Quoted post said:Originally Posted by valentin84 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]
I ride a 2013 Specialized Allez http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/road/allez/allezcompact#specs and need to be able to lock it up outside shops and such now that I've moved to a very bike friendly city. I'm beginning to ride it more and more and want to go to a one car household, but I worry about parts (mainly wheels) being stolen right off the bike. Obviously, I first considered a cable lock to run through frame and wheels. But, I saw a documentary and realized how easily they're cut and the bike is gone. I was thinking the best answer would be a solid U lock through the frame with the quick release skewers replaced by whatever track / fixed gear bikes mostly use.
So my questions are: Is this the best answer to my worries? What do you guys do to lessen your chances of being stolen from? And, what exactly do I have to buy to replace the quick release skewers with the bolt ones?
FWIW. I think you need to begin with the understanding that NO bike is truly safe from theft ...
- supposedly, kids in the inner city have had bikes stolen from them while they were riding them ...
- so, if true, it could certainly happen to other people
The best (?) anti-theft insurance is a bike which no one wants to steal ...
- THAT is undoubtedly why Sheldon Brown's commuter had as fugly a paint job on it as he could make it
As far as those locking skewers ...
The first time I saw some locking skewers featured in a magazine, it occurred to me that someone who really wanted the wheels could just take a hammer (or, a fist-sized rock ... BTW, I never understood why Tullio didn't just grab a rock from the side of the road to hammer against his rear wheel's wingnuts, but we are all the better for his inability to think clearly at that moment in time) and (without concern for the bike's frame or fork) smash the end of the "locking" skewer off ...
- when my brother was a Freshman in college, the thieves took the entire bike rack & his plebeian bike was a part of the collateral damage
With that in mind, installing axles with nuts may-or-may-not be a deterrent to some thieves ...
Without going to a machinist, your best bet is probably to start with a set of Shimano hubs (or other hubs which use loose bearings & cones) and then replace the hollow axle(s) with a solid axle + nuts [I would simply replace the front hub with a "track" or BMX hub]...
- the most difficult part (which is to say that it isn't) of the transformation is acquiring the solid axle additionally, you will need the appropriate cone wrenches + some grease (e.g., White Lithium) which you can purchase at AutoZone, Walmart, etc.
[*] as much for cosmetic reasons as to change out the bearings & cones, I replaced the hollow axle of a vintage Hi-Flange NORMANDY hub with a Shimano solid axle + some wingnuts which re-tapped to fit the axles (far from theft proof!):
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