Making a cycle shed secure - tips please

[beanzontoast]

My existing bike shed is getting too small and I'm thinking of replacing it - a good time to think about making the new one as secure as is practical. The existing one already has a shed shackle mounted into it and this will be getting transferred to the new one. Looking for tips on the kind of shed to buy (it needs to be 9 x 7 or 10 x 7 and I'm thinking pent rather than apex) and any other steps that can help make it more secure.

Worth mentioning too that we currently benefit from having a secure garden and friendly neighbours - some of whom are retired and hence around a lot of the time - who keep an eye out for one another and a cul-de-sac location where nothing happens without people noticing.

 

[Pauluk]

You could use a low cost alarm system. I used to have a laminated certificate (did it myself) taped to the inside of a window which said:

'This garage is alarmed. There are no tools kept inside. All our bikes are secured and data tagged'

I printed it with a kite mark and an ISO9000 mark to make it look like things were very professionally fitted.

I still d-lock my bikes to 4' concrete fence posts to make it harder for a thief to make off with them.

I also use to have a mock cctv camera mounted on the wall pointing at the door.

 

[Octet]

Wooden sheds aren't the most secure, you can get metal ones but the price goes up drastically.
The door is your structural week point, it is easy to pry or cut open. The best thing I can recommend doing is to firstly get one without windows (so no one knows you keep bikes in it) and then to reinforce the door.
You want to have it so the hinges are on the inside and the door opens outwards, I would replace the door if you want to really make it secure.

Also, don't have a lock which locks from the door handle and also make sure the bolt doesn't drop (or go through a mechanism). You want to make sure you are moving the bolt as you lock it.

Personally I wouldn't add any kind of warnings as this would alert any potential thief to the contents of the shed, have it secured from the inside but keep it looking normal on the outside. If they do come around, they shall most likely either ignore it or try it and walk away when they can't open it. They then unfortunately move to where they think the valuables are.... the house

 

[machew]

Floor anchor, and a very good lock (gold rated for MotorBikes) that you can keep attach to the anchor

 

[ufkacbln]

Floor anchor, and a very good lock (gold rated for MotorBikes) that you can keep attach to the anchor

Concrete block or paving slab as a base, then mount the ground anchor into the block / paving slab. Far more secure than mounting to wood.

Also a couple of alarms. Not real deterrents, but noise will make scrotes think twice about hanging around.



.. and not forgetting the Crank alarm Mine

 

[beanzontoast]

Thanks all. I hadn't thought about putting the hinges on the inside. Will have a look at the 'security sheds' and see how they stack up. I know they have very small, high window slits which is obviously useful.