Road Cycling - Lock and security choices for your road bike?

I am curious about what forms of locks or security devices you use with your road bikes?

Since getting a light weight bike and components are often major considerations, would you then carry a three pound lock with you in order to secure your bike?

My question gains more prominence when having to consider biking in areas in which your bike may be out of your sight and control for a while or where there are heightened concerns about bike theft. (Or if you REALLY REALLY love your bike! -duh)

The lightest locks offer some protection (certainly better than none), but many are more easily defeated than some of their heavier bretheren.

So...if you are a (bike) weight concious rider, what are you willing to compromise on...or what products out there have you found to be both light weight and theft-protective?

Thanks,
Rob
Long Beach, NY

The best security for your road bike is to make sure your butt is on the saddle at all times. I would never lock up my bike outside anywhere at anytime...the likelihood of it getting stolen is far too great.

And yes...it really does defeat the purpose of getting a light high performance road bike if you decide to lug around a 3lb lock. The thing is, the bike isn't really for commuting or going around the neighbourhood to do chores....

Originally posted by KennethToronto
The best security for your road bike is to make sure your butt is on the saddle at all times. I would never lock up my bike outside anywhere at anytime...the likelihood of it getting stolen is far too great.


I agree...but for some, there might be a time when a lock may be needed or brought on a ride.

Rob

Always keep your bike in eye sight.. I sometimes will go by the bank etc while out on a ride, figure why not get some other things done at the same time :) I always make sure i can see it. Why does not someone come up with a loadjack for my bike?

My advice would to pick up a lower-end road bike or an MTB for commuting on. You can leave your expensive one for when your out on a road ride, and use your beater/commuter/less-expensive ride for going to the store/doing errands/etc. You can pick up a lock for this one, but the chances it will be stolen are much less to begin with. I always do what Kev says too - I know the stores around here where I can go in and keep within eyesight of the bike almost the whole time. Usually I'm just stopping in for a Gatorade or something quick anyways, so I stay near the front of the store. You've also got to remember that bike thefts that know what they want might go for your wheels/saddle/seatpost or other high-end items that can be taken off the bike easily. They make locking QR's for this reason, but they defeat the whole high-performance light weight road bike idea, just as the lock would. If you insist on riding the high-end road bike to errands and stuff, I'm not sure that you will find a lock light enough for you that will still deter most bike theifs. Cable locks offer some protection, but can be defeated if someone knows what they are doing. U-locks would be the best, but are heavy. I don't carry one, but instead use one to lock my bikes to the hitch-mounted bike rack, which is also locked to my car.

My advice: pick up a beater bike/commuter to use for errands or for when the bike will be in unsafe area out of eyesight for any amount of time.

-Moab

Something as simple as a retractable ski-lock that you can put in a jersey pocket, a large seat bag or touring baggage will stop the opportunist from an easy grab in public places:
http://ecom1.sno-ski.com/product180.html
OR one of these:
http://greatoutdoors.altrec.com/shop/dir/ski/44/?viewdeptshop

While it's nice to say, "don't leave your bike unattended OR ride a beater" sometimes that's just not possible or practical if your touring or doing extended, multiday events.

We'll usually lock one or two bikes or tandems to a fixed object with one of these or perhaps three bikes or tandems together, nose-to-tail, when there's not something to lock them to. The key is making it difficult for a jerk to pull off a target of opportunity theft. Using a cable lock as a deterrent is just that... a deterrent not a guarantee against a real bike thief who knows where folks stop and park expensive bicycles while they eat or hit the head.

It goes without saying, we pick VERY public areas where there is enough traffic and where we can at least see who's coming or going from the general area. For tours where we know we'll be leaving our tandems while we do tourist stuff, we usually ask the venue operators where we can put our bikes and often times they'll let us put them in a secure place or at least tell us where not to put them. If we have to lock them up we use a lock similar to this one while on tour. It's not superlight, but it isn't super heavy either.
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.html?SKU=846&Store=Bike

Ultimately, it's all about using common sense AND making sure your homeowner's (or renter's) insurance will cover your loss. Don't assume what your policy covers either. For some strange reason our homeowner's insurance covers our bikes and tandems (several of which are worth more than $6k) without a rider while lesser expensive jewelry, antiques, and musical instruments do. Be sure to keep copies of the receipts or other documentation (invoice, bill of sale) that will prove what your bikes and attached equipment cost in event you have to make a claim. Otherwise, as some have already suggested, don't even think about leaving it alone.

My bike isn't a fancy lightweight but I love it dearly. I keep U locks at work and home. I have a lightweight cable lock on the bike, in case I need to stop for refreshment or a pee. Also some of the things you can lock a bike to are too big to get a U lock around.

get a beater bike to commute on (that way if it gets stolen, no big deal :)) I normally leave a U lock at my college, and take a chain lock with me to go on short trips, two locks are better than one, but with enough determination anything can be stolen...

Wieght is not a major concern when riding multi-day tours, so I would be carring a decent lock.

A road bike around here is almost theft proof. Most stolen bikes are MTBs or freestyle bikes.

I do use a beater for errrand running, my road bike is not geared low enough to ride about in stop and go riding.

I answered this before but for some reason the reponse didn't stick. Anyway IF you must lock up your bike for a extended period of time without being able to keep an eye on it the best lock tested so far that professional bike thieves could not overcome was the Kryptonite New York Chain all the others failed in less than 1 minute. The only lock not tested at the time of the report that I read was the Master Lock Street Culf. The "thieves" spent up to 20 minutes to try to defeat the New Yorker chain lock and said that normally they would only spend about 20 seconds, anything longer than that would attract to much attention and risk getting arrested. They did say a pnematic device (similar to the jaws of life) could defeat it but almost all the thieves do not carry this device due to cost and lack of quickness and portability. The New Yorker is very heavy, but if theft is a primary concern than don't sacrifice true protection for weight.

However, thieves also steal parts so make sure you park it where there is plenty of public visibility and secure to something strong like a parking meter or a large water or gas pipe that is cemented into the ground or wall of a building since thieves have been known to either cut a smaller tree down or a small pipe or pull a pipe out of the ground.

Also insurance is good protection against financial loss of the bike, whether it's stolen out of your house or at work; but keep that deductable in mind.

The best protection is to buy a heap to ride to work or wherever you go that requires you to lock it up unattended; because most people don't want an old Sears bike but they will take the Colnago. So save the Colnago for your serious rides and use the Sears special for work.

I always carry a U-lock on my commuter, but don't normally carry anything on the road bike. On Saturday mornings, though, I ride with my kids (14 and 18 yrs) and we usually end up somewhere eating breakfast. Often, the bikes are out of sight while we are dining. On these rides, I use a clamp-on seatpost rack to carry a u-lock and a cable lock. Our pace as a group is slower than my normal solo pace, so I rationalize that it is like wearing ankle weights to build strength. Honestly, though, I don't really notice the weight anyway. I am considering getting one of the NY Chains, though, since I could lock all three bikes with the one, more secure lock. The weight doesn't bother me.

I use both a decent u-lock and cable (That goes through the wheels). I don't leave my bike in a high crime area, but it is left in the car park at work. Lots of workers mill around it as it's near the smoking area, so it should be pretty safe ;)

And in general I find people (well kids) seem more interested in fancy mountain bikes than a road bike (even though some instances the road bike costs a whole lot more) I think you need different tools to combat both a u-lock and a cable, so hopefully it makes it less likely to be stolen...saying that It'll now probably be nicked tomorrow.

Your right Maraxis you do need different tools to cut steel vs cable, BUT most thieves carry both according the report I read. The thieves are also carry some sort of freezing liquid spray that when sprayed on a lock then hit with a hammer shatters the lock; then there are those who just pick the lock. The New Yorker I was explaining about above defeated all attemps to overwhelm it, whereas all the others on the market failed in less than 1 minute. The thieves are not stupid, they instantly know the model or type of lock and use the proper tool that will do it the quickest.

Maraxis, think about this way: if you have a cheap bike use a cheaper lock because most bike thieves will not be interested in it anyway, but if you have a real expensive bike you should use the best lock. I would not put an $1,000 alarm system on a $1,000 car, but if I owned a $70,000 Dodge Viper I would probably use a $1,000 alarm system. Does that make sense?

Originally posted by froze

Maraxis, think about this way: if you have a cheap bike use a cheaper lock because most bike thieves will not be interested in it anyway, but if you have a real expensive bike you should use the best lock. I would not put an $1,000 alarm system on a $1,000 car, but if I owned a $70,000 Dodge Viper I would probably use a $1,000 alarm system. Does that make sense?

I use a decent lock, rated to be resistant to a 5 minute attack by a pro. thief. All-in-all my locks cost about 10% of the value of the bike. Armed with bike insurance too I'm hopefully covered. However, I'd still be pretty miffed if I went to get on my bike and it wasn't there! Think :crash: but with the thief instead of the PC. ;)

On my commuter bike I carry a lock in my panniers. That is uncommon though since I rarely stop anywhere that I am not taking my bike inside with me. I did go to the dentist one time on the way into the office. I did not lock up my bike, just hid it behind the building where it was highly unlikely someone would be and brought th efront wheel in. No one can ride off with it that way, but they could steal it. Just one way to deter someone.