What Level Of Locking Is Necessary?
 

This is a question about bike locking.

Suppose you have a bike that is nice enough but not very valuable. Maybe worth $300-400 if sold legitimately on Craigslist. In this case we're talking a 30 year old road bike with nice vintage components. It's not a $3000 carbon bike or anything like that. But you are going to park that bike in the high school racks all the (school) day, every (school) day.

What level of locking do you think is required?

Part of me thinks a medium grade U lock and locking skewers is plenty. Reasoning is, casual thieves (meth heads, tweakers, joyriders) won't bother with a U locked bike, any U lock, they'll just move on. There are plenty of cable locked bikes. And the pro thieves are looking for more valuable bikes to use their grinders on.

Part of me thinks a high grade U lock AND a heavy chain is needed. Reasoning is, the bike will be there every day so eventually some pro will decide he wants it, maybe just a little score on a slow day when no $3000 bikes are ripe. Only chance to dissuade him is to force him to make four cuts through the thickest shackles available.

What do you think? I've read that the vast majority of stolen bikes in Portland were cable locked or stolen from garages or cars. That is what got me thinking about what locks to supply my son with.

"I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you"

Think like a thief. Take a look at the rack where your son will be storing his ride. Look for better bikes with crappy locks, QR skewers, etc. You don't have to build Fort Knox to protect his bike, just have a lower value target with a better lock than others on the same rack. High schools and colleges are notorious for having numerous bikes, poorly secured with crappy locks.

A ring lock that accepts a chain or cable is one way to go. The ring lock is permanently mounted on the bike and the chain or cable (made specifically for that lock) is always connected to the ring lock.

My bike cost more than €4000 and I just use a ring lock (for the insurance) and an additional Abus U lock (which is mounted on the bike). That U lock gets used if I'm concerned about the area where I'm parked. Normally though I don't use it. As long as I can provide my insurance company two ring lock keys, I covered for full replacement in case of theft.

Doesn't always work. Hardcore thieves work from vans on a per rack basis. And heavy duty bolt cutters will eat any chain and a bottlejack any u-lock.

Completely wrong, I'm afraid.

A lot of u-locks can be opened with simple leverage - a long piece of wood or metal scavenged from a skip of fencing - and even bottom feeder thieves know this. (http://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...k-pretzel.html) And they're as likely to be carrying the jack needed to defeat high quality U's as they are anglegrinders or heavy bolt cutters. And anglegrinders eat most u-locks anyway.


If you're locking in the same place every day, then stash a HEAVY chain there. Or two. Something like this:

Bicycle Fixation: Security

..And add a u-lock.

I'd get a beater for this sort of job. I would NOT have nice "components" on it, because people will strip these or cut through the frame and carry it away to get them. Buy a 90's hardtail MTB, paint the frame an awful color and giver it with dozens of UGLY stickers (thieves hate removing them), put $10 thumbies on, slosh paint and epoxy on the rims, dremel the brand names off the derailers and brakes, rip and duct tape repair the saddle, then add good locks and skewers - you now have a bike that might deter thieves because you haven't left a single component on it that can be sold effectively. (Except the tyres, I suppose.)

Otherwise, just lock in the best place you can, use those skewers and multiple locks - one chain and one good u-lock (positioned so it can't be levered or bottle jacked without destroying the frame) and trust that you don't get unlucky.

If your insurer is satisfied with that, great. But such a lock can't work better than its chain, and any chain you can reasonably carry with your can be cut in seconds.

It depends on what level of thieves you have. In my area we don't have a lot of trouble but I would not leave a nice bike on a rack all day with any type of lock. If they want it they will get it. The best you can do is a good quality cable lock that is long enough to run through both wheels. Don't ride with an expensive seat, pedals , or bars and try to park next to nicer unlocked bikes.

Location, location .. PDX & NYC are different than small towns .. like AST

I own 2 Abus Locks.. 1 a combination chain(hardened) & integrated Key Lock, the other their Bordo Folding lock.
I have it's pouch mounted on the waterbottle mounts on my Bike Friday ..

Another bike, a NL Koga, has a ring lock on the front of its seat stays .. and a 1.4M plug in chain to go with it.
long enough to loop around the front wheel and the rack or signpost before plugging into the right side of the lock on the frame.

you will find that at Clever Cycles in PDX ... the Defender ring lock comes with a secure band mount for bikes that dont have a set of
integrated mounts ..(5x.8 Riv nuts in the case of the 7005 alloy Koga Frame )

Here in the Netherlands bike insurance is offered through your local bike shop (coupled to a large insurance company). The only requirement needed for bike replacement are the two keys that came with the (usually pre installed) ring lock. That's just how it's done over here. Almost all bikes have the ring lock installed. (As a point of reference, there are 400,000 bikes stolen every year here in Holland.)

I have an Abus U lock mounted on my bike and sometimes use it though since my bike is insured, I really don't have to. In many large Dutch cities we have free guarded parking for bikes. This is a relatively new development. (I know first hand that Den Bosch and Eindhoven have free guarded parking for bikes.)

Thanks.

Any suggestions for a U lock? Currently we have Kryptonite "Kryptolock Combo" U locks. We started using these when the kids were small and couldn't be counted on to not lose keys. My son parked his previous school bike (Novara hybrid w/ basket) outside his middle school using this lock, three years and the bike was never stolen. But I've read that combo U locks aren't that secure, and I'd like a U lock that locks both legs and requires two cuts. What would you suggest for a U lock that is keyed and locks both legs? Would you recommend a full size or a mini?

How about a chain? What would you recommend? I have never used a chain lock - truth! I started using Kryptonite U locks back when they were made from flat straps of steel (late 1970s?) and have used nothing but U locks since. So I don't know what thickness of link to get, whether to get an integrated chain or a separate lock, and what about those "noose" styles? I figure he'll leave the chain at school so it can be a long and heavy one. I'd like him to use the U lock on one part of the bike (e.g. stays and rear wheel) and the chain on another (e.g. downtube and front wheel).

Finally, the locking skewers. What is the best type? I'm assuming these are optional if he uses both U lock and chain at school, as described above; they would really be for when stops other than school.

Here is the bike he's locking

http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/y...psftb3o0c8.jpg

Sad thing is, the locks will end up costing more than the bike cost (a Craigslist buy with a few replacement bits from my parts pile).

This oughta do it.

Divers say "you don't have to outswim the shark, you only have to outswim your buddy".

The same logic applies to locking a bicycle. If you're bike is worth more than those around you, it's the more attractive target. Likewise, if you're lock is better or harder to defeat than those around you, the thief will move to an easier target.

So it's not about preventing theft, only about preventing theft of your bike, by encouraging the thief to pick a better target.

Other things to consider are how much care other users of the racks will take of your "nice vintage components". If nobody even attempts to steal the bike but some ape thumps their bike against it and damages it you're still left with a damaged or broken bike. If someone gets jealous of the "nice bike" and kicks the spokes you still get to push it home.

I second the idea to get an old beater bike so you don't care if it gets stolen or vandalised.

I have a beater Raleigh that I have managed to keep for over 30 years. I paid a whopping $25 for it back in 1982. No real financial loss if got stolen, but I would pissed at it getting gone and even more pissed at having to walk 7+ miles home. I had the biggest baddest chain lock I could lay hands on at the time, when U-locks came on the market I added one of those to the arsenal. Depending on WHERE and for HOW LONG the bike was going to be locked up would determine my locking strategy. I use ring locks on a lot of my bikes now for the convenience but back them up with something more substantial if the bike is going to be left out of sight for a longer period of time.

Making the bike harder to steel that the bikes around it is a good strategy too.

Aaron :)

I'm also a believer in using a semi-expendable bike with a basic locking system for that type of duty.

An alternative is to leave your heavy chain locked to the rack at school.

I think that the best way to answer this question is to simply ask yourself ,,Do I care if I lose this bike ?? If the answer is yes then you buy the best lock you can afford! If the answer is no, then just get a cheap lock and that's that?? no big deal,,,,,,

Very true, but the hardcore professional thieves are going to get your bike or its components no matter how well you lock it. If you live in an area where the hardcores are known to hit, your best defense is a cheap beater locked to a tree away from the bike rack.