Security of bikes...how nickable?

[flecc]

Flecc , I am pleased that you enjoy walking . I used to walk miles as a younger man , and still walk a mere quarter mile every morning after breakfast . I guess what spoils it for me these days is knowing that for the same energy input , I can pedal 3 times as far as walking .

I can empathise, its a regret with me that I can no longer walk as far as I used to. I used to roam 9 or ten miles daily around the local countryside, but now half that tends to be the limit, often less.

 

[NRG]

....

what does it matter as long as its properly insured

Because of the inconvenience if it gets nicked! Why invite a headache? Park something bright n shiny and it will attract the tea leafs...Park something looking like its come from a skip and it will attract less attention...as long as its mechanically sound it will do the job of getting from A to B without any of the unnecessary attention.

 

[cwah]

I'm thinking about locking my brompton outside. Need something quite strong but not too heavy at the same time.

What about just using the Kryptonite U-lock?

Kryptonite New York M18 Lock | Evans Cycles

Or shall I go for a super heavy 5.5 kg chain lock?

Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Lock | Evans Cycles

 

[RegularGuy]

I'd be wary about leaving a 2k bike at the train station. It's too tempting a target unless it's locked down so tightly it's more effort than its worth to steal, but 2k is worth a lot of effort.

Camouflage may help work, wrap it in tape to give it a scuffed knackered appearance and choose a less desirable shape. MTB style tend to get a lot of attention.

All locks can be broken and even when the theif can't do it themselves, they sometimes just smash your bike up in frustration, that happened to me once, lock had obviously been attacked but when they couldn't get through they smashed up both wheels and I had to replace them and the rear cassette.

I'd double d lock it at the very least with good quality locks. I regularly park in at a train station, every so often I'd return to find a number of broken locks on the floor, usually the cable style locks where somebody has obviously come in and taken a few.

I have a fairly nice hybrid much shinier an newer than most of the others on the racks so to compensate I lock it up securely with a good D Lock and a seperate thick cable lock to secure the wheels and frame. I also leave it in the secure bike parking area, not perfect, but it's swipe card access only and does add another layer of difficulty to an opportunist.

it's more about pointing them in the direction of a bike that's easier to steal than yours, but if it's a really nice bike, it's that much harder to redirect them!

I can vouch for Squire D locks, I've got one I absolutely love, it's been attacked on three seperate occaisons with only cosmetic damage to the lock leaving it battle scarred and proud.

 

[cwah]

Thanks for your answer.

I'm not planning to lock it overnight but sometime I go out and I need to park the bike outside for few hours.

So maybe a kryptonite D-lock on the frame + a cable lock to secure the wheels should be enough?

The Fahgettaboudit mini lock seems to have good review:

Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Mini Lock | Evans Cycles

As it's very small it's very difficult to find leverage with tools to crack it.

 

[eddieo]

I use Abus granite D lock with kyrptonite cable for most situations...But have a Pragmasis heavy chain and padlock also

 

[banbury frank]

Hi

Thieves Carry one off these you have no chance 20 seconds it GONE

18V ANGLE GRINDER 115MM + 2 BATTERIES IN BLOWCASE - 18 VOLT - CORDLESS - NEW | eBay

Frank

 

[cwah]

Frank, the Kryptonite Faghetaboutit has been tested with other locks and has the highest security score:
Locks that work - London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

On the test, they took 3 mn to cut through it and needed 2 discs to do that. (1 was killed in the process)

Shouldn't that be strong enough?

 

[eddieo]

Thanks for cheering us up frank!lol But of course you are right, no deterrent to a committed thieving sod.

but most just carry pocket cable cutters, and why the bike with cable lock parked next to mins is more likely to get nicked...So far (fingers crossed) after 3 years of E biking we have been OK

 

[jstjv]

Hi Dave,

My son just had his second bike stolen from Northapton station in so many months. Well locked and with CCTV (apparently), but neithet the police or the station operator are interested. Our local ststion has lockers for bikes available - so maybe Taunton could be persuaded to install some? Sorry to be negative but it would be a shame to lose it.

jstjv

 

[cwah]

Jstv, what was lock was using your son?

I suppose not a gold secure lock?

 

[eddieo]

Gold secure means little and as a standard has been discussed and rubbished on here in the past. I to would like to know what make locks were used as it would help in letting us know what we are up against....

saying that i would not be locking a high end bike up at a station and leaving it there day in day out....because the odds are that one day it is not going to be there

 

[cwah]

Here is how I plan to lock the bike:

Folded, locked with a kryptonite fagetaboutit or New york 3000 and with a Pacsafe to protect the bag and the bike at the same time.

Safe enough?

 

[bode]

Looks as if a pair of pliers could snip through that!

 

[mike killay]

No lock is secure!
Angle grinders etc will cut through them in no time flat.
Even as we call for bike lanes etc, perhaps we should also call for secure parking?

 

[cwah]

True that a pair of plier can go over the bag.. but not over the kryptonite fageitaboutit.

Anyway, I suppose most thieve wouldn't want to open the bag just for the sake of opening it??

Maybe if I add a cover over it, it would work better?

 

[jc74]

I cycle to an outer London train station and leave my bike there all day. It's around 500 pound electric bike. I used two locks and take out the battery (and charge it at work ), and leave it ready to go at home in the garage. This means that I don't have the faff in the morning of putting the battery in before I leave the house, and have got the locking of the front and back wheel (both keys on the same as the battery key) and removal of battery down to around a minute...

I have covered over the labels of "eBike" and any markings with black electrical tape and wrapped a few bits more around various bits to "discourage" taking it on nice appearance. So the ugly bike without the battery is left at the station all day every day. It doesn't ride well without the battery (it's heavy). So I don't think it's a very desirable thing to nick...

Does my theory work? - Well the station is labelled as a theft hotspot (posters all over the parking area saying this), it's been there almost every day for best of a year, with two cheapish locks (less than 15 quid each) and it's still there (fingers crossed).

Would I leave a shiny new 2000 bike at the station? - no way!

Hope it give a bit of food for thought!

 

[OxygenJames]

I think the trick is to make the bike look a bit tatty. I cover my oxygen e-mate's controller with some messed up looking gaffa tape (the controller is bright and shiny which attracts attention) - the bike is also black which helps and I have taped up other visible bits so it looks very drab - I lock it up in as conspicuous a place as possible (like where there are a lot of people around) and use a Krtyponite lock - it gets left outside various south london railway stations - I leave the battery on it (I dont want to have to carry that around with me) - being all black and looking a bit of a mess so far no problems!

 

[cwah]

hmm.. I can't always carry my bike with me everywhere.

I'll try to make my bike as "not nice" as possible. maybe repaint it?? lol

 

[Mussels]

I tend to park in high risk locations in the centre of London. Anything not bolted to the bike gets knicked plus a few things that were bolted to the bike, the bike is regularly moved where someone's had a look at the bike and the lock.
I've never noticed anyone try or succeed in pinching the electric parts, there seems to be no interest as most thieves just want something they can shift quickly.
I went for the M18 lock shown above, it looks big but once it's put through the rear wheel and round a post there's no room left to fit a bottle jack and at 18mm thick it's not going to be cropped by hand.
Sometimes I'd rather have a chain but the D lock is easy to bungee to the rack and doesn't get in the way like a chain, plus in London there are plenty of railings and bike racks to lock it to.
My bike is expensive but it doesn't look bling and to the untrained eye it wouldn't be valuable enough to start cutting railings up for, besides that I've never seen a cut railing in London so I'd guess that risk is very low.