The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: GreenPen on May 06, 2015, 02:38:43 PM
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I'm about to order three inverted 'U' racks to be placed behind a church. I'm wondering if anyone could offer advice on whether I should order the racks with surface mounts (cheaper installation) or in-ground mounting (more secure).
Surface mounting would definitely be easier to install -- the racks are going into existing concrete. I think I could do a surface mount myself, as opposed to paying someone to do in-ground mounting. But I'm worried that someone could steal the bikes by removing the wedge anchors used to surface-mount the rack. Is this a reasonable concern? Or would a potential thief find it easier to cut through a U-lock before messing around with the mounting? (I would rather not pay extra for more secure mounting if the U-lock is the weakest target anyway).
The church is in a city where bike thefts happen somewhat frequently. The rack would probably be used each day, but rarely overnight. My wife and I will lock up our $600 and $400 bikes there about once per week; and a few other people will lock up bikes in that price range.
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Not an expert on this, but I would think it's partially dependent on how visible the mounting is. If they can be viewed from a busy street, surface mount should be fine. If your racks are concealed behind a building, any bike thief has a lot of cover to do whatever they need to.