Making your bike theft-resistant

Due to an odd set of circumstances, the top-race of my headset is gold, while the rest of my bike is black. It's very noticeable for such a small component, but doesn't look bad at all. It would be a pain in the arse for a thief to swap out. Armed with a photo, even if the frame number's filed away, it would be near-incontrovertible evidence that the bike's mine. Just a thought...

Never rule out a good shitting.

These are good too, £3.99 a pack - you can probably make your own.

http://www.dominicwilcox.com/stickers.html

Those are such a stupid idea - why would anyone want to pay to make their cherished and shiny ride look all gank?

Have you actually read what this thread is about?

:p

No.

8ball on the ball!

haha...

It kind of gives away why anyone would want to pay to make their cherished and shiny ride look all gank!

My powers of irony are too strong perhaps....I may need to add ;) or something next time.

Yes of fucking course I know what the thread is about - sure you can plaster your bike with stickers to make it look gash so no-one nicks it, but then you are riding a bike that looks gash...

I remember reading a joke about however light or heavy your bike is the relative weight will always stay the same due to the extra pieces of metal (locks) you have to carry around in your bag.
I've been lucky that no one has tried to steal my bike to date but they did steal my light holder which I couldn't make any sense of, bloody hooligans.

I think we're all agreed tynan's paste is the way to go :)

I think those stickers are a good idea, stick them on someones bike at night at a drinks event and see what they say when they wake up in the morning and see rust on their bike.

Immobilise registration is very generalised. I would go with a free public registry like BikeRegistry.com. Even if all the serial #'s are filed off and all the decals are peeled off, the frame material, frame size, wheel size, manufacturer, etc will act as DNA to enable identification/search and possible recovery.

If someone wants to steal your bike that much then they will. However I do the following to try and make it as hard as possible - I hope I never had to suffer the pain of losing a bike.

1. Insurance (I use Butterworths)
   
2. Photos of my bikes along with detailed components on immobilise
   
3. Pitlocks on the front wheel, seatpost and headset
   
4. ball bearings glued in allen nuts on stem
   
5. Two locks at all times. two mini evo's if i'm local and in a relatively low risk area. NY lock and FUG Chain if i'm soho/hackney or anywhere central
   
6. Never leave the bike anywhere overnight (except my flat)
   
7. Lock it somewhere public or where I can see it if poss
   
8. Xena disc lock alarm on chain ring as an extra fuck off to thieves.
   
   

All this has cost me quite a bit of money, but I love my bike and its worth it.

Is there a means to keep the saddle attached to the seatpos with resorting to a chain thru the seat-rail..? I want to ride my new Cinelli to the jim

Is there a means to keep the saddle attached to the seatpos with resorting to a chain thru the seat-rail..? I want to ride my new Cinelli to the jim

I use a pitlock on the seatpost and solder in the bolt(s) which hold the seat to the post.

I use a pitlock on the seatpost and solder in the bolt(s) which hold the seat to the post.

Easier to use glued/magnetic ball bearings in both seat clamp on frame and seatpost.

lethal speaks the truth.

I just want to say to anyone spending good money on pitlocks and variants. They are no more secure than nutted wheels. They may be a very slight deterrent to an inexperienced thief but that is it.

I work in a bike shop, and people come in all the time with bikes with security skewers. They always either never have the tools on them or have lost them. In the shop we just use a small plumbers wrench. They come off easier than wheelnuts, and can be done up just as easy.

I'm assuming that Tynan's product is still biodegradable?

If it's not organic and approved by the Vegan Society, I won't be touching it.

Easier to use glued/magnetic ball bearings in both seat clamp on frame and seatpost.

Sounds good! where can you get magnetic ball bearings from?

just superglue normal bearings in.

and if you need to remove pour on some of your mrs' nail varnish remover. then mess about with a needle for 10 mins

aaa ok cool, thought he meant actual magnetic ball bearings!

:)

http://static.londonfgss.com/memberpics264-albums635-picture4083.jpg

aaa ok cool, thought he meant actual magnetic ball bearings!

YouTube - The NeoCube 01

Dirt cheap now from DX and a zillion other places.

what is this paste?

what's it do?

what is this paste?

what's it do?

It's secures your bike against theft, I am out of 'stock' at the moment, but I am going for a big meal with my mum and little brother so should be able to sort something out later.

what is this paste?

what's it do?

It's secures your bike against theft, I am out of 'stock' at the moment, but I am going for a big meal with my mum and little brother so should be able to sort something out later.

Heheh hehehehehe