Bike in uni halls?

drkawaszelong

Hi all,
i've recently built up a bike for university, not exactly a hack, as it's still about £300 worth of kit. i was just wondering if anyone here has taken a road bike to uni, and been able to store it in halls/flat. it says on the LibertyLiving website that you're not allowed to store it in the flat...but i don't want it to be lying outside in the cold when there is plenty of space in my room!

Any ideas/experiences?

Thanks

TommyEss

I didn't get my road bike until my second year, and that was a hack (£30's worth) and by then I was living in a house share so it stayed in the kitchen. By 3rd year I'd moved house again and we had a great back yard with high brick walls (I'd got a better bike by then)

As for halls - I reckon you'd struggle to be honest. There are enough ways to make halls dirty and scruffy without letting you bring in bikes as well. And as careful as you'll be, accidents happen, walls get chipped, carpet gets oiled..

The wardens and the like are more likely to stick to the rules - they'll be PhD students and the like, they get a salary and accommodation as part of the deal, but it's not worth them risking all that just so you can have a bike in a room - if the people running the halls find out, you'll all be in the shit

They may well have bike sheds though - so ask them, see what they say, but don't hold your breath.

drkawaszelong

i've already moved in but have come back for the weekend, and there is more than enough space for my bike, inc getting it up to the room in the first place. but the temptation of a velodrome NEXT DOOR is just too hard to resist.

Cleat Eastwood

keep it in the room - worst than can happen is you p1ss someone off and they'll tell you and then you're back to square one - if thats your preferred way of getting to uni and getting out and about then look after it.

team47b

What do 'The Rules' say about women in your room?

If they say no women will you just follow the rules?

You are a student now - live a little! :roll:

Silly Old Hector

Tell them you're an art student and this is an art installation.

As a student, you job is to find a way through a maze of rules.....

drkawaszelong

valid points. i'll just wait for an angry welsh security guard to come knocking...best make the most of the neighbouring velodrome

Cleat Eastwood

Ah you never mentioned the welsh - that makes life much simpler - the welsh a basically thick - just talk rugby, rhyl, and welsh cakes and bribe the guard with vowels. Jobs a good un.

dylanfernley

hogyn drwg cleat :shock:

priory

get a double survival bag to put it in (c. £4) so that you could slide it in that before carrying it in. or an excessively large cardboard box from a bikeshop.they might not object if they cannot see it and it leaves no marks.
the bike shed might be better than you think, though. some are quite secure .

two cheap but very heavy chains and padlocks , one to leave at home , the other at your usual stop;and a portable one that you always carry in case someone glues your lock at the college hoping you leave the bike unlocked.
The scruffier the bike the safer so ,if you can bear it, spraying all parts with a very strange prominent shade of hammerite should be considered. at least the frame should look really awful, like a 1970's iron frame ( which will still work fine once equipped with reasonable wheels etc). If you have nice tyres chain the wheels up. after all this someone will still snap off anything they can just for the sheer enjoyment of it, so do not love your uni. hack.

dylanfernley

you could just marry your bike, they might think your'e odd, but would not question taking the bike to your room.....

drkawaszelong

does that mean i have to marry all the girls i want to take to my room too? lol

it's my 1st bike but rebuilt. i'll try get a nice pic of it up soon. too sentimental to demote as a "hack"

dylanfernley

joking aside mate, your bike is your property , you wouldn't leave a laptop outside, so why a bike, especially at a uni

Ands

It's not really any diferent to a pushchair or wheelchair, is it? Just because it's got a chain doesn't mean it will get everything mucky. If Holiday Inn can let Shanaze Read take her bike into her hotel rooom...

RDW

When I went to university (back in the early Jurassic period), nobody gave a damn if you kept a bike in your room, even in halls. Looks like LibertyLiving is some sort of corporate provider, though, with various fascist rules about BluTac, fridges and the number of visitors you are allowed (2, who must be signed in: http://www.libertyliving.co.uk/faqs.php ). How much of this is actually enforced is anyone's guess, and probably depends on the attitude of the local staff. Will they even know? If the flat is self-contained and you're responsible for cleaning it, it may not be inspected that frequently, and you may well have advance warning so you can tidy up. Will it be very obvious to the security staff that you're wheeling the bike to your flat rather than the bike rack?

drkawaszelong

Ands wrote:

It's not really any diferent to a pushchair or wheelchair, is it? Just because it's got a chain doesn't mean it will get everything mucky. If Holiday Inn can let Shanaze Read take her bike into her hotel rooom...

true, the only thing is, i'm neither as good looking as her, or as famous as her...so unless the security guards are of a different persuasion...

RDW wrote:

Will it be very obvious to the security staff that you're wheeling the bike to your flat rather than the bike rack?

short answer is no. bike racks are right next to the entrance to the block of flats.

Jez mon

Just put it in the halls! If necessary it might be best to hide it somewhat in a bike bag. In loughborough you're allowed a bike if it's in a bag, and you're a member of a cycling club. However, in my halls at least, they didn't worry about the member of the cycling club bit, more worried about people with shopping trolleys and road signs in their rooms is my guess!!

giropaul

Bike bag - it also works for hotels etc (although most of them are pretty relaxed anyway)

Maybe just ask the question about where it could be kept? I was racing when I was away (many moons ago) studying, and the authorities gave me a lock-up garage to store all my road and track bikes in.

CanalRider

Took my daughter to Nottingham Uni yesterday for a butchers. The halls we looked at had secure garages with combilocks on the door. The Derwent Homes has a big bike shed contraption, didn't pay that too much attention though.

Ands

Just because there is a bike rack it doesn't make you obligated to use it, especially if it's not secure. Is it under surveillance? Do security monitor it 24/7? If security try and prevent you taking a bike to your room i would state that you weren't aware of any T&Cs that restricted you and ask to see a copy of said restrictions.

Edit: just realised you said that the rules stated no bikes in rooms.

willhub

I had a very small bedroom at uni in private halls, but 2-3 bikes lived in there with me. The staff did not have problems with bikes, but some places just flat out refuse to allow bikes so just check before you move in a place. I had no choice but to stay at the same place due to the bicycle situation.

mrushton

Which halls are you in? (I know you are at Salford). You are paying £3k a year + accomodation so I think you are entitled to a bike in your room.

capt_slog

mrushton wrote:

Which halls are you in? (I know you are at Salford). You are paying £3k a year + accomodation so I think you are entitled to a bike in your room.

The amount paid isn't relevant. The rules are there for a reason, no matter how inconvenient they might be to the poster, personally. You might as well say "I'm paying 3k therefore I'm allowed to bring my horse".

willhub

I was at a place called Mansion Court in the city center, I'm not there now, I've moved back to Yorkshire and currently in London.

It used to be called Liberty Court operated by Liberty Living, they were fine with bikes, and I notice the OP's place is operated by Liberty Living.

Pross

I'm guessing you are in the new blocks at Newport? In that case keep it inside at all costs - it will still get stolen but it will take the Newport sc*m more effort

dylanfernley

Capt Slog wrote:

mrushton wrote:

Which halls are you in? (I know you are at Salford). You are paying £3k a year + accomodation so I think you are entitled to a bike in your room.

The amount paid isn't relevant. The rules are there for a reason, no matter how inconvenient they might be to the poster, personally. You might as well say "I'm paying 3k therefore I'm allowed to bring my horse".

Last time i checked,my bike it was not breathing and defecating at random intervals.
i would have no hesitation on taking it to my room if i felt there was a security issue, which in halls of residence there is likely to be .

TommyEss

dylanfernley wrote:

Capt Slog wrote:

mrushton wrote:

Which halls are you in? (I know you are at Salford). You are paying £3k a year + accomodation so I think you are entitled to a bike in your room.

The amount paid isn't relevant. The rules are there for a reason, no matter how inconvenient they might be to the poster, personally. You might as well say "I'm paying 3k therefore I'm allowed to bring my horse".

Last time i checked,my bike it was not breathing and defecating at random intervals.
i would have no hesitation on taking it to my room if i felt there was a security issue, which in halls of residence there is likely to be .

Yes, and that's all well and good - all he was saying was that there were rules. You're free to break them, but not free to bitch if you break them and get caught.

Bearing in mind of course, that "getting caught" could result in anything from a shrug and a "s'pose it's ok" to getting kicked out of halls with a massive cleaning bill. In reality it'll probably somewhere between the two, but there is a chance they'll put their foot down and tell you no. And they're quite within their rights to have rules.

willhub

I'm lucky that the ground floor flat I was in never got broken into, I know how easy the doors are to break down because I did it to mine.

And the front outside door is a little harder to but people have broke it down because they've left their key in their flats.