Bicycle Security V.2

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Sara_H

Guru
Not sure on how easy ground anchors are to install. Probably depends on the anchor, but they need to be secured into the ground properly.

There are wall anchors like this. Pretty decent, but again, it has to be secured properly.
Thank you - thats the kind of thing I was thinking of, was planning to wall mount my sons bikes (everyday bike, BMX and speedway bike) to make more floor space in garage.
 

avsd

Guru
Location
Belfast
Great effort. Well written and informative. Thank you.
 

rb58

Enigma
Location
Bexley, Kent
Anyone here fitted a ground anchor? Can it be done by someone with avarage DIY skills and avarage tools? Also, is the anything similar that can be used to anchor bikes to a wall in a similar fashion?
I have a ground anchor. It was pretty easy to install, but you do need to follow the instructions quite carefully as you don't get a second chance with the resin etc. Mine is a Torc. I think I only needed a good hammer drill, everything else was provided, including the drill bit. I've mated it to an Almax IV chain a Squire shackle lock as shown above. That's about as good a combination as you can get I suspect. Not cheap though. The chain goes round two bikes, so even if they can break the ground anchor, it's still going to require a huge effort, and a lot of noise, to break the chain. However, the Almax chain and Squire lock combination is not one you could realistically take with you on a ride. It's very, very heavy.

Nice article @Psyclist - thanks or taking the time to put it together.
 

Milo

Guru
Location
Melksham, Wilts
I was left wondering this tbh.
 

lesley_x

Über Member
Location
Glasgow
This worries me. Both my bikes are expensive (£1k each) and I want to start using them to get around more but I'm so scared they get stolen. I have bike insurance but if my previous experiences with insurance companies are anything to go by, they probably won't pay out anyway, they will wriggle out of it somehow! Even apart from the monetary aspect I'd be gutted to lose my road bike with the many happy miles we have spent together.

If I cycle to work my boss lets me store it indoors, how amazing is that. But I'd like to cycle into town, hospital appts etc... What do you guys do? It seems silly to have expensive bikes you're too scared to use. And I've read/heard that bike locks are really ineffective, they can get through pretty much anything. People who steal bikes are evil :thumbsdown:
 

Koga

Senior Member
Lesley_x
You have read all the feedback in this forum. Best tip I can give you is to have a bike nobody wants to steal. So as a minimum it has to look old and unloved, so this probably excludes your current bikes !
 
Location
London
To lesley

I ride around london on an old chro-mo Ridgeback - bike that first got me back into cycling - circa 1997 - and though I now have maybe 5 bikes and others far more expensive it's now turned into my favourite bike even though it doesn't look like much and is only 7/21 speed. It also has bits of duck tape on it, mostly for practical reasons to do with cable rub/water getting in a loose gear shifter. Frame has plenty of scratches. All helps it look like a poor resale prospect.

In London plenty of other bikes parked that look far more marketable.

So I'd get a decent steel/chro-mo framed bike (but definitely not flashy), good basic bits (nothing wrong with Alivio), don't put anything too flash on it or try to look cool and just enjoy it. I've eventually (I'm a slow learner) decided that there's a lot of ***sh*t talked about bikes.

Save your other bikes for racing/club runs or whatever.
 

StuUngar

Active Member
Really great comprehensive guide - excellent advice.

My last few thefts a few years ago were from my locked garage not realising how crap the locks are - doh! TBH it could probably be opened with a spam key - it wasn't "popped".

As a result I got a couple of wall anchors and some Asec metal garage door bolts. Unless they are lock smiths then the only way into the garage is to literally cut a massive hole in it which would create loads of noise.

The Oxford wall anchors are damn secure with hefty bolts. I did need to get some huge drill bits that only lasted for the job but were only about £8 off Ebay. Think it cost me about £60 to sort the garage which is a small price to be 99% sure that the bikes are safe.

If not then the insurance will have to pay out - there isn't much more I could do to make it any more secure.

Thieves round my way have been using Strava to track down bikes. Some guy recently had his alleged £3500 bike in his "secure" shed behind a locked gate and reckons the thieves brazenly followed him home. As a result I always start my Garmin around 1/2 - 1 mile away from home & same when I return.
 

Davidc

Guru
Location
Somerset UK
Good post.

A good, VERY loud movement alarm attached to the bike is another useful addition. Mine have scared off thieves a couple of times and resulted in one being caught. Only really useful in busy places though. (Not to mention deafening club members and a few from this forum).

Ground anchors are easy to install into concrete floors, but a good hammer drill is needed. They're not very expensive either. My bikes share 2 with the ladders.

Wall anchors are similar, my wife's bike has one to itself. In one theft I'm aware of the thieves took a chunk of wall with them though.

No bikes in my shed, but the garden tools are protected with alarm mines. If I kept bikes in there I'd have the shed on the house alarm.

It's worth having the garage (if it's near the house) connected to the house alarm if you have one. A door detector and a PIR are needed.

A final thought is that I have a cheap bike for round town use, so if thieves do get it I can stand the loss. (The excess on the insurance is more than it's worth). The expensive one doesn't get used for shopping and general transport so doesn't get parked unattended very much.
 
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