What are the best anti-theft tricks around?

I expect you heard what everybody else heard. I thought the same thing for a long time. I bought a bike at a police auction and it had the rear wheel locked to the frame with one.

I tried to pick it. No good. I tried a hacksaw and bolt cutters and hardly scratched it. I do a lot of gunsmithing and back in the old days, we used the cutoff disc's to remove the hammer spur on revolvers. They are HARD steel...anyway, I tried it and it cut just like a charm.

One other thing that will cut them are the diamond impregnated wire saws. Hopefully, thieves don't catch on to that soon.

 

Ok I have a couple suggestions.

Do not, leave the bike unlocked, ever, any lock is better than no lock.
The best Bike Lock can be Cheep. Say $15

It's like this. You can buy the biggest toughest solid chrome u-bolt lock for $100 and if you cant lock the bike its no good.
You NEED to run a cable through both wheels and the frame and around some big fat pole, at least 9 feet tall.

Go to WIRE ROPE in the yellow pages
Drive to it, or ride.
Buy at least a 3/16 Stainless Wire Rope, just a short piece, go home and try to cut it, if you think you need 1/4" diam or bigger, then go ahead.
Go back after you decide. It has to be stainless.
Tell the man you want a 6 foot Stainless Cable with small loops CRIMPED on both ends with heavy steel crimps, If you tell em its to lock a bike they will make it cheep, tell em youre lifting somethng heavy, it will be ugly, it will be very strong.
Buy a roll of electrical tape, dress it up.

I have all kinds of power tools, I made mine real fancy, wraps around my seat posts , not too heavy, that big assed pad lock is the heaviest part.

You see, Stainless has less tensile strenth than good steel, but it is a bear to cut.
Think on it. I had mine made at Rocky Mountain Wire Rope and Rigging,
Don't kid your self, fancy names and chrome are just frosting on the top.
I will try to get a picture, mine looks very, very nice, and its light.

 

Archibald is right, my son in law has one of those ever popular rechargable 3" grinder, cut it in about 45 seconds.

 

My favorite anti-theft was simple, pure revenge. This is back in my teen years...

A kid stole my old bmx bike. The thing was a hunk of junk, single speed, backpedal breaks, etc. But god damn I loved it so much. It wasn't worth much, but still, it was my first bike. I had all my falls on that bike, I learned to ride on it. It was basically part of who I was as a rider. I was heartbroken when it got stolen.

So, I was lucky enough to find out who did it (he had a big mouth), and he only lived a mile or so away. So, I found his car at night during winter, and poured a 2 litre bottle of coca cola on the roof racks. It froze, but melted by morning. Along with the paint.

I figure, if he steals my bike, I can steal his car's paint job. I never did get the bike back, but I think I got the point across. I never had another bike stolen in my home town either

 

Surely they are not that good. Or there won't be any bicycle thefts to report...

 

That's what the LBS guy told me in all honesty. He told me to forget about those commercial locks. Just go to a yachting place and ask them to make up something just like what you said and use it with a solid padlock. The weak link here could be the padlock...

 

Having my DH bike stolen from my locked garage was a kick in the guts, to say the least. Miracle of miracles, I got it BACK a couple weeks later, and 2 of the 3 dropkicks that stole it are BACK in jail (for the same crimes that put them in there in the first place...)

I'd say the most effective anti bike theft device would be a vicious dog tied to it...




Hmmm, maybe something a little MORE vicious...

 

hmmmm what if you lock your bike properly like this?

 

I keep all mine inside the house where I can see them...so far in the laundry, kitchen, computer room. Next one goes in the bedroom.
I do not let any of them out of my sight and if someone won't let me take my bike into their house they can go and get fucked.

 

I use an old klunker bike for any errands where the bike will be left unattended. These can be picked up at yard sales, flea markets, and auctions for next to nothing. Try to find something like an entry level Trek or Schwinn or any decent bike shop bike from the early 90's. They're heavy but fairly reliable and you'll still get alloy rims, index shifting, quick release wheels, etc... A little work, a new cable or two, and maybe an inner tube will get it up and running again. While you have it apart, write or paint your name on the inside of the steerer tube and on a card and stuff that down the seat tube. (A little extra proof that the bike is yours if it does get stolen and you recover it.)
Next step is house paint. Get an ugly color. Slap it on the bike with a broom. Everywhere. Yuk...
Now you have a reliable rider that nobody would want. Get yourself a good cable lock and you're good to go. Hit a few mud puddles when you're out. When I lock my bike up I leave it in a high gear and have the shifters in a different position. It's tough to take off with the chain crunching and skipping.

I like the political sticker thing too...

 

Hi there, i have always been a bit worried about my bikes getting stolen so most of the time it sits in my desk space in my office.

I have had my GT LTS almost stolen twice, the first time i left it D locked in oxford street, probably one of the most busy streets in the world, i came back to find it vandalized, someone could not get the lock off so kicked in the disc rotor which i didnt notice until half a revolution of the front wheel, it bent the disc tabs on the front fork. I was not a happy bunny i can tell you.

The second time it almost got stolen was outside my office in london , it was locked to some railings and i came out to find a one tonn car juck between my D lock and the rear end with some smacked out KIWI who was squating in the building next door winding the car jack to pop the lock!

i went back into the office called the old bill and it eventually ended up with him getting deported! thats one less piece of scum in the country!

but the way the D lock i bought 9 years ago when i bought the LTS new, best thing i bought for the bike ever!

 

why not just make anywhere metal eletric.

 

I use a 1.97 chain lock, I could probably pull it off by hand but sofar it hasn't been an issue. I try to keep it in sight at all times, and hope noone likes the GMC denalies. The bad news, druggies don't care what stickers are on it, they ususaly can't tell a good bike from a bad one, the good news, noone from this forum would touch it with a 10' pole. Btw, idk about the poisonous snake idea, never heard of a poisonous snake and don't think any actualy exist so that may be hard. Toads are poisonous but I don't know how big of a deturant a toad on your bike would be, would be rather cute though...

 

In 29 years of cycling, I've had some great bikes, and this latest one, a GIANT Talon is by far the snazziest and "very stealable". So, I take it with me if I have to go into a building and I can't then I simply don't go into that building or shop, fact. Most outdoor shops (where many staff are active bikers) and many businesses will accept you taking your bike just inside the door where you can monitor it if it doesn't impede customers or threaten stock. Of course, no guarantee somebody is waiting outside to dash in and knick it, but it would make them more nervous given they don't know where the owner is inside!! This new bike is never out of my sight inside when I'm shopping about.

Outside, locking an expensive tricked-up MTB or any bike outside in a public place is just begging for trouble. If you must, invest in the most brutal locking device you can afford (one is good, two is best!) and lock the frame, both wheels and remove gadgets like cyclecomputers, pumps, biddons and helmets. Leaving stuff on the bike only tempts fate.

 

a smith & wesson 40 caliber . . . . . it's very lite but does the job . . . . .j.k., of course . . . . .

 

Ive got a big cable lock for the frame and rear wheel(Its big enough to use for a motorbike) and weighs about 2-3kg and then I have a cheap U-Lock for the front wheel which is about 1kg.
So Ive got to drag around 4kg around whenever I want to pop to the shops or leave the bike somewhere without worrying too much.

You cant win really, its just a big downside to owning a nice bike

 

I had a bike stolen years ago when i stupidly gota a flat tire and left it locked up to a pole for one day to many, when i went back to collect it i find out the pole wasn't even secured to the ground ! idiot! anyway once bitten twice shy.

Now i ride an old beat up treak 970 which is surprisingly good for how old it is, and i lock it with a big heavy chain by BikeGuard ( http://www.bikeguardlocks.com/chains/megalink_3600.php ) . I'm under the impression that these locks are pretty un breakable but from what Ny Cykel and Archibald said it sounds like they can be cut with rechargable dremmles or angle grinders. Is this right? or are they just referring to the kryptonite locks?

I'm dreaming of upgrading to a trek 7.7fx so i guess when i do that i shouldn't lock it up if all the above is true, hopefully by that stage i'll be working indoors somewhere where i can lock it up.

orfeo

ps: here in australia i know guys who deal in stolen bikes and the going price is about $150 ($100US) so there's really no limit to what they're prepared to steal, i think it more comes down to how easy it is to steal

 

And don't forget to leave the bike in the bottom gear. It's not easy to start pedalling from a standing start when the bike's in Gear 27, that'll give you enough time to run out and drag him off!

 

I had my claude butler zenith pinched 8 years ago i saved 2 years of paper round money just to buy it and it was stolen 2 weeks later i was a broken child and refused to ever own a decent bike again however I now own a KONA coiler 07 I chai it in the shed chained to a old bed stead and chained to my sisters bike which is chained to the lawn mower and a chain running through hers and my front wheel and attached to a static tool box and the shed has a combo alarm fitted and the dog kennal is right next to it so if you can take my nike without waking me or the familly or the dog or the neighbours you can have it freely because when you leave i will have you on cctv and the insurance company will pay out no questions asked

 

How Sad. By the time you've unchained the thing it's time to chain it back up again!

Just get a decent insurance policy and enjoy your cycling.