# Would you ever leave your bike overnight at a busy station?



## Thursday guy (22 Sep 2015)

Outside London Victoria station, theres quite a large section of racks for locking up your bikes. I'm sure other major train station in London and elsewhere have them as well. They are under cover from rain, and monitored by CCTV according to network rail here: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/london-victoria-station/parking/.

Would you ever leave your bike locked up overnight at one of these places?


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## Drago (22 Sep 2015)

Nope.


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## shouldbeinbed (22 Sep 2015)

not willingly.


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## G3CWI (22 Sep 2015)

My bike - no. Someone else's - maybe.


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## mythste (22 Sep 2015)

I'm fortunate that the stations in Liverpool have fob access cages that I wouldnt mind leaving my bikes in for short periods of time.

In London within grabbing/snipping/stripping/defecating-on distance, no ta!


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## Kestevan (22 Sep 2015)

Yeah..... the winter bike is getting a bit long in the tooth, it;s fully insured and I could do with a new one.


Which pretty much guarantees I could leave it unlocked anywhere and the damned thing would never get nicked.


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## ianrauk (22 Sep 2015)

nope.. deffo not.


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## vickster (22 Sep 2015)

Nope! CCTV is no good unless being surveilled 24/7... Which isn't going to happen ... Just need hoodie wearing scrote who'll never be identified

I suppose I might if the bike was worth £20, even then maybe not as it could be hard to replace it for £20


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## Drago (22 Sep 2015)

You've all seen the scene in Deliverance where the hillbillies catch up with the city boys? That's what happens to your bike when you leave it at a station overnight.


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## Milkfloat (22 Sep 2015)

Yes for my 'pub bike' no for anything decent.


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## MiK1138 (22 Sep 2015)

Not a chance, Left mine overnight in a secure, monitored, Government facility and the first thing i did next morning was check it was still there.


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## velovoice (22 Sep 2015)

I have a 'London Town Bike' specifically for this purpose. I parked it on the street at first but now it sleeps in the bike parking area in the multi-storey car park at St Pancras. There is CCTV and 24-hour security staff. Or so I've been told. (Don't use the bike parking cage on the ground floor - the security codes don't work, people are always leaving the doors open, and the racks are flimsy and basically crap.)

ETA: Oh and... the bike itself is cheap crap.


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## GrumpyGregry (22 Sep 2015)

At Victoria? Nope.

At the stations in Copenhagen, Malmo or Stockholm. For sure. Even though the incidence of bike theft in cph is appalling.

Cultures, and the behaviours within them are such varied and funny things.

My cph bike spends all day-every-working-day, and has spent a few nights (hic!) and a couple of weekends, locked to a tree protection cage outside in the office forecourt, in the street.


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## DCLane (22 Sep 2015)

Only the retro GT Timberline - it'd withstand almost anything. And is worthless.

I leave it unlocked in Dewsbury without any bother *


* someone did 'steal' it once; I found it about 30 feet along the road, left against some railings.


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## jhawk (22 Sep 2015)

Nope. No way. I'm scared to leave my bike outside a coffee shop for five minutes...


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## Dayvo (22 Sep 2015)

No, not a chance.


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## lazybloke (22 Sep 2015)

I can think of worse places to leave a bike overnight, but I wouldn't leave my pride and joy locked up in _ANY_ public place.
The only bike I leave at my station is a rusty old 'beater' - no value whatsoever.

Even if your bike is locked securely, theft of components is still possible, as is vandalism and accidental damage - scrapes, scuffs, dinks, etc.
Someone will probably recommend a good insurance policy?


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## Pale Rider (22 Sep 2015)

No is also my answer, but lots of people do.

There are hundreds of bikes at, for example, York station.

Most are knockabout disposables and most, I suspect, are on permanent station-workplace-station duty.

Not all these bikes are being stolen all the time, but I have no idea of the theft rate.


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## Tin Pot (22 Sep 2015)

Thursday guy said:


> Would you ever leave your bike locked up overnight at one of these places?



No.


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## 4F (22 Sep 2015)

No


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## Hill Wimp (22 Sep 2015)

If you look closely at the bikes parked in London most are not worth a lot. Like @velovoice i had a London bike for commuting only but i was able to keep it secure near to the station. I know quite a few people that have tatty commuter bikes at the main station hubs to get across town.
Unless you have a fold up Southeastern Rail wont let you travel with your bike on the train if the train arrives in London after 7am or leaves London after 4pm.Therefore if you don't want a folder or to use the Boris bikes you have a cheap town bike that never leaves.


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## simonsch (22 Sep 2015)

I leave my bike in the bike racks outside Waterloo station every night, and over every weekend. I think they are pretty safe. I normally move it to secure storage at my work if I am away for a longer period, but that disrupts my schedule a bit when I get back (have to get the bikes in the right places etc) so when I visited New Zealand recently, I left it there for 2 weeks, and it was fine. The only problem I have ever had is that I used to have a seatpost-attached rear mudguard - that lasted all of one night. I lock with a D-lock and cable (like most others). On the other hand, with the bike left on the street outside my work, I have come back and found the quick release open (but wheel still on, because the cable ran through it). The bike is a ~£300 or so model (when new a couple of years ago) - I would not do it with my proper road bike.


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## Pale Rider (22 Sep 2015)

Hill Wimp said:


> If you look closely at the bikes parked in London most are not worth a lot. Like @velovoice i had a London bike for commuting only but i was able to keep it secure near to the station. I know quite a few people that have tatty commuter bikes at the main station hubs to get across town.
> Unless you have a fold up Southeastern Rail wont let you travel with your bike on the train if the train arrives in London after 7am or leaves London after 4pm.Therefore if you don't want a folder or to use the Boris bikes you have a cheap town bike that never leaves.



Saddles seemed to be at risk in London last time I was there.

Quite a few parked bikes without, possibly because the owners were in the habit of taking the saddle with them.

Not many quick releases and, being the sad bike anorak I am, I noticed quite a few with secure clamp bolts.


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## RedRider (22 Sep 2015)

Thursday guy said:


> Outside London Victoria station, theres quite a large section of racks for locking up your bikes. I'm sure other major train station in London and elsewhere have them as well. They are under cover from rain, and monitored by CCTV according to network rail here: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/london-victoria-station/parking/.
> 
> Would you ever leave your bike locked up overnight at one of these places?


I have done but the last time was fifteen years ago and when I came back my bike was gone


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## xxDarkRiderxx (22 Sep 2015)

Nope, Just used to leave the D-Lock at Liverpool Street for convenience, and spend half an hour in the morning looking for it.


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## CopperCyclist (22 Sep 2015)

Yes, I have done. 

Oh hang on, you probably didn't mean Police Station...


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## fossyant (22 Sep 2015)

Nope not any where.


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## sbeqs (22 Sep 2015)

No. Unless I wasn't arsed about losing it.


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## Moodyman (22 Sep 2015)

None of my good bikes, but the 1990s MTB hack yes.

I'd take off all there is to take off easily such as lights.


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## velovoice (22 Sep 2015)

Hill Wimp said:


> If you look closely at the bikes parked in London most are not worth a lot. Like @velovoice i had a London bike for commuting only but i was able to keep it secure near to the station. I know quite a few people that have tatty commuter bikes at the main station hubs to get across town.


Yep, the bike parking stands at St Pancras are full of bikes being used and left exactly like mine is. I have left mine unchecked for weeks at a time. No one has touched it. My boyfriend was convinced the bell would disappear the first week but no, it's still there, a year and counting.
To be fair, I do use two Sold Secure rated locks of different types. Bike's not worth much, but my introduction to urban cycling was 'mentored', if you will, by the original "Two Good Locks" Man.


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## 2clepto (22 Sep 2015)

id have no problem leaving my giant defy advanced there but no way would i risk my raleigh pursuit. id obviously remove the lights and mini pump.


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## Accy cyclist (22 Sep 2015)

Milkfloat said:


> Yes for my 'pub bike' no for anything decent.




Do you mean to say you don't take your best bike down the pub to show it off?


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## slowmotion (23 Sep 2015)

No, even with a good lock and an (as ever dodgy ) insurance policy. It would be mad. Bonkers actually.


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## Milkfloat (23 Sep 2015)

Accy cyclist said:


> Do you mean to say you don't take your best bike down the pub to show it off?



I have been told that Carbon melts in the rain, so do not want to risk getting splashed with beer that is 99% water in case 99% of the frame melts.


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## Smurfy (23 Sep 2015)

Only if I'd resprayed and modified it to look like a heap of junk.


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## tyred (24 Sep 2015)

YellowTim said:


> Only if I'd resprayed and modified it to look like a heap of junk.



I respray my heaps of junk to make them look like bikes...


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## alecstilleyedye (24 Sep 2015)

no.
i occasionally leave my commuter overnight, but that's in a pass-controlled cctv monitored shed out of public view. i still take/lock anything that could be easily lifted though, so d-lock with extra cables for front wheel and saddle are also deployed…


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## RichardB (25 Sep 2015)

I find it hard to leave my bike anywhere out of sight. I probably have severe attachment issues. I could use my 1990s MTB, which is technically worth buttons, but as Vickster says up there ^^^, it's not the market value, it's how you would replace it if it got taken.


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## MickeyBlueEyes (25 Sep 2015)

Another vote for no here. My bike is only ever out of my sight when I am at work or asleep...


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## Bazzer (25 Sep 2015)

Nope. 
I get a sense of relief seeing my bike still locked up at the end of the working day, when it is behind controlled access gates at work..


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## sbeqs (25 Sep 2015)

Bazzer said:


> Nope.
> I get a sense of relief seeing my bike still locked up at the end of the working day, when it is behind controlled access gates at work..


 SAME


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## RichardB (25 Sep 2015)

Bazzer said:


> Nope.
> I get a sense of relief seeing my bike still locked up at the end of the working day, when it is behind controlled access gates at work..


At work, mine is in a corridor behind an electronic door lock, with extremely limited access (security and IT staff only) and the facility to run a report (name, date, time) on all attempts to open the door. In a building with similar locks front and back which houses our secure cash office. On a site in the middle of nowhere. And STILL I have a little moment when I see the bike is where I left it.


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