So for a few days now I’ve been looking around, youtube’ed and got lost on the weird side and got paranoid from the bike thiefs (not much on unicycle thief since it’s a lot rarer for a number of reasons).
So I came across
and
Also searched here and a few people say it’s okay to bring your unicycle in stores but I dunno how it’ll be here and I don’t plan to bring my unicycle all the way to class through public transportation. I’m especially interested in the first one, any tried them or are interested in them?
I have a U lock but I’m not too sure where to actually attach it on in terms of carrying it from your house to the place you plan to use it. seems to be very limited places to hang the u lock as oppose to a bike. I would imagine carrying a lock around on a unicycle while balancing on a unicycle be somewhat…a pain.
How do you go about carrying your locks and/or securing your ride when you go into a store (for those stores that won’t let you bring it in, probably due to larger unicycle sizes)?
I always run the cable through the spokes, that way it can’t be stolen by simply removing the frame or whatever piece you attached it to. Of course if a guy is gonna go to enough trouble to disassemble your uni he’ll just cut the lock.
Yeah I started googling up on pictures of people with locked unicycles, I still don’t know how you carry it around, my saddle is too low to have the space for the mount + lock. What I’m thinking of doing is combining a U lock with that alarm from the first video. I got it shipped for $5. Will see how it works when it comes.
My only fear is that it malfunctions, causes a ruckus, and in the end it’s not a thief that takes my unicycle, it’s everyone in the neighborhood trying to trash it to get it to turn off
I was thinking of the lock in the third video, the cable lock, but I’m not too sure how it functions but I think it makes a sound until it runs out of batteries or you deactivate it, which would be hard since I’ll be in a completely different area. Well I know it comes on when someone cuts the wire, it can go off as much as it wants because there’s an obvious thief, but I don’t want someone accidentally bumping into the unit and having that happen.
I’ll try to bring it into the stores, hopefully they’ll accept it.
I use to have a really nice road bike, very light and pretty bike. Only down side is carrying 2 U locks and always wondering if it’ll still be there when I come back. Now I have a cheap normal bike with rusty handle bars, but more peace of mind.
Nate, if you will be out in completely different area, then what is the reason to have an alarm in your lock?
I’m basically locking my uni with regular cable lock, nothing too sophisticated, just not the smallest one that could be cut with any scissors. Uni is worth much, much less for a thief as aftermarket is much smaller, so I hope nobody would care to steal it if it is locked. And of course I leave it outside only when I cannot take it inside with me.
Because other people would hear the sound and look in that direction and it would deter the thief, hopefully. I just watched a lot of videos about bike thieves and they seem to be able to do it more because there’s no real alarm to alert people of what’s happening, it just happens quietly and unnoticed. The alarm itself is only $5, I’m going to give it a try.
I know unis are not sought over nearly as much as bikes and hey, that’s a great thing for us but I still wouldn’t want to lose it. The term s**t happens comes to mind. I know thieves would more likely take a bike, but I don’t want to let my guard down and regret it later. Some of you might call it being paranoid, but I call it being paranoid…uh…I mean cautious, safe than sorry
Could be a thief that’s simply out to ruin your day rather than thinking of the profits.
I don’t trust plain o’ cable locks at all, especially if you use it as a main lock.
I have thought about locks but so far I have been able to keep the unicycles in the house or in the car. But now that I have a 36 incher and hope to ride more places, I might have to reconsider this subject.
Speaking of which, I did have a unicycle stolen once. It was my six footer. It was in the car. They broke open the door, stole some dollar coins that were in the ashtray and grabbed the tall unicycle. I couldn’t believe it. After calling the police they came back to the house a few hours later. They had my six foot unicycle! The thief had carried it two houses down and left it in their backyard. We have always laughed at what might have gone through their mind. Were they on drugs? Did they think they had a bike and then realized two houses down that they didn’t? Maybe they figured they couldn’t get much money out of it? Did they simply get tired of dragging it along?
Believe it or not, the police fingerprinted the unicycle and they caught the thief.
Weirdly if I were a thief I think I’d probably grab a giraffe before I bothered checking out the MUni’s/trials uni’s… Before I started riding, the giraffes always seemed more of a performer’s show-offey flashy item, and to a thief that might = more expensive (And probably easier to sell, because who the hell’s ever heard of a unicycle with a disc brake and a big fat mountain tyre, compared to those who have heard of the big tall ones clowns ride?)
Smart phones are great when looking up values of potential theft items. Since most uni’s have the brand in big print on them, it’s only a couple minutes and the thief knows if it’s worth the effort. New and used prices are readily available.
I was thinking about this actually. Like I’m planning to get the Oracle and it has the logo all over it (also why I’m even more determined to get a sound alarm, that thing costs a fortune at least for me ).
I was thinking about taping over it as much as possible. So unless you peel the stickers, it’ll be a bit harder for the criminals that are not familiar with unicycles to just see the brand and type and search for it.
And if I see a tape missing or damaged, then…well… I’ll be extra cautious or not ride it for awhile or move it to a different location.
I just use a beefy U lock when I have to leave it outside somewhere. Most of the time I just take it in with me if I can, but it’s only a 24" so it’s a lot easier to carry around indoors then a larger 29" or 36".
I’ve been able to bring my 24" in everywhere, just store it under the table, or sit in the corner w/ It behind me, bus I needed to dismantle it). I bet most places wouldn’t allow a bigger wheel.
Since u can’t completely lock the frame on most unis, I’d never leave a high end uni w/ flashy bits (eg KH or Oregon w/ disk breaks) locked outside.
