Stealing bikes in London?

quynn75

Hi, I´m considering buying a new bike (this time quite expensive one) but I´am little bit afraid of bike thefts here in London. Huffington Post says that it´s 20000bikes/year!!
Does anyone here have some experience with new/good bikes - thefts in London?

Thanks!

kai666

Surely it would depend on what part of London, the quality of your lock etc, but is London really worse than any other part of the UK?

I would have thought the sheer size of London will make the figures far higher than the rest of the UK, did the article give figures for other cities? How would you compare one city against another, taking population differences into account?

Elfbert

To give you a vague idea, the police who work Westfield (White City) - somewhere that not a whole lot of people cycle to! Say they deal with 2 cycle thefts per DAY!! Plus motorcycle thefts etc. And even if insured the insurance usually only pays out once per year.

I cycle, but keep my bike in secure storage and hate leaving it on the street!

Marco_Panettone

It depends where and how you leave a bike. My expensive bike is never locked, as I'm either on it or it's in my house. My other bikes have a couple of locks each, but are also kept in the house.


If you're careful it'll probably be ok - like most things in life.

jbainbridge

I used to commute in London on my bike but never locked it up - it was either at home or in a store room at work. I don't think I'd leave a decent bike out in the open for fear it would be damaged or parts removed!

liz545

I've been commuting in London for several years now, and not had a bike stolen (yet). My advice would be:

- buy a good lock, ideally a U-Lock rated to Gold Secure standard. I use a Kryptonite mini. You should be spending about £25-£40 on your lock.
- Kryptonite locks often come with cables - use these to secure your wheels, not the whole bike! It takes seconds to cut through them with secateurs.
- Put the lock through the rear wheel and frame and lock to an immovable object, ideally a Sheffield stand. Good description on how to lock your bike here.
- NEVER lock just your wheel to the rack as it takes SECONDS for a thief to remove your wheel and take the bike, leaving you with just a wheel.
- NEVER lock your bike to a post where the thief could just lift your bike over the top.
- Thieves steal components, such as saddles and gear levers, as well as whole bikes. Don't leave your bike in the same place for too long.
- Get your bike registered by the police, they do security marking events regularly, it's free, and it may help you prove ownership if your bike is stolen.
- Where possible, lock your bike closer to either a nicer looking bike, or a bike with a worse lock than yours. Don't leave it unlocked, even if you're just nipping into the shop for a pint of milk.
- Don't leave your bike anywhere near Brick Lane, ever.

dacouch

liz545 wrote: »

- NEVER lock your bike to a post where the thief could just lift your bike over the top.

Stigy

It all depends on where you're leaving it and how you secure it. I work on the railway and we have a large number of cycle thefts each year. The problem is, as with cars in station car parks bikes tend to be left at the station all day and thieves know this. All stations I know of and work at have very good CCTV and we're always improving cycle storage facilities, but unfortunately although a clear deterrent, bikes still get stolen regularly as thieves are usually transient and as such travel to steal a bike on the train, then board a train to God only knows where with their new bike. There is also a lot of bikes stolen to order.

Next comes how you secure the bike. It's recommended that you spend 10% of the bikes value on locking it up. So if the bike costs £2,000 then you should look at spending £200 on locks (sounds a lot, but so is two-grand!). Don't limit yourself to just one lock, and certainly don't just secure the bike to anything by its quick release front wheel...

Also don't lock the bike so the lock touches the ground as this makes life easier from crime with the right tools. I'd also look at getting the bike marked up by somebody like Bike Register. I believe they charge for the privilege, but if you're a train commuter you might find that you get offered this free at your local Railway Station by the British Transport Police and/or their agents. Marking your bike means that if it's stolen and recovered, the Police can track you down and return the bike....Or give it to your insurance company

Zyx

kai666 wrote: »

Surely it would depend on what part of London, the quality of your lock etc, but is London really worse than any other part of the UK?

I would have thought the sheer size of London will make the figures far higher than the rest of the UK, did the article give figures for other cities? How would you compare one city against another, taking population differences into account?

No offence but please don't comment about London if you don't even live there. Crime is a lot higher in London than other places. You do not need statistics for this. There are 230 gangs in London, not anywhere else in the UK. If this is too difficult for you to understand maybe you should not question people's statements.

AndyBSG

liz545 wrote: »

I've been commuting in London for several years now, and not had a bike stolen (yet). My advice would be:

- buy a good lock, ideally a U-Lock rated to Gold Secure standard. I use a Kryptonite mini. You should be spending about £25-£40 on your lock.
- Kryptonite locks often come with cables - use these to secure your wheels, not the whole bike! It takes seconds to cut through them with secateurs.
- Put the lock through the rear wheel and frame and lock to an immovable object, ideally a Sheffield stand. Good description on how to lock your bike here.
- NEVER lock just your wheel to the rack as it takes SECONDS for a thief to remove your wheel and take the bike, leaving you with just a wheel.
- NEVER lock your bike to a post where the thief could just lift your bike over the top.
- Thieves steal components, such as saddles and gear levers, as well as whole bikes. Don't leave your bike in the same place for too long.
- Get your bike registered by the police, they do security marking events regularly, it's free, and it may help you prove ownership if your bike is stolen.
- Where possible, lock your bike closer to either a nicer looking bike, or a bike with a worse lock than yours. Don't leave it unlocked, even if you're just nipping into the shop for a pint of milk.
- Don't leave your bike anywhere near Brick Lane, ever.

Agree with pretty much all of those(especially the last one!).

The other huge factor is, of course, WHERE you lock your bike up.

I always try to lock mine up in a very public place with plenty of footfall.... Any thief will fancy their chances on a bike locked up down a side alley but not many will fancy their chances on a bike locked up in the middle of a busy High Street on a Saturday lunch time(though some may still try and succeed)

I also make sure that I lock my bike up near other bikes that are either much more expensive than mine or have much cheaper/poorly fitted locks.

My personal setup is an Oxford Heavy Duty chain and padlock(usually used for motorbikes) along with an Abus Centuro 860 and a Kryptonite Kryptoflex cable.

One lock around the front wheel and frame, another round the rear wheel and frame with the Kryptoflex secured through both. I try to wrap them as tight as possible so there's no leverage to crowbar anything in.

Been cycling in London for two years for 6 days a week and still got my bike.

Keep_pedalling

Expensive bikes are for riding not commuting, and who wants a lock that weighs more than the bike? Hack bike for town, good bike or bikes for pleasure riding. Helps if you distress your hack bike with a pot of paint, people don't steal bikes they can't sell.