locking bike up.

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markharry66

Über Member
Today is last day of my current job. I start on Wednesday near shortlands. I have been quite lucky with current job as I am able to lock bike up in the building.
The new office looks to have no facilities outside to lock a bike up. Current options are street, station across the road. Just wondering how safe it would be to lock up at the station. Not something I have ever done.
Just hoping I dont have to get the bus into work :sad:
 

marcusjb

Senior Member
Location
Twickenham
There are always options before the horror of having to get the bus.

Talk to your new employer about facilities.

Get a Brompton

Get a cheap unloveable bike for commuting

(I run with the third option for my commuting as I do not have an office and have to lock my bike up on the street for the day, I had a saddle and seatpost stolen from a nice bike, so bought something that cost about the same as a seatpost and saddle and is utterly undesirable. I have a strange love for it's creakiness)
 

marcusjb

Senior Member
Location
Twickenham
Oh and if you have a regular commute, then you have the advantage of being able to leave a couple of decent d locks at the office end and not have to lug them about.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
I wouldn't leave a nice bike regularly at a station. Used to live in Shortlands. Are there stands by the shops, can't recall but outside a dr/vet/pharmacy/supermarket say, all busy ? Be more heavily trafficked.
Or does station parking have cctv.
A fahg and an Abus Granit front a rear should deter in the daytime.
But first ask your employer, but still lock when leaving anywhere. Bike was stolen from underground carpark at my office this week!
 

Sixmile

Veteran
Location
N Ireland
Are there any multi storey car parks nearby? Most have some sort of cycle parking provision and at least some semblance of security
 
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ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Is this Shortlands in SE London? If so, even though it's a relatively quiet area I wouldn't trust leaving a bike at the station unless you have 2 very good D-Locks which would deter most thieves as they would look at a far easier. quicker option. ie cable locks.

There's no multi Story car park there.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Stations are notoriously poor places to leave bikes. Thieves can reasonably assume that bikes there will be there for hours, day after day, giving them lots of time to identify and attack. Lots of stations have cycle parking in vulnerable low-traffic areas where people can drive a van up, work in seclusion and load the spoils into the van. If it's a fairly busy station, staffed and with CCTV then that all reduces the risk, but other options are still usually better.

If it's Shortlands station, then at least it is fairly busy, https://stolen-bikes.co.uk/mapping/ doesn't show it as a hotspot (unlike nearby Bromley South) and there's not much other cycle parking nearby on http://old.spokeseastkent.org.uk/ma...?zoom=10&lat=52.71488&lon=0.46562&layers=0B0T - I'd use two good locks of different types ideally from http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/144109/ with one through front wheel, frame and stand, and the other through back wheel frame and stand. Don't park in the same exact position day after day.

Best option is to talk to the building manager and see if a decent cycle park can be provided, especially if they have car parking - having a car park with no cycle park closer to the door is against planning policy in many places, although that only bites when they need permission to change the building.
 

Banjo

Fuelled with Jelly Babies
Location
South Wales
I recently bought one of these
You will struggle to find a better lock (gold secure ) for twice the money.
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.OnGuard-Pitbull-Shackle-U-Lock-Plus-Cable-Gold-Sold-Secure_61144.htm

Other peoples opinions on it here
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/on-guard-pitbull-shackle-lock.204286/
bike%20lock_zpsxgwwteg1.jpg

PS picture is not the best example of how to lock a bike. The D Lock should be around the frame seatpost and through the back wheel if possible.Secures your back wheel and leaves less room for scrotes to get a lever into the lock.
 
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mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
PS picture is not the best example of how to lock a bike.
Looping a cable onto a D-lock isn't great either: bust the D and the cable just falls off.
 

BojanB

New Member
Can you please tell me why is there a Security rating difference on these two locks. It's basically the same model but one is 10/15 and the other 13/15. So far I couldn't get an answer from Abus.


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RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
you could carry one decent lock e.g Kryptonite New York and one cheapo combi cable lock. If theres two locks on a bike a thief would normally think twice as its twice the effort to steal. Even if they have bolt cutters, providing your main lock is good one they wont even bother trying to steal your bike.

Not every thief is the same though and maybe a few may try taking a bike that has two locks if they think the end result will be worth the effort.
I used to lock my bike up outdoors where i work as the deputy manager was a right bitch and absolutely hated my guts. she would NEVER allow me to lock my bike inside but the company moved her on and the current manager doesnt mind at all as I always arrive to work early and lock my bike somewhere out of the way.

Ive seen bikes stolen on CCTV right where i would of locked mine up If I still had to keep the bike outside, so the thieves are out there and always looking for opportunities.
 

BojanB

New Member
Different versions of the same lock?

I don't know, but wouldn't a different version require a new name, or a new part of the name or something. I think that would be fair.

Do the 10 and 13 reflect the thickness of the shackle?

The 10 and 13 do not reflect the thickness of the shackle. 10 and 13 are simply security ratings on Abus internal security scale. As far as I can tell they are visually identical and if I unlock them the steel shackle inside the lock is also 13 mm wide in both of them. If there was a security upgrade in one of them it must be something a buyer cannot see. That's what bothers me, I can't find any information about the difference.

Have they been tested in the same countries?

Well, I'm from Europe so I doubt Abus tests their locks anywhere outside Germany.
I believe they have both been tested in Germany its just that 10/15 version is probably the older version. It has NEW written on a cover.
Both have the same "outside" security ratings like Sold secure, Art, etc. But those ratings only use three or five star system so the ratings for both locks end up being the same. The Abus internal security ratings do show a difference and I wonder why.

Abus site suggests a 13 rating, what that means in reality however with a determined tooled up thief?

Well, it means that the lock withstands all kinds of attacks for a bit longer than other locks rated with lower security ratings. 13 mm hardened steel is too fat to be cut with bolt cutters, the lock has some sort of freezing resistance, it takes longer to cut it with angle grinders (the rubber coating gumms up the blade), the lock has some picking and drilling resistance, etc.
 
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BojanB

New Member
... and one cheapo combi cable lock. If theres two locks on a bike a thief would normally think twice as its twice the effort to steal. Even if they have bolt cutters, providing your main lock is good one they wont even bother trying to steal your bike.

If you have a second cheap cable lock it probably isn't twice the effort to steal it. It takes 0,5-3 seconds to cut it with bolt cutters. The best lock on the bike determines the thiefs decision as you said. Cheap cable lock is there only to secure the front wheel or the seat, so they don't get stolen by all the other thiefs who do not carry around bolt cutters.
 
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