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2ndChildhood

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I apologize as I'm sure this must have come up before, but I appear to be really crummy at using the search as I can't find anything on it.

Folks with rides like you have must always be wary of keeping them safe. Is there a preferred type/brand of lock for Rats?

I have a tendency to oversimplify things sometimes, but as near as I can tell there seems to be two schools of thought:

1) You should spare no expense in purchasing a lock to protect your wheels. Period.

2) 90% of bike thefts are crimes of opportunity (snatch & grab), while the other 10% are determined thieves that you can't protect against regardless of how good your lock is, so as long as you're visibly locked up (the 'deterrant factor') you've done what you can.

Any thoughts on this?
 
Ride with big ol' ugly dudes and redneck women, That's what I do! :mrgreen: Scares the crap outta most people!
A good lock is a must if you're gonna leave your bike. We try to stay with the bikes as much as possible. Alot of times a few of us stay with the bikes while the rest go off to do whatever. Also try to park the bikes in a group outside of a window that you can see out.
When we use to ride to the local bar, the owner would allow us to put the bikes in his storage area of the building. If you frequent certain places alot give this a try.

I too would like some reccomendations on good affordable bike locks. The rat and mouse traps on Rodentia only do so much! :roll:
 
2ndChildhood said:
Folks with rides like you have must always be wary of keeping them safe. Is there a preferred type/brand of lock for Rats?
Click to expand...

i use the one pictured here (blue chain...different lock...i'll post a pic of it later)...overkill? maybe, but it works GREAT! My GF uses a Kryptonite New York Lock STD...



2ndChildhood said:
1) You should spare no expense in purchasing a lock to protect your wheels. Period.
Click to expand...
true..

2ndChildhood said:
2) 90% of bike thefts are crimes of opportunity (snatch & grab), while the other 10% are determined thieves that you can't protect against regardless of how good your lock is, so as long as you're visibly locked up (the 'deterrant factor') you've done what you can.
Click to expand...
don't know if the stats are correct, but also true.
if your bike is locked in an area where people can see it (foot traffic) and not locked overnight, most determined thieves won't try. use a good lock & common sense when locking your bike...lock to something solid.

Sheldon has an interesting article here on using a ulock
 
I like the idea from Fotog about attaching a fox trap on the kickstand. My bikes are never left outside. The better ones are in the house and the not so better ones are in the shed. I have a standard cheapo U-Lock when I have to leave it out of site ofr a few minutes, but I always try to keep it in site. Riding with a group is always the best deterrent. Whatever you do remember this: Fill up the inside of that lock with the most bike as you can and never lock your bike with others in a bike rack. Those racks are designed for thieves.
 
Most new locks I see here are welded to the frame (or attached in such a way that it's virtually impossible to open them without damaging the frame).
There's some brand that does womens-transporter bikes. They have their serial-number in steel cut-out welded to the frame, so every bike is recognizable from a distance. (I'll try and find a picture of that).

Talked to a guy with a custom lowrider, my collegue said: "You must use like three locks, with such an expensive bike", the guy said: "No, I never lock it. IF you're able to ride it you won't get far, cause everybody knows it's MY bike!" That sounded really cool :lol: :lol:
 
where I live they dont steal my bikes in the middle of the night they bring more to me! lol
the other day I woke to find 2 bmx bikes and a note by my front steps lol

I live in a town of 1400 so no real worries here but I do understand its a major issue. I would almost think citys would supply locking bicycle racks themselves because of all the wasted time by officers on bicycle theft
 
When I was in High school, the small town I live in suffered severely from alot of it's downtown stores getting broken into as well as many of the residents garages and homes. Bicycles always seemed to be the main items along with tools and power equipment. The cops would always show up just a little too late to catch anyone.
I went to school with one of the officers little brother and one day in shop class he brings in a brand new bike to sell for $5.00 so he could get a fifth of booze for the football game. He immediately sells it and says he has more bikes and other things to sell. Another kid in class just happens to be the son of the hardware owners from where the bike came! One of the biggest wuss fights insues and the teachers break it up, ask a few questions and the county sherriffs are called. At the end of the day, my classmate, three cops and the dispatcher are all arrested.
I read in the paper that they had a barn full of stuff they had stolen. The pictures showed the basement of the barn (an old dairy barn) lined with bikes! And the upper floor packed with all kinds of boxes as well as minibikes, snowmobiles, small campers, etc.
I quess the cops would set up what was to be robbed and later that night the brother would break in along with whatever cop was off duty and take as much as they could, then go and call in the breakin. The other cops would show up and cleanup whatever mess there was before doing their cop business. Back then a lot of stores would give a set of keys to the police station so the officers could go in and make sure everything was o.k., so I'm sure this made many of the breakins very easy.
I'm not sure whatever happened to the kid and the others cause they all just vanished from the area. Just think what kind of damaged could have taken place if it hadn't been for the brother wanting booze money! I would have just made the liquor store part of my nightly activities if I was him!
Sorry if I bored any of you, I know I wandered a little bit.
Oh and the bike he was selling? Not sure of the brand but it was a blue muscle bike with a big ol' sissybar and had a steering wheel. I know it was a Schwinn definitely.
Chainsaw
 
Well, i baught my lock at a flea maker for 1 dollar! Its got like a half inch steel diameter cable with plastic coating around the cable.. Its a nice lock and the price was nice. Normally if i goto the party stores around here ill peek in the door and say uh can u keep an eye on this for me? Or i ask 2 bring it in.. If they say no ill say See ya, 1 time i went to big lots on my Panther, I practically rode it through the store THEY Didnt care.. I KNOW It was wrong leaving a 10 foot skid when i left but i couldnt resist.. I looked back and the guy kinda smirked at me so i just kept goin but yeah.. I dont trust nobody with my bikes, And it really p/me off when im with one of my buddys and there like Aww no1 will bother it lets go, I say yeah you give me 400 dollars if it gets stolen and ILL LEAVE IT! So sometimes ill wait till they go in and buy there stuff and go in when they come out or vise versa, Theres a few guys with partys stores around here that ask me 2 bring the bike in so they can check em out, Thats always cool..
 
new_dharma said:
about the Kryptonite locks...don't use the round key style (Bic pens open them)
Click to expand...


those "revolution" locks were weeded out, they havent been on the market for years now.

the ones on the market NOW with the round key are fine.

use a krypto u lock, and a cable. put the u lock between the rear triangle, around the tire and rim, to a pole. then do the cable from the ulock to your front tire.

ive never had a bike stolen this way. u locks CAN be opened with carjacks, but if you use them like i just said, youll be fine.

kryptonite also insures your bike, when you buy thier locks.
 
SECURITY

In my garage, I srewed Anchors with O rings, and thread my chain locks through them. On the street, I have yer simple CHAIN with COmbo lock attached that I use, simply threading it through the frame. I leave it on the streets that way no probs,. and I'm in DETROIT. With a BAT on my bike. So I reckon unless you live in IRAQ yer ok. :lol:
Oh, the FOX TRAP is still being painted. Or not. I left it to TIA to sandblast it, and she never did. Like I knew she wouldn't ( Dames) ....so I'm just gonna paint it red myself and call its rusty ... a day.
Its a rat rod right ? or in THIS case, a FOX rod.
:roll:
 
basscadetz said:
those "revolution" locks were weeded out, they havent been on the market for years now.

the ones on the market NOW with the round key are fine.

use a krypto u lock, and a cable. put the u lock between the rear triangle, around the tire and rim, to a pole. then do the cable from the ulock to your front tire.
Click to expand...

I was at a bike shop about 3 weeks ago that had an "old" krypto u-lock...the guy said, "these can't be opened with the pen!" and then I opened it...they didn't send their old stock back...just got new locks in and they were all together...

and the rear tire/pole/rear triangle thing is the Sheldon Brown article I linked to.
 

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