Control cable locking

At our school, Campus Safety has just confiscated dozens of abandoned bicycles, and "donated" them to "the Needy." As I am feeling needy, I had considered donating one to myself, and in examining the state of the art in cheap bike locks, I have decided that bike locks are redundant in many ways. Cable locks especially. A friend of mine almost got his bike donated, so I have it to examine at my leisure.

It occurs to me that cable locks are made of sturdy cables, reinforced with a plastic coating. Examining my friend's bicycle, I see four scaled down versions of such cables dangling around the front handlebars, as part of the bicycle's braking and gearing system. two of them eventually go around to the back. Why carry separate cables to lock up the bike with?

The sections of these control cables which run from the front portion of the bike to the controls on the handlebars must, by their nature, be flexible, and reinforced with a sheath in order to work at all. the controls themselves, in order to attach to the handlebars, must be equipped with a mechanism for opening, and closing.

Around the outside of the plastic sheath we already see on these cables, we will attach cut-resisting woven metal hosing, and another plastic sheath. This outer security cable will then be securely anchored to the frame of the bike, and to the braking/shifting controls.

Rather than the normal screw-down devices to hold these controls to the bike handlebars, we will a slightly specialized lock, specialized, because it is capable of being opened and closed with key or combination, and because it is capbable of gripping the handlebars securely.

Now, when you want to lock up your bike, you take the handle controls off, wrap these cables through the front wheel, around something sturdy, and lock them up... either back onto the handlebar, or to some other part of the bike.

Pros: Less weight for the average biker, as a cable lock no longer needs to be carried. More security for the paranoid biker, because the brake and gear controls are now part of a lock. Stealing the bike now probably involves destroying one's ability to brake and shift gears. Unlike currently available self-locking bikes, the bike can be locked as normal, securing the front wheel, which is popularly stolen, and preventing the bike from ending up flat on the sidewalk somewhere.

Cons: Servicing the hand-controls, and checking these portions of the cable may prove more difficult. Devising a secure method to anchor the sheath to the bike without interfering with the lines may be tough. Some folks are likely to start relying on just these devices for security, even in areas where more security is obviously necessary.

Clearly, control cable locking is not for everyone, but I suspect it might prove reasonably popular.