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Would you take an expensive bike to uni?

Im starting in October (Warwick) and really want to cycle their as public transport in the area is not great - plus it will keep me fit.

I have two bike a nice road bike worth about £800 and a decent commuter around £250.

The road bike is so much faster and more fun I would much rather use that but would it be mad to leave it at uni - even with a really good lock?

They're insured but that would be a total pain to go through and with excess costs etc so much hassle.
The problem isn't how good your lock is, the problem is when people accidentally lock their bikes to yours in a hurry, and you have to wait hours for them to come back and unlock it (I know of 3 people this has happened to before, and I'm sure it has happened to many more that I don't know of).
Original post by GoingToBurst
The problem isn't how good your lock is, the problem is when people accidentally lock their bikes to yours in a hurry, and you have to wait hours for them to come back and unlock it (I know of 3 people this has happened to before, and I'm sure it has happened to many more that I don't know of).


Ah that would be a total nightmare, never had that happen in years of cycling but I tend not to use busy cycle storage places.

My other concern is getting mugged, this happened to someone at my college but it did have patchy security.
Check with your uni on what facilities there are. Mine for example, had a fair few bike racks on the edge of campus but also some locked sheds (needs a keycard with the correct permissions, not given by default, to access them) so that's about as safe as it gets.
Original post by SeanFM
Check with your uni on what facilities there are. Mine for example, had a fair few bike racks on the edge of campus but also some locked sheds (needs a keycard with the correct permissions, not given by default, to access them) so that's about as safe as it gets.


that would be ideal, I'd happy pay a fee for some kind of secure storage. Even with my unbreakable lock someone could still get the saddle/pedals etc.
You should try and talk to people at your university about what they do (perhaps there's a cycling society you can find on FB?). I had a bike worth around 1k at uni but stored it in my room - for that to be viable you need to be able to move it out for inspections, have a lift if it's a high floor and have security who aren't too fussed (plus space in the room!). My insurance wouldn't have covered a communal bike shed even if my bike was locked (and certainly wouldn't have covered outdoor storage) and obviously doesn't cover the wheel being pulled off etc if you have quick release skewers. In my town bike theft was a huge problem and I knew people who had multiple bikes stolen a year, people knew students have expensive bikes so they'd just take a van down and take a whole rack of bikes at once. I took a mountain bike as well to use for general getting around and just used my road bike for proper rides.
Original post by skeptical_john
Im starting in October (Warwick) and really want to cycle their as public transport in the area is not great - plus it will keep me fit.

I have two bike a nice road bike worth about £800 and a decent commuter around £250.

The road bike is so much faster and more fun I would much rather use that but would it be mad to leave it at uni - even with a really good lock?

They're insured but that would be a total pain to go through and with excess costs etc so much hassle.


Hello :smile:

I'd say, yes. You've bought the bike to use and should do. The risk of taking it to university is the same as biking into town on a busy Saturday - you can lock it up safe but people can still steal it (or attempt too) or someone could lock theirs to yours and you'll have to wait around.

It's the same with university. At the same time, universities sometimes have secure cages you can put the bikes in and dedicated areas so they can be locked up securely but I'd say the risk of taking your bike to university is the same risk as having a bike normally.

Good luck :biggrin:

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