Most expensive bike you would lock up on the streets of London

true dat ^^

Just avoid living it in an "E" postcode.

best advice ever

Locked this up all over London from brand new, and kept doing so for twelve years. Cost me £2k to build.

12 years eh? You've had a good run. I'll be stealing that next time I see it.

Just avoid leaving it in an "E" postcode and you've got a much better chance of it being there when you get back.

Not really true, for that to be accurate you'd really need to say avoid leaving a bike anywhere with a W, E, or N in the postcode.
http://lydall.standard.co.uk/2011/07/the-worst-boroughs-in-london-for-bike-theft.html

I lock my Hip hop slave machine all over the place. I use two D-Locks (New York Fagh + Mini). I've also glued small ball bearings into all the allen key holes which makes it tough to remove any of the parts (Thomson seat post/ stem) in a hurry. I'm still nervous but buying a beater bike would defeat the point of me even building up my slave machine!

april 2013 figures..

http://maps.met.police.uk/datatables/borough_2013-14.xls

That puts some risks into perspective. 4 'burglaries in a dwelling' in Wandsworth. Wandsworth has a pop around 300000 people. Thats a lot lower than I'd have guessed.

ignore that - I was looking at the SD tab. Seems the Offs tab is the offences recorded. Its a lot higher (135). I can only guess that SD is convictions. 4 of 135. Now that is shit.

It was about two weeks ago and I was having a few drinks on Broadway Market after the Ride West right outside the Two Doves and there was an unlocked full Ultegra BMC Racemachine with Cosmic Carbon wheels and an attached Garmin 800 and not a person in sight who looked like it was theirs - as in, no one in cycling gear, no one clip-in shoes standing within an arms length, on the benches...I simply couldn't work it out. I was standing by it for about an hour. After that I was a bit drunk and checked back and it was gone. Hopefully it was the owner who emerged from the tables outside or something and rode away and then never, ever did something that stupid again. 3k of bike unlocked outside the Two Doves with no one around eesh...

funnily enough i do see a lot of bikes with parts stolen off them outside condor. well not funny really, but peculiar.

i tend to lock up my bike all over london and it's worth around shameful £1k in it's totality. i d-lock the frame and the back wheel and then have a smaller d-lock to lock the front wheel to the frame. it's never left out overnight and always on main roads, although sometimes that doesn't even matter anyway.

although the handlebars/brakes are nice (in my view anyway) and weren't cheap either, they've become mega grubby over the years. same with the saddle (which just has a cheap post and is a charge spoon). i think grubbyness is a deterrant if you're just out to steal the less valuable parts of a bike, when there are so many front wheels around left unarmoured.

It was about two weeks ago and I was having a few drinks on Broadway Market after the Ride West right outside the Two Doves and there was an unlocked full Ultegra BMC Racemachine with Cosmic Carbon wheels and an attached Garmin 800 and not a person in sight who looked like it was theirs - as in, no one in cycling gear, no one clip-in shoes standing within an arms length, on the benches...I simply couldn't work it out. I was standing by it for about an hour. After that I was a bit drunk and checked back and it was gone. Hopefully it was the owner who emerged from the tables outside or something and rode away and then never, ever did something that stupid again. 3k of bike unlocked outside the Two Doves with no one around eesh...

It's just the one Dove. :)

It seems that Fiddy has a worthy successor somewhere. :|

According to these figures I work in the top pedal cycle theft borough (wandsworth) and live in the second worst pedal cycle theft borough (hackney). Everyone has provided sound advice and ultimately I think leaving any bike worth more than a grand lying around either means you will need deep pockets or bike insurance. Any suggestions for cheap and good bike insurance?

I went for these guys and their lunar monthly policy.

http://www.eandl.co.uk/

Equine and Livestock ;)

According to these figures I work in the top pedal cycle theft borough (wandsworth) and live in the second worst pedal cycle theft borough (hackney). Everyone has provided sound advice and ultimately I think leaving any bike worth more than a grand lying around either means you will need deep pockets or bike insurance. Any suggestions for cheap and good bike insurance?

The only reason N and W aren't higher is because all the cnuts in those boroughs drive BMX X5s or Jags.

Thorn Raven Tour (with Rohloff hub), never really worry too much about it cos it doesn't look that smart to the untrained eye..
But I normally just use the Range Rover if I'm going to m and s anyway..
matt, NW3...

well obviously if you leave it lying around it will get nicked.

i tried bike insurance at cycleguard but they didn't cover theft of parts, which is generally what happens most. if your bike gets nicked because you left it unlocked they wouldn't cover that anyway. it's not very expensive but kind of useless in my experience, but as you say you are paranoid then maybe it will sate your neuroses.

i would just invest in some good locks.