[Closed] Preparing daughters bike for Uni - Rat Bike Project.

some cities have a deal with the local Bris bike variants - Glasgow for example (I think). Might be worth checking out before getting jiggy with the rattle can!

Son is back down the road shortly - he was all set to nab my trusty Marin hybrid, but he's getting a clunky shopping bike from local bike project instead 🙂

Face reality.... If you take a decent-ish (or nice looking pile of garbage) to just about any university town, it is going to get lost or stolen relatively quickly. My Emmelle MTB (early 90's vintage) lasted two years before some asshole stole it from outside the security office (the irony) and dumped it in a river.

Luckily I got it back that time.

Secondhand Carrera Subway?

My son's fairly decent bike survived multiple years at Swansea. It's a road bike, so perhaps that's less appealing? And he has a half-way decent lock.

The rust and neglect is the real bike destroyer.

cover it in 3m reflective tape, safety conscious and anti-theft. Did this to my dad's around town bike, and he managed to keep that one quite a while.

Face reality…. If you take a decent-ish (or nice looking pile of garbage) to just about any university town, it is going to get lost or stolen relatively quickly.

never had any issue with my bike (decent hard tail) at uni but then I didn't lock it up in stupid places or with a stupid lock.

never had any issue with my bike at uni but then I didn’t lock it up in stupid places or with a stupid lock

Yes, it's the victims fault.

reckon my station bike fits the bill for being something totally unwantable.

SS Specialized Tricross and carbon fork doesn't seem like a logical start point but when its liberally dented and painted in hammerite it certainly tones it down a lot! Add in singlespeed, mud guards and a smattering of random bits usually covered with months worth of road grime, for what its used for is perfect. Fact it weighs next to nothing helps too!

Replace the QR's with something locking.
Use a security Torx for the saddle clamp etc...

There's no guarantee that any bike won't get nicked

I bought an old battered sh frame (Kona dew), spare parts bin contacts & for low maintenance & ease of use 1x9 with a cheap Chinese narrow wide ring off ebay- I have a 44t on mine, and for reliability cable discs , puncture protection tyres (lots of cheapee options than schwable marathons) basket for added uncool value

I leave an On Guard motorbike chain at the station & one at work, my bike lives at Euston overnight & east London is dreadful for bike thefts , but it's not been nicked in 5 years of doing this

Yes, it’s the victims fault.

The world is a shit place and sadly there are thieves out there so we have to do things to help prevent theft. I used a lock that would not be cut by bolt cutters and stored it in a very public place.

used a lock that would not be cut by bolt cutters....

Was it adamantium or vibranium?

Having had a bike nicked from a very public place, again right by security, with a very expensive lock I'm sceptical anything can't be nicked

It's a cottage industry in East London, brick lane market must sell dozens of nicked bikes every Saturday/Sunday morning, ranging from top end carbon roadies to BSOs

Leeds - bike theft central! I even caught someone in the act right outside the performing arts college (managed to stop them). A friend has theirs nicked off campus from a locked bike cage! Just make it unappealing, cheap and with a decent lock to make the one next too it more likely to be stolen!

Leeds - Oh dear, that was top of the list of destinations, maybe a £100 Decathon job might be best. [img] [/img]
However, parts bin raided and daughter has ordered her "chosen" enamel paints for a squid themed mural. What I need advice on is how to fit a rear rack - ideally with a central solid bit - to carry a pannier, when there are no frame bolting points, unless I get creative with the dropout bolts.

steaming pile of enamel paint and aluminium that exits on Earth

Used Specialized Langster in THAT sh!t brown colour worked for Son1. He destroyed it over four years (wheels, bearings, forks, transmission)...

An old rusty Raleigh 20 is the least desirable bike for thieves and hence perfect for a student.

Carrera Subway

Anything with the C-word will be a theft magnet.

And you can forget the rack on that frame. I'm sorry but whatever colour she paints it, the parts say steal me already.

A kryptonite ring lock would be a good idea too.
Its that old Dutch one that mounts to the frame on the seatstays. Locks the back wheel

#1. Something she will ride.
You may like cross bike with mudguards but if she doesn't like it she will not ride it. She may like a step though she may prefer a fixed wheel with no guards, or a Single speed old MTB, she has to like it.

#2. Something that has been stripped and been re-greaced, new cable, hanger aligned correctly (i.e with a tool not "looks ok") gears set up. So at least it start off running good.

#3. Easy to maintain.

#4. Disposable. It may be abandoned as a much as stolen.

Nothing fancy in my opinion. There is a tendency in this forum for this to mean something that's "only £500" in reality and non supermarket special when tuned up will run really nice and be solid for commuting being left locked outside for days when bad weather means it's no longer appealing etc.

When I went back to work at a university, i built myself an invisible bike- dragged out my 90s carrera, put decent bits on it, rattlecanned it so it looked like absolute crap, I barely needed to lock it. Same logic as a station bike.

But tbh it depends so much on the uni, my place is actually pretty safe, you'd definitely get someone going for a drunken ride if you left it unsecure but there was a wee spate of bike thefts and it was proper headline news.

Some unis also have good storage. We have big solid cages but of course other students can access those. If you come to us with a proper bike, there's a secure store for the cycling societies, but also, there's an unwritten deal to allow bikes in halls rooms as long as you don't make a mess or create a fire risk.

My guess at parts value is:
Frame : chipped and dubious seat-tube condition carbon One one Whippet (I had to cut out the previous owners seatpost with a snapped hacksaw) - owes me nothing.£0
Wheels : 26" Mavic 819 and now they have gone bust - good luck getting a spoke for these - £30
Chainset : Butchered and filed Carbon XO to make 1X work.£30
Running gear - all parts bin 9 speed £0
Brakes :£30 Avid 3 - that currently work.
Post - parts bin and cut to allow to be dropped £0
Saddle - Too expensive at £36
Fork - Old Pace RC31 - £Don't ask I got carried away.
Bars £20?

So about £250.

When we have finished with the project there will be no manufacture stickers on any items and fully customised to resemble a scene from an a seabed.

It would just be nice to see daughter have a bit of fun, take ownership and actually use the bike. Test ride went very well and she liked the Bordo Lock that was fixed to the Bottle cage mount, with the deliberate on one Jones bar homage to give a more sit up and beg style of ride. So as previous poster says, that's half the battle won.

See if the Uni has a secure parking area and use a heavy d lock