seat and yer wheel is to buy a cable bike lock, loop it thru yer fork/wheel like you would a b*ke, then wrap it around yer frame until you reach the seat(loop in enough times so that you have just enough cable left to get one final loop around the seat) then, loop it around yer seat. not a completely failsafe way of locking yer unicycle, but the best that i can think of.

This thread reminds me of that peewee herman movie where he parks his brand new bike outside a store and wraps about 20’ of thick chain around it and a lamp post, only to find his bike stolen and several cut chain links on the ground.

mike

“There’s no basement in the Alamo!”

I use a dog choke chain and a small lock with a key. It makes me feel safer about leaving my uni outside, discourages people from messing with it, and keeps local jackasses from taking it just to be jerks. It doesn’t provide a whole lot of actual protection (It would take me all of five minutes to wear through the chain with a file), but it provides enough.

People steal bikes because you can sell a bike. Unicycles are of limited appeal, and odds are, no one would pay what they’re really worth (I.e. A new Miyata freestyle uni costs $200. I found one at a yard sale for $15).

My equipment is protected by one simple fact: I live in a town of less than 5,000 people. Word gets around. If someone stole my unicycle, there isn’t a damn thing they could do with it. Someone would say, “Hey, didn’t your one-wheeled-bike thing get stolen? Yeah, that guy Alex has it…”

That is true, but how many theives steal what they want? Compared to how many steal what they can, whether or not they want or need it.

True, makes me wish I had bolted my MUni down, to prevent the damn thief’s laughter.

I thought I was protected by the same simple fact. I live in a small country, in a small town with a population of about 50,000 people. I thought that nobody would even want to steal my unicycle, not knowing how to ride. And that if anyone did steal it, someone would see them and let me know. My Wilder Lightrider 6160c unicycle (probably the most expensive uni in New Zealand) was stolen from my flat a couple of weekends ago. I have no clue as to who took it. I doubt the theif has any practical use for my unicycle, but maybe he or she got a thrill from taking it, and perhaps is learning to ride in secret, out of the public eye. I’m doing my best to get the word out, to make sure everyone knows it’s missing. I might go see customs today to let them know, just in case someone attempts to ship it overseas. Tomorrow I should get an article in the free Midweek paper. It sucks being a mountain unicyclist with no MUni- locking it up is probably a good idea.

That’s exactly what I said!