moving to London

nomadicbry

Moving to London and fully intend / looking forward to become a scalp for many of you in the SCR...until I get my London legs then watch yer backs as a slip stream and fly past you...and where are the hills in London...most places i've been in London are flat ,hills are your friend as they say

Was intending on buying a bike for London...leaving my 4 bikes at home in Scotland. I hear bike theft is grim in London so should I buy an old roadie or just a good roadie and make it look ratty...

As for locks I intend to use two U-lock o the bike for both whels and frame taking my saddle with me into work. How safe is a locked bike in the City during office hours...it'll live in my flat during the evening

Any advice?

cjcp

1. Hills: Highgate Hill, Denmark Hill area (I think), Crystal Palace, Richmond Park is a great circuit with undulations and a couple of short, sharp hills; further south, there are the Surrey Hills for weekend riding.

Whereabouts will you be living?

2. Locks/storage: will you be storing your bike outside? I've never done it, and wouldn't really like to, but plenty seem to do it. If I had to do it, I'd use an old road bike and lock it as you said.

nomadicbry

still trying to find a flat but aiming to be in the Noth of London roughly looking in an area which spans highbury, islington, dalston, shoreditch though i may be able to get a short term flat in Fulham from a family friend for a month or sountil i get sorted

I'm asuming the bike will have t be locked outside during working hours but would never dream of leaving a bke outside overnight..anywhere

looking forward to cycling in London hould be inteesting and a great way to get to know the place better..
the fact it rains so much less down there will be nice.. there is nothing like cycling in the west of scotland in the wnter... trully grim i wont miss it

cjcp

Highgate Hill's only a short ride from where you're looking, while Richmond Park is about 15 mins from Fulham. The Surrey Hills are about 1-1.5 hours' ride away.

Good luck with the flat-hunting!

Headhuunter

Bike theft isn't that bad in London IME. I've been cycling all over for 4 years and have never had a bike stolen and have locked my bieks all over the place, however I do carry 2 chunky D locks wherever I go, the pair of them weigh about 5kg, 1 through the front wheel,frame and fixed object and the same for the rear.

The extra weight is fantastic training, if you can heft yourself, the bike and a rucksack which weighs 10-15kg up hills in London, when you go out without the bag and locks it feels like you're flying. Hills inside London generally aren't patricularly challenging but throw in an extra 10-15kg of weight and you sweat a bit.

theotherjake

Highgate west hill is a killer for me on the way home. But I love going down it in the morning!! Great for training though.

EKE_38BPM

In North London there is Muswell Hill and the hills around Highgate.

As others have said, use sensible precautions where and how you lock your bike. Don't leave it unlocked for a second (e.g. outside a shop). Two locks of different types are recommended (D-lock and a good cable lock) so that any dirty scum thieves need two different techniques and tools to nick it. Deprettify the bike to make it less attractive (I'm building a fixie out of a frame with surface rust and surface rust on the headset for this reason). Remove anything thats easily removable (lights, saddle bag etc).

Try not to stress, its only a bike and can be replaced.

RDW

Islington, Shoreditch, and the City have the infamous Boris Bikes (another way of training with extra weight!), so you could always use these to commute and keep your decent bike at your flat.