Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking

Nearly five years ago, legendary bike mechanic Hal Ruzal and I walked the streets surrounding Bicycle Habitat and graded the bike locking ability of New Yorkers - producing many humorous and enlightening anecdotes. The resulting video aired frequently on bikeTV and at many festivals, and because of it - Hal is still frequently asked by complete strangers to judge their bike locking.

I always endeavored doing another, but as with most sequels you need a new wrinkle. This time we thought we'd give Hal some company and invited former Recycle a Bicycle mechanic Kerri Martin (and founder of The Bike Church in Asbury Park, NJ) to weigh in with her expertise.

Again, bikes on the streets of SoHo provide lots of fodder for laughs and lessons to learn.We didn't plan to but we walked the same loop and even used the same one-hour time frame. The results? The grades were a little better than five years ago. Sure, still some bad locking out there, but many more people are now sporting multiple locks and better strategies! Good news, maybe we made a difference after all...

ecm

Nice follow up!
Terrie

Call it a treejerk reaction but each of those dorks who locked his/her bike to a tree should get automatically downgraded to a C- and the tire deflated. The locks rub the bark and damage the tree, which is already stressed from all the honking. Do not lock your bikes to trees! Kerri, Hal, I would have expected a more holistic approach to your grading system.
Bicycling Green Goblin

Terrie,

Hey I don't agree with locking to a tree, and don't support it, but there are many blocks in NYC where there is NOTHING to lock to. DOT should install even more racks that way people don't lock up to trees and damage them.

I think the point of the grading was the locking and if you start making exceptions for one thing, you open up a can of worms.
fixxr

Hey Green Goblin - sure there are some blocks where trees might be the only thing to lock to, and ya know what???... it's not going to kill you to walk a block and find something solid to lock to.

If it isn't obvious enough, I agree with Terrie. Locking to a tree is about as bad for the tree as having your bike pissed on by a neighborhood dog. Nobody wants or deserves that kind of disrespect.

FYI, ask anyone who rides every day if they lock to trees. The answer will be a resounding no.
The Voice of Reason

Nice Willy...you are obviously out of touch.

Firstly Hal is mid-fifty something, and if you ride a bike you should be thankful for the fact that the guy was promoting cycling when there was a mere fraction of the folks doing it today.

Yeah, I'll agree with the flathead screwdriver comment, but you have totally missed the point of course...he has TWO methods to make it hard to get his front wheel quickly. As us smart cyclists know, it is all about making it difficult for thieves and make them carry more tools or spend time. Seeing that much complexity makes the thief move on.

As far as Habitat, again be thankful they were donating $$$ and supporting T.A. when other bike shops and bike companies didn't.
Willy

Thankful? For what exactly? His selfless promotion single handedly saved cycling in NYC? Oh please, give me a big old break!

Habitat donating $$$? Care to attach a real number to that? Again, a break to be giving me please.

What exactly was he doing in the early 90's? Hanging out at the volley ball courts, buying beers from Paulie? And yea, you're right, at that time he was in his 40's. Silly me. :-/

NYC cycling needs to get away from these clowns if it really wants to go mainstream. Get a nice clean cut yuppie, and she/he can "sell" cycling to the other clean cut yuppies, and then you'll see some real movement. The dopey ex-messenger losers need to fade away already. Note I did not say they should finally grow up as they are Never Never land lifers.
Pingback: Stationner et bien barrer son vélo « Montréal à Vélo()
Lars

Great video, keep them coming!
Pingback: StreetFilms; Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking « Bamboo()
Pingback: Protect Your Bike « In The Spin()
Pingback: Paraciclos e Bicicletários « Bamboo()
Bicycling Green Goblin

I noticed that this Willy guy posted the same comments on three different blogs regarding this video. Apparently, he has an axe to grind. Loser.
Pingback: Grade your bike locking… « Freewheel Collective’s Weblog()
Pingback: NYT forgets bike parking()
http://www.asmithphotography.com Angela

This is absolutely great!
http://angelasmithphotography.blogspot.com Brandon

This is great! I probably won't have had my bike stolen a month ago if I had watched this.
Tysen

How to steel the Bike without touching the Tree:

The chain doesn't go through the frame, only the front wheel, and is too loose to prevent the following. Take the front quick release wheel off, turn the handlebars to the left and slip the chain over the handlebars and down the fork.
Bart BART

Gotta love HAL. He's a NYC icon.
Joel

I wish I would have watched this video years ago... lost a Giant to theft. Boo thieves.
Pingback: "This is dog manure in the shape of a bicycle." Hal grades your locking. | dv8-designs()
Rodger Lodger

1) UNLESS I missed it, he didn't explain how to safeguard the saddle, although several times he pointed out how vulnerable it is, including with a small wrench lock (maybe I missed it).
2) Stop bicycle thievery overnight: make the law your hand is amputated. Liberals go apopleptic, then applaud as thievery stops -- and therefore no amputations are carried out!
Pingback: Streetfilms » Hal Grades Your Bike Locking()
Pingback: Week 43: In Brief « I am Doufu()
Pingback: Hal Grades Your Bike Locking (a classic) « Everything Right Is Wrong Again()
Brutal Truth

Seems to me this Willie character is quite the coward, inclandesantly lobbing insults over the fence without revealing his id.

Could it be that Hal had moral occasion to bury his bike boot up Willie's kiester in the past and this is sneaky Willie's cowardly way of paying Hal back for the extra Heinie hole?
Pingback: Streetfilms | NYC Bike Month Montage (2010)()
http://blog.cyberion.net yann

HAHAH. I confirm nobody stole that bike, here is an old photo of mine, that I took during a NYC visit...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yann/2518716033/

I recognized the Big Wheel from the end where it was said: "Nobody will steal this thing":
charley hardman

very bad form removing seatpost and screwing the height/alignment. being a bubbly phony jackass on a "we're just helping out" vid assigns no right to screw with property.
http://www.creativitea.co.uk Rik

Damn i need to carry some serious hardware to lock my bike!
http://akerpub.com Tom

Very cool video, both are very great.
Thanks for share.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QHT2PELVMXZJYWZD6QNUVY4QAE Midland

guy in the pic needs a haircut

ryan reynolds workout
mac

Great video I definitely know how to lock my bike up now!
mma
http://twitter.com/gostrojgo gostrojgo

kamin svoimi rukami
Pingback: Mission is #1 for Bike Thefts | Street Blog | San Francisco City and News | SF Station()
Pingback: Keep your wheels where you leave them: Bike Locking 101 | 511 Contra Costa()
Perthbiker

I think it is sad that New Yorkers seem to accept this high level of crime as normal.
Edwardsinclair

People would stop stealing bikes, if you needed some sort of registration and tax to be able to ride one. Then if you were stopped while riding, and you were a thief, you wouldn't have the proper documents, unless your plan was to sell the components.
http://howtoseduceawomann.com/ how to seduce a woman

You look rad in that photo dude

http://howtoseduceawomann.com/
John Scheck

What the hippie fails to mention is that a major part of the equation in bike theft is time. How much time does the thief have to steal your bike. It doesn't matter how big your lock is if the thief has enough time. Conversely, if you are just popping in to buy a cup of coffee you don't need to batten down the hatches. It's sad that cyclist have to spend so much money on locks. I have 90€ worth of locks for a city bike I bought used for 60€.
Ramon In La

"the Kraptonite lock!"
Anonymous

Why not lock to trees?
Anonymous

Trees cant hear honking, Except the ones with ears carved into them
Dc

He mentions several times that with locks you're just buying time (in this and other videos linked here). I disagree with you on consciously having a bad locking job when "popping in to buy a cup of coffee". Since you never know where you're gonna stop, you normally have your primary lock with you. And if you have it with you, you might as well use it - that's why you bought it for. It takes 1 minute to find a good pole and lock up your bike. It probably takes more time to buy the cup of coffee. Laziness of bike owners is thief's best friend.
Bill

I have Hal's t-shirt
Pingback: Missing | TRANSPORT/LAND()
ThruTheFrameOrC+

YEah, I was thinking the same thing. It's not an A if you don't go THROUGH the frame!
fartond

Nah.
swarm3d

Move.
truth_machine

I didn't ask you, asshole.
swarm3d

Thanks for putting me in my place. I won't comment on the Internet anymore!

Streetfilms