A guy that commuted by bike to where I used to work had a front pannier rack on his bike. He would pull the front wheel out of the bike and lock the front wheel with the back wheel to the bike rack that was attached to the pavement, his front pannier rack gave better support to hold his bike upright than a fork does, so the bike stayed upright.

This way, a thief would have to cut the lock AND then take the time to put the front wheel into the fork and attach, plus hook up the brake. I am not suggesting this for touring, just relaying what I have seen.

I have commented before that when touring, if you really were worried about theft in a campground, if your tent has a vestibule you can probably remove your front wheel and put your front wheel in the vestibule. Not many thieves would want to steal a bike that is missing a wheel. I have never pulled the front wheel off the bike to do that, ... yet.


That is a very good idea, I never thought of that. I typically hang my helmet from the top tube by the strap, could use a wheel instead. And could to that when I lock it, since I am still strapping my helmet to the bike when I lock it.