Insurance/Lock recommendations for £300 bike?

[John Latter]

Hiya,

I'll be collecting my new hybrid bike tomorrow which'll cost me just
under £300 with accessories.

I would like to buy separate cycle insurance in case of theft and
would be grateful if anyone can offer any suggestions as to which
company to choose. And, of course, what the annual premium might be.

I've looked at a couple of websites so far, one of which stipulates a
lock with a "Solid Secure Bronze" rating must be used for bikes up to
£250 in value. For bikes worth between £250 and £1500, a lock has to
have a Silver rating. Any suggestions for where these locks can be
obtained at a reasonable price? (I stretched my budget in getting the
bike).

The main website I've looked at is CycleGuard:

http://www.cycleguard.co.uk/home.asp

They say a list of locks can be found at www.solidsecure.com/Leisure
but the page won't load for me.

Any help or advice would be appreciated
--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

Images of Dover
http://www.panoramio.com/user/250345

Evolution Research Blog:
http://evomech.blogspot.com/

 

[Neil Williams]

On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:17:48 +0000, John Latter
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I've looked at a couple of websites so far, one of which stipulates a
>lock with a "Solid Secure Bronze" rating must be used for bikes up to
>£250 in value. For bikes worth between £250 and £1500, a lock has to
>have a Silver rating. Any suggestions for where these locks can be
>obtained at a reasonable price? (I stretched my budget in getting the
>bike).

You can get them from your LBS or even Halfords (I recall that's where
mine came from). The price isn't necessarily going to be cheap,
though.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

 

[Clive George]

"John Latter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I would like to buy separate cycle insurance in case of theft and
> would be grateful if anyone can offer any suggestions as to which
> company to choose. And, of course, what the annual premium might be.

Got house contents insurance? That's the best way to do it - many include
bikes under 500 quid.

Re the actual insurance - 10 or 20 quid/year may be worth it for a 300 quid
bike, any more and you've really got to wonder if it's not just worth
self-insuring and being careful.

cheers,
clive

 

[wafflycat]

"John Latter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hiya,
>
> I'll be collecting my new hybrid bike tomorrow which'll cost me just
> under £300 with accessories.
>
> I would like to buy separate cycle insurance in case of theft and
> would be grateful if anyone can offer any suggestions as to which
> company to choose. And, of course, what the annual premium might be.

If you've got household contents insurance, you may already be covered.
Check the small print; if necessary ring the insurance company for
clarification. If you are already covered, check if a specific lock/type of
lock is required and *how* the bike must be locked. For example, my
insurance cover simply requires a D-lock with the bike being locked to an
'immoveable object'. So I use a D-lock *and* a cable lock for a bit of extra
security. bear in mind that no lock guarantees the safety of the bike, it
merely deters the opportunist thief. Another trick is to lock your bike next
to one that isn't locked...

 

[Mark T]

John Latter writtificated

> Any help or advice would be appreciated

This assumes you don't have home insurance already:

1. Get lots of prices for bike insurance.

2. Read small print

2b. Realise bike is only insured in the situations where it won't be
nicked (i.e. properly locked). This is silly!

3. Realise the squillions it would cost is money down the drain and spend
it on BEER and PIES instead.

 

[Rob Morley]

In article <[email protected]>, John Latter
[email protected] says...

> They say a list of locks can be found at www.solidsecure.com/Leisure
> but the page won't load for me.
>
That's because it's http://www.soldsecure.com/Leisure.htm

 

[John Latter]

Thanks for replying, everyone. After some thought I've decided to
invest in a decent lock and follow Mark's advice of investing in
important things.


On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:17:48 +0000, John Latter
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Hiya,
>
>I'll be collecting my new hybrid bike tomorrow which'll cost me just
>under £300 with accessories.
>
>I would like to buy separate cycle insurance in case of theft and
>would be grateful if anyone can offer any suggestions as to which
>company to choose. And, of course, what the annual premium might be.
>
>I've looked at a couple of websites so far, one of which stipulates a
>lock with a "Solid Secure Bronze" rating must be used for bikes up to
>£250 in value. For bikes worth between £250 and £1500, a lock has to
>have a Silver rating. Any suggestions for where these locks can be
>obtained at a reasonable price? (I stretched my budget in getting the
>bike).
>
>The main website I've looked at is CycleGuard:
>
>http://www.cycleguard.co.uk/home.asp
>
>They say a list of locks can be found at www.solidsecure.com/Leisure
>but the page won't load for me.
>
>Any help or advice would be appreciated
--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

Images of Dover
http://www.panoramio.com/user/250345

Evolution Research Blog:
http://evomech.blogspot.com/

 

[Mark]

On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:17:48 +0000, John Latter
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Hiya,
>
>I'll be collecting my new hybrid bike tomorrow which'll cost me just
>under £300 with accessories.
>
>I would like to buy separate cycle insurance in case of theft and
>would be grateful if anyone can offer any suggestions as to which
>company to choose. And, of course, what the annual premium might be.
>
>I've looked at a couple of websites so far, one of which stipulates a
>lock with a "Solid Secure Bronze" rating must be used for bikes up to
>£250 in value. For bikes worth between £250 and £1500, a lock has to
>have a Silver rating. Any suggestions for where these locks can be
>obtained at a reasonable price? (I stretched my budget in getting the
>bike).

Just paint the frame with pink emulsion paint. It'll look so sh*t
that no-one will want to nick it! (Seriously - this really works).

M.

 

[Rob Morley]

In article <[email protected]>, Mark
[email protected] says...

> Just paint the frame with pink emulsion paint. It'll look so sh*t
> that no-one will want to nick it! (Seriously - this really works).
>
It used to be that a quick coat of matt black would discourage
attention, but then some of the more desirable machines started coming
out of the factory in that finish.

 

[Mark]

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:58:24 -0000, Rob Morley <[email protected]>
wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>, Mark
>[email protected] says...
>
>> Just paint the frame with pink emulsion paint. It'll look so sh*t
>> that no-one will want to nick it! (Seriously - this really works).
>>
>It used to be that a quick coat of matt black would discourage
>attention, but then some of the more desirable machines started coming
>out of the factory in that finish.

Indeed, but pink emulsion will _never_ look cool (I hope ;-)

Mark.