From my experience, carrying a lock is essential for peace of mind during stops on long bike trips. I usually opt for a compact U-lock because it offers a good balance between security and weight, making it less of a hassle to carry.

I never carry a lock.

Over the years I accumulated bikes, bought and sold some. I love bikes, I own 4 road bikes and 2 touring bikes.
And I am not worried at all about losing my gear.

I carry this lock which weighs 1.90 kg plus a cable which weighs 0.52 kg. So converted to pounds that would be 5.3 lb total weight.

I'd rather carry all that weight than deal with the total pain in the ass of buying a replacement touring bike in a developing country.

https://hiplok.com/product/hiplok-d1000/

https://www.kryptonitelock.com/en/pr...l?type=bicycle

Great take about thinking like a thief. A higher end road bike that is way nicer than the fairly crappy e-bike next to it may not be as attractive to a thief.

I have a frame lock, and frame bag containing a heavy duty chain.
https://mobil.abus.com/int/Consumer/...100-bag-ST5950

It was a condition of the bike insurance to have a lock with this degree of security.

I also added a Fosmon wobble alarm: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07PQ92SHC
It is great except that the arm/disarm sounds are louder than the alarm siren, so you have to hold your hand over the device when you arm/disarm it to avoid waking everyone up. Stupidly, the volume control applies to both alarm siren and arm/disarm beeps - instead of just the latter.

Agree on average though still useful to be cautious. Two counter examples:
1) As a hobby, my brother has designed and had built a variety of customized folding bicycles. He had one stolen in Boulder, Colorado (not touring). In addition to a one of a kind frame it also had a belt drive. It was still stolen. It got recovered though after someone near homeless shelter spotted the unusual bike abandoned.
2) Cycling through Africa our group had two bicycles stolen in Tanzania. They were also recovered a few days later - in part with help from tribal elders. Also a case of being abnormal enough to be noticed.

I saw a positive review of this cable on youtube. It's very light. You use it like a zip tie, and there is a "key" to release it. It has similar convenience and security to a sky lock, but maybe it's better because it's smaller. I'm not sure.

Agree. I like the Knog Scout. It's both an alarm and taps into the Apple Find Me (AirTag) network. That and a relatively decent lock make my bike a lot more inconvenient to steal than someone else's nearby.

I carry a hiplok z as it's light and I can just hook it to dangle off somewhere on my bike. Just for when I run into a shop or something. If I'm camping, I lock it to itself by the tent. And I'll just leave it there if I leave the campsite for a wander.

I carry 2. An ABUS granite 85 cm folding lock. Crooks don't seem to know how to deal with them.
And medium key lock with a chain about 33" for bigger trees and light poles. Otherwise it's around the front wheel and rack for longer times like at the dentist.
I'm glad I don't need to worry about campgrounds that I don't stay at.

Gotta have something. When I'm out on a ride (tour):

https://www.abus.com/usa/Products/Bi...esorflex-6615C

Cable with steel sheath and combo lock.
I feel fairly confident when I'm inside a store for 5 minutes in a (seemingly) safe area or locked to a picnic table in a campground next to my tent.
Of course, it is no match for bolt cutters or an angle grinder.
But it seems to be a fair compromise between weight and security, especially for a bike that you keep your eye on most of the time.

But ya gotta use something!

Don't be like me, I learned my lesson the hard way last June.

Can you expand? (stolen, unlocked?)

Yeah, it's a light and convenient 5-minute lock. I nearly always carry one with me for local rides

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c874a4885c.jpg

Yes definitely. Nothing heavy duty, but enough to stop someone just coming along and cycling off in seconds

You might be surprised at just how resistant to those two common bike-thief tools that lock is. It is a combination version of the lock i posted about above:

They had used a knife to cut away the rubber covering, which meant that the steel shell segment that they attacked with the angle grinder was totally free to spin. It had a line scored in it going all around the shell from spinning while in contact with the grinding wheel.

They did not have the sense to try on a rubber-shielded portion to see if the rubber would hold the shell in place to allow effective cutting, but i suspect that this wouldn't work much better anyway.

My 5-minute lock, so to speak, is to disable the bike in various ways. Loosen the quick release skewers. I have the old style dropouts that face forward, so an undone skewer makes the rear wheel slide forward and jam against the chain stays. If the front wheel falls off, it will surely disable the rider. I also undo the brake quick releases, and I also put the rear derailleur in a big cog and then push the shifter so the bike will shift to a small cog, further gumming up the works.

If you did not bring a lock, I see that as a good plan. Especially the shifter.

But in those situations I am usually quite pleased that I brought a skier type lock. Is extremely fast to use, especially because of the spring loaded cable retractor when I am done unlocking it.

My bigger heavier locks take enough time to use that sometimes I just do not want to bother, and the skier type lock is great for those low risk situations.

In the last couple of years there were a few times when I wanted to leave a bike somewhere for a week or two. Generally low risk areas, but still when a bike is left for that long, some people think it is abandoned even if it is locked up. This is not for bike touring, it is for shuttling a vehicle before or after a backpacking trip. And I have used an old Bridgestone bike I got at a garage sale for $5 USD a decade ago for that purpose.

The Bridgestone had been stored outside for over a decade when I bought it, it looked like this.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ae3f6d0542.jpg

After I put a couple days of work into it, and maybe $50 in parts, it looked like this.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4cf7e627f5.jpg

But, I would hate to lose it, it has been my errand bike for the past decade. So, I get a bit nervous about leaving it somewhere for a week or two.

Last summer someone discarded this for the garbage. This is pre-index shifting, and old enough that there is not a single bolt on it that uses an allen wrench. Has a five speed freewheel. I am guessing late 1970s or early to mid 1980s for vintage. Chromed steel rims. One piece steel crank. Three piece hubs.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ac20cf2ca9.jpg

I brought it home, sent photos to a friend that volunteers time at a charity and asked if they might want it. He said bikes like that get recycled for the metal.

So, this will be my new throw away bike for when I have to leave a bike somewhere for a week or two where someone might steal it.

I had to replace two cables and the rear derailleur. I am not sure if I will trust those tires or not, so far they do hold air, but I would hate to pick up speed on a downhill and have a blow out so I will probably put other tires on it, which unfortunately will make it more valuable.

I still have to decide if the chain is recoverable or if I need to buy a new 5 speed chain.

But I think this will be my new throw away bike. Unfortunately, the saddle will be about two inches too low for me, so don't want to do any really long rides on it. I might have to buy a used seatpost for it if it is too uncomfortable.

When I leave it somewhere for a week or two, it will have a really inexpensive lock on it, I would hate to come back later and find one of my more expensive locks was cut.

So maybe it's a difference in how we tour? I visit local history museums. I tour notable structures. I take hikes to pretty waterfalls, walk historic battlegrounds &etc. I carry a decent lock.

Five-minute lock? Never let the bike out of my sight? Situational awareness? Beater bike I found in an alley? Accepting the tao of coming out of the Rosebud County Museum and finding everything gone, knowing I could catch a Greyhound to Billings and more or less replace everything? Hey, if it works for you and your touring MO, cool. Save the 356g. :thumb:

Last June I had spent the whole day making my way north thru L.A. with a combination of cycling and Metrolink train to Emma Wood State Park in Ventura. I arrived after midnight, exhausted, threw up my tent and crashed hard. In my near delirium I did not lock my bike, and a picnic table was right there. Woke up at sunrise and my bike and panniers were gone, a white 1992 Trek Multitrack 750, built for a round the world trip. Berthoud front bag and saddle, Son generator hub and Supernova headlight, Nitto racks, Carridice Super C front and rear panniers, Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, all gone. But it was my first bike stolen in over 50 years, so I'm crossing my fingers and holding my breath for the next 50. :D
I'm over it now and started over with a new Bike Friday Diamond Llama decked out for touring.
Learned my lesson! :cry:

I did kinda wonder how effective they might be in real life. You just never know nowadays. I figured I would just keep the honest people honest. :lol:

Oh man that sucks. Sorry. Hope the Diamond Llama works out for you.

HelpSingularity Sorry for your loss...

Experiences like yours are clearly unfortunate. Rare, but they do happen. Thanks for reminding us that we need to be careful, even in a case like yours where you left your bike after sunset and it was already gone before sunrise.

***

My community used to license bicycles, I licensed all of mine to get the sticker on the bike that the police could use to find the owner if found later.

My community stopped licensing bikes, they instead recommended using Bike Index or a similar service. I listed all my bikes on Bike Index. I also bought the Bike Index stickers and put on my bikes. I bought the generic stickers (no QR code), but it appears such stickers are no longer available on their website.
https://bikeindex.org

These stickers and registrations are no guarantee, but they can help. Several decades ago my dad's bike was stolen, months later the police called and said come and pick up your bike. It was in terrible shape, but a local bike shop straightened the bent frame and fork, I got it working again with some use parts.

Someone on this forum (I do not recall whom) had his custom Co-Motion bike with Rohloff stolen out of his garage. Many months later, a bike shop called him, someone brought a bike in for repair and it sounded like it might be the one he informed local bike shops about. It was his. All serial numbers were ground off, but it was his.

use the medium-sized ottolock which coils up to fit in a rear jersey pocket (or can loop under the saddle rails…but that takes extra time to deploy and hang back up). able to install/undo in about 30 seconds. good enough to prevent opportunistic theft/snatch and go but wouldn’t feel comfy using it and having the bike out of my sight for longer than a quick, two minute bathroom break or taco shop lunch order.

A friend of mine had his Colnago C-40 stolen from inside a synagogue. Years later, someone walked into a shop trying to sell a C-40 for less than $200. The shop just happened to be owned by a cousin of the victim, who had sold it to him. The shop owner recognized the bike and persuaded the seller to leave it for a few days so he could inspect it. Dude agreed. The shop owner called his cousin who told him to look inside one of the bar ends. Sure enough, his business card was still inside. The shop owner also removed one of the tires to check for his signature, which he always put on his hand-built wheels. There it was. They ended up paying the asking price to avoid trouble later.

Good idea to put an identifier inside a rim. I put stickers here and there in some bikes, but they often fell off or got wet and became a wet layer of slush. I think I will try some inside rims, I am pulling tires off bikes often enough, I just have to remember this.

Most of my bikes have bar end shifters, not an easy place to hide a note.

Unfortunately, not that rare in the suburban SoCal coastal Hike and Bike sites. Expect a wretched hive of scum and villainy at some, but maybe you'll have a pleasant surprise...

I have heard that the further south you go on the Pacific Coast, the worse it gets for hiker biker sites.

I rode from Astoria to San Francisco in 2014. Twice reported some unsavory types to park rangers.

First was a big guy walking into my camp area with a large dog, he apparently did not see me at first, he was about 20 feet from a picnic table with a lot of our stuff on it. When he saw me, he seemed unsure, should he pretend he is innocent or threaten me with his dog. I pulled out my phone and opened it up (flip phone) so I could call 911 if I had to, he then chose to leave after saying that he paid taxes and had as much right to be there as I did.

Second time was two homeless people that moved into our site after we called it a night. Ranger chased them out.

I think part of the problem is how the staff treats their campers at campsites. In Oregon, the park staff were great, very helpful. In California I started to give some constructive criticism to a park staffer, and she immediately informed me that we were very lucky that they allowed us to have hiker biker sites because we were low revenue and the RV owners were the ones that deserved good service. At other California parks, I found the attitude to generally be similar to that. When that poor attitude of not supporting hiker biker site users is prevalent, that encourages the lawless faction to take advantage of that.