Reply With QuoteShitty news, Gareth and I feel for the lad.
I think in this day and age, if someone want’s something they’ll find a way to take it, irrespective of what you use to safeguard it.
Scrotes!
New bike security tips
Recently helped to buy a brand new Hybrid Bike for one of my girlfriends kids for his 15th birthday but it was stolen yesterday. It was outside his gym (CCTV coverage unknown) and the theives just cut the lock (I'm not sure what type he had aside from it went through the wheel and frame) and he's obviously devasted to have lost his brand new bike. I think that one of the issues is that his gym is next door to an Evans cycle shop so "might" (yes, could be adding 2+2 and making 5 here......) is a bit of a theft magnent for nice bikes in that immediate area maybe?
Would appear that her household insurance has a bike exclusion in the policy and even though they have reported it to the police I seriously doubt anything will come of that. So we're going to have to buy him a new, replacement bike and I wanted to ask what the best recommendations for security for that going forwards.
Or is it just a waste of time/bad luck and likely to happen all over again?! Feel sick for him as he's a very conscientious young man and is pretty upset this has occured.
Thanks.
Shitty news, Gareth and I feel for the lad.
I think in this day and age, if someone want’s something they’ll find a way to take it, irrespective of what you use to safeguard it.
Scrotes!
That's rough and I doubt that the cops will do much. There's a few things you can do to deter thieves, such as get a really strong u-lock, fit locking hubs, always lock through frame and wheels to an immovable object in a busy location, or just get a rat bike that no-one will want!
The thieves carry battery powered disc cutters, they will go through any lock, it's just a case of how long it takes.
There is nothing lower than stealing a persons bicycle ...
Heaviest lock you can carry is the answer ... but I also use one of these on bike alarms which sound if the bike is moved: https://www.knog.com/pages/scout-bike-alarm-and-finder
These also include an AirTag for the Apple Find My app.
The Knog Scout will also alert your mobile if it is activated.
That said the alarm is only of use if someone is willing to intervein if the thief is still cutting the lock ...
Decent bike locks will have a Sold Secure rating (bronze, silver, gold). Gold being the hardest to get past. Id recommend a gold rated D lock.
The problem is that the best locks are firstly expensive and also heavy so its a trade off. If the bike is a few hundred then maybe £100 on locks is excessive. Id say most gold rated locks would deter a thief on a lower cost bike. There are many videos however of thieves spending 5+ mins with heavy duty grinder to remove a lock and most people wouldn't intervene.
Assuming you get a decent lock then its general tips.
https://www.bikeregister.com/advice/...tect-your-bike
You ideally want to use two types of lock. Although all can be cut through with an angle grinder, a cable lock is harder to use an angle grinder on, but susceptible to a bolt cropper. You are best off pairing a cable lock with a lock that can't be bolt cropped. Any potential thief then has to have two different tools to get away with the bike quickly.
Also, you should make your bike pirhanna proof by locking the wheels to the frame, making sure the saddle isn't quick release etc.
This is on sale at the moment:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JNXN7...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
Two bikes. Crappy one for the gym and new one for where he can keep an eye on it.
Lot of thieves carry bolt cutters and just watched a video of a guy cutting through a kryptonite lock with little effort
Not the sort of bike you sell for parts and unless the bike shop is staffed by really stupid people who sh*t where they eat. Possibly they didn't steal it (doesn't mean they didn't call someone else though)
Have a facebook page alerting people to thefts in the area? Check any online sales type sites.
Hopefully you have a s/n and pics of the bike
Good luck on finding it
DON
As said, battery powered angle grinders have changed the game. I recently purchased a new ebike and did a bit of reading around the subject. Bike Register and a specific insurance policy seemed to be the best way forward for me. The policy insists on a gold standard lock and costs around £12 per month. You can invest in a tracker but there are numerous stories of the Police not being interested even when told where the bike has ended up.
Saw CCTV the other week of a staff members bicycle stolen in less than 5 seconds. Would have taken longer to unlock it.
I think for places like this Brompton is the only sensible route without secure parking but a Brompton isn't going to suit everyone.
Hopefully he perks up soon and finds a way around it.
The speed at which a scrote can steal a bike is shocking when they use a grinder. Horrible when possessions get stolen or damaged & hard to relax after the event.
Agree with the above. One of our boys at Uni has a decent bike for road riding that never leaves his sight but uses an old Diamondback MTB I purchased in 1996 for urban trips on the basis it's clearly of little resale value. You don't need a decent bike to go to the gym but I totally appreciate how frustrating it is to have to think this way and to see bike thieves cutting through locks unchallenged and with little fear of being caught. Sometimes the more draconian punishments feel like they might be useful for a while at least....
Best security measure is to have the roughest bike in the rack.
Rat bike is the correct answer.
Anything else is just risking losing your nice bike.
Thank you all for the answers/advice here.
The bike in question was about £450 so any expenditure on new security kit has to be weighed against that cost (again!!).............plus as a number of you guys have said the real worth/protection they offer vs. a well equipped (and motivated) scum bag thief who is determined to take the new bike.
I suspect the answer is exactly as a few of you have kindly suggested which is to use his old bike to be left wherever he can't keep tabs on it and to reserve the new (replacement) one for using when he knows it's safe/within sight but still with a decent lock.
Shouldn't be that way but it just is I guess....
Sorry to hear this Gareth.
Same thing happened to a gym in town a couple of weeks ago. The gym owner put the CCTV footage on a local Facebook page and within an hour they knew who it was. Apparently he’d been a spree and had stolen from a dozen places or so in the last few weeks. He was arrested and was sentenced to 12 months last week.
I avoid bike theft by not using mine unless I’m going somewhere with secure parking. If I’m going to the pub / shops I just take a Lime. Not helpful for those that need a bike to get around but my advice if you’re in a high crime area would be just by a £50 job and be done with it. Seems there’s little point owning anything nice these days…oh and add the bike to the insurance.
Originally Posted by Devonian
Thanks for that.
Think we need to step up the CCTV side of the follow up here……especially as we heard tonight that 3 of his friends have also had their bikes stolen today from outside the same gym in Guildford…..you couldn’t make it up!
Echoing the above posts, there’s sadly no real solution to deal with all the ****s now running wild out there short of taking it inside with you or at best having a ‘pub’ bike that is not worth nicking (even that is hard to achieve).
Ever since my PK Ripper was nicked at ROM skatepark 40 years ago I’ll never leave a bike out of sight.
If you have to then Doddy has a helpful video here:
https://youtu.be/zQfaFZ5OpOs
Last edited by Max...; 26th September 2022 at 22:43.
I had one stolen from my Uni about 30 years ago. It took about two weeks but we did track it down to a flat about 1/2 a mile from where it was locked up. It was advertised on a card in the local news agents.
Surprisingly the Police were interested, they asked my Dad to go in and confirm it was my bike (I was working that day) negotiate and leave to get cash. He did ID the bike, despite the fact it had been handpainted with white emulsion, the paint was still wet. He left and two policemen were knocking on the door in minutes. A further six were called in to escort the 'gent' downstairs, he was apparently reluctant to leave.
Each time it went to court the legal aid solicitor managed to get the hearing adjourned and after about three attempts the case was dropped. The solicitor then had the cheek to demand that the Police returned the bike! I'm glad to say that did not happen and I'm still riding it regularly.
I'm not sure if there is a moral to the story. If you're pissed off enough to put the effort in you stand a fair chance of finding the bike and getting it back, provided it was postcoded, or you have the frame serial number.
Sadly battery powered angle grinders have rendered most locks useless. Leaving you the choice of insuring it or riding something undesirable. Or slipping an airtag into the handlebar grips, locating the bike when it's next locked up and reaquiring it with the aid of some bolt croppers.
You can not steal your own property and the bike remains yours even if sold by the thief to an innocent third party.
The Met police and RBOKUT were marking and registering bikes free of charge in Kingston town centre the other week.
https://www.bikeregister.com
I have no idea about effectiveness, but I had mine done.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I cycle locally quite a lot for things like haircuts, shopping etc. I'd be reluctant to leave any bike of value chained up on the street which is why my 'shopper' bike is a well kept but inexpensive 10-year old Halfords Carrera. If I leave it at the shops, I leave it on the busy main road and try to find a rack with bikes of greater value to park next to.
I've got a Brompton just because I like the thing. Never gets used because it's still 10kg to lug around if I go into shops. Probably the wrong use case for a Brompton!
I'm currently weighing up whether or not to buy a relatively expensive gravel bike but fear it won't get used because I can't leave it anywhere. I'm wondering if those dual racks at places like Waterloo station are safe enough because of the volume of bikes that are parked there. There used to be a 'shop' in Piccadilly that you paid to leave your bike at...it was pretty expensive (as you'd expect if they have to pay to lease a Central London shop) and I think the pandemic saw it off.
I keep looking at bromptons on and off. Can't you fold it and wheel it around shops like this, or is that still a faff?
My mate had his bike nicked from outside the gym.
I use the on guard lock. Seems really secure and gold standard
https://postimg.cc/gallery/Sx7TQ3c
Yes, true, you can wheel them although that picture shows one with a rear pannier rack which gives you a second trolley wheel at the back...looks a bit more stable. As standard, you've only got the pair of wheels on the right hand side so if you were to let go the bike rests on the mudguard. I forgot about wheeling...it definitely makes things easier but for me still a bit of a faff when in and out of shops. Would prefer to buy a larger bike and find somewhere secure to lock it.I keep looking at bromptons on and off. Can't you fold it and wheel it around shops like this, or is that still a faff?
I keep looking at bromptons on and off. Can't you fold it and wheel it around shops like this, or is that still a faff?
I don’t see a 15 year old kid going for that bike
(Joke)
That's the ideal really, no one out stealing stuff and no compromise needing to be made.
Any 15 year old on a Brompton would need a thick skin, that's for sure. He'd never live it down.
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