Leaving your cycle at Kew bridge station

[jeegee]

Hi all

I'm considering leaving my fairly expensive bike at Kew Bridge station to take a train into town.
Does anybody also use this station? I want to know if there's space on racks at around 8 in the morning and whether it's a pretty safe stationm in terms of theft.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[jefmcg]

It's a non-residential corner, doesn't strike me as safe, but that's not real knowledge. I just cycle past it.

Where are you heading? There are no express trains from Kew Bridge. You might be better off cycling.

 

[LosingFocus]

If you're asking this question then it's probably not safe enough.

How does that work?

 

[ttcycle]

Don't do it.

Bikes left locked up next to train stations are easy targets - thief has plenty of time to work on the bike based on the assumption that most people leave their bikes locked there for the day. If it's expensive, compared to some of the older bikes on the rack it will be prime theft material.

Statistically, bikes locked up at railway stations score highly under stolen bikes.

 

[steve52]

another dont do it ,well not if you want to ride it home

 

[jeegee]

It's a non-residential corner, doesn't strike me as safe, but that's not real knowledge. I just cycle past it.

Where are you heading? There are no express trains from Kew Bridge. You might be better off cycling.

Unfortunately for me I need to get all the way to Canary Wharf!
The "don't do its" are making me nervous of even trying it out...I need to find a safe spot nearby. Was considering locking it up at Kew Gardens and then walking back to the station.

 

[Jezston]

Is this just a one off? Don't do it. Not worth the risk compared to the cost of taking a taxi.

If it's going to be a regular thing, get an old hack together that won't be attractive to theives and won't be much of a hit if it gets nicked.

 

[ianrauk]

Unfortunately, where ever you leave your bike in London you should be under no illusion that it will be 100% safe and still there when you get back.
Myself, and I know at least one of the posters in your thread have had their bikes stolen in London

If you do leave a bike at the station make sure you have a couple of very good locks. One of them at least a very good heavy duty DLock. Change the gears to the high sprockets. Take off the front wheel and lock it to the frame.
Try and wedge the bike in the middle of other bikes. Don't lock it on it's own. Bike's on their own are easier and quicker to steal.

The trick is to make your bike more hassle to steal for a thief then the bikes around it.

 

[Buddfox]

Is cycling the whole way out of the question? Should be able to do it in less than an hour - forgive the implication, but if it's an expensive bike, I assume you're fairly competent / quick, so potential to do it quicker than that? Along Chiswick High Road's not too bad, cut across at Hammersmith and head for the Embankment via Hyde Park Corner? There's a fair amount of cycle friendly infrastructure along that route. Go for it! When I first started I would have called a 13 mile commute out of the question, but now I'd find that quite manageable and a great way to get fit. I'm sure it would be quicker than taking public transport all the way across London. (This of course depends on where you actually start your journey, which could be a further five miles away! Then I think it's becoming a stretch)

I wouldn't leave a bike locked for the day at that or any train station.

 

[jefmcg]

Unfortunately for me I need to get all the way to Canary Wharf!
The "don't do its" are making me nervous of even trying it out...I need to find a safe spot nearby. Was considering locking it up at Kew Gardens and then walking back to the station.

What a coincidence! http://www.worksmartlabs.com/cardio...&sig=8814cb65a0bb4e9901d40a72d37a3ff5c0fcbdb6 (so, I'm slow. Sue me).

I go via Shaftsbury/Holborn because I don't like the Strand at peek. Mind you, Piccadilly is pretty horrible at that time, too.

I cycle because the Jubilee line is somewhere in the 3rd circle of hell. My first day at work it took over an hour to do the theoretical 11 minute journey from Waterloo to Canary wharf.

If you are going by public transport, get the tube from Kew Gardens instead. Much better chance of getting on the Jubilee line at Westminster than Waterloo, and if the Jubilee line is in meltdown, you can stay on the district line to Tower Gateway and get the DLR.

Kew is a good area though. Some places have full on bike lockers to be fair too.

Kew is a good area, and lots of bicycles get stolen from good areas. But that isn't Kew, it's Brentford. I don't know anywhere in the area that has bike lockers. Richmond and Twickenham stations have good under cover parking, but the bikes there are often covered with warning notices from police about bike thefts ,so I assume they are high risk areas. I know a friend lost her bike on Richmond High St under CCTV, next to a bench within an hour on a Saturday afternoon.

Oh, and Kew Bridge is a bit of a nasty intersection. http://brentford.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/2011/07/cyclist-killed-on-kew-bridge.html

 

[Tynan]

I stopped reading at 'Leaving ...'

even if it's still their someone might have damaged it trying to steal bits, or just damaged it

there's bike lockers in a car park in Woodford, proper cabinet affairs, all smashed and vandalised and that's supposed to be a good area

 

[Flyingfox]

Talking from experience, and seeing all the nicked bikes at Islington police station today (literally hundreds, and that's one station) buy yourself a secondhand really cheap 'station' bike for £50 and a decent lock, and relax whilst at work.

I was one of the lucky ones who got my bike back after being stolen after leaving it in what I thought was a 'safe area', thousands of people aren't as fortunate.

 

[jeegee]

thanks for all the comments/advice...I'm going to get a cheap bike to leave at the station.
I can't cycle to Canary Wharf- it'll take me 1.5 hours in all as I'm cycling a fair distance to Kew!
I miss living closer to work and leaving my cycle in the lovely secure carpark

 

[Paulus]

Even with a cheapo hack bike you will still need to lock it securely. After one of my bikes some years back was nicked from a station bike compound, with CCTV, I tried the cheapo option, it looked old and really unfashionable, and that was nicked after two days.
You could try the folding bike option and take it on the train with you.

 

[jefmcg]

You could try the folding bike option and take it on the train with you.

+1 for this. This is what I do, and how I ended up doing 200km+ commuting each week. I cycle all the way when I feel like it, but always have the option of hopping on a train. If you are going regularly to Canary Wharf, you are going to start hating the Jubilee line. An old friend who doesn't cycle bought a £720 brompton within a week of starting at Canary Wharf, because of hatred of the Jubilee line. Example is the first day taking an hour for me, and the next time I used the Jubilee line, I got into work ok, but to get to London Bridge after work I had to end up going east first because I couldn't even get on any transport heading west out of Canary Wharf, so 50 minutes for an 8 minute journey. Now if I am meeting friends after work, I take the bike with me. Saves a lot of beer money, too.

I may or may not catch train to Waterloo, but practically never get on the tube now. My lazy days are 8miles each way and my active days are 20 miles each way (16 is the more direct route)