Looking for general advice and feeling on bike security. I recently bought myself a Scott Spark RC World Cup and got my wife a Scott Spark RC Team Red. After riding them non stop for a couple of months we were burgled a week ago and the bikes were taken, along with my wife’s Specialized Allez road bike and her old BMC mountain bike. The bikes were in our garden shed, locked with big padlock, and then chained around a metal pole in the shed with two very big and secure padlocks. The thieves simply ripped the padlock off the shed door, and then cut through the chains right through the locking mechanism. I expect the whole endeavor took them about one minute.
Ideally we would keep our bikes in the house, but with so many bikes this just isnt feasible.
If I can ever afford to replace these bikes I am keen to get thoughts on the best way to prevent/deter theives.
My current thinking is that I will get an Asgard metal bike shed. I would put this inside our garage at the back so thieves would have to get in the garage and then into this lock box, and then through whatever chains I use in it.
Does anyone have recommendations on other security measures? Any special padlocks, chained locks etc you would recommend? Security cameras and patio lights then automatically come on do not seem to deter or bother these people, so I am keen to make this as bullet proof as possible.
All thoughts welcomed (and if anyone has some Scott Sparks they want to donate that is also welcome!).
Most of the people I know who have had bikes stolen, had them taken from a shed. It really is far too high a risk in my opinion, especially for multiple very nice bikes. I live in a tiny flat and still find space to store mine and my girlfriends bikes, using indoor storage rack solutions.
If the thieves can cut through big chains, I don’t honestly think a metal shed is much better. A brick-built garage, maybe.
Yeah I agree. The metal bike shed will be INSIDE my brick built garage. I couldn’t put bikes in there when they were taken as we are having building works done and its full of paving slabs and builders tools
I suspect your best investment in security would be stopping them getting in to the building. If they have the balls and the tools to get in there then there won’t be many security solutions that will stop them finishing the job
Be wary that thieves know that it’s likely you’ll replace your bikes via insurance so will have your property on their “list” and will visit regularly. Not unknown for the replacements to be stolen a month or two down the line.
Between my wife and myself we have ten, yes ten, bikes in the house! (five each, the n<=W rule applies ) The house contents insurance is only valid if they are inside a stone/brick building not a wooden shed or similar.
Much as the Robocop style “terminate with extreme prejudice” installations sound attractive, the law tends to take a dim view of them for some reason. Many years ago there was a spate of thefts from unoccupied Glasgow tenements, the thieves would just strip anything and everything from them, wiring, plumbing, fittings, the lot. The properties were so well sound insulated that even those living next door didn’t know anything was happening. The council (city authorities for US folk) installed PIR activated sound alarms that worked at above 120dB, you had 30 seconds or so to enter the code, you couldn’t be in the room when they activated. The thefts stopped virtually overnight.
There are a couple of padlocks on the market that have alarms in them. So I am thinking I may get some of them. Does anyone know of anyone who has experience with something like this;
Is it worth investing in bike chains from Kryptonite or some such that are approx £100+ each? Do they actually work?
People have mentioned security cameras, but i dont see it working in real life. These folks come in the dead of night, 0300-0400 in the morning. If I had a security camera set up to alert me when there is movement outside my garage it would go off all night as cats, foxes, birds etc go past it. So to stop being woken up in a panic every hour for the rest of my life I would mute my phone at night. If someone then breaks in I wont know as my phone is on silent… I am thinking of putting a camera INSIDE the garage to counteract this.
Ah nice. That Bikers United site has some good stuff. A PIR looks like a good option for inside the garage, or shed with blacked out windows. Will look into.
Really sorry to hear that.
I bought two Hiplok Airlok’s and have them fitted in my garage.
No lock is failsafe though if intruders have enough time, patience and access but these seem pretty good and I think there is a good chance bike frames would be broken by the time they’d got them free.
Goes without saying that securing any bike is better if attached to brick/concrete walls - if you’ve a wooden shed then I don’t think it matters what lock you use unfortunately.
I used to use that oxford alarmed lock on my motorbike. It’s good quality, seemed heavy duty and the alarm itself was decent: not too sensitive but sensitive enough I think. I never had a motorbike stolen whilst using it so I can’t comment on how good it would be if someone actually tried to tamper with it.
If I remember correctly it uses the circular style lock barrel that I seem to think is easily picked. Might be worth double checking that because thieves are good at finding the weak point in a system and theres no point having a heavy duty lock if the mechanism can be manipulated easily.
Not seen these before. A different approach to a steel bike box. I reckon the scum that took my bikes might had had a portable/battery operated hand grinder given the state the locks were in. Do you think that steel bar that goes up and down is cut proof? I assume the locks/keypoint seem robust as well. You happy with them?
The vast majority of wooden sheds are flimsy structures and a doddle to break into.
For improved security, a much better bet would be a shed constructed as a timber-framed building with a concrete floor and strongly-secured entry points - essentially as robust as a timber-framed house in terms of construction and security. To enter such a structure, someone’s likely to have to make a lot of noise and for it not to be the quick walk-over that most shed thieves will be expecting…
Then, inside the structure, make use of the best ground anchors (secured into your concrete floor), chains and locks that you can buy, such as the top-end stuff sold by Pragmasis aimed at motorbikes: https://securityforbikes.com/index.php
With a secure, robust structure and secure internal anchoring, you’re forcing the scrotes to come equipped for some serious work if they’re going to succeed: sledgies to (eventually) smash their way into the structure and then battery grinders to cut your anchoring, hopefully making a great deal lot of noise in the process. Add in a very loud PIR alarm and the thieves’ll need to be very motivated to succeed.
None of that guarantees you’ll keep your bike, but you are shifting the odds much more in your favour - albeit at potentially a high monetary cost.
Very happy without wanting to tempt fate!
I’m no expert on ability to grind through the steel bar but space is limited to work in and I have both mounted about head height in the garage so harder to work on. One gripe is my mountain bike frame design means bike sits at a strange angle and messes with my OCD as front wheel is significantly lower than rear wheel but that’s not a fault of the lock!
I’ve always had really good support from Hiplok so I’m sure they’d be happy to answer any questions you have.
I’ve watched enough Lock Picking Lawyer video on youtube to never trust a lock.
Given enough time to attack a lock, there is no way to secure anything. Even very high end safes are rated in terms of “minutes to breach”. As in 15-30 minutes. So, you need to have a way to ensure nobody has time to mess with your gear. PIR alarms and cameras. Wyze cameras are crazy cheap and very good. $30 for a camera that 3 years ago would have been $200.
This is why my bikes live inside, I would try to keep them in as much as I could even if it means sacrificing space for other possessions. Living in the USA, it would not be wise for thieves to break into a home
Police not even been round in ten days since they were taken. We thought the high value might make them interested but nope.
So it looks like the solution is garage rather than shed, with audible PIR to deter them if they get in and then heavy duty locking options.
Weighing up options of steel cage with robust padlocks vs Airloks.
I see little point in ground anchors, as we weak point is the chain which they just cut through. You can secure it to anything but if the chain is cut its pointless.
I feel your pain. Last year I was prepping my bike the night before a race and put it in the garage…I thought I was turning the light off, but instead I left the garage door open all night. The next morning when I woke up, I saw a light coming from the front yard and instantly my heart sank. Needless to say, both our bikes were gone. Since then, I always keep our bikes in the house (and needless to say we have cameras all over the place with signs as a deterrent).
Although not the greatest solution, I also got TILES for all of the bikes, in case they were taken so hopefully we might be able to locate them.
Hopefully you have insurance to at least get you started on getting a new bike.
) The house contents insurance is only valid if they are inside a stone/brick building not a wooden shed or similar.