Do You lock your bike ?

[clamdigger]

There is an informative video on youtube "gone in 60 seconds-the bike crime wave part 1" and part 2. After reading Sheldon Brown I got a Kryptonite D lock, but it's no match for a battery powered angle grinder with a thin cutoff wheel.

 

[GreatWhite00]

I lock mine with a cable inline lock type. I figure it'll at least stop someone from running away with my bike. I'm usually never far.

 

[StephenH]

On my good bike, I generally don't leave it untended, or if I'm on a randonneuring ride and other riders aren't along, I'll have a cable lock so at least people can't just hop on it and take off.

When I go to the store with my Worksman or something, I'll take a U-lock. Yes, it can be cut through, but not too likely, considering the worth of the bike and the length of time I'm in the store.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I always lock mine up with a cable and pad lock, it could be cut but I try not to leave it for more than 10 minutes. I also write down serial numbers on all my "Good bikes" the day I get them. My main ride is unusual enough if I had it stolen and saw another like it I'd know it's mine. It's not every day you see a 24" Mosh Method BMX bike. It's the first I have seen in this town and I been in the bike scene since I was 7 years old. :mrgreen:

 

[LowpowerD]

I use a stranded steel cable and a Master Lock. Any lock is better than no lock. Just try to make it as difficult as possible to steal.

 

[Sinner4]

I never lock my daily rider. Its a tall bike and no one has tried to take it yet.


A lock is just to keep an honest person honest. The real thief will take it no matter the lock, chain or cable. It just takes 20 seconds and its gone. 18 volt Dewalt with a cut off wheel.

Bam an your walking home.

 

[B607]

Lock my bike? I don't even lock my house. :shock: I'm lucky I live in a place with honest people. Town is 3 1/2 miles away (pop. 500). I could ride my best bike there in the afternoon and park it anywhere in town. I'd bet my life it would still be there the next morning...and the morning after that. Gary

 

[Fireproof]

I had my Schwinn Spoiler right next to my daughters O.C.C. in the back of my pickup. Each bike was held in with tie-down straps, but no lock. Her bike was stolen and mine was not. :x That's why we are now building her another chopper.
Now, I have a huge eye bolt on floor of my truck bed where I can lock the bikes. :wink:
I'm extra careful now so some turkey dosen't take the whole thing. I don't want to have to build two bikes plus another truck! :roll:

 

[blackdiamond]

I loosen some parts so if any one trys to take it, it will fall apart and they wont mess with it

 

[blackdiamond]

And the frame is locked. :|

 

[RestoRodSchwinn]

I always lock my bike, and I try not to leave it out of my sight for too long. My lock could be tougher - right now I use cables with in-line combo locks - but I haven't had any problems. The only time I've had a bike stolen, it was in my garage while I was washing my car. I stepped inside to talk to my wife for 5 minutes or so, came back out and the bike (sitting against the wall near the garage door) was gone. Reports were that it may have been lifted by a vagrant who was walking by.

 

[X-RAY]

i dont have a lock, but its a small town, and everyone knows my ride. im very careful about leaving it alone. if it would turn up missing, id be mad at myself for not locking it. i like black diamonds sabotage idea, but with my luck, some rich kid would steal my bike, crash, and sue me! :lol:

 

[yoothgeye]

Around here the right person walking will turn into a person riding if the bike isn't locked up, the bike is usually ditched, but then you can't be guaranteed someone upstanding will find it.

I have had 2 coaster brake bikes locked together to a cast iron deck rail with a u-lock for months, and for the past 2 months they were locked up there and I didn't even live in the house, I drove past them daily and looked to see if they were there. Just brought them home this weekend. There are no serious bike thiefs around here, just casual thiefs who want a ride, so locks work with them.

I like my U locks for simplicity, but if I was really concerned about security I'd get one of these:

If you look in the hardware section at Walmart they sell them cheaper than the bike specific ones without a lock. Then I would just buy one of these locks:

I've cut plenty of chain with my angle grinder and a cutting wheel, but it's not the easiest thing to cut since it moves so much, easy to break a cut off wheel with chain. Plus, that square linked chain is some tough stuff.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Bottom line if someone wants your bike bad enough they can get it, locks are only a way of keeping honest people honest and making it a little more difficult for a thief. By the time a new lock hits your local Walmart and you buy it and get it on your bike, I can guarantee there is someone who has found a way to pick it or cut it.

 

[X-RAY]

always amazed at what some people go through to cheat the rest of the world. if they put that ambition into a real job, they wouldnt have to steal!

 

[outskirtscustoms]

always amazed at what some people go through to cheat the rest of the world. if they put that ambition into a real job, they wouldn't have to steal!

So true, sadly we live in a world like that.

 

[kngtmat]

I use a Brinks cable lock that I put through the frame and front wheel, no one that steals around here is patiant enough for a one inch or thicker cable.

 

[Tommy Atoms]

I leave my kids tied to mine....that deters most people.

 

[Buck Masterson]

I had an issue last week with a member of the illegal persuasion jumping on my bike and taking off. I was at the local dollar store and did not have it locked. I've NEVER had to have a lock in this town. Luckily I'm the only person that has bikes like the ones I own in town and a good friend noticed it and had his wife stop their truck and was nice enough to jump out and grab the guy. I learned a valuable lesson to not at least have a cheap lock, which would have prevented this situation. Now my wife and I are moving to a new house in a new town on April 1st, a very nice gated community, but even there I will be sure to never leave my bike unlocked. I'm going to be in heaven with a 20 mile long bike trail!

 

[Spokeshave]

Around here the right person walking will turn into a person riding if the bike isn't locked up, the bike is usually ditched, but then you can't be guaranteed someone upstanding will find it.

I have had 2 coaster brake bikes locked together to a cast iron deck rail with a u-lock for months, and for the past 2 months they were locked up there and I didn't even live in the house, I drove past them daily and looked to see if they were there. Just brought them home this weekend. There are no serious bike thiefs around here, just casual thiefs who want a ride, so locks work with them.

I like my U locks for simplicity, but if I was really concerned about security I'd get one of these:

If you look in the hardware section at Walmart they sell them cheaper than the bike specific ones without a lock. Then I would just buy one of these locks:

I've cut plenty of chain with my angle grinder and a cutting wheel, but it's not the easiest thing to cut since it moves so much, easy to break a cut off wheel with chain. Plus, that square linked chain is some tough stuff.

That is the lock/chain combo of choice here in NYC. Plenty of bike thieves around here trying to flip bikes on CL. :x /