As all a bike thief needs is a shifter to unbolt it from the ground.

And ride away with the bike that was locked to it.

It’s the reason why they say put your bike lock through the rear wheel *and* the frame.

A U-lock can go around the rear rim and tire, somewhere inside the rear triangle of the frame without looping it around the seat tube: the wheel cannot be pulled through the rear triangle. A lock which passes around a rim makes the bicycle unrideable even if the object it is locked to can be broken or disassembled.

Because cutting up a bike defeats the point of trying to steal it.

Some people will object that felons might cut the rear rim and tire to remove a lock. This just doesn’t happen in the real world. It is possible to cut the rim with a hacksaw, working from the outside to the inside, but first, the tire must be removed or cut through. It would be a lot of work to steal a frame without a usable rear wheel, the most expensive part of a bike after the frame.

What makes these particular bike hoops egregious was that they installed as part of the Regional Rail Link project a decade ago along with the concrete path, so it isn’t even “boring holes was too hard” – they could’ve embedded the bike hoops into the concrete when pouring it.

And retrofitting concreted in bike hoops isn’t that hard – you just need a core drill.

There is your hole.

Pop out the paving.

And you’re all done.

And it’s not the first time

Did you notice anything odd about the row of bike hoops in my lead photo?

Yes, they’re all brushed metal except for one with a galvanised finish – presumably a replacement after another bike thief unbolted the previous hoop.

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A trip to Sydney

I spent a few days up in Sydney, and went for a ride on their double deck trains.

Stumbled upon the wooden tread escalators at Wynyard station.

And went for a last ride on the Sydney Monorail.

The Sydney Monorail closed in June 2013, while the wooden escalators were finally retired in 2017.

Southern Cross Station is a joke

I’ve written before about the joke that is Southern Cross Station – Grand Prix merchandise stalls blocking the main entrance.

The hopeless tram stop at the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets, where cars have priority.

And V/Line trains not arriving on the platform until a minute before departure time.

A decade later – nothing has changed.

Regional Rail Link

Something far more positive was work ramping up on the Regional Rail Link project.

The rail yards beside North Melbourne station were a busy worksite, as the dedicated V/Line tracks towards Southern Cross Station took shape.

Work also underway beside the Heavenly Queen Temple for a third bridge over the Maribyrnong River at Footscray.

Outside Footscray another two tracks were being threaded through what was then an industrial wasteland.

And the Hopkins Street bridge was down to just two lanes, so that the bridge could be extended over the new tracks.

Footscray station was also getting dug up.

To make way for the new suburban platforms next to Irving Street.

The old West Footscray station was still in place for now.

But work on the new station had just started.

Tottenham station still had two tracks for now.

But at Sunshine work on the new station concourse had started.

Meanwhile on the greenfields section between Deer Park and Werribee, new bridges were taking shape to carry roads over the future railway.

The station building at Wyndham Vale was emerging.

Soon to take over from the token bus service.

The railway cutting through the Manor Lakes estate had also been started.

Tonnes upon tonnes of solid basalt rock needing to be removed.

While down the line at Manor Junction, heavy duty dump trucks were helping to building the grade separated junction with the existing route towards Geelong.

The first sections of Regional Rail Link opened from October 2013, with the complete route via Tarneit and Wyndham Vale stations opened in June 2015.

And some other bits

I went on a trip to the Murray River at Tocumwal with Steamrail Victoria.

Special trains still make the journey up to the Murray from time to time, despite V/Line services only running as far north as Shepparton.

Remember Melbourne Bike Share? I found staff taking bikes back to the top of the Swanston Street hill. The service closed down in November 2019.

As for cycling to the inner north-west, Flemington Road was a joke then, and still is today.

And remember Safeway?

Rebranding as Woolworths commenced in 2008, with the final store changed over in 2017.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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Back on 29 January 2018 I spotted this example near the corner of William and Bourke Streets – a bike rack running 90 degrees to the road and blocking the footpath.

I tweeted about it the next day, and a week later the City of Melbourne entered the discussion – agreeing that they were stupidly placed.

They are part of our target to provide an additional 2000 on-street bicycle parking hoops by 2020. We have arranged for the hoops to be reorientated to 45 degrees so that there will be more space available on the footpath for pedestrians.

— City of Melbourne (@cityofmelbourne) February 6, 2018

Presumably cyclists thought the same thing, as the bike hoops were often empty, compared to the hoops across the street.

Presumably cyclists didn’t want their valuable bike jutting out into the footpath, ready to be smashed into by passing pedestrians.

But some still took the risk.

But eventually the City of Melbourne got around to doing what they promised – a year later in February 2019 the bike hoops had been cut off at footpath level, and two new hoops installed parallel to the kerb.

Leaving clear space for pedestrians.

Footnote

I guess we should count ourselves lucky that these bike hoops were never noticed by business owners – advertising bikes are even worse.

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Businesses in the CBD are using public bicycle racks as free outdoor advertising space to get around the council’s sandwich board permit laws.

Dozens of bikes fitted with advertising signage are being parked in bike racks on busy footpaths around the city, including Swanston, Elizabeth and Collins streets and Flinders Lane, promoting various businesses and enterprises, from theatre shows to cafes.

Business owners say it is the “only way” they can advertise to passing traffic because of the council’s “restrictive” street signage regulations.

So is it legal?

The City of Melbourne has confirmed it has received two complaints in the past two months about the practice and says it could be in breach of local laws.

“It’s often a question of degree. For example, if a normal, operating, commuter bicycle has a business name painted on the body of it, it wouldn’t be considered to be a portable advertising sign,” a Melbourne City Council spokeswoman said in a statement. “If, however, a reference to a business on a bicycle is considered to be a portable advertising sign, then a permit is required.”

She said such a breach would typically incur a warning in the first instance, but could incur a fine.

Some shops just tape a flyer to the back of any old bike they find.

Using an a-frame might be a bit more sturdy.

But jerry rigging it to a milk crate is much easier.

Others build a fancy wooden board and choose a bicycle that is colour coordinated with their brand.

Fake flowers are a decorative touch.

Building the sign into the frame of the bike is another way to advertise.

Adding a bike trailer is one way to increase the advertising real estate you have available.

But you get a much bigger impact by attaching a massive banner to where the seat used to be.

You don’t need to have a low advertising budget to settle for a parked bike – how about a fancy printed sign attached to a parked electric scooter?

And it isn’t just businesses wanting to get their message across – religious evangelists have also discovered what a parked bike can do for them.

And finally – you don’t need to settle for a static advertisment – just pay someone to ride your new bike down Swanston Street.

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On August 8th I spotted a yellow bike – supposedly it was a one-off painted in celebration of Cadel’s victory in the Tour de France:

Last week on August 21st I found another non-standard bicycle – this time coloured green:

I wonder how many more one-off colours the Melbourne Bike Share bicycles appear in?

Postscript

The coloured bikes score a mention on the Facebook page for Melbourne Bike Share, as this post from July 2012 illustrates:

Looking for our coloured bikes? Here’s where they are
Yellow – Docked in station ACCA (Australian Centre of Contemporary Art)
White – Docked in station Sandridge Bridge Southbank
Polka Dot – Docked in station Docklands @ NAB – Harbour Esplanade / Bourke St.
Green – having a checkup, back on the streets shortly

Someone also managed to photograph all four of them in one place! Presumably to achieve this they went around Melbourne and hired each one, riding them back to a central location. As for me, it is a case of two down, two to go!

Bicycle number three

Only a day after I published this entry I found bicycle number three – Polka Dot:

How long until I find the last one?

September 2012: Bicycle number four

Two weeks after my last find, we have the last one – plain white.

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Plenty of people ride bikes to suburban railway stations because that is the only way to get there other than driving, but anywhere within cycling distance of Flinders Street Station is well served by trams.

Maybe I should have asked the girl I saw today why she rode?

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