Dealing with Bike Vandals

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, somebody decides to vandalize your bicycle.

Some of the common ways are to:

1. Rip the seat.

2. Puncture the tires.

3. Dent the wheels.

4. Break the chain.

5. Break the derailleurs.

6. Bend the handlebars.

7. Cut brake or shifter cables.

8. Break various fixings on the bike (lights, reflectors, waterbottle holder, etc).

Breaking the frame of the bicycle requires a lot more effort, so even if someone heavily vandalizes your bike frame should still be good.

And the sad part is there is little you can do to prevent such things, unless youre keeping your bicycle inside your home or in your garage. If your bike is on the street or in front of your apartment building its pretty vulnerable to vandalism.

Generally speaking when you lock your bike up securely you think its safe. But that does very little to prevent people from stealing parts off it or just being plain mean.

Sometimes you might know who did it because of some kind of private feud. In which case you have a choice of reporting to the police or maybe retaliation. If you actually knew the persons name that would be helpful to the police, but otherwise there is not a lot you can do about it.

Which can be very frustrating for bike owners who have had their bikes vandalized.

Today, I personally had not one but two of my bicycles vandalized. I dont even know who did it and am confused about why they did it. If they had a problem with me, my name and cell phone number are written on my bikes (to prevent theft) and they could have easily contacted me and discussed their problem.

Instead they decided to vandalize someone elses property. Some people have no respect.

Read More..

How Safe is your Local Bike Mechanic

CANADA - Ive worked in a few different bike shops and even early on I noticed there is a trend in bike shops to cut corners when it comes to fixing a bike "by the book" with respect to the safety of the customer.

[Right: Craig, a BTAC certified bicycle mechanic.]

Take wheel truing for example. If a wheel has reached a point that the tension on the individual spokes is greater than 30 kgf the spokes are much more likely to snap when the cyclist hits a bump. That will result in "catastrophic wheel failure" and the person will end up crashing, possibly getting injured or dying. [The maximum kgf will vary depending on spoke thickness, strength and the spoke pattern, but 30 kgf is true for all normal bicycle wheels. Consult your Barnetts Manual for different spokes.]

And that is just one example of what could happen if someone doesnt fix your bike properly.

As a responsible citizen youd think bike mechanics would care more about their customers safety, but from what Ive seen quite a few bike shops out there are selling their services just to make $$$ with little regard to the personal safety of the rider.

"Well thats what I do on my bike and Ive never been in an accident yet."

The key word is YET. Its bound to happen eventually.

[Right: BAM Instructor Smokey Dymny shows John how to properly tune brakes. John is now a BTAC certified bicycle mechanic.]

The problem lies in that 99% of bicycle mechanics out there have never been properly trained. They are either self-taught or taught by a shop mechanic who wasnt really trained either and is relying purely on experience.

Its my opinion that bicycle mechanics should have to go through a certification course, like the BAM program here in Toronto, the Winterborne Bicycle Institute at Conestoga College, or the John Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado. Or some similar program.

At the very least every bicycle shop should have one properly trained bike mechanic who can then pass their knowledge unto lesser mechanics on how to do things properly/safely. True, sometimes people get impatient when youve got X number of bikes to fix in a day, but I should point out a properly trained and experienced mechanic is also faster and more efficient, in addition to being safer.

In Toronto the BAM program has only been around since the start of 2009. It was created because of two things: 1. Toronto has a shortage of bicycle mechanics; 2. Toronto has a shortage of properly trained bicycle mechanics. The plan is to eventually open more BAM programs across Canada so that more and more bicycle mechanics can be properly trained.

So even though its not mandatory by law or anything, the Bicycle Trade Association of Canada is proceeding with a plan to create an industry wide standard wherein bicycle mechanics will eventually be expected to be certified. Its essentially self regulation.

And that is a good thing because it means safety standards should go up with respect to properly serviced bicycles.

Read More..

Winter Bike Parking

If you store your bicycle outside in the winter, preferably in your backyard where it is marginally safer from thieves, you may want to consider some protection for your bicycle.

By Smokey Dymny of the Quadra Bicycle Mechanic School

 Yes, it’s winter in Canada and many cyclists don’t seem to have places to park their steed (bike) in a warm, sheltered spot. Instead they are locked to those ugly post-and-ring affairs, which we told the Toronto City Council long ago, weren’t very good for bikes. The edges of those cast aluminum rings are sharp enough to scratch the bike’s paint, AND more importantly, aluminum is a brittle metal, so these rings can be cracked with a two by four piece of wood – so your bike is not exactly safe if left overnight.

Which is why you see some of these rings have now been doubled in thickness to prevent such easy breakage.

Some smart civic employee decided that expensive, brittle aluminum should be made twice as expensive to solve the theft problem. So now, if you have a short U-lock, you know, the one that’s not too heavy to carry around on your belt loops, you can’t get it to fit the extra fat post and ring parking device.

I’ve always admired the City of Vancouver for it’s enlightened approach to bike parking. Their parking racks are diverse, that is they have different designs in different places. They are made of steel tubing which is: round (doesn’t scratch your bike), strong, can’t be broken, and powder coated in different colours to make them attractive. They must have actually asked cyclists how to design those racks.

But, I digress. Let’s get back to winter in Toronto.

You’ve left your bicycle locked to a post-and-ring device and then it snows. The City gets the road ploughed. Store owners shovel their sidewalk. And all that white stuff has ended up piled right where? You guessed it. Right where all the bikes are locked. So now you may not be riding because the bike lanes are also NOT cleared, so you leave your poor bike there, half buried in snow, for weeks or months. The part that is buried, is the most vulnerable. Your drive train. Chain, cogs, chainrings, and derailleurs, if you have them. And if you didn’t oil these VERY well before the snow fell they are all now rusting under a layer of snow and ice. By spring you will be replacing your drivetrain.

Flash! Why not protect your ride with a bicycle cover.

There come for cheap ($12) or a little more if you want better protection. And they keep the elements off your bike. The best ones also have wire threads imbedded in the polypropylene material so that it can’t be easily torn off your bike when you’ve put your lock through it. You may have to lock your bike to a fence when you park at home, and to something else when you ride to school or work. But now you can take your protection with you.

And I assure you that the cover is cheaper than a new drivetrain will be come next spring. So try it!

Read More..

Bike Clinic 2010 2nd Annual Spring Bicycle Clinic

WANT FREE REPAIRS???

Bike Clinic 2010 is happening this Saturday, April 10th at Harmony Court.

Location: 150 Longboat Ave, south of Parliament and Front Street, in the courtyard.



Have a great time tuning bikes for the community and plying our skills as well as socializing with other bike enthusiasts in the Toronto cycling community.

Time: 11 AM to 3 PM.

Volunteers will start arriving around 10:30am to help with set up (tents, stands, Arranging tools and supplies). Feel free to volunteer!

More Info: Call Shah Mohamed at 416-839-8595.

Read More..