I always thought the main strategy of locking one's bike was to make it look more secure than your own... hate to be callous but let natural selection takes its course...?
2010-05-21 19:24:18
22
"Love your bike, lock it right!" tags/flyers?
I thought I had seen them somewhere, or I could have made it up in my head, or someone on here may have mentioned the idea, but -
I'm thinking we should get some little tags printed up, folded, on the outside its pretty innocent, bike-pgh logo with a heart or something (so as to not cue in HEY STEAL ME ITS EASY), on the inside something to the tune of "Uh-oh! If you're reading this it means a fellow cyclist saw that your bike was locked up improperly or even worse, not at all, and wanted to try to make sure that in the future you lock it up right so you'll never be separated from your beloved bicycle. "
Followed by some basic instructions on how to lock up with a u-lock/cable lock, what to lock to (advising avoiding trees so as not to damage them), a couple diagrams, explaining that locks are cheaper than losing your bike, and so on.
Might stem off some of the "stolen bike" threads we keep seeing around here.
Thoughts?
2010-05-21 17:06:07
Love this idea. We design 2.5" x 2.5" cards to give out for different events. They cost about $80 for 500 or 1000, can't remember. We use hotcards. Turnaround is about a week.
2010-05-21 19:41:10
I can work on a design for it, but I'm not too great on the illustration side, anyone have any/know where I can find some for this? Or anyone willing to draw something up?
2010-05-21 19:59:53
I think I saw a flyer like this once... I can't remember if it was on the internet or in a different city. Anyway, good idea. I went to leave someone a note once, but then they showed up behind me to unlock their bike. I then lectured them and felt helpful/nerdy.
2010-05-21 20:03:06
Or maybe I'm thinking of the "your bike is hot" flyers. I like those too, even though the design isn't very interesting. The cutest note I ever left was a balloon with "Cute bike!" sharpied on it that Erok and I attached to a Bilenky parked in the S.S Works.
2010-05-21 20:05:57
Hey robjdlc, if you want a nice illustration, go to shutterstock.com (they have millions of images). Search/Pick what you want, tell me the the image name/number, don't buy. I have a subscription and I can get the high res originals for you, no charge.
2010-05-21 20:37:44
I also want to partner with FPUF on one that says something to the effect "please don't lock to trees. it slowly kills them. please call the mayor's office and your councilperson and ask that more bike racks be installed." and then give all the numbers.
2010-05-22 00:01:35
scott,
if you give me the numbers/info i will gladly design these... i bet funding from somewhere could come along for printing and lamination maybe
2010-05-22 00:40:03
I could propose an illustration if you like, Rob. Let me know.
2010-05-22 12:22:23
Stef - If you wanted to draw something up that'd be great. Looking for something simple that goes down the basics like, don't lock to your seat post or your front wheel, dont lock to trees, dont lock to things that can be removed (like a metal stand with no bolts in the ground) and anything else you can think of. Super simple close-up s of where the lock should and shouldnt be. Feel free to expand on that, or I can sketch something if you like.
2010-05-22 16:44:50
After seeing Stef's Hula Hero picture, I think she should definitely be the one to draw up some pictures.
2010-05-22 17:55:47
haha. note that was photoshopped it from another illustration. but, cool, i'll give it a go, hopefully in the next few days.
2010-05-22 22:17:24
What? No fire hoop?
That is pretty flippin' cool.
2010-05-22 22:26:39
Never mind the bicycles, the people on this message board are both talented and fascinating. Very frequently at the same time!
2010-05-23 01:41:02
hear hear!
2010-05-24 03:38:25
Maybe leave space for a hole punch so we can zip-tie the instructions to bike locks we see used poorly?
How about a list of checkboxes with common mistakes and we can tick off the error(s) they made?
2010-05-24 21:00:10
I think I'm going to try to implement a sort of interlocking cut in the paper, so you can wrap it around a frame or lock. Check boxes are a good idea though!
I'm also going to try to squeeze this onto a piece of paper the size of a dollar bill - so they're easy to carry around.
2010-05-25 23:55:24
Like this?
Or like this?
2010-05-26 13:47:49
Möbius strip. Irritate 'em into submission.
2010-05-26 15:01:45
Second one.
2010-05-26 22:57:53
on the second one, angle those slits in a little bit.
2010-05-27 00:38:59