UKC

My sister found well known, kid from next door, with a friend in our garden and we later discovered somebody had a fiddle with the lock.

https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1/1535405_750443528301163...

3 more strands of wire left...

Got a couple of chains to replace the lock, is that a more bombproof option?

In reply to filip.kamycki:

is that actually english?

In reply to Kimono:

Expand?

In reply to filip.kamycki:


Not since the advent of the cordless angle grinder

In reply to filip.kamycki:

So what I think you're telling us some local scrotes got caught trying to cut through the cable locks on the bikes in your garden.

Chains only tend to work if they're very big and heavy, but can be a good option for securing bikes at home. Cable locks are always crap, because when attacked with a cutting implement they're only as strong as the individual strands. They also tend to have far less metal in than they appear to have - you can see in that photo how little of the cable is actually metal, compared to how much is worthless rubber/plastic.

For securing bikes outdoors, I've always favoured D-locks for their bombproofness and difficulty in cutting. To go through a good hardened-steel D-lock in a short enough time, a thief needs a portable angle grinder, which is noisy and bulky, or a massive set of bolt clippers. Cable locks, by comparison, can be gone through with very simple hand tools - a hacksaw, or small cable cutters. They're also relatively easy to carry with you.

If you don't need the locks to be portable, you could go for some heavy-duty chains of the type used to secure motorbikes. Make sure they're fixed to something extremely solid - slats of a wooden fence isn't good enough!

Stewie

In reply to filip.kamycki:

How valuable is the bike?

If someone wants really your bike then no lock will stop them...

In reply to filip.kamycki:

Apologies for the messy/chaotic way in which the first post was written.

But yes, the point is, the little rats tried nicking it and messed up the lock and scratched the frame (they would probably get away with it if not the fact they were caught).

Doubt anyone would have a go with an angle grinder.

I ended up investing in "Knog Straight Jacket Fatty Chain and Lock"

...and its smaller version (from what I can see already, I overpaid big time - but I didn't want to leave the bike unprotected).

The bikes are attached to a thick, fixed, old metal pipe so D-locks were not an option. I'm not sure of the value of the bike (it was a gift) but it's certainly worth keeping safe.

In reply to filip.kamycki:

Depending where the bike is situated you could fix either a genuine security camera, or one of the fake ones so it's obviously looking at the bike. It won't deter the determined, but does act as a discouragement. If your bike is valuable you can also get tracker devices that will SMS you it's position. They start at around £25.

You might also want to tell your neighbours that if their child is found in your garden again he might have a fatal accident.

In reply to wilkesley:

I leave crossbow bolts sticking out of my garden fence,
Used to have many nocturnal prowlers, surprisingly few these days.

In reply to filip.kamycki:

You need to keep the bike inside. If they can muck around with the lock, they can bend the wheels/ sever the brake-cables.

I don't really believe in bike-locks. When I buy one I just go for the lightest and flimsiest I can see. Because all it's there for is to stop someone lifting the bike on impulse. As others have remarked, no lock will stop a determined thief, and no lock will stop a vandal either. So why cumber yourself with the weight of a superduper non-destroyable lock?

Also, what if you lose your keys? This happens. And if you have a superduper, you've just lost your bike. Whereas if you buy a flimsy little comedy wire to secure your bike, all you need is a pair of low-spec bolt cutters, and hey presto, your bike is free.

In reply to Tim Chappell:

Edited to say I do agree with this bit!




I don't agree with that, sorry. I had my bike stolen from one of the bike parks in Cambridge, a well lit, well used bike park in a car park, during the afternoon. While I accept that determined thiefs will take your bike whatever the lock, particularly if they won't be disturbed, if I'd had a decent D lock rather than a mid-range cable lock, that I now know could be snipped through in a few seconds, I'm pretty sure I would still have that bike. I would never use a cable lock again. My D lock fixes to a bracket on the new bike when not in use and is therefore no hassle to carry either.

Cat

In reply to filip.kamycki:

LCC video here on street bike locking:

youtube.com/watch?v=RxBmfvwJnZM&

The guy in it is mildly annoying but is saying good stuff. Sadly Barry died a couple of years ago while on holiday.

As Tim said, ideally it would be good to get the bikes indoors or at least under a solid cover like a metal bike box.

In reply to filip.kamycki:

I've never seen anything to compare with this stuff... seems a bit of a well-kept secret at the mo though

http://securityforbikes.com

In reply to Tom Hutton:

I have the shed shackle, it's good stuff and unless they want to take half the shed with them,the lock is going to be the weak point. I use it for my mtb as they are cheaper than my road bikes that live in the house.
My FIL also fabricated a sturdy deadlock for the shed too as well as ensuring hinges etc cannot be unscrewed from the outside.
Use a decent chain lock and D lock as well as a load of cables.
Also have a PIR in there which is linked wirelessly to the door bell chime (Siemens sold at B&Q).
Having had a bike pinched before I also have CCTV!

In reply to filip.kamycki:

I have an D-shackle and a cable with a hasp that is pretty much inaccessible when fastened around the ends of the cable - the theory is that the tools needed to cut one are not good for the other - except for an angle grinder

In reply to Tim Chappell:


Its the old tiger scenario. You only need to outrun the person next to you.
A decent lock means, unless its a really desirable bike, that they will go on to the next one instead.

In reply to filip.kamycki:

I don't think any lock is bomb proof. I have a Kryptonite D lock but I don't really rate it. On the plus side, they insure your bike for a year if it is stolen and they are good locks. On the negative side, the frame mount is a nightmare to fit (look it up on Youtube if you want to save time) and when fully fitted / mounted, the lock rattles around like anything.

In reply to ByEek:

Yeah I've been having doubts about my Kryptolock. The frame mount I fitted, and upon realising how much I hated the rattle, and how unlikely I was to ever use it without the snake cable I got with it, decided to take it off again.

Then, during Christ Church Regatta when lots of people are borrowing bikes, somebody managed to accidentally borrow mine using a different Kryptonite key. This person had a bike described to them and a key given, they got to the bike park and spotted mine, thought it roughly fitted the description, and managed to unlock it! Since then I've been meaning to replace the lock.

In reply to filip.kamycki:

Almax chains are pretty substantial. Doesn't look like they're cuttable by hand tools, and powertools tend to attract attention.

Perhaps you should be planting a nice border of thorns and nettles around your garden to discourage visitors, though?

In reply to stewieatb:


Gosh!

In reply to filip.kamycki:

That or a good D-lock.

The important thing is to make it more secure than any other local nickable bikes. It doesn't have to be perfect, just good enough to make them choose the easier option of not nicking yours and instead nicking somebody else's.

Same as home security, really. You can break into any house by shoving a brick through the window. But if yours has an alarm and next door's doesn't, they'll go for next door's.

Neil

In reply to Neil Williams:

There was a video which did the rounds a while ago of a manufacturer of motorbike chain locks timing how long it took them to break through heavy chain locks from various different manufacturers (including their own locks).
Basically, a 4-foot bolt cutter will cut through the majority of chains in less than a minute. Any D-lock wouldn't last more than a few seconds. The company were proud that their chains lasted as long as 3 minutes or something.

So the take home message is, if somebody really wants to nick your bike, they will. So the best you can hope to deter is the opportunistic thief. I have a very heavy chain lock which set me back about 80 quid. It has seen plenty of attention from the streets of Barcelona (notorious for bike theft) but nobody's yet got close to breaking it.

However, given that I do lock my bike outside mentally I have resigned myself to the possibility that it might be nicked. If the thought of having your bike nicked sickens you, then you have to keep it indoors.

In reply to Alun:

And if you can't afford for it to be nicked, get a cheaper bike, or get insurance.

Neil

In reply to Neil Williams:

When using D-lock make sure you do not lock it in the middle of the frame. They can flip the bike and leverage the lock open. It's strong and stiff, which makes them prone to leverage forces.

A proper hardened steel chain with squared of shackles (the square piece insures it's harder to start cutting, since you get the full thickness at the beginning of the cut) and a lock which has it bolt covered by the chain (protects the bolt) and a smooth slick outside (causes tools to slip of) is one of the best options.

In reply to tjin:

Thank you for all the great advice!