How do you secure your bike?

Tina Marie

Tina Marie

Member
I have an ABUS U-lock and I've ordered one of their hardened steel folding locks.

I plan on using both locks, one to secure the bike to a pole and the U-lock to connect the rear wheel to the frame.

I think I'm going to need another lock to secure the front wheel to the frame as it's a quick release.

Does anyone else use 2 or more locks to secure their bike?
 
For now:

One u lock
Nut locks (hexlox)
Remove battery
Try to keep bike in sight, with valet, or stowed behind a locked door.
Walk it in the store if it's a supermarket (i.e. they have big shopping carts)
 
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At work I can stow my bike in the break room. But if I have an appointment or want to stop at a store, I'm worried about leaving my bike. Even when I get a third lock.

For now I need to come home and swap the bike for the car or drive my car to work.

I really want to be able to ride my bike everywhere because I desperately need the exercise and I love riding, but I'm really worried about theft. :(
 
I'm lucky to live in a town that doesn't have a high rate of bike theft. Doesn't mean I'm not careful, just that my precautions are less likely to be overcome. I use a Sigtuna U-lock with cable. The U-lock goes through the wheel and frame, the cable goes through the front wheel and around something immovable. My wife uses an Abus Bordo Granit 6500 folding lock plus cable.

We're also getting Velosurance, because any system can be defeated.

This package works for our circumstances. We use our bikes as primary transportation as much as possible, and so we have to take the risk of theft. Everyone has to do their own risk-benefit calculation. I hope others can find a way to be less scared and get the joy from their bikes that we do.
 
At the office, our bike rack is in our dedicated elevator lobby of the garage; that room has a card-controlled door leading into the garage… so a garage visitor cannot enter this lobby room without one of our own security keys. I then lock my bike to that rack with an Abus Bordo Centium. The lock passes through the rear wheel and frame. I use that lock when biking elsewhere, such as to a coffee shop. I haven't yet tried a grocery run, or some public place I'd have to leave the bike locked on a rack for an extended period, or a rack out of my general sight… At home I bring the bike into my condo, rather than use the building's bicycle rack located down in the parking garage…
 
Tina Marie said:
...Does anyone else use 2 or more locks to secure their bike?...
Click to expand...

When parking at work I use a public bike rack just outside my office building. Some days I park at a public rack two blocks from my building (if rain is forecast). I use an Abus u-lock (Granite X Plus), which I keep at my office, to secure back wheel and frame to the rack. I run a cable through the front wheel and loop onto the u-lock. I run a cable through the saddle rails and loop onto the u-lock. I then use an Abus folding lock, which I carry on the bike, and secure frame to rack. I also have security bolts on my seatpost clamp and on two of my bikes and security bolts on the saddle (from Fortified Bike) on one bike. On the bike where I have security bolts on the saddle I don't bother to use the cable through the saddle rails. I follow the schematic below for locking in downtown Detroit except with two locks rather than one. Probably my biggest vulnerability is the quick release through axles which could be stolen rendering the bike inoperable (no locking options for those):

1524565071705.png
 
Over50 said:
When parking at work I use a public bike rack just outside my office building. Some days I park at a public rack two blocks from my building (if rain is forecast). I use an Abus u-lock (Granite X Plus), which I keep at my office, to secure back wheel and frame to the rack. I run a cable through the front wheel and loop onto the u-lock. I run a cable through the saddle rails and loop onto the u-lock. I then use an Abus folding lock, which I carry on the bike, and secure frame to rack. I also have security bolts on my seatpost clamp and on two of my bikes and security bolts on the saddle (from Fortified Bike) on one bike. On the bike where I have security bolts on the saddle I don't bother to use the cable through the saddle rails. I follow the schematic below for locking in downtown Detroit except with two locks rather than one. Probably my biggest vulnerability is the quick release through axles which could be stolen rendering the bike inoperable (no locking options for those):

View attachment 21165
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting the schematic. I'm going to look into the Locking Skewers to replace the quick releases on the front and rear wheels.

I think I'll probably end up with 4 locks total. And I'm going to get bike insurance. There's no way I can replace my bike if it gets stolen. It would take me 1+ years to save up this kind of money again.

I think that's what freaking me out the most, the fact that I would be without a bike for more than a year. My neighbors motorized scooter was stolen a few years back. He had two motorcycle locks on it. Whoever took the scooter cut through both of them. My neighbors never replaced the scooter, they couldn't afford to.
 
Tina Marie said:
I have an ABUS U-lock and I've ordered one of their hardened steel folding locks.

I plan on using both locks, one to secure the bike to a pole and the U-lock to connect the rear wheel to the frame.

I think I'm going to need another lock to secure the front wheel to the frame as it's a quick release.

Does anyone else use 2 or more locks to secure their bike?
Click to expand...
I use two of these https://www.abus.com/eng/Mobile-Security/Bike-Safety-and-Security/Locks/U-locks/GRANIT-XPlus-540
One through the front wheel and downtube and the other through the rear wheel, seatpost and seat stay
If possible pass both locks around the bike rack or whatever fixed solid post that is available
 
I use one 6' x 1/4" Master cable through the frame hole, to lock the bike frame to tall poles or electrical conduits or gas pipes. Cable is harder to cut than solid steel, requires a special tool. bolt cutters and battery grinders have problems with cable. I use a heavy master key lock. The round locks are particularly difficult to cut off, one has to cut the shaft twice. I cut one that wore out on my garage. I park everywhere, good neighborhoods or bad, still have everything. The cable also fits through my bike helmet sitting in a bag on the rear rack, which has a chin guard and cost $190.
As far as quick releases, I saw two "bikes" chained up missing front wheels and seats the day after Ky Derby last year. So I got rid of my quick releases. I don't think thieves are using or selling the parts, I think they are ditching them in the nearest alley for meanness. So they can both steal and litter. The Sunday after Derby last year my bike wasn't missing parts but the tire was punctured while I was in church. I had to push the bike home 6 miles but it was only an $8 problem. I usually carry a bike pump but I had left it in the garage for venturing out on this day of high crime incidence.
To replace the quick release on the front wheel I used a 10-32x5" steel screw with washers and elastic stop nut. https://www.mcmaster.com/#90276A850 The nut is https://www.mcmaster.com/#90715A115 Takes a screwdriver and wrench to get that off. Needs washers at the end to cover the frame. It comes in a pack of 50 so I have converted four bikes with that so far.
On the quick release seat, I used a 6 mm x 45 mm allen head screw and nut. Takes an allen wrench and crescent wrench to get that off. Because my bike has a cam under the quick release head, I had to grind down a 5/16"nc nut to that profile on one side to fit under the screw head. If using power tools, wear safety glasses.
I carry those tools on the bike to deal with flats out 30 miles from home, but leave the tool box at home when going to high crime neighborhoods. I wish I was strong enough to lift the bike on the bus rack as there is always a bus back from high crime neighborhoods, but I'm not. Bus fare is only $1.75 but transfers and waiting for the next one are so slow I prefer to ride the bike, on trips under 15 miles.
As far as a powered hub, getting all that mechanism off is such that a **** only a rare thief would take that much time. If a thief has a van and an acetelyne torch he can have my bike in 2 minutes, but that is an expensive setup and would likely get photographed by a passer by. There are gangs stealing scooters in my town, but nobody knows what an electric bike is in this town, so resale value would be very low. Nobody is selling electric bikes any closer than the state university town. I've never seen another electric bike in this town or in Louisville either.
 
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I carry my non-ebike up the stairs (old building with no elevator) to my second floor cubicle. It's doubtful that I'll be doing the same with my future 50+ pounds ebike although not impossible. There's currently room available in a locked work area on the first floor that's only accessible to me and 3 other employees who I thoroughly trust, so I could leave it there without the need for any locks. At home, it's kept inside the house in our utility room so again no bike locks necessary. Unfortunately, due to the high property crime rate in Hawaii I would never consider locking ANY bike outdoors and don't plan on starting even for a brief errand run.
 
Well, I broke down and purchased bicycle insurance from Velosurance.com. I have read other posters have this coverage, so I'm hoping this is well worth the money.

As @jazz said, anyone with the angle grinder can defeat any lock. That being said, they will still need to have enough batteries to make numerous cuts. I'm going to purchase another U-lock and probably another chain or folding lock. So the thief will need to make 7 cuts (my bike comes with an integrated café lock as well).

Hopefully that will deter them to move on and leave my bike alone. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. :)
 
Mr. Coffee said:
I use hiplok z-locs to secure my front wheel, seat, and helmet to my bike when I leave my bike someplace. Since I live in (really just near) an extremely small town I only use a minimal cable lock to secure my bike.

https://www.hiplok.com/z-lok-zip-tie/
Click to expand...
+1 on the z-locs. Bonnie and I use them for the quick stops where the bike isn't going to be out of our sight -- running in to a convenience store, for instance. They are lightweight and pretty well made.
 
jazz said:
I try not to let my ebike out of my sight or lock it up in a busy area with 3 heavy duty locks. Regardless, anyone with a $25 angle grinder from harbor freight can defeat ever lock mentioned in this thread with little trouble
Click to expand...
If they are determined to steal your bike, they will. Same thing is true of burglars getting into your house, or the safe at the bank. All locks work on the principle of "how much difficulty is this going to cause?", not "how can theft be prevented every time." With good locks, the thief may move on to other, easier targets because this one is going to take too much time. Nonetheless, there's that video of a well-dressed man walking up to a bike on a busy city sidewalk, pulling a grinder out of a satchel, and cutting the lock off while people walk by. Most people seem oblivious to what he's doing. One guy kind of looks and hesitates, like he's thinking he should say or do something, but then walks on.

So we all strike a balance between what is easy enough to use (no lock works if it's too much hassle to use it), what is not too heavy or bulky to carry around, and our assessment of the likelihood of theft.
 
A lot of times I just use a z-loc as a cafe lock. I know that is a totally inappropriate use of them but again I live in a very small community with relatively low risks of bike theft.

One thing that you can't overestimate is that it is very important that your bike isn't too pretty and too clean. Most bike thieves in urban areas fence their bike within a few hours, and a dirty or slightly uglified bike might sell for $100 less than a shiny clean new-looking bike. Yes, you can take uglification to extremes (see below) but letting your bike accumulate a few scratches and scrapes and a dignified amount of grime will make it much less appealing to bike thieves.

 
Mr. Coffee said:
A lot of times I just use a z-loc as a cafe lock. I know that is a totally inappropriate use of them but again I live in a very small community with relatively low risks of bike theft.
Click to expand...
I thought "cafe lock" was exactly what z-loks are for! That's what I was looking for when I found them, and that's how I use them.

But then, I live in a very small community with relatively low risks of bike theft.

;)
 
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