Originally Posted by stickerguy
question for anyone who has a bike with
s&s couplings or a ritchey break away:
Are you ever concerned about someone
breaking down your bike & stealing half of it?
I know a smart traveler would be sure to
lock up both parts, but you know.
jeff
I was wondering if it is even possible to lock both halves of the bike effectively, and found this thread searching. Note: I don't have S&S on my bike yet. I'm considering getting them installed before a trip next summer, and wonder how much of a problem the difficulty of locking a S&S securely is.
The front half of your bike is worth a lot. The front triangle of your frame won't be worth much, but they'd still get your fork, your headset, your brifters, your stem, your handlebars, front ract, lights, bell, panache, etc...
I know S&S bikes come with a special spanner, but from the design I suspect someone could get them loose with a flat head and a heavy object, if not with a strong twist of the wrist. Is it harder than it looks without the tool?
I guess if you locked around your headtube, they would have to either take your stem out of your fork and maybe cut your cables to get it over your top tube. That or take out your stem and get the fork out of your headset... In any case, you would have to take your bike apart, put something over the threads to protect them, and lock to a post with both the head-tube, your rear wheel (anywhere inside the triangle), and your front wheel in the lock.
If you have a U-lock and a cable, you could first put an end of the cable through the rear wheel and triangle, then pull the cable through itself, and finally lock your head-tube and the free end of the cable to an object after passing the free end through your front wheel. This way you've locked both triangles (well, technically not the front, but well enough) and both wheels. If you have enough cable length to pass it tightly over the handlebars it will make your front triangle that much harder to take apart and steal.
Perhaps you could design a clever braze-on that adds a closed loop to your front triangle for locking purposes. Maybe the loop could even serve multiple purposes... Mount for Bannana Guard? Sturdy bottle holder that is brazed to the frame? Ornate pump peg?
Can anyone with an S&S bike comment on how you lock it up and why you do it that way? Any anecdotes of partially stolen frames, or is this whole issue as yet a theory?
Drew