stopping my bike getting stolen!
- Thread starter Alfa GT
- Start date
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byegad
Legendary Member
- Location
- NE England
Simple answer is chop the hands off the next bike thief convicted and the gonads off the next!
However that's never going to happen. So you can paint your nice new bike in tar, secure with a D lock, a chain lock and 25 000V of electricity or park it somewhere more secure.
However that's never going to happen. So you can paint your nice new bike in tar, secure with a D lock, a chain lock and 25 000V of electricity or park it somewhere more secure.
overmind
My other bike is a Pinarello
- Location
- Reading, Berkshire
There are far more better deterrents than scuffing your nice new bikes frame.
Alarmed D locks & cable locks are a start. No one wants to Bother with something that looks Thick & Heavy as a lock, and when they try and move the bike or unfasten something the alarm lock screams its head off !
Alarmed D locks & cable locks are a start. No one wants to Bother with something that looks Thick & Heavy as a lock, and when they try and move the bike or unfasten something the alarm lock screams its head off !
OP
OP
Alfa GT
Active Member
no option but to leave it in town unfortuantely. It won't fit in my pocket and I need it to get to work.
vickster
Legendary Member
Get a folder, keep by your desk?
Is there anywhere in Cambridge that is more secure? Outside a police station or somewhere with a lot of foot traffic? Maybe pay secure parking?
vickster
Legendary Member
I had a chat with a woman with a pink bike recently. She was told that a pink paint job is a great thief deterrent as most bike thieves are young (late teens) and male...get a pink bike instead
All her families' bikes had got stolen,,,her pink roadbike, the most valuable, remained untouched
OP
OP
Alfa GT
Active Member
Yeah did think about that but my work mate has a Brompton that admittedly very nice to ride but I just don't like them... and I might have taken the mick to much to be able to get one myself!
vickster
Legendary Member
Doesn't have to be a Brompton, there are other folders
Seriously, just take the front wheel to work with you. Make sure the rest is secured with a beasty lock (a small one that won't fit a bottle jack so easily)
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
They may well do that, but if they're malicious scum, not before smashing up your nice bike as "punishment" for you depriving them of being able to steal it. Where I live anything nice will either get nicked, or if it can't be nicked it will get vandalised instead. The only way you can be fairly sure that your bike will not get either stolen or smashed up is to use a shabby-looking disposable hack bike for town use that's worth less than the D-lock you use to secure it. It's all very well to say insure it, but having to insure a bike increases the cost of cycling and if you make too many claims for thefts, your premiums are going to get steep. Keep your nice bike for rides where you don't leave it unattended, and have a cheap rat bike for everything else, so that if it does go missing, all you're out of pocket is the cost of a round of drinks, not serious money.
confusedcyclist
Veteran
If you are really concerned about such things happening, don't get a really nice bike. Or just get one, and don't worry about every possible eventuality, as most will never come to pass.
OP
OP
Alfa GT
Active Member
Yep that does seem to be the key... have a bike so cheap it's invisible. I have messaged a guy on ebay about a bike that is as such:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mango-Fixie-Single-Speed-Flip-flop-Bike/152896233532?_trkparms=pageci:28e51668-0daf-11e8-ac00-74dbd180b0bb|parentrq:7b3705fc1610a992437bd958fffe6ab3|iid:1&_trksid=p2481888.c100678.m3607
He only wants 20 quid for it so maybe that's the answer. For 20 quid I could make it look so nasty that I won't even want to ride it
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mango-Fixie-Single-Speed-Flip-flop-Bike/152896233532?_trkparms=pageci:28e51668-0daf-11e8-ac00-74dbd180b0bb|parentrq:7b3705fc1610a992437bd958fffe6ab3|iid:1&_trksid=p2481888.c100678.m3607
He only wants 20 quid for it so maybe that's the answer. For 20 quid I could make it look so nasty that I won't even want to ride it
confusedcyclist
Veteran
Even cheap bikes get nicked though, don't be under false pretenses. Most stolen bikes get flipped for a tenner in the back rooms of shady pubs. Rarely bikes are stolen by professional gangland outfits seeking high value race bikes for the chopshops. If you are leaving it in insecure places, just get something you won't be so fussy about. Save the nice bikes for well planned point to point secure locations only. Cheap but functional bikes are perfect for the self-insurance strategy.
Spend no more than a few hundred quid, then put £10-20 away in a dedicated savings account each month. If your bike gets nicked, buy a new beater, if it doesn't you win and get to keep your savings. Rinse repeat. Insurance is really a scam for skimming savings off the plebeians who don't know how to save, or are buying things they can't afford to replace outright. The are of course folk on these here boards who will shriek loudly that they are entitled to buy expensive bikes and insure them, which of course they are. Doesn't make it the cheapest way to get about by bike though. So if you are worried about costs, and theft/vandalism, this strategy should work perfect for you. With a bit of luck, you'll have a nice stash of cash to spend on new bike to boot after a year or two.
Spend no more than a few hundred quid, then put £10-20 away in a dedicated savings account each month. If your bike gets nicked, buy a new beater, if it doesn't you win and get to keep your savings. Rinse repeat. Insurance is really a scam for skimming savings off the plebeians who don't know how to save, or are buying things they can't afford to replace outright
. The are of course folk on these here boards who will shriek loudly that they are entitled to buy expensive bikes and insure them, which of course they are. Doesn't make it the cheapest way to get about by bike though. So if you are worried about costs, and theft/vandalism, this strategy should work perfect for you. With a bit of luck, you'll have a nice stash of cash to spend on new bike to boot after a year or two.
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