Advice on locks for a Condor Pista

Never leave a decent bike on the street without an armed guard, Zoe

Even a crap-looking bike will get nicked if it is not secured well enough

Using two different locks requires two kinds of tool to break them - that would slow a thief down and make them look at other items on the street to nick instead

Oh and don't chain it to a short bollard... heheheehehe

Handcuff a corpse to the downtube, that'll keep any bike thieves at bay.

Probably not! They'd take the heart, liver and kidneys as well!

you need 2 locks that require different tools to be of any use, that would be a strong chain (like the krypto NYC ones) and a strong d-lock. a cable of any thickness is no good at all as any bolt croppers will go through it, as will a hack saw, or any other tool a thief might have

I cant believe I'm going to jinx myself by replying to this thread but anyway.

Always lock your bike beside a more desirable less secure bike.
I have made my bike look pretty shitty, and aside from general maintaining it, I let it get dirty and dusty and look bad. I also took the bar tape off the bars and put it on my frame and finished it with parcel tape. I also parcel taped the saddle so it looks like its ripped and raggedy.

I use an abus chain lock (what ever one is the top of their range with the "unpickable" lock) and its pretty good. (I hope, I pray) I wear it around my waist (I dont use it as a belt) and my trousers never get pulled down. You can also wear it over your shoulders or throw it in a decent bag.

If your commuting remember that the weight of a good lock is probably offset by 500 bills of better bike so leave a very good (heavy) lock at your office or where ever so you save that weight for your journeys (if you care).

If your using a D make sure you know how to lock it on your bike. A good way is to include the lampost, back wheel, frame and a crank, so that there is very little room to lever anything inside the lock, or put a jack into it.

Lock it in plain view of where your staying, in a nice area, in full view of everyone. Make sure you record its number, insure it for the proper amount and take photos of it.

Finally get lfgss to set up a facebook profile for stolen bikes in London where you can report your bike knicked and maybe people will check it before they buy. Or something, I dunno.

Thats all the advice I can give you. Good luck!

Peace

Buy a long shackle one of these:

And one of these:

Peace of mind delux does not come cheap unfortunately.

Thanks to all, I know there's no ultimate answer, but just minimizing the worry. I felt a bit like I was jinxing it by posting the question, but I've had the same road bike nicked twice in 2 months so this is why I am paranoid and not ready for my third yet. Both times were within a day/on the day of going to the hairdressers for a free cut, so maybe there lies the jinx? I got another haircut this week but took the car. Bad luck too was the first bike being nicked from brick lane when I was in the bike shop for 7 mins BUYING A NEW LOCK, I was crying but it was also quite funny.

So I'm hoping to get a part time job where they don't mind a bike in the staff room/office. I'm also going to lock it by college, which is in shepherds bush and quite residential, but will prob get one of those heavy d locks to leave there they sound good. Not sure about all that jangling of chains and locks but have seen the chain-over-the-body technique. I don't think I could enjoy a film thinking about my bike, and I've had some really brief gallery visits.

I've been told about painting it shit and covering in electrical tape, but I didn't buy it for that. It is brand new and I suppose I just need to get past it being a beautiful object and into it being a mode and means of getting about. I'm stuck in the car mostly at the moment for my new job, so the bike is still pristine. Its also strange that I got it half price, thinking I was being clever, but its value is higher and real and very covetable, I just didn't think about that when I was bagging my bargain.

Thanks again nice to have a bit of honest banter about bike stealing...x