Protecting your ebike investment

[Bogmonster666]

I'm sure this has been discussed many times before but I'm not above repeating the same old discussions.

Ebikes are generally not cheap, and if they are cheap then generally there is a good reason. All bikes are easy to steal and getting your bike back is very hard. The police are not interested, insurance companies try to wriggle out of paying etc.

There really are no locks that are adequate to stop a determined thief. Trackers may help a bit but most thiefs will soon deal with that.

All of this is the main reason why I'm not interested in buying an expensive bicycle. My bicycle is my transport and that means leaving it all sorts of moderately high risk places.

My working solution is to have such a miserably undesirable bike coupled with a reasonable lock that the casual opportunist is put off and any self-respecting 'professional' bike thief will pass on my bike and find something that's actually with nicking. My battery is never left on the bike and is a 'box' battery I keep in a trunk bag.

For me, this is the real value of kits, you can pair a perfectly functional kit with a relatively worthless bike and get most of the functionality of a much more expensive manufactured bike. I accept the longevity of my kit mid motor may be far less than a premium offering, but it's also far cheaper and far less likely to get stolen. When it dies I'll fix or replace. Following the tight git theme, consumables like chains and cassettes are also very cheap on my cr@pcycle.

I can see if you only cycle for pleasure or have secure storage at work for example, then this is less of an issue.

Do people stress about leaving their bikes locked up in the open in towns and cities or is it just me being a paranoid old git?

 

[soundwave]

if i locked my bike up in the middle of town and left it it would be gone in 60s

 

[thelarkbox]

For me, this is the real value of kits, you can pair a perfectly functional kit with a relatively worthless bike and get most of the functionality of a much more expensive manufactured bike. I accept the longevity of my kit mid motor may be far less than a premium offering, but it's also far cheaper and far less likely to get stolen. When it dies I'll fix or replace. Following the tight git theme, consumables like chains and cassettes are also very cheap on my cr@pcycle.

I can see if you only cycle for pleasure or have secure storage at work for example, then this is less of an issue.

Do people stress about leaving their bikes locked up in the open in towns and cities or is it just me being a paranoid old git?

Sums it up pretty much as i see it.. My bike was nothing special pre kit although it suited me, the kit cost significantly more than the bike,

For local 10 minute stops i pull the battery and lock with a good standard D lock (not the best tho) thru frame wheel and anchor point. for the city and longer stops i pull out the 4ft m/cycle chain/lock, and select my parking spot based on being the cheapest looking (least attractive) bike in the rack i use.

Whenever i have been complacent about locking a bike up its only been a matter of time before its been pinched.

Ive considered tracking etc but after thinking through chasing down and collecting a stolen bike yourself, well in my case i couldnt see it ending well.. andf the professional solutions get you your bike back at a premium cost where tbh if my bike gets nicked, the insurance pay out and new bike is kinda the icing or silver lining..

So good basic insurance and a modicum of paranoia is my solution.

 

[soundwave]

last insurance quote for my bike was £45 a month ,prob be 150 now

 

[chris667]

Mine doesn't look like an eBike unless you pay attention - a throwover pannier covers the battery, and it doesn't have a dinnerplate sized hub. It's also locked with a motorbike D-lock, but if it goes it goes. I take the battery with me if I'm parking somewhere shady, which puts off most as that's the expensive bit, and there are lots of places I just wouldn't take it.

It's paid for itself several times over compared to what I used to spend on my car, so it would owe me nothing if it was stolen.

 

[sjpt]

I accept the longevity of my kit mid motor may be far less than a premium offering, but it's also far cheaper and far less likely to get stolen.

Chances are the kit mod-motor is just as durable as a premium offering. If you go for a very cheap battery that won't have the durability; but a decent quality generic kit battery should.

 

[geoff967]

last insurance quote for my bike was £45 a month ,prob be 150 now

really suggest you look at Barclays house insurance and add bike then take house off.due to computer says no stupidity it provided cover for 23 per year or 1.94 a month for 4000 cover .
Not sure if you had a human doing this they would quote as such but their problem not mine
Snatched hand off and have documentation on paper also in case of blowback

 

[geoff967]

Ps don't tell anybody who works at Barclays obviously!!!

 

[flecc]

I'm sure this has been discussed many times before but I'm not above repeating the same old discussions.

Ebikes are generally not cheap, and if they are cheap then generally there is a good reason. All bikes are easy to steal and getting your bike back is very hard. The police are not interested, insurance companies try to wriggle out of paying etc.

There really are no locks that are adequate to stop a determined thief. Trackers may help a bit but most thiefs will soon deal with that.

All of this is the main reason why I'm not interested in buying an expensive bicycle. My bicycle is my transport and that means leaving it all sorts of moderately high risk places.

My working solution is to have such a miserably undesirable bike coupled with a reasonable lock that the casual opportunist is put off and any self-respecting 'professional' bike thief will pass on my bike and find something that's actually with nicking. My battery is never left on the bike and is a 'box' battery I keep in a trunk bag.

For me, this is the real value of kits, you can pair a perfectly functional kit with a relatively worthless bike and get most of the functionality of a much more expensive manufactured bike. I accept the longevity of my kit mid motor may be far less than a premium offering, but it's also far cheaper and far less likely to get stolen. When it dies I'll fix or replace. Following the tight git theme, consumables like chains and cassettes are also very cheap on my cr@pcycle.

I can see if you only cycle for pleasure or have secure storage at work for example, then this is less of an issue.

Do people stress about leaving their bikes locked up in the open in towns and cities or is it just me being a paranoid old git?

The Dutch who have a big bike theft problem have a best of both world's solution. They often buy expensive new pedelecs and then make them look terrible. Hand brush painting parts of the frame and rims etc with different colours, adding disreputable worn panniers and hand grips, their previous worn but comfortable saddle etc soon makes it look not worth stealing.

Personally in a London Borough I've only ever had a cheap thin cable lock for my ordinary and three assisted bikes. On one occasion when I'd accidentally left the cable lock off at home, I "locked" my Giant Lafree pedelec with a bungee cord!!

And I've never lost a bike or any bike part. However I never leave a bike all day in one spot and I keep eratic hours so there's no predictability for thieves to take advantage of.
.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

..
For me, this is the real value of kits, you can pair a perfectly functional kit with a relatively worthless bike and get most of the functionality of a much more expensive manufactured bike. ..

I think @saneagle s point it pertinent - a lot of the "features" of very expensive analog bikes are, at best, irrelevant on an electric bike, or at worst, detrimental - as long as it has disc brakes, space for the battery and a conventional bottom bracket. My "road" electric bike looks very tatty and I have a worn looking battery bag that completes the look.

 

[guerney]

I take my smallish folding bike into places. The one time I left it locked outside the post office, I found it had attracted the attention of a couple of women who appeared to be admiring my bike. They didn't say anything, simply stood and watched mumbling as I removed the D-lock and cable and rode away. Weird. Women usually burst into laughter as I pass by, but only when I'm riding my bike. I don't mind... there's not much laughter in the world, I'm doing womankind a service.

If I were to leave my bike locked in future, having removed the battery of course, I'd worry about the display being vandalised, or stolen by a particularly thick strung out thieving know nothing scummy bozo... so I was thinking about moving my DPC-18 display and button set...

....from the handlebar, to an easily removable Minoura handlebar extension. I have the older version which easily unclips. I very rarely change PAS level, so easy access to buttons while riding my bike isn't important.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Minoura-SGS-400-Handlebar-Accessory-Mount/dp/B00810V1A4/

Here's the older version, I only paid £7.50 for mine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003AHWJ6S/

 

[Az.]

Ps don't tell anybody who works at Barclays obviously!!!

Free lunch at Barclays?
Better check small print and all strings attached.

 

[Az.]

Weird. Women usually burst into laughter as I pass by, but only when I'm riding my bike. I don't mind... there's not much laughter in the world, I'm doing womankind a service.

You promised us a video of this strange flirtatious behavior. Did I miss it or is it still in production phase ?

 

[guerney]

You promised us a video of this strange flirtatious behavior. Did I miss it or is it still in production phase ?

Mad shrieks of laughter as I pass by, are usually recorded at low volume because of the forward facing mics on my GoPro 7 Hero Black, so I've always deleted those vids.

 

[thelarkbox]

really suggest you look at Barclays house insurance and add bike then take house off.due to computer says no stupidity it provided cover for 23 per year or 1.94 a month for 4000 cover .
Not sure if you had a human doing this they would quote as such but their problem not mine
Snatched hand off and have documentation on paper also in case of blowback

Hope im wrong, but dbl check you have cover away from your home and its not just covered at home locked up in the garage/shed.. I had a similar low quote from my home insurer but for away from home cover it was extra..

 

[Az.]

Mad shrieks of laughter as I pass by, are usually recorded at low volume because of the forward facing mics on my GoPro 7 Hero Black, so I've always deleted those vids.

It can't be a GoPro mounted on bike. We must see you and women in one scene.

 

[guerney]

It can't be a GoPro mounted on bike. We must see you and women in one scene.

At some point I'll record a vid of me riding my bike, side view at night all lights on and both Oxford lollipops deployed, and you can speculate as to the cause of such female amusement. I expect it'll be obvious.

 

[Az.]

At some point I'll record a vid of me riding my bike, side view at night and you can speculate as to the cause of such female amusement. I expect it'll be obvious.

Without women it won't have the same impact. Make few scenes with women laughing and you will get millions views on youtube.

...you might not like all comments though.

 

[guerney]

Without women it won't have the same impact. Make few scenes with women laughing and you will get millions views on youtube.

...you might not like all comments though.

That's ok, I never like comments.

I'd upload a vid mostly because I think cyclists should use brighter and more numerous lights for safety, and to show what I use, which works.

 

[saneagle]

Without women it won't have the same impact. Make few scenes with women laughing and you will get millions views on youtube.

...you might not like all comments though.

Cat videos are even better.

https://twitter.com/ShouldHaveCat