Brighton University Questionnaire

BrightonUniCycling
BrightonUniCycling Posts: 12
edited November 2013 in Road general
Hello Road Bikers,

We are a group of final year engineering students at the University of Brighton, and are working on a group project designing a new bike lock. Searching through this forum, I have seen that there are lot of experienced riders, many of whom fit our target audience perfectly! We would be really grateful if you could take a quick moment to answer the 10 questions on our tick box survey it would really help us a lot with our report. Thank you very much in advance!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CK997XQ

Kind Regards,

Alec

Comments

  • ju5t1n
    ju5t1n Posts: 2,028
    Hi Alec,

    Survey completed. But there isn’t an option for “I don’t own a bike lock” – which in my case is true.

    All my bikes live in my house (in the basement), they come to races in my car, they are occasionally left outside cafes with lots of other unlocked bikes, but they never get locked up anywhere.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Same here - no option for not locking it up, and with it a zero cost option. Mine's either in the garage, in my office here with me or I'm riding it. The idea of locking it to something and assuming no-one will try to pinch it or bits off it is a non-starter. It's like locking your laptop to a lamp post and assuming it'll be okay when you come back.

    Anyway. Survey done, but not factually correct.
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,412
    Post this in the commuting section as well, if you haven't already. Might be a greater number of people with a necessity for bike locks in there.
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • BrightonUniCycling
    BrightonUniCycling Posts: 12
    Ahh very true, this is something I didn't consider, its a very valid point, unfortunately for me I cannot change the survey :( . Thanks very much for your input though!
  • BrightonUniCycling
    BrightonUniCycling Posts: 12
    seanoconn wrote:
    Post this in the commuting section as well, if you haven't already. Might be a greater number of people with a necessity for bike locks in there.

    Thank you, I will do :D
  • Rob Somerset
    Rob Somerset Posts: 127
    Q7 covers Q 6. I think you ought to ask if the lock travels with the bike, to determine what sort of locks people want. At home I use a chain and padlock of industrial strength that is way too heavy be carried on the bike. I dont have a lock on my road bike when I use it as its never left unattended. If I'm going to ever leave a bike unattended then that would only be a low value one.
    Hills do make I sweat a lot
  • charliew87
    charliew87 Posts: 371
    quite possibly the worst question in the history of asking things:

    How technologically advanced is your phone?
    Conventional
    Smartphone
    3G
    NFC
    Canyon AL Ultimate 9.0
  • term1te
    term1te Posts: 1,462
    charliew87 wrote:
    quite possibly the worst question in the history of asking things:

    How technologically advanced is your phone?
    Conventional
    Smartphone
    3G
    NFC

    Not if they intend to use the phone to unlock the bike...
    The Master
    The Moser
    The VN
  • Pumpkin Positive
    Pumpkin Positive Posts: 392
    Done. What's a cuff lock?
  • BrightonUniCycling
    BrightonUniCycling Posts: 12
    Term1te wrote:
    charliew87 wrote:
    quite possibly the worst question in the history of asking things:

    How technologically advanced is your phone?
    Conventional
    Smartphone
    3G
    NFC

    Not if they intend to use the phone to unlock the bike...

    Correct, the design is for a lightweight NFC activated dual lock. NFC is an emerging technology that will likely be present in most smartphones in the future. We're trying to gauge how accessible NFC is now and possibly how long it will take for the customer base to reach a decent level.

    Thanks for all your contribution everyone. :D
  • BrightonUniCycling
    BrightonUniCycling Posts: 12
    Pumpkin Positive wrote:
    Done. What's a cuff lock?

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/32125516 ... =95&ff19=0

    The benefit of that lock is its hard to use tools to pry it apart
  • kwi
    kwi Posts: 181
    Also useful in the bedroom :wink:
  • turbo_hamster
    turbo_hamster Posts: 122
    I answered the question "what did you pay for your lock" as under £20. But I bought the lock 25 years ago, so I guess some conversion factor is needed here.

    I agree with the drift of the comments above - you don't rely on a lock to protect your bike. It immobilises the bike temporarily, but locking the bike inside something (house, garage, car) is better protection. Locking the bike to something immovable inside the garage might frustrate a thief, but it won't stop him/her trashing the bike.
  • lyn1
    lyn1 Posts: 261
    Done.
    I tend to agree with some of the earlier comments. The problem with some online surveys that limit the number of questions is that you cannot generate sufficient data to fully address your research questions. Maybe you need some qualitative interviews to develop some of these points to provide more meaningful insights and heighten appreciation of some core issues.
    My view on locks is that if someone wants your bike they will get it, so my main considerations are:
    Have I taken sufficient safeguards to allow a valid insurance claim.
    Have I done enough to discourage an opportunistic sneak thief.

    I also have different locks for anything in the house or garage or on the road (much lighter & compact). My current preference is for one that sounds an alarm when the wire is cut and the circuit broken.

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