"It's the most rational and least expensive way to get around the city," says Tisha Clark, cashier and bookkeeper at the Bicycle Exchange.

But Harvard bikers readily admit that there are problems with biking in Cambridge. Bad weather, potholes and one-way streets are just some of the hazards. But of all the dangers they face, student cyclists say Cambridge traffic is one of the worst.

"Cambridge has potholes the size of the Grand Canyon," says Kobach. And according to Bruce Weber, salesperson at the Bicycle Exchange, the city roads throughout Boston are getting worse and worse.

"But traffic is the biggest problem. Cambridge drivers are some of the most ferocious in the world," Kobach says.

"You have to be really careful," says Deborah J. Slotnick '90. "The drivers are not sympathetic at all to bicyclists."

Bicyclists also complain about the theft of bikes and bike parts. Many of them say they have to take special precautions to prevent their bikes from being stolen.

Farzad Mostashari '89 says he has bought three bicycles since his arrival at Harvard. One was ruined by the Cambridge road conditions, and his second was stolen. "The costs add up, definitely," he says.

"I had a bike stolen with a Kryptonite lock on it," he says. "I guess I just didn't lock it up right." It is not unusual for two or three bicycle thefts to be reported to the Harvard University Police in a single week.

In an effort to reduce crime, the University now asks students to register their bicycles with the police as soon as they arrive at school. That way, the police can help locate the bicycles if they are stolen.

The frequency of thefts has led many students to keep their bikes in their rooms instead of in the racks outside the dorms and houses. Some say they even bring their bicycles into the lecture halls during class.

"Aside from cars, the biggest problem is people who won't let me take my bike into class," Wechsler says.

In effort to reduce theft, the University recently installed special racks in the Yard and outside most of the houses.

But the newly designed bicycle racks are inefficient, says North House Master J. Woodland Hastings. The spokes that stick out of the ground only fit specific types of bicycles.

"They're inconvenient and not useful. The University spent a lot of money for them, and they don't even work," says Hastings, who is also professor of biology.

In addition to manmade problems, bikers must also face natural hazards. Cambridge's notoriously bad weather and poor snow clearance deters some bikers from riding. But some Harvard bicyclists say they continue to ride in any weather.