Bike Protection

[chieflittlehorse]

I'm curious as how you guys would protect an expensive bike...

I use to own a Kryptonite Silver Ulock but lost it on the bus.

I've heard the Kryptonite's Fahgettaboudit Mini is a good lock but remember my co-working cut one off for a customer using a grinder and cutting wheels.

Any suggestions...

I'm thinking of a thick chain or special cable with a UL-437 type padlock.

[innerpicked]

A lot of large U locks can be opened by a small hydraulic jack. Have you checked into the TiGr lock? Its made of titanium, and can be equipped with an abloy protec.

[Neilau]

Hi Chief.

An angle grinder is the ultimate lock pick - there are not many (none ??) locks that will withstand a grinder and cut off wheel.

From what I've seen most bike locks are not very good quality or if they are, the locking mechanism are a bit sus.

I think your idea of a good, thick chain with a quality pad lock, like innerpicked's suggestion of an HS lock with an Abloy Protect cylinder is probably the way to go. Then again a large enough pair of bolt cutters will cut a chain but someone carrying one would stand out. A friend of mine had his expensive bike stolen from outside his place of work. He had a pissy little chain and the thief used a small pair of bolt cutters that was then left where the bike was.

You could use a thick wire rope. These are hard to cut with bolt cutters but are a pain to carry around.

Now days with battery angle grinders not much is totally 100% safe.

The best thing would be to make it as difficult as possible to steal and obvious that someone is trying to steal it.

Things like where you park it etc.

If it is worth that much, you could get it insured if the rates are reasonable.

Maybe our European, especially Dutch, friends will have some better ideas.

Cheers.

[dmasters]

Master Lock Street Cuffs? They have a $3,500 Anti-Theft Guarantee... I remember selling a few when they first came out, quite popular at one point.

http://www.masterlock.com/products/product_details/8200D

[LockManipulator]

Hmm... a big strong chain with a Ruko 2 padlock on it which contains an assa twin combi core That'll be one tough bike to get too!

[innerpicked]

The TiGr lock is a 1 inch wide titanium band, thin enough to not be able to get cut by bolt cutters, there was a Yt vid of some one testing one of them. Not much will slow down an angle grinder these days.

[scudo]

I suppose its all about levels of protection, no matter what lock it is unless attached to something they can just lift the bike on to a trailer and off it goes, a couple of minutes work. A motion alarm would at least arouse suspicion, The D locks have a bad reputation although there must be some decent ones out there. I just raked mine a few weeks back, I paid £25 for it many moons ago so although I depended on it it wasnt really secure.
Another additional option is a disc lock (or 2) as they may not notice it depending on where you locate it, but best remember its on or your bike or you will be laying in the gutter, nearly done that a few times.

As previous posters have said an angle grinder is your worst threat. Personally although I dont have bikes now and with getting into locks recently I would go for a motion alarm and big big chain with a decent padlock and add a disc lock.

[chieflittlehorse]

I have a lot to think about. My coworker mentioned the battery operated grinder and said he saw a thick chain laying on the ground where there once was an expensive bike.

A Starbuck's employee mentioned to me they stole his bike that was locked up in front of his work while he was working. He had it locked up to one of the backward 'U' shaped poles. They somehow yanked the backward 'U' pole out of the ground to steal his bike. They must have used a truck and a pull-chain of some sort.

My bike is just a Motobecane Elite 7200 Aluminum frame that I bought off craigslist for $160. It's not a $1000 bike. But as I work in Downtown LA, I know there are a lot of bike theft. Reading some crime reports are also kind of silly.

Like a person leaving their unlock bike in from of a CVS to go shopping and then wondering why it got stolen when they came back.

My mom even said when she was waiting for the bus a person had finished riding a bike and asked people at the bus stop if they needed to use it. She was pretty sure it was stolen as the guy just got off the bike and walked away.

As for me, I will try to lock it in a public place where people know it is my bike, so if anyone tries to mess with it, they will know. I have a lot of chains and American tubular key padlocks I will also use. Will upgrade to a high-security lock when I have a chance. I figure the more thick chains I have, the better.

Thank you guys for the advice.

CLH!

[entropy]

I lost a medium priced Kona bike after I moved to Pittsburgh and used a lock only sufficient for Fairbanks. Now I have the Kryptonite "New York" lock. It's so heavy that it broke the mount that holds it to the bike, so now I have to carry it in my backpack and it almost breaks my back. All this and it's really easy to pick, despite being a disc detainer lock. I don't think the discs even have false gates. But I have a feeling that the caveman methods are more to worry about than picking (I have no evidence to back this up, just a hunch).

One thing to keep in mind is that renter's insurance (which is usually really cheap) can cover bike theft, even if the theft didn't happen at your house. In fact, when my 7 year old bike got stolen they gave me the price that it costed new, minus the deductible. So actually it was more of an upgrade than a theft! Insurance even paid the price of the lock that was taken.

The best advice is to not live in New York:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooa3NVfFlEU