meatball

What would you reccomend be done to a bike to make someone not want to / be less able to strip it or out and out steal it?

hyperRevue

I use two mini u-locks.
One from the front wheel to the frame and the other for the rear wheel and frame to whatever i'm locking it to.
That makes the main parts pretty much safe.
As a general rule, I stay away from all things quick release.
There is no real way to make your bike 100% safe.
If a thief wants it badly enough, he or she will get it.
But I feel like the measures I go to make it as unwelcoming as possible.

drolldurham

i've always wondered how effective it would be to design a sticker to put on the bike that says it has some new sort of anti-theft radio-tracking device. kind of like putting a "brinks home security" sign in front of your house when you don't really have it.

or just hide in the bushes with a paintball gun.

CarbonCoalesced

Ride a Motobecane. If people barely buy them because they're afraid of french/swiss threading, who in their right mind would steal one?

ostro

Theft is a crime of opportunity and people who steal are not in their right mind. Most thieving ****s have no clue what they are taking.

CarbonCoalesced

"Depending where you ride/park it, a girl's frame bike is probably less likely to be stolen, too." -Quoted from the Schwinn Varsity thread on the classic/vintage forum.

So there you have it. Ride a girls bike. That should help it stay in one spot.

ImOnCrank

Razor wire the handlebars/seat? It may be a bit uncomfortable at first it's a great deterrent and man will you look hardcore.

Anyways, Krypto chain/flatkey lock + mini u-lock for rear wheel. Works pretty well so far. I'm just worried about my seat.

meatball

Yeah, guess I should get a mini u-lock for my rear wheel... I worry about the frame and rear wheel the most, the frame 'cause I love it, the wheel because it's the most expensive thing on the bike. Seems like carrying two locks around would be a big hassle. Guess I should invest in a Chrome.

skelly

Less of a hassle than replacing your bike.

crushkilldstroy

or just get a mixte frame so everyone thinks you're riding a girl's bike.

abe1x

ImOnCrank, is a "flatkey" lock one of those American Locks or similar, the ones stores where recommending after the krypto scandal? Cause if it is it ain't safe, at least not in NYC. Had a friend who lost a bike using one of those. To add insult to it all they took the kyrpto chain with it. Chopped right through the big old American Lock, the ones stores use on their gates, looked like it took two tries with a big ass bolt cutter.

I go the chain + mini route as well, and always try and lock both wheels and also lock both locks to the pole. Best is when you can get the chain through both wheels and then just use the mini on the frame.

gh-ap

if you live in a major city and you leave your bike outside at night for more than a couple hours, maybe you should reconsider having a super-bling bike. spraypaint and dirty-ass bartape is one way to go.

Aeroplane

"flatkey" refers to the type of krypto or OnGuard locks that replaced those with tubular keys. The tubular keyed locks could be picked with a Bic pen, that's why there was a "scandal". The flat keyed ones are extremely difficult to pick, but they can be physically compromised, just like the old tubular keyed ones. However, physically compromising a high-end lock is a VERY time consuming/difficult process that may require special tools.

Two locks (one for rear wheel/frame, one for front wheel) is about as safe as you can get as far as locking a bike. Maybe taking the front wheel off and locking that in the same lock as the rear wheel would work too. Everything else comes down to methods: locking up in a visible area, with reputable people around who will notice if somebody is messing with it, etc.

Also, some people use a length of bike chain wrapped with inner-tube to secure the seat to the seat-stays.

indigosky

Back in school the "fun" thing was to steal people's entire handlebar/stem/levers/shifter setup with one allen key and some cable cutters. That could easily be a couple hundred bucks right there to replace. So we would drop hot solder into the allen head to prevent easy removal. When you needed to change the stem you could just re-heat the solder with the soldering gun and push the allen wrench in (displacing the hot solder).

This worked well for my campy c-record crank one bolt release too.

12XU

I go to school at a wealthy college, so I just use an Evolution mini U for convenience. If I'm in a big city, only the NY chain and mini U lock combo will make me feel remotely secure. The seat, bars, and cranks are still super succeptible to theft...

Devolution

No matter what you choose to use, your bike only really has to be more secure than the next guy's...

Cut throat sounding, but true.

-brad

chimblysweep

Anyone ever done the wax-in-the-allen-wrench-holes on phils before? i worry about my phils, and don't lock 'em up, but it seems like if i got a flat i'd be kicking myself (or perhaps just carry a lighter with the patch kit?)

1fluffhead

After having a bike stolen using Kryptonite I will never use any of their locks again. I wrote them and told them that too! Not that they care because I was using a lock that was not under their warranty policy. Oh well. Now I use the On Guard Rottweiler. It is heavy to carry, but I am still riding.

Pat Eisenhauer

Besides the no-bling, NY chain, American padlock, mini u-lock combo, I use the anti-saddle theft chain loop as well.

Someone still tried to steal my ripped, torn and faded old Selle Italia Flite Gel once anyway.

celephaiz

Its been said on the forums before but not in this thread (and i've since become a happy convert...

I usually just use an evolution mini that i lock the rear wheel (inside the rear triangle) to an immobile object. This protects my rear wheel AND frame from getting stolen (at least as much as any ulock (except maybe that NYC u). You do not need to lock the frame to anything for it to be secure. I should use an extra u for my front wheel but if it goes, i'm out the 40 bucks i paid for it an i have a backup specifically for that situation. As for handlebars/seat, sucks if they get stolen, but really, i don't ge too concerned about it.

Cyclist0383

Locking skewers. Onguard if you are in North America or Pitlock if you are in Europe. They work.

https://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...ory_rn=4500825



https://www.pitlock.de/en/

skelly

chain + mini. no problems yet. about the wax thing, i never thought about that, but anyone with a lighter could melt it. using solder idea is pretty good though.


How does that work? Through the seat and around the frame?

junioroverlord

I always use BAINT paint .

useless127

so not true. i know this is their own fault, but my friend's bikes were stolen out of thier back yards and guess what. they were girls bikes. no bike is safe from morons with an adjustable and some balls.

drolldurham

hah, someone's having too much fun with the blur tool/clone stamp tool