tcs

True, true, fair enough, yet Heinz Stücke had his beater three-speed stolen - three times! Collin Martin had his "around the world" Moulton Marathon stolen in Kalgoorlie, Australia. The book about his ride is titled "Half Way Round".



"Tie your camel first, and then put your trust in Allah.”

ignant666

The thing is, one more Moulton on the street of Kalgoolrie- who would notice?

I mean, it's not like that's a particularly distinctive looking bike- it blends right in. Hopefully your story will at least administer a jolt of reality to those who imagine folks out in the country are so much more honest than city-dwellers that their couple-thousand-dollar bike can be safely left unattended among the yokels.

As to the OT, being an ex NYC bike messenger, there is no way i would ever leave my bike out of my sight unlocked. Touring, i usually take a lightweight (532 grams) Abus armored cable lock. Much much harder to cut than a plain cable- the armor shells crush with bolt cutters but are very hard to cut through with them, and they resist angle-grinder attacks well for their weight.

Someone once tried to steal my bike locked with an older, lighter-weight one on 23d St in Manhattan, and gave up before their angle-grinder cut it. Even though it prevailed that day, i would usually use something heavier in the city, but for touring, this is enough for anyplace you are likely to lock up. Actually, these days most serious bike thieves are only interested in electric bikes anyway, but you want to be able to resist attacks by casual/amateur/opportunistic thieves.

staehpj1

But of course he spent 50 years on the road full time so It was still a pretty infrequent occurance. That comes out to something like one bike stolen every 830 weeks on the road. To me something like my Trans America at 10 weeks was a long tour that happens rarely in my life with other multiweek and more rarely multi month tours scatter through the years.

So more likely than not I won't have a bike stolen when on tour. It is a possibility that I need to be aware of and take some precautions for, but with some situational awareness and reasonable care it just isn't as big of a risk as some make it out to be. So for me Depending on where I am it is often a light cable lock or no lock. Where it seems sketchy I don't let the bike out of my sight even if that means wheeling up and down the grocery aisles.

All that said, I do employ one other tool. I use bikes and gear that I can afford to replace in a pinch. It may be painful to lose much loved bike and/or gear, but I wouldn't have to abandon a long tour in the middle.

tcs

beater three-speed piled with heavy gear with no fenced value

YMMV

staehpj1

I guess I don't have the same perspective as many on this since none of the bikes I have toured on cost over $1000 and most of them were old when I toured on them. The only one that was new was a $599 delivered Bikes Direct Windsor Touring. The others were 30+ year old bikes that had more sentimental value than cash value. These days they are lightly loaded with very little gear, some of it fairly nice, but with a pretty low total resale value for the whole package. So I too am probably a pretty poor target for most thieves.

I don't tend to relate to folks with real high dollar stuff that they in some cases can barely afford. It makes sense that they would be way more paranoid about losing their gear.

fredonbike

From my experience, carrying a lock is essential for peace of mind during stops on long bike trips. I usually opt for a compact U-lock because it offers a good balance between security and weight, making it less of a hassle to carry.

str

I never carry a lock.

str

Over the years I accumulated bikes, bought and sold some. I love bikes, I own 4 road bikes and 2 touring bikes.
And I am not worried at all about losing my gear.

Yan 

I carry this lock which weighs 1.90 kg plus a cable which weighs 0.52 kg. So converted to pounds that would be 5.3 lb total weight.

I'd rather carry all that weight than deal with the total pain in the ass of buying a replacement touring bike in a developing country.

https://hiplok.com/product/hiplok-d1000/

https://www.kryptonitelock.com/en/pr...l?type=bicycle

ScottCommutes

Great take about thinking like a thief. A higher end road bike that is way nicer than the fairly crappy e-bike next to it may not be as attractive to a thief.

Xavier65

I have a frame lock, and frame bag containing a heavy duty chain.
https://mobil.abus.com/int/Consumer/...100-bag-ST5950

It was a condition of the bike insurance to have a lock with this degree of security.

I also added a Fosmon wobble alarm: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07PQ92SHC
It is great except that the arm/disarm sounds are louder than the alarm siren, so you have to hold your hand over the device when you arm/disarm it to avoid waking everyone up. Stupidly, the volume control applies to both alarm siren and arm/disarm beeps - instead of just the latter.

mev

Agree on average though still useful to be cautious. Two counter examples:
1) As a hobby, my brother has designed and had built a variety of customized folding bicycles. He had one stolen in Boulder, Colorado (not touring). In addition to a one of a kind frame it also had a belt drive. It was still stolen. It got recovered though after someone near homeless shelter spotted the unusual bike abandoned.
2) Cycling through Africa our group had two bicycles stolen in Tanzania. They were also recovered a few days later - in part with help from tribal elders. Also a case of being abnormal enough to be noticed.

noglider 

I saw a positive review of this cable on youtube. It's very light. You use it like a zip tie, and there is a "key" to release it. It has similar convenience and security to a sky lock, but maybe it's better because it's smaller. I'm not sure.

JohnJ80

Agree. I like the Knog Scout. It's both an alarm and taps into the Apple Find Me (AirTag) network. That and a relatively decent lock make my bike a lot more inconvenient to steal than someone else's nearby.

Bilz

I carry a hiplok z as it's light and I can just hook it to dangle off somewhere on my bike. Just for when I run into a shop or something. If I'm camping, I lock it to itself by the tent. And I'll just leave it there if I leave the campsite for a wander.

GamblerGORD53

I carry 2. An ABUS granite 85 cm folding lock. Crooks don't seem to know how to deal with them.
And medium key lock with a chain about 33" for bigger trees and light poles. Otherwise it's around the front wheel and rack for longer times like at the dentist.
I'm glad I don't need to worry about campgrounds that I don't stay at.

HelpSingularity 

Gotta have something. When I'm out on a ride (tour):

https://www.abus.com/usa/Products/Bi...esorflex-6615C

Cable with steel sheath and combo lock.
I feel fairly confident when I'm inside a store for 5 minutes in a (seemingly) safe area or locked to a picnic table in a campground next to my tent.
Of course, it is no match for bolt cutters or an angle grinder.
But it seems to be a fair compromise between weight and security, especially for a bike that you keep your eye on most of the time.

But ya gotta use something!

Don't be like me, I learned my lesson the hard way last June.

gauvins

Can you expand? (stolen, unlocked?)

john m flores 

Yeah, it's a light and convenient 5-minute lock. I nearly always carry one with me for local rides

ImagineZH

Yes definitely. Nothing heavy duty, but enough to stop someone just coming along and cycling off in seconds

ignant666

You might be surprised at just how resistant to those two common bike-thief tools that lock is. It is a combination version of the lock i posted about above:

They had used a knife to cut away the rubber covering, which meant that the steel shell segment that they attacked with the angle grinder was totally free to spin. It had a line scored in it going all around the shell from spinning while in contact with the grinding wheel.

They did not have the sense to try on a rubber-shielded portion to see if the rubber would hold the shell in place to allow effective cutting, but i suspect that this wouldn't work much better anyway.

noglider 

My 5-minute lock, so to speak, is to disable the bike in various ways. Loosen the quick release skewers. I have the old style dropouts that face forward, so an undone skewer makes the rear wheel slide forward and jam against the chain stays. If the front wheel falls off, it will surely disable the rider. I also undo the brake quick releases, and I also put the rear derailleur in a big cog and then push the shifter so the bike will shift to a small cog, further gumming up the works.

Tourist in MSN

If you did not bring a lock, I see that as a good plan. Especially the shifter.

But in those situations I am usually quite pleased that I brought a skier type lock. Is extremely fast to use, especially because of the spring loaded cable retractor when I am done unlocking it.

My bigger heavier locks take enough time to use that sometimes I just do not want to bother, and the skier type lock is great for those low risk situations.

Tourist in MSN

In the last couple of years there were a few times when I wanted to leave a bike somewhere for a week or two. Generally low risk areas, but still when a bike is left for that long, some people think it is abandoned even if it is locked up. This is not for bike touring, it is for shuttling a vehicle before or after a backpacking trip. And I have used an old Bridgestone bike I got at a garage sale for $5 USD a decade ago for that purpose.

The Bridgestone had been stored outside for over a decade when I bought it, it looked like this.



After I put a couple days of work into it, and maybe $50 in parts, it looked like this.



But, I would hate to lose it, it has been my errand bike for the past decade. So, I get a bit nervous about leaving it somewhere for a week or two.

Last summer someone discarded this for the garbage. This is pre-index shifting, and old enough that there is not a single bolt on it that uses an allen wrench. Has a five speed freewheel. I am guessing late 1970s or early to mid 1980s for vintage. Chromed steel rims. One piece steel crank. Three piece hubs.



I brought it home, sent photos to a friend that volunteers time at a charity and asked if they might want it. He said bikes like that get recycled for the metal.

So, this will be my new throw away bike for when I have to leave a bike somewhere for a week or two where someone might steal it.

I had to replace two cables and the rear derailleur. I am not sure if I will trust those tires or not, so far they do hold air, but I would hate to pick up speed on a downhill and have a blow out so I will probably put other tires on it, which unfortunately will make it more valuable.

I still have to decide if the chain is recoverable or if I need to buy a new 5 speed chain.

But I think this will be my new throw away bike. Unfortunately, the saddle will be about two inches too low for me, so don't want to do any really long rides on it. I might have to buy a used seatpost for it if it is too uncomfortable.

When I leave it somewhere for a week or two, it will have a really inexpensive lock on it, I would hate to come back later and find one of my more expensive locks was cut.

tcs

So maybe it's a difference in how we tour? I visit local history museums. I tour notable structures. I take hikes to pretty waterfalls, walk historic battlegrounds &etc. I carry a decent lock.

Five-minute lock? Never let the bike out of my sight? Situational awareness? Beater bike I found in an alley? Accepting the tao of coming out of the Rosebud County Museum and finding everything gone, knowing I could catch a Greyhound to Billings and more or less replace everything? Hey, if it works for you and your touring MO, cool. Save the 356g.