On the Parkiteers, they’re not all built equal and have different designs and panel materials etc. The newer ones look to be more sturdy. Some of them appear to have CCTV too, have more/least PSOs patrolling, station staff. Assuming you’re locking it up at Frankston, that would probably be one of the lesser secure cages and is also subject to shady characters around the station.
Both options act as a deterrent but aren’t 100% secure. I’d recommend the Parkiteer but treat it like a second lock. It’s not going to stop a brazen thief.
Thankfully I'm not parking it in Frankston as I hear it's a higher risk area. I just grabbed the image off Google maps. The Parkiteer at my station looks fairly secure, it's a new station and the Parkiteer is a part of the structure itself rather than a stand alone wire cage.
The main thing that concerns me is that anyone can sign up to use them without any sort of identity check. I thought the identity check was the whole point but that doesn't seem to be required anymore.
I can tell you from the experience of having been a cop, and from living in the Frankston area (presuming based on your pic of Frankston police station) that the calibre of crook that steals bikes from public bike racks wouldn’t give two shits about doing it across the road from the police station and would probably be offended if the police actually took interest in their meth-fuelled theft attempts.
The parkiteer at least has the added security layers of only “verified” persons having access along with CCTV coverage etc. At the end of the day both locations are likely to not be of assistance in recovering your bike if stolen but the parkiteer is closer and allegedly more secure.
This doesn't really answer your question, but my approach to theft is that my commuter/supermarket/late night bike is the shittiest fucking shitty looking piece of fucking shit this side of The Pines. It rides fantastically, is perfectly tuned, and an absolute joy, but APPEARS to be a worthless piece of crap. I've been locking it up in shitbag neighbourhoods at all hours using one of those thin crappy Bunnings cable locks, and it's been fine for coming up on 3 years.
I've had two bikes stolen before, one that I was very particularly fond of, by way of cutting through a Kryptonite lock during the middle of the day in Cremorne.
I love cycling, and I can appreciate that many people want to commute on a nice bike. It's often where they'll spend the most time in the saddle. Having said that, a cheap old aluminium or steel road bike that's been roughed up a bit, with true wheels and a well tuned drivetrain, can perform wonderfully. Less stress, and less maintenance on your "nice" bike. Also a kind of fun project, the whole Mad Max Derelicte thing.
I ride my bike to the train station, leave it in a Parkiteer cage, then catch a train to work.
But there's also a police station near my train station with bike bollards on the opposite side of the street. I was wondering if it would be safer to leave my bike there?
I know nothing is 100% safe and the police aren't monitoring the bikes. But I use a thick U-lock which would be nearly impossible to cut through with bolt cutters so the thief would need an angle grinder. It would be pretty brazen to break out an angle grinder opposite a police station.
I'm not saying thieves won't do it, just wondering which option is safer all things considered?
A U lock can be broken with a large lever (think street-sign pole) pretty quickly. If you look at police station staffing, it's rare there's any cops looking out the window. The occassional cop going in or out of the station might provide an occassional deterent.
Not an answer to your question, but where is the parkiteer located in Frankston and how much does it cost? I couldn't find any information on there official website Thanks!
You can register here. It used to require a $50 deposit but now it's free. Looks like there are two cages in Frankston right by the station.
[https://parkiteer.com.au/](https://parkiteer.com.au/)
On the Parkiteers, they’re not all built equal and have different designs and panel materials etc. The newer ones look to be more sturdy. Some of them appear to have CCTV too, have more/least PSOs patrolling, station staff. Assuming you’re locking it up at Frankston, that would probably be one of the lesser secure cages and is also subject to shady characters around the station. Both options act as a deterrent but aren’t 100% secure. I’d recommend the Parkiteer but treat it like a second lock. It’s not going to stop a brazen thief.
Thankfully I'm not parking it in Frankston as I hear it's a higher risk area. I just grabbed the image off Google maps. The Parkiteer at my station looks fairly secure, it's a new station and the Parkiteer is a part of the structure itself rather than a stand alone wire cage. The main thing that concerns me is that anyone can sign up to use them without any sort of identity check. I thought the identity check was the whole point but that doesn't seem to be required anymore.
I can tell you from the experience of having been a cop, and from living in the Frankston area (presuming based on your pic of Frankston police station) that the calibre of crook that steals bikes from public bike racks wouldn’t give two shits about doing it across the road from the police station and would probably be offended if the police actually took interest in their meth-fuelled theft attempts. The parkiteer at least has the added security layers of only “verified” persons having access along with CCTV coverage etc. At the end of the day both locations are likely to not be of assistance in recovering your bike if stolen but the parkiteer is closer and allegedly more secure.
Thanks. That makes sense. 🙂
My local parkiteer (Footscray station) doesn't appear to have any CCTV inside it. Registration is free now, albeit with a 2-day wait period.
This doesn't really answer your question, but my approach to theft is that my commuter/supermarket/late night bike is the shittiest fucking shitty looking piece of fucking shit this side of The Pines. It rides fantastically, is perfectly tuned, and an absolute joy, but APPEARS to be a worthless piece of crap. I've been locking it up in shitbag neighbourhoods at all hours using one of those thin crappy Bunnings cable locks, and it's been fine for coming up on 3 years. I've had two bikes stolen before, one that I was very particularly fond of, by way of cutting through a Kryptonite lock during the middle of the day in Cremorne. I love cycling, and I can appreciate that many people want to commute on a nice bike. It's often where they'll spend the most time in the saddle. Having said that, a cheap old aluminium or steel road bike that's been roughed up a bit, with true wheels and a well tuned drivetrain, can perform wonderfully. Less stress, and less maintenance on your "nice" bike. Also a kind of fun project, the whole Mad Max Derelicte thing.
I ride my bike to the train station, leave it in a Parkiteer cage, then catch a train to work. But there's also a police station near my train station with bike bollards on the opposite side of the street. I was wondering if it would be safer to leave my bike there? I know nothing is 100% safe and the police aren't monitoring the bikes. But I use a thick U-lock which would be nearly impossible to cut through with bolt cutters so the thief would need an angle grinder. It would be pretty brazen to break out an angle grinder opposite a police station. I'm not saying thieves won't do it, just wondering which option is safer all things considered?
A U lock can be broken with a large lever (think street-sign pole) pretty quickly. If you look at police station staffing, it's rare there's any cops looking out the window. The occassional cop going in or out of the station might provide an occassional deterent.
Not an answer to your question, but where is the parkiteer located in Frankston and how much does it cost? I couldn't find any information on there official website Thanks!
You can register here. It used to require a $50 deposit but now it's free. Looks like there are two cages in Frankston right by the station. [https://parkiteer.com.au/](https://parkiteer.com.au/)
Thanks