I just bought an electric bike!!

[Katymac]

I'm very excited as I haven't ridden a bike in about 20 years due to ill health, currently I am so much healthier than I was even a year ago & getting out will help me

I am off on a motorhome holiday around the UK (I can't wait) for about 4 months

I have my helmet sorted - I think my paniers are worng & the basket won't fit so it's going back to Halfords!

Oh & I need to buy a lock - what do you guys use? I need it to be faily lightweight for when I go off shopping by myself & I also need something substantial to attach it to the bike rack along with my husbands ordinary bike. He will carry that lock if we go out & about & leave them anywhere.

Nice to meet you all

 

[Gaz]

Hello Katy

Welcome to the world of e-bikes!

Gaz

 

[Mac_user82]

i would suggest getting a gold rating lock a good all round lock so you don't have to worry about your bike been stolen

Another thing i would recommend if you are leaving your bike for a long period of time is some "pin heads" for your seat post and your wheels to stop people stealing them

Not nice at all you have a good lock on your bike well chained up and your wheels & seat is gone
and just leaving your framing hanging on the floor

In some areas quick release things would be stolen very quickly because they are quick to get off with no problems even if the bike is chain up with a good lock

if people cannot steal the bike then they will steal wheels off the bike and the seat to make up another bike


Welcome to the e-bike world

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I wouldn't waste my money on an expensive lock unless you're going to park your bike outside in the same place every day. For shopping, pubs, etc, one of these is a lot cheaper, more convenient and sufficient to defeat the average opportunist bike thief:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oxford-Barrier-Armoured-Cable-Lock-Bicycle-Motorbike-Quad-Bike-Key-1-5m-Security-/371468194473?var=&hash=item567d3ad2a9:m:mcgRqgxfmQpxAqaiUTjL1Tg

 

[Katymac]

Gosh lots of info thanks

Of course I'm not sure I understand all of it

I think my insurance will ask me to have a really good lock & I know my brother will he is a bike engineer but he is in Sweden building wheels!

 

[Sarabee]

Congratulations Katy, you are going to have lots of fun with your bike.
If I leave the bike for a while I take my Abus D lock plus a looped cable that I carefully feed round the front wheel and saddle and feed the loops into the D lock. My insurance company only insists on a bronze standard lock for up to £1K but youtube showed me how useless they can be so I use a better one.
If I'm just popping in to the butchers or something I take a lightweight lock. Being a seaside town we get a lot of travellers and quite a lot of them are highly skilled opportunists!
My bike has a basket but I've taken it off. If I put anything of weight in it, it tends to bang down on to my front light. I just use my panniers and pockets. I've ordered a bag to go on my rack so will see how that goes.
Look forward to hearing about your holiday with your bike.

 

[Katymac]

Thanks Sarabee - I think my basket is going back & I'm not sure my panniers will fit

I guess I need to work out how to attach the bikes to the bike rack too - there is one on the motor home but I may need to add a towbar one to deal with the extra weight of the new bike - My husbands is about 19kgs & mine I think is 24kgs but I guess I take the battery off?

Oh & I need a cover too

This is getting expensive!!

 

[Sarabee]

Try Amazon for a rack bag, they are really reasonable. I was given a cover as a freebie but don't think they are expensive. I don't take my bike anywhere by car but I would take the battery off first.
Don't forget to give your bike a name

 

[E-Wheels]

I'm very excited as I haven't ridden a bike in about 20 years due to ill health, currently I am so much healthier than I was even a year ago & getting out will help me

I am off on a motorhome holiday around the UK (I can't wait) for about 4 months

I have my helmet sorted - I think my paniers are worng & the basket won't fit so it's going back to Halfords!

Oh & I need to buy a lock - what do you guys use? I need it to be faily lightweight for when I go off shopping by myself & I also need something substantial to attach it to the bike rack along with my husbands ordinary bike. He will carry that lock if we go out & about & leave them anywhere.

Nice to meet you all

Katy,
Abus folding locks are very compact and offer some of the best security https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/abus-bordo-granit-x-plus-6500-black-53759?delivery_country=13&gclid=CN6H4pLPm9ICFQsnvQod_BEOBg

 

[Sarabee]

Katy,
Abus folding locks are very compact and offer some of the best security https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/abus-bordo-granit-x-plus-6500-black-53759?delivery_country=13&gclid=CN6H4pLPm9ICFQsnvQod_BEOBg

Think I'll have one of those for out and about. Thanks, hadn't seen the folding ones before.

 

[Mac_user82]

I wouldn't waste my money on an expensive lock unless you're going to park your bike outside in the same place every day. For shopping, pubs, etc, one of these is a lot cheaper, more convenient and sufficient to defeat the average opportunist bike thief:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oxford-Barrier-Armoured-Cable-Lock-Bicycle-Motorbike-Quad-Bike-Key-1-5m-Security-/371468194473?var=&hash=item567d3ad2a9:m:mcgRqgxfmQpxAqaiUTjL1Tg

It would be a bigger waste of money if you had to buy another bike because you haven't used a good enough lock it would be a lot more easier just to buy a good lock in the first place to stop this from happening




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Croxden]

Katy,
Abus folding locks are very compact and offer some of the best security https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/abus-bordo-granit-x-plus-6500-black-53759?delivery_country=13&gclid=CN6H4pLPm9ICFQsnvQod_BEOBg

Aldi had something similar, it took ages for them to go from the shelves they are so heavy.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It would be a bigger waste of money if you had to buy another bike because you haven't used a good enough lock it would be a lot more easier just to buy a good lock in the first place to stop this from happening

My suggestion and practice consider sensible risk and the appliance of a bit of intelligence to the situation.

To defeat the lock I suggested, you need bolt-croppers larger than three feet, which weigh god knows how much. I have some and I'm not kidding when i say I struggle to carry them to the car., and what's more, I don't think that size is big enough to get the jaws 25mm apart to go over the rollers. They're not the sort of thing somebody would be carrying around the high street or when out on a country walk. I reckon that even professional bike thieves would be very nervous about carrying them in a car. Sure, any magazine can go and hire some at the local tool-hire and prove that if you get big enough ones they can chomp through the cable, but they wouldn't have trouble explaining to the police why they have them. It's the same with liquid nitrogen or large battery angle-grinders, which can defeat just about any lock.

Obviously, if you park your bike in the same place and time regularly, someone can plan the theft and bring exactly what they need, but in that case it doesn't make much difference what lock you have. The sensible one then would be whichever one you need for the insurance, but what next after it gets nicked? You won't be able to park your replacement in the same place, so you'd need to think about your whole parking strategy, but wouldn't it have been better to have done that in the first place rather than rely on the lock.

If you want to use your gold-plated locks, good luck to you. I'll continue to use my convenient one, which has served me for 7 years on my bicycle and 29 years before that on my often very expensive and desirable motorbikes.

 

[Danidl]

Thanks Sarabee - I think my basket is going back & I'm not sure my panniers will fit

I guess I need to work out how to attach the bikes to the bike rack too - there is one on the motor home but I may need to add a towbar one to deal with the extra weight of the new bike - My husbands is about 19kgs & mine I think is 24kgs but I guess I take the battery off?

Oh & I need a cover too

This is getting expensive!!

I assume that the bike rack is external and on the back of the motorhome. You do need to take the battery pack off and store it in the body of the van. This will reduce the weight by about 2 to 3 kgs. If the display is easy to remove .. the Bosch ones are simply click on, then it also should be removed. Any exposed electric contact s can be covered with duct tape. Duck tape? . It would be a good idea to check with the vendor of the bike rack for maximum loads. I suspect that those fitted to motor homes are much stronger than similar devices on cars... So you might be ok.
In terms of comfort, I think that panniers are a must. .. let the bike carry the weight not your back. Front baskets are nice and girly but with 4 litres of milk make steering difficult.
I would not be recommending a cover for the bike while on the bike rack. .. unless it is made of a very sturdy tarpoline material, high speed driving will shread it and it could fly off. The wind speed at the back of a motorhome is much higher than the road speed as the air is trying to get back in ...
Small bungee cords are a good way to attach the bike to the rack.

Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Danidl]

My suggestion and practice consider sensible risk and the appliance of a bit of intelligence to the situation.

To defeat the lock I suggested, you need bolt-croppers larger than three feet, which weigh god knows how much. I have some and I'm not kidding when i say I struggle to carry them to the car., and what's more, I don't think that size is big enough to get the jaws 25mm apart to go over the rollers. They're not the sort of thing somebody would be carrying around the high street or when out on a country walk. I reckon that even professional bike thieves would be very nervous about carrying them in a car. Sure, any magazine can go and hire some at the local tool-hire and prove that if you get big enough ones they can chomp through the cable, but they wouldn't have trouble explaining to the police why they have them. It's the same with liquid nitrogen or large battery angle-grinders, which can defeat just about any lock.

Obviously, if you park your bike in the same place and time regularly, someone can plan the theft and bring exactly what they need, but in that case it doesn't make much difference what lock you have. The sensible one then would be whichever one you need for the insurance, but what next after it gets nicked? You won't be able to park your replacement in the same place, so you'd need to think about your whole parking strategy, but wouldn't it have been better to have done that in the first place rather than rely on the lock.

If you want to use your gold-plated locks, good luck to you. I'll continue to use my convenient one, which has served me for 7 years on my bicycle and 29 years before that on my often very expensive and desirable motorbikes.

...Not sure that this should be aired where children may be reading. .. but Titanium is the way to go...... I was reading a report yesterday where. A man had placed a titanium ring on his part... Apparently there is some pleasure involved. Anyway he could not remove it and eventually went to casualty department in a major hospital. None of their tools could remove it either . Rather than let gangrene set in they called the fire brigade and they used an angle grinder... Patient and part have made a nearly full recovery.. but I suspect a steady hand was needed .... So get Titanium... For his part he should stick to cable ties

 

[Sarabee]

That must have been excruciatingly embarrassing! I'm surprised that the thought of the angle grinder didn't just end the excitement and solve the problem. My son has some great stories and when newly qualified he naively said to someone 'I just can't understand how you got the doorknob stuck there, did you sort of jump and fall on to it?'

 

[Danidl]

That must have been excruciatingly embarrassing! I'm surprised that the thought of the angle grinder didn't just end the excitement and solve the problem. My son has some great stories and when newly qualified he naively said to someone 'I just can't understand how you got the doorknob stuck there, did you sort of jump and fall on to it?'

... I think it went beyond embarrassing and the emphasis would have been on the excruciating. Anyway it made it into the appropriate medical journal.. so enough said.

 

[Katymac]

OK we have a gold standard D (U?) lock and a chain lock both same brand and apparently insured as long as I remember to register them I thought that was good for putting them on the back of the van - the man suggested that one of each kind meant two types of tools to break them & they'd probably look for other bikes rather than mess around (unless they really really wanted ours in which case nothing would be good enough......he did go on to say our bikes weren't that special)

I need a lighter lock for when I pop to the shops I'll look at that Abus one & someone suggested another of thier brand.....I guess that'll be my birthday present!

I think I'm gonna call her Flash!......or possibly Flash! Aaarrrggghhh - you know like the song!

The basket wont fit past the cables

The £10 for 2 panniers from Halfords seemed to waft around a bit the strap that went down to the bottom of the rack was only attached half way up - is that right? It seems it would be better attached at the bottom to hold it in

There was a lovely satchel type one but at over £40 I can't have one!

My brother also said not to bother with a cover either it will be too lightweight & will rip & flap or it will be so heavy we won't bother putting it on!

 

[Katymac]

Oh & the really important news is I rode for 5.2 miles this morning!!

I nearly cried I never, ever thought I'd be well enough to ride a bike again!

 

[Sarabee]

Oh & the really important news is I rode for 5.2 miles this morning!!

I nearly cried I never, ever thought I'd be well enough to ride a bike again!

Bless, I know that feeling. Can't walk far without pain but can be out on my bike for two hours, happy days. Have fun.