On Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:24:50 +0100, Tony Dragon
wrote:


I think somebody decided to clear up the bikes (or bits of) left
padlocked to bits of street furniture in Southwark over Christmas.

There were about a dozen bikes padlocked to be seen on my walk to work,
some with one wheel, some with none, and in one case just two wheels.

A local supermarket has some bike stands near its entrance which are
adorned with a small number of corroding locks and chains and D locks
to each of which is attached a single bit of a bike. Not large bits
like wheels or frames as you might expect but things like a chain ring
with attached crank (but no pedal), a vestigial rear carrier, a very
decayed saddle and part of a rear deraileur. It seems unlikely these
are the remnants of forced theft as the stand is only a few feet from
a busy store entrance overlooked by a very obvious CCTV camera. I
assume that over a period of many months some owners either lost the
key to the lock while they were shopping or the lock malfunctioned and
they abandoned it together with the attached bit. Why someone would
"secure" a bike by attaching a chain to these bits in the first place
I don't know -a chain with a wire loop through the last link passed
through the saddle structure seems odd as a security device.

It is now the sort of weathered collection Tate Modern would probably
buy for a few hundred thousand pounds. By the side of the stands,
covered in street dirt, they look rather sad and abandoned although it
would be interesting to know their story.