Leaving bike at Euston station overnight

t bear jackson

Hi all, a quik question.

Been commuting from Euston to the West End via Boris bike for the last few months but now what with the hassle of finding a working bike and/or finding a free bay I've run out of patience so now i'ts time to go it alone.

Looking at picking up a cheapo old roadster/Dutch bike or similar and leaving it at Euston overnight and possibly the weekend however I'm a bit worried about the thing getting nicked, it'll only be worth a ton at most and so cant see it being worth the hassle to nick it but you never know your bad luck..

Is anyone else doing something similar and does this sound viable?

Thanks...

EKE_38BPM

Hello and welcome.

It sounds viable assuming there is bike parking, which I think there is. As a matter of fact, I think that there are double decker bike racks. I may very easily be wrong though.

Don't get a bling bike. Something which is in good condition mechanically but looks like a disaster is much better.
Get a good lock. Cable locks (any cable lock) is only good enough as a secondary lock. A good D lock is what you want and you can get a list of them here.
Learn how to lock your bike up properly. This video is quite good, but suggests using cable extenders for your front wheel. I wouldn't, but its better than nothing. Good locks are heavy. There is no such thing as a good, light lock. Leave your lock locked up at the station so that you don't have to carry it to and from the station every day.
Don't forget to remove anything easily removeable (lights, pump, computer etc).
If you are really paranoid, you can use superglue to glue ball bearings into the head of allen bolts (cranks, brakes, headset etc). You will need nail varnish remover and about 15 minutes to melt the glue to remove the ball bearing so it will be an annoyance to you when you have to make adjustments, but a thief will just move onto an easier target.
Lock your bike up in a well lit, high traffic area. Thieves like dark and seclusion, so don't lock up in a shadow in a corner.
Lock your bike up next to a better bike and/or a bike which is locked up in an inferior manner to yours. Thieves will go for the more expensive bike and/or the one which is easier to nick.
If you can, fit Magnavolt.

essex-commuter

Great post EKE, well done.

t4tomo

There are double decker bike racks at Euston just to the west side of the entrance near Sainsbury. Never used them as I have a Brommie, but they appear to be well used by "two bikes" commuters.

phy2sll2

I've used them, once. When I was parking up, a chap arrived next to me, looked round for a sec before realising his had been nicked! Put me off.

EKE_38BPM

phy2sll2 wrote:

I've used them, once. When I was parking up, a chap arrived next to me, looked round for a sec before realising his had been nicked! Put me off.

Do you know that is what happened or are you speculating?
I ask because I know that I have gone to the wrong car park in a shopping mall and wandered around looking for my car before I realised my mistake.
The other day I also tried to get into a car that wasn't mine. It was the same make and model, same colour and parked close by.
Basically I'm saying that people (especially me) are fallible. Maybe he locked it badly or with a rubbish lock.

If you know it was nicked, then ignore everything I wrote.

tgotb

EKE_38BPM wrote:

I ask because I know that I have gone to the wrong car park in a shopping mall and wandered around looking for my car before I realised my mistake.
The other day I also tried to get into a car that wasn't mine. It was the same make and model, same colour and parked close by.
Basically I'm saying that people (especially me) are fallible.

Not people, just you

merkin

I left a bike there for a few months towards the end of last year using it most weekdays. It was on the outside stands near sainsburys over by the ramp to the underground car park and I had no problems. It was a crappy old bike though.
A couple of times I left my light on by mistake and I was most surprised to it still there the next morning. I settled for a helmet light in the end and a light on my rucksack so couldn't forget them again. Sort of worked until I left my helmet on the train! :oops:

phy2sll2

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Do you know that is what happened or are you speculating?

Yeah, he was quite upset and holding the two parts of his cable lock.

EKE_38BPM

phy2sll2 wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Do you know that is what happened or are you speculating?

Yeah, he was quite upset and holding the two parts of his cable lock.

And that, children, is why we don't use cable locks.