seedsbelize 

Looking for ideas for locking one up, in low risk shopping function. I live in Mexico, and take my bike for general transportation when visiting the US. I've thought about simply duct taping over the couplers, matching the color to the bike, and locking it like a normal bike, but would, of course, be interested in some well thought out ideas as well. TIA.

rhenning

My wife has a S&S coupled custom built Seven bike and it takes a spectial tool to loosen the couplers. It would be real hard to open the couplers without the tools.Not something your average hardware store or bike thieves will have. Find something new to worry about. Roger.

Tourist in MSN

Locking the rear triangle would certainly prevent them from stealing that half of the bike unless they defeated the lock.

If your goal was to hide the couplers, if you slide a piece of inner tube rubber over the entire coupler, that would likely not hide things very well, it might call attention to that part of the frame. But that certainly would hide them from anyone that did not know what they were. I put a short piece of inner tube rubber over each end of my S&S couplers, but that is not to hide them, that is only to keep out the dirt and grime, the middle part of each of my couplers is still showing so that I can occasionally check to make sure they are still tight.

seedsbelize 

I have no doubt that they could be opened with a hammer and screwdriver, and possibly even a channel lock. But your're right, why worry?

fietsbob

Along MN's theme, but a longer section of inner tube to cover the whole BTC.
without the S&S spanner, it's going to need a big pipe wrench to unscrew the collar..

Right?

Dont own one but I used the wrench to pack & ship a bike for someone whose tour that ended here..

edelay

Some really poorly applied duct tape would make any potential thieves think the bike is damaged and likely decide not to steal it. I have used this tape technique to make watches and cameras look broken while travelling in the third world. So far, so good.

Rob_E

I have a U-lock with a cable. The U-lock goes through the rear wheel within the rear triangle ( https://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html ). The cable loops through the front wheel and the frame, with one end anchored in the U-bolt. Cables can obviously be cut, but so can U-locks if you're persistent. The point is that to get the bike you are either going to have to get through the U-lock or destroy the rear tire. Decoupling the bike will not help you. When on tour, my tool for the couplers is usually on the bike somewhere, but I still don't worry. The couplers are not common enough for many people to recognize how to split the bike. If they do, the process is not fast, and they will have to put the bike back together in many cases to get away. But if they succeed, and I locked it by my usual method, it won't matter. Basically it seems like any novice bike thief will not know what to do with couples, and any professional thief will focus on defeating locks rather than worrying about the 1 time in 1000 that they see a bike with couplers.

ttakata73

I second the sloppy tape idea, or maybe some foam bmx frame pads. No one would think a coupler is under it. The uglier the better, so unicorn and Ben10 stickers will automatically make it look like a cheap kids bike.

L Arnold

Put some Inner Tube over the couplers if concerned. Open it up and slide it over.
you could also carry some tools perhaps in the tube.

I, personally, would leave them exposed. They look great. Put an alarm on the Bike. I have heard Smart Halo is good.

have fun.