How To Lock Your Bike

sorry about the massive picture, first time trying...

Those ball bearing chains are rubbish. I've seen someone lever one open with an argos pen before. it's on youtube...

no way! the guy in cycle surgery said it was sold secure gold! goddamit, i'll have to rethink my strategy...

that vid must be a fake. if they weren't secure, banks wouldn't be using them to secure all their biros.

Above average locking strategy;

^ that's how I do mine.

now I have been at the pub this eve and am a little bit drunk but

Did you get on to this?

Oh, and

Or indeed:

?

I've seen those before, I was talking about something that you was made of separate parts that you could disassemble / piece together anywhere.

But I was indeed very drunk and it's a much much too overengineered solution to the problem.

I did however just think of another non-fixed but secure covering for a bike that would typically be kept in a single location though.

you could probably have some kind of lightweight metal link/chainmail tea-cosy shaped bike cover that had a lockable closing at the bottom. it'd be heavy but would pack away quite small (backpack sized I imagine) and be easily stowable. you would use it in conjunction with your normal locks to fix the bike to an anchored fixing point but it would make opportunist theft of components much more hassle and likely to be noticed. if you had to lock up a high spec bike outside an office regularly it'd probably help. rustproofing might be an issue though.

Above average locking strategy;

Having a thomson seatpost & stem is an automatic security fail. Such high value, easy resale and such little time to pop off with a allen key. Unless they have glued in ball bearings etc, this is fail.

^
also i'd secure the rear of the bike to the down tube of the stand making it impossible to move the bike.
someone could quite happily move that very well locked bike so that it poked into the road just to be a bastard.
not sure if a kryptonite can be twisted off but do you want to find out.

There's a reason why I said "Above average locking strategy", it got all the nook and crannie, but with certain part that are of value free to be removed by people who complain about their dustbin being collected once a fortnight.

Since I've moved out of Clerkenwell near Condor Cycles, it's now safe to post a picture of how I lock my bicycle outside the flat overnight everyday for the last 12 months;

The first 4 months it was locked like this, the heaviest and biggest Kryptonite locked through the wheel, frame and steel mudguard to the "bike stand", the 2nd D-lock is the Abus Granit Extreme with the Fahgettaboutit shackle locking the front wheel to the frame.

After going on holiday for a week, the shackle got stolen after thieves (or council) cut away the Abus, but a simple pitlock front wheel with just the Kryptonite is plentiful for the next 8 months until I've moved location.

It also helped that the bike look like a normal old town bike at first glance but in reality it's a high quality ATB bike with eccentric BB, oversized tubing, disc brake, 11 speed internal hubs, tyres designed for that frame etc. The reason for the paintjob is simple - it look like a postman's bike.

The event of accident is a brilliant idea to help victim of a collision to do the right thing.

Methinks you should produced an LCC version, I've no doubt it'll help far more people in getting the detail right in the event of a collision, I know it did to me.

Why do your ride such fat tyres on the road Ed?

Smooth, comfty, and a lower rolling resistance make it an easy ride in London.

poor road surface + 60c slick tyre = smooth as a baby bum.

Smooth, comfty, easy to rolls and don't need to pump them up to more than 20psi.

I realise you dont NEED to. I used to ride a 26" jump bike around, and basically needed to carry a pump around with me. Id keep them at 65psi for transport mode, and when getting to a riding spot id drop them to 20 psi or so.

But I cant help thinking, them sort of tyres (and perhaps bike) must be a whole world of SUCK compared to riding a light track bike with light tyres. Its a big jump from the 23c or whatever you were running on your fixed/geared road bikes to 2.5" cruiser tyres! Why not just opt for something normal like 1.5" ?

Who says I'll ride my utility bike like I would a lightweight fixie skidder/road bike?

It's a very big jump between the two, the riding position is the most obvious factor for me, on the road bike, I find it's easier to maintain a higher speed than on my utility bike otherwise that's it, however I burn more calories maintaining a higher speed on the fixie skidder/road bike which is stating the obvious (faster = burn more despite feeling easier).

I actually gain weight when riding the utility bike despite doing 120 miles a weeks.

Have you ever seen one of those bike stands cut through?

Have you ever seen one of those bike stands cut through?

Good point.

Ouch

Spotted this small-but-well-locked bike on my travels.

Things I like about this -

• Two good locks of different types (pretty substantial chain and a GRP Superdeals u-lock) covering the frame and both wheels. Good work.
  
• That's not a wimpy thin-tubed cycle stand, it's a hefty barrier designed to keep cars inside marked car park parking bays.
  
• Good positioning, nearby are other bikes much less well locked.
  
  

Things I would improve -

• The GRPS lock has a big shackle and is difficult to fill. The owner could maybe put a crank inside the shackle or rearrange it so more of the frame is inside the lock.
  
• Second u-lock isn't up to much, think it might be for the psychological effect of "fortress bike" festooned with locks.
  
• Could do with a chain or cable securing the saddle to the frame.
  

cross posting on scobles request from the locks that work thread...

finally got a chance to take pics of the mini fagh locking rear(dp18 rim/28c tyre)/frame/sheffield stand.

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/3530/img0535si.jpg

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1862/img0533ra.jpg

I also figured out how to lock my front/frame/sheffield stand with an evo mini for the first time too...

http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/6096/img0534nf.jpg

useful thread

Ed - are you saying up there ^ that on your utility bike someone cut through your Granit X Plus 54?! I always thought those things were pretty tough. And if they cut through it how come they didn't take your bike??

They cut the Granit, but barely managed the Fahgettiaboutit.

Bear in mind that I lock my bike in the exact same spot overnight everyday because I can't leave it inside the communal hallway.

They couldn't take my bike because there were two lock attach to the stand.