Anyone fitted pitlock skewers to their wisper?

[oregon]

Hello everyone

A friend of mine told me he has security skewers fitted to both of his wheels on his bike to prevent them from being stolen. I now want them on my wisper. Has anyone had them fitted?

I read up a little and the Pitlock 3 peice Skewers seem okay.

Are they easy to fit? I am no good at these things.

Many thanks for any advice

 

[frank9755]

I don't know what those particular types of skewer are but they wouldn't work on the motor wheel of your Wisper, or on any other hub motor that I've come across. Hub motors have their own axles with the space where a spindle would go down occupied by the wire.

I don't even think you could put one on the front either as that wheel has a similar axle. Without looking at it carefully, I'm not sure it can be easily removed, so you would essentially need a new wheel. In other words, not worth it!

 

[oregon]

Hi Frank

Thanks for the reply. OK, so I cant add a skewer then! So, what option do I have to prevent my wheels from being stolen. I have a D-Lock but I use that the go through the frame and its not big enough to go through the wheel at the same time.

Am I worried over nothing? Are Wisper bike wheels secure enough already?

Thanks again

 

[frank9755]

Am I worried over nothing?

Probably

Are Wisper bike wheels secure enough already?

I think the back wheel is pretty secure. If you search through here you'll see that owners have enough trouble taking the wheel out to fix punctures. On the original 905e you needed a hacksaw to take the wheel out!

A thief with the right sized spanner could take your front wheel away. It does happen occasionally. But where do you stop? someone could steal your battery, lights, handlebars, brakes, rack... and so on. What have you done about the seat post quick release? That would be the easiest thing for a thief to nick.

I think you can never make bikes completely theft-proof. The most important thing is to be careful where you leave it, and two locks of different types are better than one. A cable lock through your front wheel might give you peace of mind.

 

[oregon]

Thanks for the info!

I popped into cycle surgery when I bought the bike and swapped the quick-release lever on the saddle for a one that requires an allen key.

Yes, I agree that nothing is 100% theft-proof. I suppose I could put a cable lock through the front wheel. But, I have always been led to believe they are useless (compared to d-lock's). Do you know of one that is decent enough to lock a wheel with?

 

[flecc]

I agree with Frank that a theft of a bolted wheel is extremely unlikely. As pointed out in another thread, most bike theft is opportunist, not done by anyone with cutters, spanners etc. Wheel thefts in particular are most likely done by impecunious youngsters wanting a tyre or unbuckled front wheel, and they'll just look for a quick release one as there's a plentiful supply.
.

 

[frank9755]

Thanks for the info!

I popped into cycle surgery when I bought the bike and swapped the quick-release lever on the saddle for a one that requires an allen key.

Yes, I agree that nothing is 100% theft-proof. I suppose I could put a cable lock through the front wheel. But, I have always been led to believe they are useless (compared to d-lock's). Do you know of one that is decent enough to lock a wheel with?

What they say is that to steal a bike with a d-lock you need a bottle jack. To steal one with a cable lock you need bolt cutters. To steal one with both you need two tools. Far fewer thieves carry two tools than one, therefore the theory is you are more secure with a cheaper d-lock and a cheaper cable lock than you are with a far more expensive version of either alone!

 

[Danny-K]

Frank - if I search my files/posts elsewhere I have a clip from YouTube where a London motorbike shop assemble half a dozen of by common consent, the top-rated and award winning locks from around the world and then boast to screen that despite the advertising they can all be cut in 60 seconds or less.

- They then go through the lot, (10 minute clip; but there's a couple where the on-screen time runs to 2 minutes before it gives up the ghost. The longest lasting took 4 minutes I think - anyway the point was proved - NO LOCK MADE BY ANY MANUFACTURER ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD IS IMMUNE FROM BEING BROKEN APART - NONE!

Some just take longer to bust open- that's all you're paying for, an extra couple of minutes!

P.S. They had three burly blokes on, each taking it in turns as each dissolved into a pool of exhaustion and sweat before 'success' was achieved. (Sidenote: the skinny blokes were strongest at the task, the giant wrestler pot-belly type the first to weaken).

P.P.S. Got to be up for work tomorrow at 4:30am so will try and post the clip link on here tomorrow if I'm up to searching through my files, (there's loads of similar on YouTube anyway).

 

[frank9755]

That's right - no lock is totally secure. Best to either park your bike where it is less likely to be nicked, or make it slightly harder to take than the next bike!