Secure locking at/near Victoria station London?

[the_engineer]

Afternoon all,

As per the thread title really, does anyone familiar with the area know of any secure-ish places to lock up a bike at Victoria station or close by?

I'm tyring to plan a commute which involves my cycle - home to Victoria, then onto a train is an option if I can leave my bike there.

Any help or info is much appreciated.

Thanks,

[mk1fan]

There some SHeffield hoops in the station instelf but other than that nothing official (although I haven't been there for 12-months).

Personally, get a cheap 'pub-bike' single speed and use a reasonable u-lock and chain. There's plenty of bikes there poorly secured that will interest the theives.

[voicey]

I would never leave a bike of any value locked up on the streets of London. As already mentioned, buy a snotter or consider a brompton.

ETA: I know people who have had saddles stolen off bikes locked up in the street. FFS!

[the_engineer]

It's a sad state of affairs eh..
You've both confirmed what I'd thought anyway, but I've not been round there specifically for about two years so thought I'd ask the question.

I know some stations up north have those cycle box storage containers where your cycle effectively gets covered and cannot be seen - I guess the quantity of cycles in London means they can't be implemented?

It's 11 miles of mainly road, I suppose I could use my carrera single speed as it's not worth much (relatively) and would be more beneficial to my aim of losing weight than the Trek.

[mk1fan]

I used to ride from Croydon to Victoria (about 13-miles each way) on my single speed Inbred so the SUbway would be more than up to it.

Decent D-Lock and separate chain should be sufficient to move on the opportunist. Replace all the QRs with bolt up versions.

[essayer]

the_engineer said:

It's a sad state of affairs eh..
You've both confirmed what I'd thought anyway, but I've not been round there specifically for about two years so thought I'd ask the question.

Yeah it's pretty poor round there. They've also removed loads of railings around the station, park, etc, so you can't even use those.
What about Boris bikes ?

[the_engineer]

mk1fan said:

I used to ride from Croydon to Victoria (about 13-miles each way) on my single speed Inbred so the SUbway would be more than up to it.

Decent D-Lock and separate chain should be sufficient to move on the opportunist. Replace all the QRs with bolt up versions.

Yeah it should be ok, I've done 26 mile trips on it last year a handful of times so should be able to cover the 11 miles on it each way.

I've got a Kryptonite D lock, a mini one with the orange base - the name escapes me. Perhaps I should upgrade to the New York? Any recommendations for a chain?

essayer said:

Yeah it's pretty poor round there. They've also removed loads of railings around the station, park, etc, so you can't even use those.
What about Boris bikes ?

I might take a cycle down this weekend to take a look around at options. Unfortunately Boris Bikes don't operate where I'd be starting out from, I think I'd have done the majority of the journey before their 'zone' begins.

[mk1fan]

Chains? Well Almax are a benchmark but will most likely be worth more than the bike!

My advice has always been to pick a chain where the links have a diameter of at least 12mm or 13mm. Even plain old mild steel is tough to snip/cut at these thicknesses - with the small, handheld tools that theives use. Then a good lock to close it. You can loop it through the D-lock too but don't rely on it to be the onlt 'lock'.