locking your bikes up (inside)...
 

anyone else do this - I store my fleet in my garage and its not even a high end fleet (see sig)
but i they mean alot to me and I guess i got a little paranoid about some young punk sauntering by and grabbing one of my fam and breaking my heart

anyway - i got them locked up now - wife thinks i'm a little overboard but...
some of you guys (or gals) must do the same thing - no?

btw - i realize that any lock or scheme can be be defeated - i'm just trying to be proactive with a deterrent system and prevent the teenage punk looking for a joyride from taking a prized fleet member

You're from Joisey? I don't think you're overreacting at all. ;)

(whatever lets you sleep tight :thumb:)

I'd say you are being smart if bike thieves are big in your area. growing up in chicago suburbs, thieves were huge and we locked our bikes in the garage.

edit: reading some of the posts at http://chicago.stolenbike.org/ makes me think locking it in ones home might be smart too.

Most locks will be useless unless it is anchored down to a permanent structure with a heavy chain. If not, the thief would just shove the bike(s) including the lock(s) into a van and deal with the lock(s) later, after their getaway.
If you really want your bikes to be safer, take them inside your house to an interior room or basement......but then you'll have to explain to the wifey why the bikes are moving in....:rolleyes:

Chombi

Chombi, you are right for the serious burglars but lower level punks might not want a bike they cant ride away on.

I highly doubt it's necessary, but that shouldn't stop you if it makes you feel better.

My home was burglarized last November. The thief opened the storm door and kicked the main door until he busted it and got in at around noon on a weekday. He took our iPad, MacBook, some jewelry and my Gibson Songwriter Deluxe. He didn't touch any of my bikes or components.

My guess is that if the bikes move into the house, you will be moving into that garage or the doghouse, ;). We're buying a new house soon with a garage. Most of the bikes are going there and you'd better believe that I plan on locking them down to a permanent structure. But with insurance, this is not a big fear since any loss will be covered. Just take good pics of the bikes for insurance purposes.

all the bikes are locked to a 6x6 post that is "permanent" - i say this in quotes because the post is wood
basically - if someone really wants my bikes - they can defeat the chains or the post by sawing threw it - i realize this - but like i said my concern is thieves looking for that easy target - a garage door open for a brief moment where they grab and go - if you got tools, the time and balls - then hey - if that type of character is roaming through my stuff - then i'd be more happy that my family wasnt there - in other words - the bikes would be the last of my concerns
i feel my neighborhood is a good one but...there is a HEALTHY vintage CL market...too healthy IMO

If I am not on it, it is locked to something.

Read this:

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may...bikes-20120509

a very good reason to do sales at a public place and not your home - less convenient but still..

6 X 6 wooden post? I'd say you can sleep OK. Knock on wood. Bikes are big and cumbersome. Most punk thieves will probably target your smaller valuables.

Best to bring the bikes in your home, do your have a basement? If so, excavate a hole in the basement floor, put bikes in hole, fill with cement. Be sure to replace tile or carpeting on top of the new cement floor so a thief does not suspect the bikes are underneath.

This article was posted over on the CR list. Much as I agree with Dale's policy of no anonymity, posting one's name, town and state doesn't make me feel real comfortable. I haven't got much of a collection, but some of the guys on that list have some very valuable collections.

+1 I almost always do this. It's not difficult to make it sound like a convenience for the buyer.

I lock most of my bikes together when they are stored. I have had several bikes stolen from a locked storage building, and FWIW this building was built like a regular house not one of those little hut things. They actually took the bikes out the top section of a double hung window because there was plywood nailed over the bottom half of the window, and they didn't take just one bike they took 5 as well as a bunch of tools and camping equipment. They were determined that is for sure. I only managed to recover one of those bikes and none of the other stuff. Insurance paid very little.

Aaron :)

do you know how easy it is to cut through tile and cement - that won't ease my mind at all ;)

Nope, it is. I've had 2 bikes stolen out of our garage. Crimes of opportunity I believe. Couple punk kids saw my son's Eastern BMX and came back at night, broken in and grabbed it. Had an other BMX taken while we ate dinner...someone left the door open. One recovered the other parted out before we ID'd the theif. A simple cable lock would have prevented both events.

You forgot the hungry pitbull on top of the carpeting.........Grandma on a rocker with a buckshot loaded double barelled shotgun will work too!:D

Chombi

I keep my most valuable bike inside my attached garage, chained to a couple of monster eyehooks screwed into wall studs, backed up with a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit. The bike is also listed as a separate item and insured for full replacement value on my homeowner's policy. This bike isn't worth anything compared to what some of you guys have in your stables, and maybe my precautions are overkill. But one day a couple of years ago my neighbor across the street had his relatively inexpensive hybrid stolen out of his garage in broad daylight. I considered myself warned.

i'm glad to see i'm not alone in my concerns - the system as i have it set now allows me to not worry about theft - sure it could still happen but its alot less likely - my buddy has a $4000 supersix just leaning against the wall in his garage and would never consider locking it up but to each their own - all my bikes put together probably have less value but collecting them has become a passionate journey (hey - i started out with free spirits and varsities) and they hold much more value than a monetary assessment would indicate

I own 9 bikes and 0 locks, but I do have a monitored alarm system and an Australian Cattle Dog.

^^ We had a Queensland Blue Healer on the farm, excellent deterrent.^^

My beagle would just try to mate with any thief.

I have a system that calls my cell when someone is on premises, and if a door or window opens.
That's good enough for me. I work from home, and I'm sure I could conjur up a "crazy, violent old dude" if needed.

A co-worker races motocross. Had (had!) 2 motorcycles, an '11 CRF450 and an '07 CRF250. In his garage adjacent to his apartment. Garage has automatic door, bikes locked to each other and there respective stands with a monsterous hardened chain.

He got up on a Saturday morning to go ride and, walking down the stairs, noted that the garage door was part way up. Odd, he thought.

Turns out the thieves cut a hole in the back of the garage with a sawzall. Put somebody through the hole in the wall, open big door, cut the locks, and viola....no more MX bikes. $12k gone. Insurance paid $1500.00.

If they want your stuff, they will get it.

He's my daughter's dog and she corrected me. He's a Queensland Heeler according to his papers. He's so intelligent it's kind of spooky. He seems to understand everything I say to him and a look is often enough. He has a very sweet and friendly disposition, but you're not getting anywhere near her if he decides he doesn't like you. He has a wild dog gait that can freak people out. She was accused of bringing a dingo to the dog park one time. A woman once insisted that he's a coyote. The breed is actually part dingo.

I'm not a dog guy but I do like those that are close to their wild kin. And the very smart ones. Got a friend with a Basenji who calls him on his cell phone if there is anyone on the premises. Invariably, when he gets home there is only shoes and a ball cap left. Why the dog even bothers calling is beyond me.