UKC

Just a heads up for cyclists using the Nottingham Depot, I had my lock chopped and bike nicked from the cycle racks below the front desk. Should have used a D lock but it was locked in what I thought was a secure area, some people don't even lock there bikes up!

Unfortunately it's not the first time this has happened.

This leads me to a related discussion, I'm buying a new bike and it needs a gold rated lock. One of the insurers I've been looking at gives out a free Hiplok Gold. It has always been my understanding that chain locks that are in any way manageable in terms of weight are crap and always had a D lock, but that is supposedly gold rated, so what gives?

I think those hiplocks weigh a tonne and are a bit like motor bike chains (no bad thing if you don't want your bike stolen). 

The annoying think about the depot is the way the bike racks are set up it's really hard to fit a d lock on.

This is the third bike I've had nicked after a cable lock has been chopped. Youd think I'd learn but I underestimated the Depot's proximity to some of the less salubrious parts of Nottingham.

I used to work just round the corner. It can be pretty.... exciting round there. 

Bingo caller?

I have a hiplock. Weighs a tonne and not that comfy round my waist for long journeys but means you can get around stuff a d lock won't. Not had my bike nicked yet....... Famous last words.

Wildlife Trust offices on the corner of the market... opposite the night shelter

I guessed that... just couldn't resist

It would be nice if the depot could install a few d-locks and lend them out - I don't suppose I'm the first to get there and _then_ realise I forgot my lock or keys!

I though this area was covered by CCTV but maybe that changed in the refurb?

Is this inside the wall*? I never lock my bike in the Depot Manchester but this has made me think maybe I should.......

*Never been to the Depot Nottingham

The bike lock up is just inside the front door but the reception / wall is up a flight of stairs so you can't see the bikes from anywhere inside.

A D-lock doesn't really take any more time to open, you just need a different tool.

Are there no other walls in the area you can use with better cycle storage? If I'd had three bikes nicked of be looking to explain to management why I'd be leaving if facilities weren't improved.

To be fair to the depot, The other bikes weren't nicked from there but other locations around Nottingham. I would indeed be questioning somthing if I'd 3 bikes pinched from the same place!

I've had a total of 5 bikes nicked over the course of my life, 4 of these from what I thought was secure cycle specific bike shelters, all rather depressing really.

There are two walls in Nottingham, one is a stone's throw away from St Ann's, i.e. grim central, the other is in Old Basford, i.e. grim but not central. There is the university wall, which has secure bike storage, but that is nowhere near in the same league.

What the Depot needs to do if you ask me is to fit a gate between the main entrance and the bike storage. The layout makes that quite possible. It could open with the depot membership barcodes, although I suspect RockGymPro has no APIs allowing that check which would make it rather more annoying to do.

I wouldn't describe either as that grim anymore. They still have relatively high crime levels but have improved a lot in the last decade thanks partly to better policing. I live a stones throw from St Anns and there was a time I wouldn't walk through parts of it. I do now. There is a security camera on the bike parking but maybe a grille would help.

A known security camera just causes thieves to not look at it directly or hood up. A grille would just solve the issue altogether, I feel.

I am genuinely considering buying a GPS tracker for my new bike just in case. Some have accelerometers and send you tamper alerts if the bike is moved at all.

The last thing we need is more people leaving their phones on the mats

😆