Really Bizarre Locking

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taxing

Well-Known Member
I rode to uni today and locked to the Sheffield stand next to mine was a decent looking bike, it wasn't a total scrapper like most of the bikes at uni. But bizarrely, they had locked it by putting the D lock around the stand, then in the gap between the back wheel and the brake, and under the pannier rack. The frame itself wasn't locked at all. It was so odd, I wrote them a very nice note advising them to make sure that they lock their frame. I don't know if that's the done thing or not, but it can't do any harm. And I was just fascinated by this lock up job, it must have taken longer to get the lock in between the brake and the wheel than it would have done to just lock it normally, surely.
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
With a lot of these things there are non-obvious reasons which are very sensible. In this case could you actually get at the D-lock to attack it & could you remove the bike from the stand without cutting a part of the bike?
 
OP
OP
T

taxing

Well-Known Member
Yes you could get at the D-lock, it was a medium sized D-lock and was only half filled, so the locking part was just hanging out at a right-angle to the bike. The pannier rack just looked like it was bolted on using standard sized bolts, they would only have to undo one of them because the lock was only through one metal strut of the rack, and it would be easy enough to take off the tyre and slip the lock out from under the brake.
 
Location
Midlands
Similar - A few years ago I was doing some work in the car park of a London Underground station - next to where I was working there was a bike rack with a folded, rather posh specialized folder locked to it - It was locked through a front wheel complete with quick release - I kept an eye on it for as long as I could - but it was a long drive home - left a little note saying it was a bit unwise - always wondered if it was there when the owner got back
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
You get used to how you lock up your bike... so you can do it fairly quickly. I lock my bike at the rear triangle - by the brakes. Someone at work forgot their lock and so we locked them up together - when he left he relocked my bike up - and it was still in the rear triangle but somehow different - and took me longer to unlock the bike as a result. (OK only milli-seconds but somehow locking/unlocking the bike becomes an automatic process that you don't need to think about much - though I still do that quick tug on the bike to check its locked anyway.)
 

jonny jeez

Legendary Member
Leaving notes on bikes informing all who read the note of just how easy it is to steal...fells like a daft idea to me (regardless of the good intention).

I use to own a flat (in my yoof) and my downstairs neighbour used to leave notes on her door telling the postie that she was out or things like that, she was burgled about 5 times in one year and kept doing this despite me suggesting on numerous occasions that this was most probably the reason for the breakins.

Notes are a huge invitation to theifs!
 
Location
Midlands
jonny jeez said:
Leaving notes on bikes informing all who read the note of just how easy it is to steal...fells like a daft idea to me (regardless of the good intention).

I use to own a flat (in my yoof) and my downstairs neighbour used to leave notes on her door telling the postie that she was out or things like that, she was burgled about 5 times in one year and kept doing this despite me suggesting on numerous occasions that this was most probably the reason for the breakins.

Notes are a huge invitation to theifs!

I agree - but it was such a nice bike that I felt I had to do something - having lost a few myself - discretly wrapped the note around the lock
 
We parked our three bikes to one Sheffield Stand in Walmgate, York, on Sunday morning. When we came back to it, there was a yellow paper Police tag on one, with a three letter code on it and a web address to find out more.

I looked at the way we were locked. One cable went through front & back wheels & frames of two of the bikes, and around the stand, locked by a chunky no-name (but reasonably secure and quite off-putting) padlock. The one with the tag had my Abus lock through its front wheel & frame and through the frame of mine, too.

I guessed that, as we'd been told by a local friend that this was a high risk area for bike theft, the issue was the lack of lock through the rear wheel (even though its nutted). In fact, they marked it as OK for being fixed to something solid (it wasn't - directly). It was the lock they thought was deficient.

Eh?
 

Armegatron

Active Member
I locked mine up on Sunday as I normally would in high visible areas:
Abus Cable (Silver rating) thru the front wheel, frame and stand.
Abus D lock (Gold rating) thru the rear wheel, frame (seat tube) and stand.

When I walked away I realised that somehow I had not threaded the front lock thru the stand, and instead Id just locked the wheel to the frame (never been good at knots!). I struggle to get things to reach depending on the stand type so sometimes I have to have a couple of attempts before Im happy to walk away from it.

If its left longer or slightly out of sight I use the same method, but connect the two locks by a cable extension, then I use a small alarmed padlock on the front disc to provide a noise deterrent and make it hard to ride off if they have got through the other two locks. Overkill probably, but if I mess up with one lock chances are the others will be enough to keep it secure.
 
OP
OP
T

taxing

Well-Known Member
jonny jeez said:
Leaving notes on bikes informing all who read the note of just how easy it is to steal...fells like a daft idea to me (regardless of the good intention).

I use to own a flat (in my yoof) and my downstairs neighbour used to leave notes on her door telling the postie that she was out or things like that, she was burgled about 5 times in one year and kept doing this despite me suggesting on numerous occasions that this was most probably the reason for the breakins.

Notes are a huge invitation to theifs!

I don't think I did any harm, I folded it up, wrote 'dear bike owner' on the front, and tucked it in the basket. Would a thief really be paying attention to a bit of paper in a basket amongst a whole row of bikes? I doubt it. They would definitely notice the shoddy locking before they noticed a piece of paper in the basket.
 
I have a confession to make....While locking my bike up a few weeks back I managed to lock a workmates bike cable up which was near to the locking frame...ooops.;) He had to dismantle his brake cable to get his bike free....Although he could have come up to the messroom and got me to unlock it.I felt a right twot.:ohmy:
 

adds21

Rider of bikes
Location
North Somerset
slowmotion said:
I'm puzzled by this approach. Surely all you have to do is cut through the wheel rim and slide the lock out, or have I missed something?

From the text:

Some will object that felons might cut the rear rim and tire to remove the lock. Believe me, this just doesn't happen in the real world. First, this would be a lot of work to steal a frame without a useable rear wheel, the most expensive part of a bike, after the frame. Second, cutting the rear rim is much harder than you might think. Since the rim is under substantial compression due to the tension on the spokes, it would pinch a hacksaw blade tight as soon as it cut partway through. Then there are the wire beads of the tire, also difficult to cut
 
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