Bicycle Security.

Retrogamer

gecko2 wrote: »

I use 2 kryptonite D-locks, and luckily near me in Leeds there's a secure cycle parking where you can pay so much a day, month or year and it's secure and manned through the day.

Even at home I have my bike double D-locked with an additional kryptonite cable linked through the front wheel to my 2 D-locks.

To stop your seat getting nicked get a Zefal Lock n'Roll Antitheft seat clamp which are about £10. It can only be removed if your bike is upside down, and as long as your bike is locked to something properly then they will never get it off.

Those Zefal clamps look good. I seen i can get them for the wheels as well.

Strider590 wrote: »

Where I work, the local traveller kids openly wander around with a battery powered angle grinder, bolt cutters and a crowbar, we caught them once trying to steal a colleagues electric bike, the Police refused to come out, it took 12 of us to make them leave, it nearly turned into a fight as more and more of them started turning up.

That kind of noise would attract security guards out to investigate.
The ones that have been stolen were by people using hacksaws or else small bolt cutters that fit into a backpack. They stand outside at the smoking shelters posing as employees then when everyone goes back inside they make their move.

Marktheshark wrote: »

I had a D lock, someone walk up an opened it with a kids felt pen and took the bike.
How I dont know but the people that watched them said it was as fast as the key.
Then again it was outside the Magistrates court where the thieves are prosecuted.

I've seen that as well. Mostly cheaper or older U locks with tubular shaped keys.

Strider590

Marktheshark wrote: »

I had a D lock, someone walk up an opened it with a kids felt pen and took the bike.
How I dont know but the people that watched them said it was as fast as the key.
Then again it was outside the Magistrates court where the thieves are prosecuted.

Not all D-Locks are equal.

A £15 Aldi job is not going to last 10 seconds, but an Abus Granite 54 x-plus (£60-£90) is strong enough to break a pair of bolt cutters and take the teeth off a hacksaw blade.

Johnmcl7

Marktheshark wrote: »

I had a D lock, someone walk up an opened it with a kids felt pen and took the bike.
How I dont know but the people that watched them said it was as fast as the key.
Then again it was outside the Magistrates court where the thieves are prosecuted.

There was a vulnerability on older d-locks where you could put a pen in the locking barrel and release the lock but they've been redesigned since then to prevent that.

GT60

As brat says the Kryptonite New York D lock is very good as it has a thick shackle
Most bolt cutters only open to 16mm


also you may want to invest in one of these because the nice people who take the bike grind the frame number off but this is a micro chip (the same as a dog has) and most police forces have scanner to scan the frame
http://shop.immobilise.com/immobitag-rfid-bike-tag-solid-frame/?utm_source=immobilise%20shop%20page&utm_medium=site%20link&utm_campaign=immobilise%20referral


also NEVER leave the chain or lock on the floor as it can be smashed off.
This site has some good videos about so called "Gold secure" ratings that will shock you
http://securityforbikes.com/motorcycle-security-advice.php


http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/

DKLS

I used to cringe when I walked past some of the cycle bays in London, some very expensive bikes being protected by £50 worth of lock.

Strider590

Another thing to consider.....

Buy a pair of bolt cutters (keep them at work)!

Without one even a top end lock won't keep you safe.
One of the favourite tricks on the local ind estate is to put a cheap lock around someone's bike, wait til it goes dark and then come back with the heavy cutting gear when there's nobody around.

Retrogamer

Strider590 wrote: »

Another thing to consider.....

Buy a pair of bolt cutters (keep them at work)!

Without one even a top end lock won't keep you safe.
One of the favourite tricks on the local ind estate is to put a cheap lock around someone's bike, wait til it goes dark and then come back with the heavy cutting gear when there's nobody around.

There's no where to store personal belongings inside my work building sadly.

Security staff are onside 24/7 (just less staff when office employees go home)

If i came out and found that, i'd tell security to keep an eye on it whilst i went home on the train then came back with some tools of my own in the car.

Strider590

Retrogamer wrote: »

There's no where to store personal belongings inside my work building sadly.

You don't even get a locker?

Retrogamer wrote: »

Security staff are onside 24/7 (just less staff when office employees go home)

If i came out and found that, i'd tell security to keep an eye on it whilst i went home on the train then came back with some tools of my own in the car.

Good plan!

silverwhistle

Retrogamer wrote: »

If i came out and found that, i'd tell security to keep an eye on it whilst i went home on the train then came back with some tools of my own in the car.

Yep, two hatchets, my splitting maul and an effing great big wrecking bar along with night vision glasses, some thunderflashes and a hank of rope. Or possibly my Le Creuset frying pan, which has great momentum and whose edge will not do somebody's cruciates any good at all...

Actually if I were broken into I think it's the frying pan that would be my defensive weapon of choice. Don't take this post seriously, boys and girls..

Retrogamer

Revisiting this thread again as a guy just got his £1700 carbon road bike stolen from outside the work on Sunday there.

We have reduced security on a Sunday due to many of the businesses in the complex not being open.

The thief must have either been up to check out the bikes earlier in the day, or else had been tipped off.
When security checked the CCTV a young lad cycled up to the bicycle area on a cheap Diamond Back, parked it, hopped off, took bolt cutters out his rucksack, snipped the bike lock on the expensive bike and cycled away on it. Total time was about 40 seconds.

I've spoken to the guy who had his bike stolen and he was using this lock
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/lights-locks/locks/magnum-plus-magrobust-cable-lock-90cmx20mm

Medium bolt cutters went through it like butter.

brat wrote: »

I have learned a lesson in security, having lost 2 bikes last summer in Milan and Calais. I had cheaper locks then. I have now invested in a Kryptonite New York D lock and Three Kryptonite Evolution Series 4 D locks, along with an H&S 10mm chain and lock. I've also got 2 good cable locks for the front wheels and the helmets.

Only downside now is that the New York lock is 2kg the Evolutions are 1.5kg each and the chain/lock is 3.5kg. But we don't need all that security unless we cycle into a city and leave the bikes. One D and the cable locks would probably suffice in quieter towns.

What's the difference between the New York lock and the Evolution locks? I've decided the Kryptonite D lock i initially posted isn't going to be good enough. I've already got an heavy duty motorcycle chain up at my work just now i leave chained around a post, but a good D lock seems essential as well now.