LosetheBeast

Any horror stories on bike thefts? Do you feel pretty confident when you lock your bike up or are you constanly worrying about your bike?

colleen c

I've never can feel confident enough to assure myself that my bike will be right where I locked it. There are simply too many ways of breaking locks to be overconfident. Lucky for me, when I commute, my bike is stored in a room where only a few individual have access to enter at work. I do have to lock my bike in public during a stop on my way home. It is locked where I can see it, otherwise I've never leave it alone out of sight.

I would love to have a very nice commuter such as a Specialized Tricross, but something like that is more appealing to a thieve. Fact is, my original plan was to use my Hardrock as commuter but just the name alone was morre inviting to be stolen than my Schwinn road bike. Ironically, the Schwin cost much more with better component, and lighter weight then the Specialized but look less appealing to would be thieve who are shopping.

cyclokitty 

I feel pretty comfortable when I've locked my bike to the ring and post on the streets. I use a Kryptonite Fahgeddaboutit (or whatever way it's spelt) with a cable for the frame and front wheel, and a pretty hearty OnGuard cable lock for the rear wheel and frame. So far, so good.

hairnet

constantly worrying. I know people whose bikes were stolen because the locks were cut with power tools.

LosetheBeast

Yeah the kryptonite is the next thing on my list. Those things look bullet proof

cyclokitty 

I'm pleased with the kryptonite but if I was smarter, I'd have checked the length of the lock first because the one I bought is pretty short. I know the shorter length is harder to pry off but it would've been nice to fit the rear wheel, frame and post in the lock.

GriddleCakes

I lock up with a huge chain and padlock that's mad overkill for the places that I park. My bike is usually the most secured on the rack, and when it isn't it's always cheaper and uglier than other bikes with the same level of lock. So I don't worry about casual or amateur thieves.

Professional, power-tool wielding thieves aren't stopped by anything anyway, so I don't worry about them either.

gitarzan

You can only stop the chumps, punks and opportunists. A pro will get what he wants. You may slow the pro down, but they know what they are doing. When I rode motorcycles, I heard stories of pros, in a team of four, picking up a locked, chained Harley in hotel lot and lifting it into a truck and driving off.

OTOH, Most thieves are pucks or opportunists. Locking the bike will stop the opportunist. They grab and ride. A punk may carry bolt cutters, etc, but that's where the super quality lock, chain and cable combo, and a smart locking strategy comes in. https://www.mechbgon.com/lock/index.html

Lock the bike in a very public place. Thieves love inconspicuously stashed stuff. If they are going to take it make them work for and work for it in public.

wolfchild

Whenever I lock my bike up I am more worried about vandalism then theft.

szehui

My work put the bike rack in a pretty heavily trafficked area of our parking garage, so I feel pretty good about leaving it there. The garage is access-limited by our employee badges, and is patrolled regularly by our security guards. In the event I'm at work at off-hours, a beefier gate comes down in front of the normal tollbooth-style gates, so it's hard to get into if you're not an employee. I still use a pretty heavy OnGuard u-lock, but I am pretty confident that if I lock the bike up there in the morning, it will be there when I leave for the day.

Doohickie

Where I work I could leave it unlocked and no one would touch it.

nebuer16

I always worry if I lock it in a new spot.

When student teaching at a high school for 4 months with 2,000+ stuents, I locked it up outside with a U-lock. Suprisingly, The bike was never touched.

mondaycurse

I'm not worried too much in this town. My biggest worry is an authority cutting my bike locks. A few months ago, I got out of class early to find a college officer about to hack my lock (A sturdy light post is "unauthorized bike parking"), then a few nights ago someone called my bike in as abandoned and a police officer was sent to cut my lock. Yet another time, the mall I work at thought I "abandoned" my bike on the rack during a 10-hour shift.

I_bRAD

They may well be, but unfortunately they're not cordless angle grinder proof. That said, I have a NY lock too and have gone with a non-flashy decorating scheme. You only have to be more secure than the guy next to you.

cervelo48

@ school I am pretty confident. I use a fahgettabout it and my school is small and in the suburbs. I lock it in the middle of my small campus. I don't think anyone would use power tools in the location that it is usually locked.

Everywhere else I use a fahgettabout chain. Still usually in the suburbs where they aren't many cyclists. I don't think anyone is going to be driving around the areas that I frequent with power tools.

JPprivate

I am worried, not so much at work, it's pretty hidden away, but anywhere else I leave it really. I currently use a ulock through rear-tire and frame. I don't have quick release and my saddle is worth nil. But I did think about doubling up by using two ulocks both through the rear wheel/frame. Has to annoy bike thieves at least.

Midol_Mohawk

When I go bowling with a couple friends, there is a bike rack to the left of the entrance. Thing is, its poorly lit and almost in an alley. So I lock my bike to the railing right in plain view of the street and cameras where it is highly trafficked and well-lit.

corkscrew

I don't worry at all when commuting - many of the engineers here ride more expensive bikes than I do, and don't even lock them! Then again its a gated campus and there are cameras everywhere!

When riding around elsewhere, my main commuter (The t700) simply doesn't go. I've invested to much money in it to ride it anywhere but on tour and commuting. My Motobecane serves as the bar bike - its less flashy and its not sporting my one and only brooks saddle.

ItsJustMe

This is entirely dependent on your environment.

I don't lock my bike at all, even at big grocery stores, and I'm 98% confident that the bike will be there when I come out. I don't remove anything from it either, pump, lights, etc.

Clearly in another area, I couldn't be that confident.

I do own a lock, but I never carry it unless I'm going to another town where I'm unsure of the situation. This hasn't happened for a couple of years now.

vrkelley

The lock didn't stop the thief and employer claimed the camera didn't have film. Lesson learned...park the bike as close to my cube as possible.

SKY-217

I feel fortunate that the city installed free bike lockers right across the street from my office. https://inbikeport.org/

All I do is call up with my cell phone, it recognizes me by caller ID and gives me a combination to open up the locker. When I want to remove it, I call and get a new combination to unlock it. I have ideas of how it might be compromised, but most people don't even know what they are for and the bikes are out of sight. There are normal bike racks nearby that are always full and these lockers are almost always empty. It's really a shame more people don't know about them, but I like not having to compete for them too.

urban rider

My job shares the parking lot with the police department. I still lock the bike.

hnsq

I feel pretty confident...I have no quick releases on my commuter/around town bike, and I remove the lights when I lock it up. I only use a min-U lock, but unless you want to pry the lock off or you have time to use a wrench, it would be difficult to steal my bike. I always lock in public places as well...I would lock to a street sign on a street corner over a bike rack in a back corner of a parking garage any day.

AndrewP

I dont worry. I dont even remove the road-morph pump or lights. The outside of the building is under CCTV surveillance, however a manager's SUV was stolen from the parking lot.

Sentinel04

I feel pretty confident.

1) I lock the frame to the rack in two places.

2) I lock each wheel to the frame and the rack.

3) I remove the lights.

4 My bike is locked in a parking garage, not on the street. It is well lit.

5) Most of all, the bike rack is right in front of an elevator (not even 10 feet away). So, if a thief wanted to go through both locks, it would take a while and the elevator could open at any time.

Unfortunately, my is bike flashier than I'd prefer.