Locks that work

Please read the answer above your question.

There ARE locking techniques that can prevent at least some vandalism, but the answer given already illustrates one important remedy.

Still, my point was that a good lock might stop people nicking the bike, but they can still trash it if they wish.
Admittedly, mine might not have been so bad had I locked it up differently or in a different location, and I'm sure I have the lock to thank for still having a bike at all.
None of this changes that fact that I'm still royally pissed off!

Your choice of lock is excellent. I had to learn about locks from the actual theft of two bikes, over a rather long period of time. You have just learned as much as me in only one incident. Your lock saved your bike from being somebody else's property. It's a bad situation, but you still did well.

Your choice of lock is excellent. I had to learn about locks from the actual theft of two bikes, over a rather long period of time. You have just learned as much as me in only one incident. Your lock saved your bike from being somebody else's property. It's a bad situation, but you still did well.

What was that? You build wheels for free? :)

14 years gap. I was slow in going outside.

Signed

Rip Van Wrinkle

The fahg is a fantastic lock! I locked up Hillbillys (now mine) carbon road bike on Sunday with it and a piece of wet string for the front wheel. Went to watch fireworks etc... @ Southbank. Sure enough, came back to find the old locked to another bike to steal later trick.

Came back this morning (with a bit of praying), and there it was. Bike fully intact, no damage. Wet string was destroyed and scattered around. Fahg has two little marks where they tried to cut it, didn't even really get into the metal

I'd carry two if they weren't so damn heavy.

Kirth,

Pitlock your wheels, it'll make it a lots more secure and reduced the need to carry two d-lock.

They're expensive (£35 for a front/rear one at Condor) but totally worth it, especially the weight saving advantage of not needing to carry extra cable/lock to lock both wheels.

Pitlocks are a waste of money.
QR front wheel.
take it off and stick it with the rear.
Single D lock of high caliber and you're set.
Takes about 4 seconds on and off, a little more if you've disc brakes/ non QR brakes, requires no fiddly key/tool- which you WILL lose.

it's a bit more fidgetly trying to lock the front wheel to the back wheel/frame no matter how long the d-lock is though.

I like to carry the least amount of stuff when I go to Richmond Park so the Evo Mini make a great lightweight lock without needing to worry about the wheelset going wheelie like a chav.

Well I can't stick front with the rear wheel, it won't fit in a fahg + post. So then I'd have to buy another lock.

Definitely looking at the pitlock, I don't really want to get a second lock I'm happy with the fahg.

Kirth,

Pitlock your wheels, it'll make it a lots more secure and reduced the need to carry two d-lock.

They're expensive (£35 for a front/rear one at Condor) but totally worth it, especially the weight saving advantage of not needing to carry extra cable/lock to lock both wheels.

Looking at the picture to the left i used to have a solution on my old bmx/beater, got some old aluminium pegs, cut them down to nearly an inch, so simply you can't get the wheel off with a normal spanner, you need a socket wrench, was completely pointless on such a crappy looking bike, but they made a nice foot rest on the front and it felt safer.

Also i been reading through a few pages, i think i made a dumb decision buying a hench looking chain, i miss my old D lock, even though it was some cheep thing that needed replacing it was way more practicle.

i'll get 2 D locks instead...

Just looked at the Pitlock site.

Can you get them locks nuts for track wheels I could only see QR skewers?

Yes, but no:

Can I get a Pitlock kit for my threaded axle?

Another niggler. Fixers have a thing for tracknuts. Pitlock now make a special Pitlock nut for 10mm axles. Marriage made in heaven? Well, the new Pitlock works pretty well, but i. it is only compatible with particular threadings ii. it is presently rather expensive and iii. it needs a special Pit, larger than the standard ones. The issue is more complex than you might expect: if you want Pitlock tracknuts, write.

http://www.hubjub.co.uk/etc/pitlock.htm

http://www.pitlock.com/fts.php?criteria=M10&x=0&y=0

Just to add to the above story of vandalism.

I own a Fahg but I never use it - it's just too heavy for me to bother with. I really believe the X-54 is the sweet spot for portability, deployability and weight, as you'll see below...

So: I do own and use an Abus Granit X-54, which has, to me, the huge advantage of a very good frame mounting. It's not pretty but it's by far the easiest way to carry a lock.

My bike is also Pitlocked all round (didn't initially have a seatpost one and post was nicked within two weeks.) and I've never used a second lock in 3 years of cycling in London.

The bike in question is a fairly subtle looking geared all black Condor Agio.

This was about 3 months ago:

Bike was locked up near Holborn tube, on some highly populated bike racks under some trees on the big junction one block north of Holborn. When I returned to it about 2am, after failing to get through the Pitlocks, they nicked the saddle anyway (easily the lowest value item on there, it was a beater a shop gave me for free while they were replacing my real saddle) and dismantled the front of the stem, leaving my drops just hanging down on the front on their brake cables.

Perhaps they were trying to take away my whole front fork but that's as far as they got?

There was a single cut-mark in the rubber on the Abus, but nothing more. I'm still using the same lock today and am confident it wasn't compromised. I almost always lock through both rear seatstays, the back wheel and the bike rack - the clearances are too great for the edscoble method.

When I got back to it, it was obviously un-rideable so I wheeled/carried it to outside the Condor shop on Grays Inn to get the bus home and return in the morning. I locked it outside a 24h newsagent opposite Condor but obviously that didn't help because when I came back in the morning....

Either the same guys (it was only about 1km from the initial attempt location) or potentially some other guys tried again, and this time when they couldn't do anything, they too kicked in the front wheel (which is why rhowe's post prompted me to post) beyond usability. Fucking fucks.

So overall I had to get a new front wheel (the one they fucked up was about 2 weeks old after I'd worn out my old one), new saddle and new seatpost (they'd taken too many of the clamp parts from the top for me to easily get it back in action again without much parts faffing) for a total of about £250.

MUCH better than losing the bike, but still a fucking pain in the arse.

Still, Locks That Work: Abus Granite X-54. Twice in one night.

Oh, and I had to buy a new stem and steerer cap thingy too for similar reasons to the seatpost.

Either the same guys (it was only about 1km from the initial attempt location) or potentially some other guys tried again, and this time when they couldn't do anything, they too kicked in the front wheel (which is why rhowe's post prompted me to post) beyond usability. Fucking fucks.

tend to be the same group of thieves, and I think I have an idea of which one.

I know that they know Condor are high end (especially as the shop is in the area), so a frame with 'condor' written on it is worth nicking regardless of how old/worn it is.

sorry to hear about it though.

On the flip-side: A very good review/recommendation of the Abus Granit X-54. They had the whole night, with probably chancer's tools, and your bike was there when you got back. Good stuff. Shame about the stolen items, but every cloud, and all that.

When I returned to it about 2am, after failing to get through the Pitlocks, they nicked the saddle anyway (easily the lowest value item on there, it was a beater a shop gave me for free while they were replacing my real saddle) and dismantled the front of the stem, leaving my drops just hanging down on the front on their brake cables.

[...]

this time when they couldn't do anything, they too kicked in the front wheel (which is why rhowe's post prompted me to post) beyond usability. Fucking fucks.

It's a pisser, isn't it? Report it to the police - they'll give you a reference and hopefully it will help them to realise how much of this shit goes on. If they don't know about it they can't do anything to deal with it (even if they know about it that's no guarantee, of course...)

Reading all of this is stopping me from wanting to make my bike look nicer, considereing getting rid of the fuji logo with some ghetto DIY matt paintjob and doing the hole plasterd in stickers thing to....hmmm?

It'd still get nicked, stickers or no. Some real beaters get nicked. Just get decent locks and do all the recommended security tips mentioned all over this forum.

If it look like it's worth nicking, it's worth nicking, regardless of 'ghetto' matt paint.

just be sensible when it come to locking your bike up that all, like not in East London, use D-lock, only for a certain period of time, don't make it regular (same place and time), etc.

if you feel the need to upgrade, just focus on the comfort/practical part rather than the appearance (like chrome handlebar, white tyres etc.)

Well i dont live in london, my area isnt so much like the city and not so many bikes, even less fixed gears, they are way more atracted to shiney lookin bmx's and mtb's, when they stole my bikes from my garrage they just left my "vintage" Orbit TT wich was werth more than 2 of the bikes...ha! Theres always a possitive.

I want to get rid of my boring glossy stock look anyway, i think it will realy help, i'm realy carefull to, but i'll replace my oxford chain with 2 D locks soon as i get the dosh.

I had a chat with the chaps at A.E.Wilson Cycles yesterday, by phone, and they have been selling loads of the GRPS Lock that I own. Seems like it has been becoming very popular with people searching the net. Considering that Wilson's don't have an internet presence, this thread is certainly proving a useful advert for bike security. To be honest, I'm a bit pleased about that. Slowly, the message is getting out there.

I think they need to put alot more areas to lock bikes propaly, theres only one place in town that i trust, CCTV all around on the highstreet, if there was more maybe people would think more seriusly instead of just leeving them outside the shop unlocked, wouldnt park outside the shop and leeve the door open would they...