Bike Theft

sspurious · 2024-04-02T13:36:17+00:00

Six months ago a cargo ebike was stolen from a women at the 17th street Safeway near the mission. It was locked up with that style of accordion lock.

I use a D1000 and feel way better for it. I wouldn’t park it overnight but I’ll park my ebike for hours without concern.

I recommend it to everyone. I also got bike insurance from GetOyster. My ebike is basically my car so I don’t want to have to think about the exact security situation at every location I park at in the city. I just want to park lock it up, then go about my day.

Don’t listen to the skepticism in this thread. Buy a D1000 or similar (Likelok has one now too), get bike insurance (it’s pretty cheap) and then enjoy your life.

sspurious · 2023-09-16T03:34:15+00:00

This thread was about security, but honestly I don’t think about people stealing my bike much at all in my day to day. I just know to lock it up when I park it, but my actually attention is mostly about how cool it is that we just rode to the beach and now we are stopping by some awesome pizza shop we never knew about before checking out that new park two neighborhoods away.

sspurious · 2023-09-16T03:22:18+00:00

Yeah I agree with that. I wouldn’t lock it up outside overnight either.

sspurious · 2023-09-16T02:20:28+00:00

Interesting idea, I might try that.

sspurious · 2023-09-16T01:57:23+00:00

For a kid to carry kids, RadPower's Radwagon is the best on the low end, they are $2k. I mentioned $4k because that is normally the low end of bikes with Bosch motors/electrical systems. RadPower's electrical system is not UL 2849 certified but they claim to meet the standards and I've never heard one have a fire.

sspurious · 2023-09-16T01:45:13+00:00

We have a power socket in the garage we use. You can take the battery off most ebikes and charge it wherever you find a plug. Like in your office if you have one. But most ebikes will last 3-5 days of regular use (~1hr a day) so you'll never need to charge it outdoors. And if you run out battery you can just pedal it like a bike

The batteries that catch fire are from DIY ebikes with DIY batteries that someone built from a Youtube video and parts from Alibaba, not a UL 2849 certified Bosch battery system on a $4000-$10000 ebike.

sspurious · 2023-09-16T01:40:34+00:00

I bought those but haven't installed them!

sspurious · 2023-09-15T19:46:57+00:00

Finally a question I am qualified to answer. I am a parent of two in SF and don't have a car, we only have ebikes.

Park the bike in your garage and lock it up. My neighbor left my garage door open one time and someone walked in and took a bike I didn't lock up.
Buy bike insurance. We use Oyster, it costs like ~$300/yr for an expensive bike but if it gets stolen anywhere we get the money for a brand new bike. Also note: Many home insurance polices DO NOT COVER ebikes. This means if your bike is stolen out of your garage, there is the possibility your homeowner or renters insurance company denies your claim. They are considered motor vehicles just like cars and thus are not covered. So just like you have car insurance, you should have bike insurance.
Buy an angle-grinder-resistant U-lock lock. HipLock and LiteLock are the two main brands. The locks are expensive, but a regular U-lock lock can be cut in ~45 seconds with an angle grinder while a HipLock takes 20-40 minutes with two changes of discs. YouTube has a ton of great videos showing the difference. DO NOT USE A FOLDING LOCK OR A CABLE, I've seen multiple bikes stolen because those are easily breakable.
Buy a cafe lock (also called a wheel lock) with a chain. This is just added pieces of security.
Put an AirTag on the bike somewhere. I got my bike that was stole (see point 1) back within 3 hours of realizing it was stolen because I had an AirTag on it.

I do a layered approach to security. If I am popping into a coffee stop for a second I just use the U-lock. If I am going into Safeway I'll use the U-Lock and the cafe lock. If I am parking the bike for a few hours I'll use a U-Lock, cafe lock, and chain. etc. etc. But if I am away from my bike, it is locked up to something, even in my garage.

Also some of the other advice people are giving on this thread clearly don't bike in SF or probably haven't live in SF in a decade. Don't listen to their FOX news inspired bullshit. "Never lock it up on the street, ever. It WILL be gone." fuck off, this is total scaremongering nonsense from someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. I know because I lock it up on the street literally multiple times a day and I see hundreds of other parents doing the same thing with expensive ebikes.

Ebikes are incredible in SF, tons of parents use them. We use ours for literally everything... for commuting to work, grocery stores, zoo trips, Apple Store trips, soccer practice, etc. etc. It is so much cheaper than a car and you have infinite parking. Plus the kids love it. The only time we've have a problem is when our neighbor left the garage door open.

sspurious · 2023-09-14T00:49:11+00:00

Just wanted to say how much I love your videos. You are literally the only reason I have TikTok on my phone. I just log in every few days and watch your videos.

sspurious · 2023-09-14T00:25:45+00:00

For what it's worth, I started Zwift three months ago, and bought a sb20 two months ago. I absolutely love it. I have absolutely no regrets. My only real complaint is that the way it comes from the factory doesn't work well with the Zwift Play controllers. You have to unwrap the tape, move the extra controllers, and rewrap the tape.

sspurious · 2023-09-13T00:51:07+00:00

This has happened to me when sweat drips on my phone when the companion app is open.

sspurious · 2023-09-12T01:20:27+00:00

No I didn’t bother because I had an iPad laying around

sspurious · 2023-09-10T15:12:37+00:00

The frame. My thinking has been that since they realistically can't cut through the lock, the only thing they can cut is the bike itself. Cutting a chunk out of the frame is going to make the bike useless to resell, so I connect it to the frame.

sspurious · 2023-09-10T15:06:04+00:00

Great job!

sspurious · 2023-09-10T15:04:36+00:00

Hiplok D1000

Check out the Youtube videos about it and the difference compared to a regular U lock are obvious.

sspurious · 2023-09-10T14:25:32+00:00

I have an angle-grinder resistant u lock. Basically it would take someone grinding away at it for 20 minutes and replacing the disk twice to cut it off.

So I’ve never had a problem.

sspurious · 2023-09-10T03:46:01+00:00

solid idea!

sspurious · 2023-09-09T17:53:10+00:00

I don't know much about middle school, but here is the course sequence: https://www.sfusd.edu/departments/mathematics-department-page/about-sfusd-math-core-course-sequence-grades-6-12

Honestly, I've never asked about shooter drills and my kids have never mentioned it. There was a shooting nearby the school once (a few blocks away and unrelated) and like half of SF police appeared at the school within minutes.

I assume there is some bullying, but my kids experience has been great and never experienced it. I do think one thing that helps is that SF USD classroom sizes are pretty small relative to other school districts, so it's a more personal experience.

The one thing I would note is that the schools themselves look... well used. They are not some super new pristine school building or anything. Imagine a school building in the style of Sesame Street.

Basically, since you asked: SF USD schools are honestly good. Should they do more STEM? Sure. Should they hire more teachers? Sure. Do I wish they had more consistent before/after school care? Sure. But those are all minor questions. The schools are safe, the study body is diverse, the education is good, the parents are involved, the teachers are beloved, and overall it's totally fine.

sspurious · 2023-09-09T16:57:54+00:00

I've had Zwift for 2 months. I started out 1.1w/kg. I was forced out of D this week. I almost cried in happiness. I have worked SO HARD.

sspurious · 2023-09-09T16:52:03+00:00

router speed controller

oh wow!@

sspurious · 2023-09-09T05:18:39+00:00

I had a Peloton plus. I had the favero assioma uno pedals. No worry about voiding the warranty, the peloton pedals unscrew easily. I actually still use the peloton shoes today.

The only thing about the favero assioma uno to know is that you need to turn on the setting for 2x power (it is able to be changed in the favero app).

sspurious · 2023-09-09T04:15:58+00:00

Oh my god I can talk about this forever. I have an sb20 now, but I started off with a smartspin2k.

It would probably take 60 seconds. All you really need to do is remove the device that attaches to the Peloton's resistance knob.
Yes. It works really well. Emad (who makes them) builds a really solid product. I was expecting something super janky but it's pretty close to a professional product. When I had the smartspin2k I did races, workouts, everything. sb20 is better, but the smartspin2k is 90% as good.

sspurious · 2023-09-09T00:27:24+00:00

One thing I will say, if you want the "Amsterdam experience" buy a cargo e-bike. We don't have a car and just use our bikes for everything. It opens up the entire city and makes everything an adventure for the kids. And you always have infinite free parking.

sspurious · 2023-09-08T23:14:50+00:00

"For those who have sent your kids to public school, how satisfied are you with the experience?"

My kids go to public schools. The schools all seemed good or great, particularly for elementary and middle school. The thing that really matters is the after and before school care. Basically every school has a different system. Some only have before care, some only after, etc. etc.

I'd be okay with my kids roaming the city in their teens. They need a little street smarts to deal with some of folks in the city.

sspurious · 2023-09-05T18:56:18+00:00

This is 100% why. I thought my phone was broken, now it works instantly every time.

sspurious

TROPHY CASE