UKC

Got a crappy shed to sling my bike in now so wanted to add a bit of an extra deterrent.

I'm thinking of a trough filled with concrete with a could of cheap D-locks (got a few bikes to lock up) poking out enough to run my cable lock through. Was intending on spending about £10/lock or would it be just as secure to save myself ten bucks and use a couple of U-Bolts (or something else)??

In reply to baileyswalk:

Find some rebar and bend it before setting it in concrete. Off-cuts from a building site/skip might do?

In reply to baileyswalk:

I'd find some box section or angle and build that into the concrete. Box is pretty good because you can't cut it with croppers and it would take a while to saw through and even then would make a lot of noise.

Last time I made an anchor for bikes I went to the local steel stockists and had a rummage through the bins, paying the scrap price for the bits I took.

In reply to gethin_allen:

We use a bit of I beam from a steel framed building to secure our quad bike. It's buried in concrete and would take a long time to cut though with an angle grinder.

The weak part of the system is how you fasten the bike to the beam. We use a bit of heavy chain that we had lying about. You wouldn't be able to cut this with bolt cutters. The real weak point is the padlock, which is positioned in such a way as to make it hard to get at it with bolt cutters. The whole lot is inside a locked steel frame building.

As with all systems a determined thief will manage to break it. However, it would take them quite a long time and they would probably go for an easier target.

In reply to baileyswalk:

If you are setting it in the concrete it doesn't really matter what you use, it will be stronger than the chain/padlock you are using to secure the bike to the anchor. On that basis i'd aim for the cheapest possible solution/whatever you have access to.

In reply to baileyswalk:
The last or a recent episode of The Cycle Show had a section on locks which should be available on the itv player.

Concrete anchors seem overkill when the cable and cheap d locks can be cut instantly in near silence. Only the most expensive locks required the angle grinder.

Edit - concrete anchor stops them dragging bike away to break the lock at their leisure.

In reply to elsewhere:

I have a steel tubular anchor coupled with a decent D lock. The thief used a car jack on the lock and in the process bent the bike around the anchor. I would have been better off if they nicked the bike as I could have claimed on the Insurance.

If they really want it there is little you can do.

Al

In reply to baileyswalk:

Thanks for all the advice, the scrap metal search is under-way! It's really to stop them just running off with the bike as a 5 year old armed with a butter knife (a good solid butter knife) could get into the shed silently in 2 seconds. A proper thief would get through the anchor/cable lock too but it would hopefully deter your casual opportunistic scumbag.

In reply to baileyswalk:

It seems that the choice is either to provide shed security that meets the requirements of your insurance policy or spend a bit more to reduce the chances of the inconvenience and upset of your pride and joy going.

The products of Pragmasis are high quality and this seems to be reasonably priced

http://securityforbikes.com/shed-shackle.php