Ways not to lock your bike

always last (@lastnotlost) Tweeted:
1/3 I see @LidlGB has opened a brand new store at Crown Point Streatham and installed butterfly wheel-breaking cycle racks, the most useless we-hate-people-riding-bikes, come-and-steal-a-bicycle form of cycle parking https://t.co/eCS9ZbWXXl

There are proper stands across the road outside the post office and at Tesco.

start young

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Someone at work has put a post up about locking bike with nurse lock while in a shop and then losing the key and carrying the bike home lol

Ways not to lock your basket

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Would steal

Maybe they were worried the supermarket would take it back

Front basket fixed with cable ties?

Thank you, I needed those laughs

I left my bike locked with my u lock in a place I always do, came back 10 mins later and some tool had locked their shitty btwin to my actual bike haha

Luckily a wilkos was across the road and they sell cheap hack saws.

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Did you manage to get it off?

@AlexD yeah cut through one of the links, was actually quite easy, someone called the police tho haha and I asked them what the actual procedure is in that case and they said there isn't one, so they let me cut it off ha

Yeah I was going to ask about that too! I’ve always wondered what the polices position would be.

I know it's a dick move to lock their bike to yours but presumably it was an accident. Seems pretty harsh just leaving their bike totally unsecured. I don't really know what the alternative is if you don't have time to wait for them to turn back up.

Yeah tbh I was on my lunch break and I waited for over half an hour stood there before I started cutting (called work and they were cool with it)
I don't think it was an accident tbh usually people lock other bikes up so they can come back later and strip them I find it hard to believe it was an accident especially when my top tube was lower than the bike lock bar

Very fair!

Someone's nicked half of this bike. Absolutely gutting.

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Haha [whiplash from multiple double takes here]

Seems pretty harsh just leaving their bike totally unsecured.

Disagree, if you fail to engage your brain when locking up you absolutely deserve to have your bike left unsecured.

Bikepacking uni-rig?

I think getting your bike nicked is a pretty high price to pay for not paying enough attention. Getting your bike nicked because you're using it to try and nick someone else's is obviously different.

If you’re paying little enough attention to not notice bitch locking someone then you’re probably paying little enough attention to not have noticed if you even got the lock round the bike stand properly.

I’d say the repercussions should act as a deterrent from being stupid/a reminder to pay attention.

I think if it became socially/legally unacceptable to cut a lock that was bitch locking you then you might find it happening a lot more often.

If this happened near enough to where you live/work (and you have somewhere you can secure your bike without requiring your lock) one option would be to re-lock their bike with your lock, leaving a note saying they can call you and arrange an unlock within the next X hours, otherwise you'll be coming back to pick your lock up...

The 2nd most annoying bitchlock is the one through a brake/gear cable... you can fix it and extract your bike, but you'd really rather not have to and if someone turns up with a key once you've started the process they're getting both barrels...

I suppose that's fair enough to an extent. I guess I'm a bit more sympathetic because generally don't pay anywhere near as much attention as I should to some things.
Owl's suggestion seems the best to me, I guess the downside is the risk that the other person would just cut through your lock rather than wait around for you to unlock it.

I guess this counts - cyclist getting a parking ticket for obstructing a pedestrian highway.

Though, the picture doesn't really show any obstruction, the bike isn't locked & ticketing a bike is hardly going to work, is it? Just put it in a bin.