U-G-L-Y Your Bike
To deter thieves, camouflage your bicycle as a piece of
crap while keeping it a first-class ride. By Rick Polito
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ABOVE: The author’s piece of crap. Or is it? FACING PAGE: A Bianchi Milano without the urban camouflage.
Nature is the master of disguise. The tiger swallowtail caterpillar starts out
camouflaged as a bird dropping to discourage hungry birds. Take a tip from
the crawling turd and keep your bike from getting swiped: dress it down as
a pile of rolling junk.
Having an ugly bike doesn’t mean having a junky bike. Looks and performance have no exclusive relationship. A savvy bike thief may see the
gem under the Krylon, but he also knows he can’t sell it as quickly as the
tricked-out speedster at the other end of the bike rack.
Photograph by Sam Polito
74 Make: Volume 11
