Parking Anxiety

[Anrai]

I only found out yesterday that the people just letting me into the bike cage at one of the carparks were breaking the rules and there is supposed to be a lengthy bureaucratic process for month-to-month access (naturally with a waiting list, despite at least half the spots being free every time I've been and at least one bike seemingly abandoned there.)
Decided I don't wanna risk showing up and getting turned away, and the staff that let me in won't show me application forms to get in officially. So now I'm looking at used bikes I can park wherever and not worry too much about.
What does everyone else do about the risks of public parking in the cities if they don't have a secure premises to stash a bike?

[P!N20]

Yeah, either ride a bike you're not too precious about or invest in some good locks. To put it another way; make your bike undesirable or too much trouble to steal. Parking in a public place may help as a thief is less likely to pull out an angle grinder - YMMV.

There's a theory that thieves looking to make a buck have moved onto E-bikes...so they are good for something!

[Anrai]

Well, I just bought a Giant Yukon for $200 that doesn't need much work done. That'll be the commuter for now.

[karpedal]

Great choice with the Giant Yukon! At $200 it's affordable to use as a commuter without worrying too much if anything happens to it. Remember to use a decent u-lock and try parking in busy areas if you can.

[Leaf T]

Definitely use the best D-lock and even a second lock as back up if you want to keep your bike. Find a lock you like and then youtube it for fails. I like Abus.

Bike cage at my work in inner north is often booted in and an ebike is stolen. They tend to go for the ebikes it seems. I'm guessing they see a newbs ebike and newb thinks their $5k ebike is safe in the cage with a $30 cable lock or one of those folding locks.

Secondary advice is park next to the expensive ebike.

[zebee]

If anything is quick release and even a little bit nice then swap the QR for a bolt or a keyed QR else lock the item up with a good lock.