Make it look like a beater, take off parts like front wheel and/or saddle so it looks like it was left behind and the best parts have already been taken.
The part about people not caring is true, my bike was stolen and my mother found it a few days later, she called me and I brought some tools with me. We literally stole my own bike back and I just took it back home while other people were just going past me. I looked shady as hell but no one really cared.
Many years ago (many), a friend of mine bought an Italian Masi road bike. It was beautiful, sculpted lugs, hand finished paint, all Campagnolo super record components. He then went to work with two or three different kinds of tape and several cans of spray paint. By the time he finished, the bike looked like it had already been stolen and clumsily repainted two or three times, ravaged by the Visigoths, and generally gave the impression that you could catch tetanus or rabies just by standing anywhere near it. Rob never locked that bike. He routinely left it lying outside of convenience stores, movie theaters, and shopping malls. And during the three years that I worked with him, it never got stolen. I have never quite had the heart to adopt that strategy, but it definitely worked.
I had my $2000 specialized PINK bike stolen from Wal-Mart. I stupidity thought it was safe because I used the bike rack and above it were 2 security cameras and it was 11 am on a sunny day. Silly girl....I was. Came out and my $50 not good enough lock was cut easily. I called the police from inside Wal-mart and they said they would come to my home in a few hours. I walked home with tears in my eyes. I felt violated. Then, I decided to accept it and not be upset over a material DREAM bike. By the time I reached home, my daughter met me at the door, saying the cops called and they are bringing my bike to me. A trucker saw the thief on a pink bike and thought it was suspicious and called it in. The cop found my bike in a ditch and he said it was the FIRST bike he ever brought back. This video helped me a lot, but I am bummed out to have to use 3 locks. I bike far distance......but it would also suck to have it gone when I'm 3 hours from home. I loved the video and it explains my errors very well. P.S. I couldn't even get Wal-mart or the police to look at the security cameras that were above the bike rack. THANK YOU! Namaste ~The lucky one
I've always used two locks, and every single time I've had a bike stolen (3x), was when I decided that 'Oh, I'll be back in 10 minutes, one lock will probably be enough'. So yeah, definitely agree with the 2+ lock advice.
I think this is a really difficult issue. Say youre on your bike and stop at a store to get a coffee. You use the easiest deterrent because you think you will just be a few minutes, you're within 500 meters of the bike and you think it's quite visible and bang its gone before you've paid for your coffee. And who would actually take off all their components for a stop like this? It's happened to me, riding my bike, needing to pee and using a cable to lock my bike outside a public toilet. Having all the options is great but I've found that the cable lock is actually everyone's primary lock. I have a mid-range racing bike. From cable I go to D lock from D lock to back wheel rotor lock and then to wireless bike alarm. If someone's determined to steal your bike they will, irrespective the security you have.
@@JohnVianneyPatron Yeah I popped into a supermarket for a few minutes and that was enough time for thieves to angle grind the kryptonite evolution and steal my ebike which i use for work as a food delivery guy
I've often wondered about leaving a nice bike completely unlocked on a busy sidewalk. Seems like bait, don't you think? And if the scum disagrees and tries to steal it anyway... make it bait. Seems to me a few beat downs on a regular basis would jack up the "risk" coefficient dramatically.
RobMacKendrick Yeah I think you underestimate just how many people would consider stealing a bike like that. It’s a way bigger pool of people than the number of beat downs they would ever receive for stealing bikes, so most of them would never even feel that deterrent or care enough to stop them from trying.
1. look out for tape or plastic tubing on racks. It might look as if its there to stop your paint job being marked but its common to use an angle grinder to cut the rack at 3 in the morning and then cover the cut with tube or tape so that when an expensive bike is locked up, it can be removed along with the lock in seconds with no tools. 2. If you come back to your bike to find a slashed tire or bent wheel, never ever leave it there overnight - that's what they want you to do. 3. If your bike is a practical commuter tool rather than your pride and joy, avoid big brands and add uncool accessories that make it look less desirable. A basket or pannier rack is good, fenders are good, big ugly retro style lights are also good. I know that a lot of delivery guys using bikes with quality components go so far as to give their bikes a very unflattering paint job.
I agree. I would never steal a bike unless i had to which I don't have to worry about at the moment, but this video kind of made me want to steal a bike
I spent nearly 3 decades living in Brazil so I have a PhD in bike thievery. When I was young I rode my bike with my cousins. Chain came loose on my bike so we stopped to fix it. We got mugged by a gang. So the lesson here is: don't take risks such as stopping in some street to fix a loose chain when you live in a shitty 3rd world country.
My bike was stolen today hence why I’m now subscribing to your channel this is my 5th bike stolen. The emotion is gone because of how many I’ve lost but had I watched this video I can now see my failures. Thank you for creating this video and will use this method
Thats tough. I hope youve had better luck. Ive had a few stolen . Only tip bikes but I hate walking so its always a bang. I have £1000 plus fixie made from different components and sprayed matt black badly , over stickers. Flaky pseudo anodising effect .The seatpost is a Thompson masterpiece hiding inside an inner tube.....self amalgamating tape over any bolts ..worse than denso ! But you can still tell. One krypto d lock for shops ..two for anything over 5 mins.
How about a lock that literally makes a very loud noise if it detects that it is being opend or broken unnaturally. That would certainly make the "risk" for theives much higher.
@@TheAnonyy Not alarm level loudness, that's borderline hearing damaging at close distance, but it might be difficult to get a very loud product to market due to regulations,I'm just speculating
If you want to protect your bike, leave it near security cameras if possible. Use a device that sets off an alarm if moved, such as an Oxford screamer. And most importantly, invest in a GPS tracking device that can be hidden inside the frame. Do all of those things and I guarantee that, if in the unlikely event your bike is stolen, you'll have a 90% chance of getting it back.
Locking my bike outside the library, a guy told me that he put his there with a reasonable lock on it. When he came out there was a better lock on it. The cops told him that it was common there. They would come back after hours, remove your lock and then take the bike. He bought a really good lock and added that. In the morning, the crooks lock was gone. I think he was a bit lucky that they didn't smash his wheels out of spite.
That happen to me but He locked his seat to my seat good thing my seat unlocks easy so I took his seat as well he tried to chase me but he couldn’t keep up without a seat 😂I rode off and thru his in a bush
Here's something to cheer you up: I saw a bike theft video (parking lot camera) posted on a local online rag. I hesitated to tell my bikey "Ride 100 miles, no problem" knows-all-about-bikes friend, mainly because he hates to "hear negative things." But . . . I showed him the video anyway. Three days later, my friend is in a bike shop and watching as a guy tries to buy parts for his "new" bike. Yep. It's the stolen $1500 bike. My friend notices the bike owner dude is wearing a shirt advertising a local restaurant, follows the guy and sees the guy park the "new" bike outside the restaurant. Sure enough, the dude works there. I find the contact # for the guy whose bike was stolen, my friend takes him to the restaurant and the owner of the bike gets his bike back. Restaurant guy says he bought the bike off some friend; no idea it was stolen. Yeah. Buy a $1500 bike for a few hundred dollars . . . Sure.
Please tell me that guy got jail time for stealing that bike. The reason people can steal bikes without worry is because they don’t get punished if they’re caught.
One more advice: make your bike look bad. It does not mean technical neglection, but the frame wrapped with packing tape or duck tape can visually deteriorate the bike. If possible, use a cheap bike for everyday commuting. Use parts that are scratched, the more rusty look, the better. I know, not everybody likes to ride a bad-looking bike, but if you live in dangerous place, maybe it is the option.
I've had 3 beautiful bikes stolen from me. Each time it happened I was devastated, heart broken and mad as hell! I currently own 2 gorgeous bikes and I don't even own a lock! If the bike cannot go inside with me I just keep rollin. So there are times when I don't ride because I know the bike can't come in. But luckily I can bring it inside where I work. Locking my beauties outside is not even a consideration for me anymore.
It sucks that when I take my bike with me in my car I'm scared to leave it I'm the car cuz it will get broken into or it stolen off the streets. Even got chased once by 3 guys for my bike while out on a stroll for my bday.
I had my specialized bike costing around 10,000 dollars stolen in about 5 minutes. While I ran inside to get water at my own house. Always KEEP IT IN YOUR SIGHTS
@@p1mpmasterbackhand I can't wait to tell my bike shop mechanic pal your story. He thinks most people are super stupid about bike security and he just loves to hear these kinds of stories. "You took too long to get water, mate" is the best reply EVER.
@@buffythevampireslayertilid3154 if you're looking for motorcycle locks, look for at least ART4 rated ones, there's a chain with a hole at the end where you can loop the chain through, giving you the most length for the price and weight. That's what use for my motorcycle
The ultimate locking strategy: always park next to a better bicycle with worse locks! I used to be like Zach and took 3 locks with me, one being a super heavy Fahgettaboudit Mini. But then I realized that most bikes around me still use cable locks, bad u-locks and novelty locks. Now I use a kryptonite messenger lock for the bike or a ligther chain, a ottolock for my front wheel. My saddle, while comfy, is ragged so I don't need to lock it. Also, I bought a fixed gear since they can be good bikes for cheap(er).
@@gregortega2767 Yes. But is very easy to carry so I might as well use it. Wheels are bolted so makes it a bit higher work than the bike next to mine. Also, Bosnianbill lock was defective. Mine already saved my foldable. Still, is a minimum security lock, thats why I use the u-lock too.
I use a pretty beefy chain lock but just today I did a test on how easy it is to pick and even I, who had never picked a lock before, managed to pick it in less than 2 minutes. Time for a new lock.
if you have expensive components, its a good idea to change your bolts to star bolts, 99% of the time bike thieves don't have a star nut Allen key with them.
they eventually will carry a Torx set with them best thing you could do if you can shell out the money: get custom made screws and a few custom screwdrivers - while expensive, it is probably the best bet since you're literally the only one in the world that happens to have the needed tool don't skimp on the material tho, get hard screws or they might get drilled out otherwise
I live in London where bike theft is pretty common, one thing I always look out for in the rare occasions I lock my bike overnight in public is the other bikes on the rack on locking against. If there are other bikes that look like they have had parts stolen or whatever I avoid the area and find somewhere else. Bike thieves are habitual and will usually go back to spots where they've scored before
As a middle-aged adult, I bought in turn 2 Shwinn Cruisers from Walmart, less than $100, foot brakes. I took them each in turn to the bike shop abs had a front and saddle baskets put on. They each were stolen. I thought they'd be undesirable.
In London, they cut the bike racks and cover the cut - so dont lock your bike to a rack with tape on it. Most use portable angle grinders that they leave in bushes. The steal in broad daylight and will get through most locks in < 2 minutes
@Jonathan I'm not taking the piss out of you, but honestly, no bike lock on the market will take longer than 60 seconds to cut through with a portable angle grinder. That 45 minutes claim is false, unless they mean using a cheap hacksaw...
Don't lock your bike near the ground. When the thief can place one arm of the bolt cutter to the ground, they can use their body wieght and it is much more easy to cut a lock.
Well if you're using a D-lock or a chain (as you should be) then they won't be big enough to go around a thick tree. They will only go around a thin young tree which is easy to cut down. A cable lock might fit around a thick tree, but cable locks can be cut in seconds.
A suggestion that I'm surprised hasn't come up yet, if you're going/commuting to the same place over and over, get a super heavy duty lock and leave it behind so you don't have to take it with you.
I used to put my U-lock through the bike rack, rear triangle (rim/tire in the lock) and remove the front wheel to put it through the same lock. This way the thief cannot get as much leverage when trying to steal and it's more work to one) break the lock, two) pick up the bike and front wheel separately and three) not be able to instantly ride off/push the bike away from the rack . always worked for me!
Other tip? Hose clamp around the quick release wheel lever. I have this on my front wheel. It make bike thieves more difficult with needing another tool and more time consuming to steal. If they snip the secondary cable for my front wheel, they still need an 8mm wrench to loosen the hose clamp from the inside of the fork with the spokes in the way. I filled in the screwdriver slot, painted it black and put black tape just to make look better and match my bike color. Quality locks? I got 3 main locks (Krytonite NY standard u-lock, Krytonite NY Noose chain lock and Bully Alarm Pager u-lock) but I only use 1 at a time. My go-to lock is the Krytonite NY standard u-lock with a cable. The Bully Alarm Pager u-lock has a loud "disorienting" blaring alarm and comes with a pager that immediately pages me when somebody touches my u-lock. Great feature.
I use 2 or 3 locks. One being an Abus Granit X-Plus. The issue is most bikeracks in my city sucks. They are low on the ground and the type where you shove your front wheel into a wedge. Meaning it's very hard/impossible to lock the frame into the rack. You kind of have to just lock the rack into the frontwheel. No where else to lock it on those racks. Unless you back into it and lock the backwheel.
I think the thing you forgot to mention was bus racks! If you commute and place your bike on a bus rack often, you need to pay attention. People can walk up to the bus when it stops or people can get off the bus at a stop and just pick your bike up off the front rack. In most cases the bus driver, nor anyone else will even try to stop them. You need to pay attention. You can sometimes, if you have a quick release on your front end, snap it open as you rest it in the rack, this way if someone tries to jump on it and steal it, well you see where I'm going. Or if you are going a long distance on the bus you could even use the U-lock, attaching the front wheel and frame. In short, don't think that your bike is safe just because its on the bus! Pay attention!
Grabbed my Hiplok Gold and never looked back. The thing is built like a tank, can easily be work over the shoulder/around the waist, and has saved my bike seemingly countless times. The lock itself is covered in tiny knicks from people trying bolt cutters on it and failing. Sure, an angle grinder could almost certainly break through it, my Cinelli stays inside when I'm at home, and locked up in view of the security desk at work. Also, you failed to mention the best security: camouflage; if you're fine having a bike that looks cheap most thieves will pass it over. You can also hide it in plain sight by making it so noticeable/ traceable that it's too much of a risk to pinch. With my old bike I took all the branding off the rims, spray painted the frame, and sticker-bombed the whole thing, you couldn't tell there was a Miele columbus steel frame under there. Looked like shit, rode like a dream.
@@tacticalg6686 FR, you know they are good components, all showing them off does is make you a target to some dude with bolt cutters and a drug problem
I had my bicycle stolen before in 2014 like the fixie thruster from Walmart!! In 2019 I had my bicycle stolen like Schwinn & Diamondback mountain bike & had it locked up in back porch when I was staying in Englewood!! I had a Jamis Beatnik single speed bicycle in the basement & 🤦🏼♂️😿 that bike got stolen in 2021!! I am still learning my lessons everyday!! This time I keep my 3 bicycles in my house & I have retrospec Harper plus black & grey!! I also have a Schwinn Glenwood hybrid bike!!
I have been commuting with a bike for a decade. Often left it outside even over weekend. Never got it stolen. Because I have an ancient MTB that looks like it is worth $3 but rides really well. I keep it looking like crap. A friend joined me one day, left his fancy enduro bike locked next to mine, outside of a train station. It wasn't there on the way back. Because it screamed "his front brake is worth more then this piece of crap next to it". But it is not, it is a sleeper. Looks like a beat up Walmart bike with Marin badge. Downside is biking in rain with rim brakes, which can be scary. Also I would prefer a 1x drivetrain, but they were just not good when it was made. Other than that, it is stiff, good geometry, rides smooth, I love it.
I never had a problem with rim brakes in the rain... aside from the loud screeching noise. I'm pretty sure some random pedestrian will get a heart attack at some point because I used my front brake.
Be careful with quick-release hubs. I had my bike double-locked and cabled on Michigan Ave in Chicago (lots of foot traffic, highly visible location, anchored to a very secure 10-foot-tall signpost) and some ass-hat decided one day that if he couldn't steal my bike he was make me pay for his disappointment by removing the front quick-release hub. If I hadn't noticed that when leaving work for the day I'd have likely been seriously injured or worse. Yeah, that's life in the big city.
Was once told to buy an obnoxious garden shed cable of oversized length and old school combo Masterlock. So far, only had my bungie cords for my trunk taken but wheels, frame, seat, basket, trunk intact since the cable fits being wrapped throughout all parts while ALSO being long enough to tie the bike to masonry, some gasline pipes, most telephone poles, etc. That said, yes, I am a little sad knowing someone's going to take my garage sale bike whose motorized front wheel cost more than the bike was sold new.
A word of warning about wearable chain/U-locks. They are great until your crash with the lock between you and the tarmac. In this scenario the lock always gonna win.
A disc brake alarm does wonders. It's visible, comes with a brightly colored "reminder" strap that also works as a deterrent, it's impossible to take it off the wheel. As soon as your bike gets touched it'll beep loudly several times, then if it's touched again within 30 seconds the alarm will sound super loudly for like 15 seconds and then the the thing repeats. No measure is a complete deterrent but if you stack enough obstacles you reduce the probability of theft exponentially.
I have an electric trike which cost me @3500.00. What I do is first lock the frame to bike rack with a Kryptonite U lock with a cable lock around the front wheel. I then cover my bike with high quality bike cover. I lock the bike cover to the bike rack. I then set the alarm that will go off with a shake of the bike at 160db. I got it at Amazon @$15.00. The bike cover covers my basket which I keep tools, pump or groceries etc. If you raise the bike cover a few inches the alarm will go off. I have timed myself locking my bike at @8 to 10 minutes. A little extreme but after three years I still have my bike and a piece of mind.
I used to make food deliveries by bike at the university and saw a lot of signs of bike theft on my daily deliveries. The most sinister was the bike thief had used a saw to cut a V shape wedge in the bike rack; most likely when nobody was around. The V shape wedge was taped back in place with duct tape. When there was a quality bike in the rack the thief just remove the wedge remove the bike and retape the wedge. I inform the campus police about these 'bike traps'. They found 12 around campus at different colleges sometimes two or three on one bike rack. Lesson is look at what you're locking the bike to carefully.
Being someone who recently had their precious bike stolen (a simple inevitability in Berlin), this video speaks to me. This was my own fault given that I only used a crappy cable lock only around the frame. Honestly, having my bike like this without it getting stolen for more than 4 years before it was stolen was a god damn miracle! My new bike is always secured with a Kryptonite New York U lock around the rear wheel and frame and another hardened steel heavy chain around the front wheel and frame and I never leave the saddle and seat post on the bike when I leave it. I'm also considering fitting a GPS tracker inside the handlebars. Would this maybe be overkill?
you missed an important one...many of my customers from my bike shop have lost bikes stored in their garage because they neglected to LOCK the bike securely , with a U-Lock or similar lock, to a steel wall mounted bracket or similar...bike thieves will brazenly walk right into unlocked garages and steal a bike if it can be carried away.
They stole my bike right outside my house door and it was locked! In broad daylight with local businesses around. Bike thefts are an everyday thing in Rotterdam Netherlands, and this video helped me prevent this incident from happening again. Thanks man. Great video and l will start using 3 locks as well. Subscription well earned.
I ride regularly to downtown Santiago (Chile) where there's plenty of bike racks scattered and plenty of bike thieves as well. I settled on a specific rack that's outside the front of a lot of restaurants, and during day only. Thieves might (I hope) assume the bike belongs to someone who works there at the restaurant and go try somewhere else. And I never ever park at night, period.
There is locks with alarms attached to it and also AirTag tracker to place on your bike to keep track if ever stolen there is just so much tech today you can use to secure your bike you just need 2 less expensive locks for both wheels and one expensive lock for your main bike with alarm attached, it may cost you some money but if your bike is expensive better to be investing in securing everything.
Sad thing for me is I am watching this AFTER my beloved 3 speed Raleigh was stolen - had it for 20 years, no one ever touched it, left it locked in an office parking lot overnight and next day - gone. Vintage Brooks saddle, covered with plastic bag so it wouldn't be ruined. Pouring rain, brakes didn't work, could have put inside the office building or even walked it home but I didn't think anyone would steal it. Can't fix stupid. My friend gave me her old Schwinn but wow...so not the same. Thanks for this great video.
I got a 40$ bike ( most of the parts were rusty, I used it so it wouldn't get stolen, it made my commute to the train station much quicker) with a 35$ lock stolen, the lock hurt more than the bike
I'm from central london, and I cankot remember the number of bikes I have had stolen. It took me 20 years to get to the point where I wasn't losing at least one bike a season. I was riding vintage racers worth basically nothing, and crashing them fairly often in traffic situations. Insufficient grip, bad handling, bad brakes etc. That had to change. These days I ride proper mountain bikes with no dodgy handling characteristics. My strategies: #1 use a link based heavy duty chain designed for securing motorbikes. I wear it round my body while riding and yea it's heavy. It's a form of weight training. #2 carry the bike in wherever possible. Has to be very light and also clean and nice to look at in in a host's place. Hence carbon/titanium frames etc. #3 adding reflective stickers / removing decals. My bikes do not have any logos on them. Hence they would be hard to sell. #4 extreme vigilance - if it is locked up outside I am probably within 30m keeping an eye on it.
I used to live in central London and I rode a vintage '80s race bike. I used good Kryptonite locks on it (an Evolution Mini that I had bought for the lower risk city where I come from, plus a Kryptonite New York Standard) and it never got stolen. This bike is a bit of a Frankenstein, a mish-mash of parts, only cost £100 too, so I hope thieves don't think there's much reason to steal it, especially with two Kryptonite locks on it, when many people lock up much more valuable bikes with much worse locks. Can I ask why you don't like vintage racers, and why you switched to a mountain bike? From my experience road bikes have more than enough grip for the paved roads of a city. As for brakes, that's nothing to do with the style of bike. Old MTBs have shit brakes too. Just replace the brake pads and make sure the callipers work and they're enough to stop you. The MTB you ride, does it have suspension? MTBs are of course heavier than road bikes, especially with suspension which adds to the weight massively. Also carbon/titanium? Sounds very expensive, and therefore attractive to a bike thief. I think my £100 steel scruffy '80s roadie was a great vehicle for getting around London. I would never have gone with an MTB personally due to the extra weight. Interested why you went that route? Of course there is another option in central London which I'm a massive fan of too - Boris bikes. Very affordable, only £2 for 24 hours' access, which is way cheaper than the tube, especially when you consider a return journey or multiple journeys in a day. And best of all you don't have to worry about having your bike nicked at all!
My relatively small town (400k population) provides free smartlock stands near bigger shops/locations (those are stationary heavy duty bike stands that lock your frame and a wheel) . Lock it via phone app or dial a number or use a registered public transport card thingie. Convenient!
so i read a couple of tests on locks and watched a few youtube videos, and chain locks usually are not the most secure. The U lock always are better. Chains are easier to use a bolt cutter on (i think also because most chains are hardened and more brittle) , and more importantly, as soon as you crack one member of the chain, the whole chain is gone. U locks on the other hand, even if you cut through the U, its still locked. so you either have to cut through the U in 2 places, or you need to bend the U away. The first one doubles the time needed to steal, and the second one is actually pretty impractical. So never buy a chain if you can get a U lock. additionally, the foldable locks are not that great either, because the fact you have a good lever for bending the lock out of shape makes it an easier target, and on top of that you can easily use a nut cracker on the pins connecting the parts of the foldable part. and again, destroy it in one place, destroy the whole lock. U LOCKS ARE JUST SUPERIOR IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE
Glueing a ball bearing into the hex fitting is one I have never heard of before. Brilliant!!!!! Thank you!!!! I have had a titanium rail seat, carbon post, carbon bars, stem, Dra Ace shifters, carbon cranks and front carbon rim wheel (the wheel had a bolt on skewer) all stolen by a thief with tools in less than 20 minutes while in a store in Portland, OR. $3,500 gone in minutes on a busy public street right beside the store entrance with a security guard just inside the door. Hex keys, cable cutters and an apathetic populace resulted in me losing. Walking home with my frame and rear wheel I noticed that the same thief had hit upward of 20 plus bikes in downtown Portland that day the same way! This went on for months until a group of riders put out a bait bike and got him. The cops searched his tents (he had multiple tents) under a bridge since he has over $1,000 in bike parts in his back pack and recovered tons of bikes and parts that most of it made it back to the owners. He had been selling the parts for drugs to a guy that would in turn would sale the parts and bikes in Seattle and Vancouver BC. No one felt sorry for his homeless plight being a mass thief like he was.
Buy a boring value bike using just for daily downtown and take your dream bike when doing longer rides. and remember, comfort is the thief's silent accomplice!
When I lived in Helsinki, Finland I never had my bike stolen. I didn't even bother to lock it most of the time when I used it to quickly visit grocery stores. The lock I had was made by myself out of a length of rope and a padlock, and you could've hacked through it with a knife in seconds. It's nice to live in a safe city. My bike was complete shit though, so I guess thieves didn't have any reason to steal it lol.
Good strategies, good reminders. I haven't had a bike stolen since 1985, so I must be doing something right! However, a couple of years ago I parked my bike in a sketchy part of town in the middle of the day for about two hours, and someone snatched my (unsecured) Brooks saddle and carbon fibre seat post. It was an expensive lesson. Now I loop a cable through the saddle.
Where i live people go around with saws sawing the chains off and i need a bike to get around and work, it sucks i have constant anxiety that it might get stolen.
Hiploc recently came out with an angle grinder resistant U-lock called the Hiploc D1000. It's sold out now, but you could get on the waiting list. Bad news is the price, it's $345 U.S. Another lock you could look at is the Abus Granit Extreme 59 motorcycle U-lock. It's one of the most secure U-lock currently available. Though it does weigh 6 lbs. and costs about $200 U.S.
Yes! I only leave my main ride unattended when I am refuelling in the middle of nowhere, small towns are usually very safe around here. If I bought another road bike, it would either be in my room or under my legs.
The discussion here focusses on reducing the Theft Likelihood relationship shown at 3:11 by increasing the "risk" element. But another way to achieve the same reduction would be to decrease the "reward" term in the equation. Make your bike unattractive. My Bianchi was never stolen in Berkeley CA despite having Campagnolo hubs and derailleurs because I painted it black with house paint and used downtube shift levers. You can file off or otherwise obliterate or remove logos (like that "Brooks" tag on the saddle). Don't shout "Expensive." And remember, you have to carry all those locks around with you. How much do they weigh? If the bike is close to the UCI weight limit (6.8 kg) and your 3 or 4 locks come to another 6 kg (Arbus - 1 1/2 kg, Kyptonite Fahgettaboudit - 2 kg), you might as well by a heavier, off-brand bike at 10 kg, make it ugly and put good wheels on it and buy a lighter cable lock.
Having a very uncommon bike helps as well, as thieves can't easily resell it, and they know it. E.g. here in Vienna, Bromptons are very uncommon, so nobody knows their real value and the market is also very small. On the other hand, a high-end race bike screams to be stolen if left weakly protected. However, also be aware some thieves focus on cheap weakly protected bikes, especially the opportunists just needing a quick ride, so using a cable lock is always a bad idea, even for a 50$ bike.
You mentioned increasing risk but forgot to mention reducing the reward for the theif. At the expense of fixie points, you can de-badge some of your compents that theives know are expensive components by looking at the labels
I have two locks, one for quick stops, so like ten minutes max. It's a foldable lock that I can store on the frame. The other is a beefy AXA chain lock, more so meant for motorcycles. Need be, I'll bring both, heavy duty for back wheel and frame. Foldable for front wheel. My mom dropped me off at a friend's house when I was younger. She was talking to his mother. 1 minute. She didn't lock her bike, standing behind her. Gone. Just like that.
What also helps (or at least what I heard helps) is to Hide your bikes value: - get rid of quality components decals and sticker (like fork stickers). - cover quality brand name with tape or stickers - put some horrible brand names on you bike (the worst chinesium names you can find) - keep your bike a bit dirty - sticker bomb or personalise in any other way Make your bike look ugly: - put some cheap/old/out of fashion looking accessories, - if you don't care about resale value give it few scratches or a horrible paint job - in extreme cases give it a coat of black spray paint, then some rusty brown in spots where bike normally rusts, spray thick clear coat, sprinkle some chocolate powder (it's not a joke) and seal the powder with another spray of clear coat. It will look like rusty bike.
I've never had a bike stolen either, those U-locks are the real deal. Just got a chain one too for my new bike that's over two grand. After seeing this video, I'm going to get a third one.
What if you lock your bike with a thick and heavy industrial chain. Would that keep it safe? I could buy some from a hardware and keep it with me in my book bag when I need to ride out.
I'm using a handful of things to help secure mine. On top of the locks, I have a Tile and an AirTag hidden in different spots inside the frame, an alarm attached to the seat, and I registered my bike with 925 Garage and got the decal. And of coarse I keep it inside at night and my workplace lets me keep it in the warehouse while I am at work. One other thing that can help with recovery is to have a custom paint job, decals, tape, or anything to make your bike unique and make sure to take pictures of it with you in the picture.
I use "Kryptonite New York M18" U-lock with 18mm STEEL SHACKLE + Alarm lock on front wheel brake disc + Abus armored cable + GPS tracker inside seat tube and if everything fails got surprise for stealer under saddle. And all of this on 300$ bike. I guess its like 200% on 100%. Why do i use so expensive protections ? Because its still cheaper than buying a new bike every half year.
Exactly. Use security skewers on both wheels, seat post and tube cap. Then use a 16-18 mm U lock on frame + any wheel. Register your bike. Last is optional. Install a GPS inside your seat post. Guaranteed you have the safest bike out of anyone.
As an ex bike thief. I'm not necessarily worried about people. I wouldn't nab a bike in the middle of the city, next to Subway, unless it was unlocked. But a small store with minimum foot traffic, sure, in an out in seconds. I always looked for easy locks to break, especially those that used a really cheap and weak lock through the front wheel and a pole, etc. Those are really easy to pull apart. If I saw a bike with a u-lock, it's an instant disregard, because those are a hassle to deal with. Especially if you have to cut at two places, which we don't know because there's so many alternatives. Shading is also a major benefit for me, shade offers low visibility and close to no foot traffic. No one wants to be in the dark at night. So, to protect your bike, always stay around people, always park it where there's a lot of light at night. And most importantly, use a u-lock through the bars and back wheel. Preferably, lock it around a pole. If you add a second, or third lock, no one will bother to take it. We want to be in and out in under 3 minutes. If you own an ebike, any kind, and it's not too big, most stores will let you guide it, or leave it near the register. No matter what you use, get good locks, superb locks. And if you have more money to spend, get an alarm that goes off when the bikes being moved slightly. It will be painful to listen to, but it will get someone's attention. Don't worry, I've more than enough paid for my crimes I did as a teen. But if that was teen me, imagine what an adult is thinking. You need to be smart about securing your bike. If it sounds absurd, go above that to secure it. The above doesn't apply if you live in London for example. They don't care about where they are, time of day, or pedestrians. Bikes aren't safe outside, so don't leave it anywhere. And people are too scared to do anything about it. Why? Because gangs steal bikes. Gangs can be dangerous, gangs have knives and other tools you don't have.
Basically, if you wouldn't let your kids go to a certain location or spot, don't park your bike there. Every city has a police station close by. Park it there, even if that means walking further.
there is another tip, I lived in NYC. many riders lock their bike to poles of street signs. make sure check to see if the pole is secured to the ground, even the ones that is cemented into the ground. I heard thieves could loose them from the ground and is able to pull the pole off the hole which the pole was cemented to. so even if is a pole, make sure its not loose and rattle in the ground before you lock your bike onto it..
*Custom paint your bike with 2 different color if you have the resource/time* Make it clear that this bike as not his original paint. My bike is half red and half blue and very obvious that the application of where the paint junction from red to blue is not "Professional". *My custom paint doesn't look bad, it look very good. It doesn't need to make a vomit paint* Some thief try to sell the bike in the same condition it was stolen. A custom paint generate risk for the thief when Selling on Craigslist, Kijiji, Ebay, ect. Ironically, talking about "Custom" I had a Custom Kona FireMountain stolen one day. The custom thing was... it had 4 brakes (And 4 Levers). I found it back because the idiot was listing it as "4 BRAKES".
I have a bicycle with 4 brakes, 2 disk's and 2 dual pivot brakes. Another Bicycle of mine has 3 brakes, 2 dual pivot brakes and 1 coaster brake. Both Bicycles are internally geared hub's. 9 speed and 7 speed. 9 speed is a cool hybrid. On & off road.
My bike got stolen from my drive way once, but after a few days it was back again. It was probably a tourist wanting to some shopping without having to carry all the stuff back by hand.
Lock your bike even if it's in your home! Years back a 14 year old neighbor broke into my house, kicked my dog, and stole my BMX bike from my garage, painted it and rode it around the block for weeks. Apparently his whole family stole bikes often, chopped them up and sold the parts. Police wouldn't do anything about it. (Houston/Katy area). Houston is a garbage fire of a city.
Go on Amazon and search "bicycle alarm". $15 gets you a pretty loud alarm with a wireless key fob. Put the fob on a ring with your bike lock key(s). Anyone messing with your bike will set off the alarm and at least give you warning / attract attention.
If you regularly have to leave your bike locked in public for long hours, make sure it's worth 10% of your U lock. Keep your better bike for rides when it's under you not locked on streets.
@@agentmikster44 That is both bad math and a dubious lifestyle choice. My advice: Have a good bike. Enjoy riding it. Don't be shy about protecting it with a good quality lock. There will always be some naïf whose nearby bike is only guarded by a flimsy cable lock.
You missed the spring loaded spike that shoots through the seat post if the brake is not pulled 3 times before mounting,an added bonus is you can hear them screaming for miles....
Good points if you ask me! Maybe also do a follow up about what to do when your bike gets stolen and how to prepare for when it gets stolen (write down frame numbers, keep prove of ownership, registration if that's a thing in your country, airtags i guess, searching on places bike thieves use to sell their stolen goods, etc.)
Strongly agree with the content in this video. I have also never had a bike stolen but view it as a when and not if kinda' issue. I always lock my bike using my full setup even if its a brief stop. One time we used an angle grinder to cut free my friends bike in public in the city centre after he'd lost the keys. Sparks were going all over the place, it was broad daylight, countless people walked past and the police drove past slowly, no one stopped to ask us the deal or what we were up to. Everyone assumed we were not stealing a bike (which we weren't) but we totally could have been. Fuck bike thieves, if you love bikes do not buy bikes if you even suspect they might be stolen!!
In college I broke ALL of these rules and my bike was never stolen even after leaving it on campus for a year because my bike was ugly af 😂 So, maybe making your bike as unappealing as possible also has security benefits!
Funny story about 20 years ago I got home from work and put my bike in my garden while I put my bag and helmet in the house.. I was gone for less than a minute Come out side to put my bike away and it had gone 😡 I contacted the police and they said contact my insurance The following day I was at work and told my friends about what happened A few hours later my friend said my bike was in the bike rack???? Really I said thinking he was messing with me (Not funny) But I looked in the rack and my bike was there????? I spoke to security and they contacted my manager, checking cctv A new lad had started work and come to work on my bike Police got called he was taken away I got my bike back True story
I put a simple rechargeable tracker that will light up if it's jostled under my seat with a simple snap. Most people won't check under the seat before trying to steal it. Someone touches my bike, I get an alert, and then come running about to put someone in the ground.
I got my classic used CCM with an awesome basket for my groceries stolen on the night of my birthday 3 years ago downtown after I had a good time and came out of the club at 1am. The chain was broken. I had my lesson never to leave a locked bicycle overnight 2 times and I use a hard U lock. Thanks for the advice.
This guy is so smart when it comes bike security this video made me think back about how and why I lost the 10 bikes I’ve gotten stolen within a 7 year period, I wish I knew then what I know now. They need to come up with like a shock lock something that would electrocute these bastards.
Wow mine has got a pretty low chance of being pinched, at least from a theives point of view considering my lock is half the price of my bike. Plus who wants a 40 dollar bike.
You would be surprised. I've had bikes that I dragged home from the garbage with parts missing get stolen out of a locked, fenced yard because crackheads wanted scrap metal.
Had nice bright red trek cyclocross bike that I used in college for 3 years. Finally was taken after I (stupidly) locked it up outside, in the main part of campus and didn't check on it for days. It was before I was a cyclist...it deserved better than me at the time.
I have that same abus ulock but after watching this video I'll definitely at least get a second lock. On top of that, I just insured ly bike against theft and damage. Definitely worth it for the first couple years if you're buying a brand new bike.
Thank you for posting this video. I recently purchased an e bike. I use 3 heavy chain locks and I use them all every time. I also keep it locked where I can see it. At night, it comes inside.
I have the perfect solution for everyone here. I recently bought a $4,000 dollah bike and planning on riding it to work. Sooooo without further ado, Here's the list I made: 1. Invest for 3-4 good locks (If you can carry a bit more, buy some cheap ones on a dollar store and put a ton o' locks so the thief won't even bother to touch your bike) 2. Buy a bike cover (The sneaky ones with colors that blend in the surroundings) 3. Be smart on WHERE you lock your bike. 4. Too much work = less likely to get your bike stolen 5. Buy a GPS tracker and an alarm whenever someone puts it in motion. 6. Here's my lock combos: 6.1. Front wheel + Rim + Fork + and/or somewhere you will lock your bike to. 6.2 Seat tube + Rear wheel + and/or somewhere you will lock your bike to. 6.3. Saddle + Seat stays + and/or Rear wheel. 6.4. Handlebar + Stem + Front wheel and/or Frame (Use a chain on this one and make sure to lock it tighter than your anus) 7. If you have something on your bike that you could carry, BRING IT WITH YOU. Heck if you could bring the whole bike, never think twice. 8. Lastly, I own a bike cover with lock holes so I have an extra lock (On this one you can use a cheap lock but if you're rich and ballin', just go for a $30-$50 lock) and make sure the bike cover won't go anywhere as well. The lock goes thru the lock holes, thru the front wheel/rim and/or somewhere you will lock your bike to. ALWAYS MAKE SURE EVERY LOCK IS SECURED. You can mix and match on what and where your locks would go, just make sure the bike is securely locked in place. The most effective and alternative way is to buy a cheap bike and use that one for your daily use and preserve your dream bike for long rides with the boys (and girls, not tryin to be sexist here) I only use my dream bike more often because it's like this, imagine playing on a high-tier gaming computer with high-end specs for a year and then try playing on a shit computer with old components. I bet you won't even last a day. If you're riding it for work like me, find the perfect spot for it. I personally I lock mine at back of the building where people rarely goes then hide it with my bike cover. Usually bike thieves go around town in a van looking for easy bikes to steal to make some easy money out of it. So never lock it in plain sight. Not all bike thieves are rich enough to buy an angle grinder. If the bike thief is smart, be smarter. Remember, the more work the thief will need to do to steal your bike, the less likely it will get stolen. Prove me wrong. PS: I heard that there's insurance for bikes now, try to look it up if it's available in your country.
Dude i used to lock my bike with lock and chain that is ment for motorbikes and place i locked my bike in was in room that you need seperate key to get in to and to get in to hallway the room was in you need whole another key again and also i did put the chain in to water pipes that run the water of the whole building and also for those keys only certain people would be able to get them so there are not many suspects and also there is a shit ton of work because chain cover made of kevlar and stuff chain itself too buff for tools and weakest part was titanium lock which could be picked but none of them was left also muh bile was heavy like really frikken heavy so add all that chain and lock and some xtra stuff and cheap combinatios locks to add some struggle but still didnt stop muh worthless bike from getting stolen learn a lesson dont put too much security on a bike because it makes thieves want it and the room had couple other bikes that were worth 100x times more and were not even locked and i used muh bike daily so there was only couple hours in the night to do some thieving since i put my bike in there late in the evening after hanging out with friends and stuff
![[868] Why I Use This Lock On My Bicycle - Kryptonite Evolution Chain Lock (Series 4)](/img/n.gif)
What are some of your best tips for securing your bike from thieves?
Zach Gallardo Cable lock connecting front tire to frame secondary D lock through frame and back wheel
Make it look like a beater, take off parts like front wheel and/or saddle so it looks like it was left behind and the best parts have already been taken.
you gotta lock it out of sight ,2nd floor outdoor stairs a good place and dont be so paranoid youre gonna attract alot of bad energy .
Still lock it up though!
Remove both the wheels, flip the bike upside down, lock the frame and wheels separately with quality u locks.
The part about people not caring is true, my bike was stolen and my mother found it a few days later, she called me and I brought some tools with me. We literally stole my own bike back and I just took it back home while other people were just going past me. I looked shady as hell but no one really cared.
Fair enough! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
My friend did the same but the theif had seen and beaten him! (Though he had CCTV videos of his cycle stolen and second video of getting beaten)
Are you slim? If so you looked like slim shady hahaha omg i kill myself with my jokes 😂
@@AS-gh1gethere will always only be one real slim shady
The irony would be to be arrested while stealing your own bike.
There's a special place in hell for bike thieves
I'm picturing a long downhill ramp in to a pool of lava on endless loop.
@L.K I thought that was obvious 😉
I’m getting the feeling someone had a bike stolen.
And I'm the executioner. Thumbs up stay Awsome everyone.
I e had like £800 worth ofbijes stolen, so if they were worth it then the can have them rammed into their face for all eternity
Many years ago (many), a friend of mine bought an Italian Masi road bike. It was beautiful, sculpted lugs, hand finished paint, all Campagnolo super record components.
He then went to work with two or three different kinds of tape and several cans of spray paint. By the time he finished, the bike looked like it had already been stolen and clumsily repainted two or three times, ravaged by the Visigoths, and generally gave the impression that you could catch tetanus or rabies just by standing anywhere near it.
Rob never locked that bike. He routinely left it lying outside of convenience stores, movie theaters, and shopping malls. And during the three years that I worked with him, it never got stolen.
I have never quite had the heart to adopt that strategy, but it definitely worked.
I had my $2000 specialized PINK bike stolen from Wal-Mart. I stupidity thought it was safe because I used the bike rack and above it were 2 security cameras and it was 11 am on a sunny day. Silly girl....I was. Came out and my $50 not good enough lock was cut easily.
I called the police from inside Wal-mart and they said they would come to my home in a few hours.
I walked home with tears in my eyes. I felt violated. Then, I decided to accept it and not be upset over a material DREAM bike.
By the time I reached home, my daughter met me at the door, saying the cops called and they are bringing my bike to me.
A trucker saw the thief on a pink bike and thought it was suspicious and called it in. The cop found my bike in a ditch and he said it was the FIRST bike he ever brought back.
This video helped me a lot, but I am bummed out to have to use 3 locks. I bike far distance......but it would also suck to have it gone when I'm 3 hours from home.
I loved the video and it explains my errors very well.
P.S. I couldn't even get Wal-mart or the police to look at the security cameras that were above the bike rack.
THANK YOU!
Namaste
~The lucky one
Why could't police look at security cameras records ? What is problem for them ?
@@Temporalplace Great question.
@@Godisfirst21 Did they say that they won't do it or they cant do it because of law ?
They told me to just be happy I got it back. They don't like to explain themselves. Ya know what I mean?
@@Godisfirst21 Yeah i know
I've always used two locks, and every single time I've had a bike stolen (3x), was when I decided that 'Oh, I'll be back in 10 minutes, one lock will probably be enough'. So yeah, definitely agree with the 2+ lock advice.
I think this is a really difficult issue. Say youre on your bike and stop at a store to get a coffee. You use the easiest deterrent because you think you will just be a few minutes, you're within 500 meters of the bike and you think it's quite visible and bang its gone before you've paid for your coffee. And who would actually take off all their components for a stop like this?
It's happened to me, riding my bike, needing to pee and using a cable to lock my bike outside a public toilet.
Having all the options is great but I've found that the cable lock is actually everyone's primary lock. I have a mid-range racing bike. From cable I go to D lock from D lock to back wheel rotor lock and then to wireless bike alarm. If someone's determined to steal your bike they will, irrespective the security you have.
@@JohnVianneyPatron u got to ge into the habit of lock it up with as many locks as possible.
Wow! Where do u live?
@@JohnVianneyPatron Yeah I popped into a supermarket for a few minutes and that was enough time for thieves to angle grind the kryptonite evolution and steal my ebike which i use for work as a food delivery guy
where do you live?!
put a sign on the bike saying "STEAL ME", bike theives will think its a trap
Or a challenge lol
How about 'STEAL ME, YOU'RE ON TH-cam' 😂
I've often wondered about leaving a nice bike completely unlocked on a busy sidewalk. Seems like bait, don't you think? And if the scum disagrees and tries to steal it anyway... make it bait. Seems to me a few beat downs on a regular basis would jack up the "risk" coefficient dramatically.
how about gps tracking installed on bike
RobMacKendrick Yeah I think you underestimate just how many people would consider stealing a bike like that. It’s a way bigger pool of people than the number of beat downs they would ever receive for stealing bikes, so most of them would never even feel that deterrent or care enough to stop them from trying.
1. look out for tape or plastic tubing on racks. It might look as if its there to stop your paint job being marked but its common to use an angle grinder to cut the rack at 3 in the morning and then cover the cut with tube or tape so that when an expensive bike is locked up, it can be removed along with the lock in seconds with no tools.
2. If you come back to your bike to find a slashed tire or bent wheel, never ever leave it there overnight - that's what they want you to do.
3. If your bike is a practical commuter tool rather than your pride and joy, avoid big brands and add uncool accessories that make it look less desirable. A basket or pannier rack is good, fenders are good, big ugly retro style lights are also good. I know that a lot of delivery guys using bikes with quality components go so far as to give their bikes a very unflattering paint job.
2 minutes into the video and so far you've just persuaded me that I should become a bike thief
bc he is one...
Dont do it bruh imma spank dat booty cherry iffya du
I agree. I would never steal a bike unless i had to which I don't have to worry about at the moment, but this video kind of made me want to steal a bike
ErinDoes Anhh just don't do it. It's such a bad habit.
beware, bike thief usually do crack and meth
I spent nearly 3 decades living in Brazil so I have a PhD in bike thievery. When I was young I rode my bike with my cousins. Chain came loose on my bike so we stopped to fix it. We got mugged by a gang. So the lesson here is: don't take risks such as stopping in some street to fix a loose chain when you live in a shitty 3rd world country.
...like San Francisco in 2023!
youre tweaking
@@arjunyeleshwarapuyeah lmao, if you can't even stop then dont even go outside with a bike
I live in Brazil too. I always act like I'm armed when a stranger comes close to me when I'm with my bycicle.
@@laci272every part of san francisco is safer than a child next to you
My bike was stolen today hence why I’m now subscribing to your channel this is my 5th bike stolen. The emotion is gone because of how many I’ve lost but had I watched this video I can now see my failures. Thank you for creating this video and will use this method
Thats tough. I hope youve had better luck.
Ive had a few stolen . Only tip bikes but I hate walking so its always a bang.
I have £1000 plus fixie made from different components and sprayed matt black badly , over stickers. Flaky pseudo anodising effect .The seatpost is a Thompson masterpiece hiding inside an inner tube.....self amalgamating tape over any bolts ..worse than denso !
But you can still tell.
One krypto d lock for shops ..two for anything over 5 mins.
How about a lock that literally makes a very loud noise if it detects that it is being opend or broken unnaturally. That would certainly make the "risk" for theives much higher.
Most people wouldn't bother doing anything we are desensitised to noise we have mobile phones ringtones
@@TheAnonyy Not alarm level loudness, that's borderline hearing damaging at close distance, but it might be difficult to get a very loud product to market due to regulations,I'm just speculating
Most angle grinders already make noise...
@@TheAnonyy Emphasis on "most", all kinds of people exist
There are motion activated bike alarms that sound when the bike is moved
If you want to protect your bike, leave it near security cameras if possible. Use a device that sets off an alarm if moved, such as an Oxford screamer. And most importantly, invest in a GPS tracking device that can be hidden inside the frame. Do all of those things and I guarantee that, if in the unlikely event your bike is stolen, you'll have a 90% chance of getting it back.
@@leegg8664 You can't what?
@@royborrill2711 I just found the name really funny:).
@@leegg8664...;-) I agree. But it does the business. Frightens the life out of the scumbags trying to steal your bike. :-)
Yeah, about that... not where I work. Dude cut the cable lock and went off with the bike, 100% on camera. It was on the town's news for a while.
@Patrick Bateman
Thanks for reinforcing my point.
Locking my bike outside the library, a guy told me that he put his there with a reasonable lock on it. When he came out there was a better lock on it. The cops told him that it was common there. They would come back after hours, remove your lock and then take the bike. He bought a really good lock and added that. In the morning, the crooks lock was gone. I think he was a bit lucky that they didn't smash his wheels out of spite.
That happen to me but He locked his seat to my seat good thing my seat unlocks easy so I took his seat as well he tried to chase me but he couldn’t keep up without a seat 😂I rode off and thru his in a bush
i would've prbably waited with a baseball bat close to my bike and smashed the head of the tief when he came back haha
That was a thief respect the fair play! 😂
@Patrick Bateman true story 😂
@@resksmith5862 oh yes my friend I'm with you. I'd wait and wait with a bat.
Here's something to cheer you up: I saw a bike theft video (parking lot camera) posted on a local online rag. I hesitated to tell my bikey "Ride 100 miles, no problem" knows-all-about-bikes friend, mainly because he hates to "hear negative things." But . . . I showed him the video anyway. Three days later, my friend is in a bike shop and watching as a guy tries to buy parts for his "new" bike. Yep. It's the stolen $1500 bike. My friend notices the bike owner dude is wearing a shirt advertising a local restaurant, follows the guy and sees the guy park the "new" bike outside the restaurant. Sure enough, the dude works there. I find the contact # for the guy whose bike was stolen, my friend takes him to the restaurant and the owner of the bike gets his bike back. Restaurant guy says he bought the bike off some friend; no idea it was stolen. Yeah. Buy a $1500 bike for a few hundred dollars . . . Sure.
Please tell me that guy got jail time for stealing that bike. The reason people can steal bikes without worry is because they don’t get punished if they’re caught.
@@usmansiddiqui1384 lol
One more advice: make your bike look bad. It does not mean technical neglection, but the frame wrapped with packing tape or duck tape can visually deteriorate the bike. If possible, use a cheap bike for everyday commuting. Use parts that are scratched, the more rusty look, the better. I know, not everybody likes to ride a bad-looking bike, but if you live in dangerous place, maybe it is the option.
bike thief is medieval equivalent of chicken thief ...lowest form of life
Nope, that would be the thief's customer. Don't Buy Hot Bikes!
How about stealing chickens on a stolen bike?
back then they had posters showing how to lock up your chickens
Lmfao those poor chickens being kidnapped
My MTB was once stolen. I stole it back.
@Jonathan how tho?
I luv ninga - well done!
@Jonathan r/ihavereddit
@Jonathan off yourself.
how did u know the one u stole back was urs..?
I've had 3 beautiful bikes stolen from me. Each time it happened I was devastated, heart broken and mad as hell! I currently own 2 gorgeous bikes and I don't even own a lock! If the bike cannot go inside with me I just keep rollin. So there are times when I don't ride because I know the bike can't come in. But luckily I can bring it inside where I work. Locking my beauties outside is not even a consideration for me anymore.
Same here, normally I’m riding with a partner or a friend. So say he goes into a shop I look after his bike and vice versa.
It sucks that when I take my bike with me in my car I'm scared to leave it I'm the car cuz it will get broken into or it stolen off the streets. Even got chased once by 3 guys for my bike while out on a stroll for my bday.
Ride ugly ones
get a folding bike, like Brompton for example. it folds easily and u can bring anywhere. For weekend ride or group rides, bring ur best one ;)
🙏🏻❤
I had my specialized bike costing around 10,000 dollars stolen in about 5 minutes. While I ran inside to get water at my own house. Always KEEP IT IN YOUR SIGHTS
So what did the cops say? I do assume you called the cops. Same thing happened to me, my bike was "only" $700.
You took too long to get water mate.
Honestly that Sucks. That thief should get both his/her hands cut off
NorceCodine they just said, “we’ll keep a lookout for it” never heard back from them
Langor yeah, it was stupid of me. I get mad at myself when I think about it.
@@p1mpmasterbackhand I can't wait to tell my bike shop mechanic pal your story. He thinks most people are super stupid about bike security and he just loves to hear these kinds of stories. "You took too long to get water, mate" is the best reply EVER.
Spends $875 on a bike because of its amazing light weight...
Needs at least 3 heavy locks to keep it safe...
But that's just when commuting. You don't need to bring a bike lock if you are just going for a ride.
You could prob make due with 1 motorcycle heavy duty lock but it will be heavier than 3 bike locks
@@VolcanicProtectorMan good idea! :) thank u!! ps where is a good site for motorcycle locks?
@@buffythevampireslayertilid3154 if you're looking for motorcycle locks, look for at least ART4 rated ones, there's a chain with a hole at the end where you can loop the chain through, giving you the most length for the price and weight.
That's what use for my motorcycle
Try $4000😂😂
The ultimate locking strategy: always park next to a better bicycle with worse locks!
I used to be like Zach and took 3 locks with me, one being a super heavy Fahgettaboudit Mini. But then I realized that most bikes around me still use cable locks, bad u-locks and novelty locks. Now I use a kryptonite messenger lock for the bike or a ligther chain, a ottolock for my front wheel. My saddle, while comfy, is ragged so I don't need to lock it. Also, I bought a fixed gear since they can be good bikes for cheap(er).
@@gregortega2767 Yes. But is very easy to carry so I might as well use it. Wheels are bolted so makes it a bit higher work than the bike next to mine. Also, Bosnianbill lock was defective. Mine already saved my foldable. Still, is a minimum security lock, thats why I use the u-lock too.
So true honestly, I always see bikes "locked" via cable through the front quick-release wheel😂 makes me feel better
Have you ever considered bike thieves might use a fancy stolen bike as bait to get you to park your bike next to theirs?
Robert Ketteringham Bruh why you trying to make me more paranoid😂
@@beccag2758 because that's the mindset you should be in in order to be as cautious as possible when securing your bike...
Bike thieving... what a petty crime. Grow a pair and a rob a bank.
Ya. Even stealing cars could make more money.
I use a pretty beefy chain lock but just today I did a test on how easy it is to pick and even I, who had never picked a lock before, managed to pick it in less than 2 minutes. Time for a new lock.
What brand was it? We need to know.
Seconding this
Sadly I’m here because I had my bike stolen
I know it is 3 years past your accident, but what mistakes did you do when your bike was stolen?
if you have expensive components, its a good idea to change your bolts to star bolts, 99% of the time bike thieves don't have a star nut Allen key with them.
Aka Torx screws.
they eventually will carry a Torx set with them
best thing you could do if you can shell out the money: get custom made screws and a few custom screwdrivers - while expensive, it is probably the best bet since you're literally the only one in the world that happens to have the needed tool
don't skimp on the material tho, get hard screws or they might get drilled out otherwise
@@hundkebab2433 interesting take. I will look into this. Hopefully i can get some titanium bolts.
I live in London where bike theft is pretty common, one thing I always look out for in the rare occasions I lock my bike overnight in public is the other bikes on the rack on locking against. If there are other bikes that look like they have had parts stolen or whatever I avoid the area and find somewhere else. Bike thieves are habitual and will usually go back to spots where they've scored before
Then you probably never park your bike in London ))
@@Jake-Curiousever
As a middle-aged adult, I bought in turn 2 Shwinn Cruisers from Walmart, less than $100, foot brakes. I took them each in turn to the bike shop abs had a front and saddle baskets put on. They each were stolen. I thought they'd be undesirable.
In London, they cut the bike racks and cover the cut - so dont lock your bike to a rack with tape on it.
Most use portable angle grinders that they leave in bushes. The steal in broad daylight and will get through most locks in < 2 minutes
Agreed
Jonathan you can test that by using it to lock a 5 grand bike up in London for an hour or so. Good luck, let me know how you get on
@Jonathan I'm not taking the piss out of you, but honestly, no bike lock on the market will take longer than 60 seconds to cut through with a portable angle grinder. That 45 minutes claim is false, unless they mean using a cheap hacksaw...
Jonathan yeah? Whereabouts do you lock it up?
Jonathan cops around all the time? Which train station? Are you sure you're talking about Britain? 😂
Don't lock your bike near the ground. When the thief can place one arm of the bolt cutter to the ground, they can use their body wieght and it is much more easy to cut a lock.
What's wrong with locking your bike to trees 😂 I've yet to see anyone fell a tree in public to steal a bike
I have a stihl chainsaw and know how to use it
I think it's because the city discourages it, harms the tree and stuff. Plus that probably means you're primarily using a cable lock
Well if you're using a D-lock or a chain (as you should be) then they won't be big enough to go around a thick tree. They will only go around a thin young tree which is easy to cut down. A cable lock might fit around a thick tree, but cable locks can be cut in seconds.
It literally has happened. You're harming the tree if it is or isn't stolen so probably dont.
I have seen it. I've seen smallish trees (3-4 inches in diameter) cut to steal a bike right off it.
He knows so much because ;
'i have never had a bike stolen but I have stolen 357 over the last 7 years
where does he say that??? what time stamp???
@@buffythevampireslayertilid3154 he didn't literally say that I was joking
He didn't figuratively say that either....it was just a joke.
A suggestion that I'm surprised hasn't come up yet, if you're going/commuting to the same place over and over, get a super heavy duty lock and leave it behind so you don't have to take it with you.
If i was a thief, I'd steal or ruin your lock in the night and steal the bike that will probably have a worse lock the next day
That's what i do, but into my siblings house, i put it on tree
@@PaoloSulpriziowhy would i ride to work with no lock?
I used to put my U-lock through the bike rack, rear triangle (rim/tire in the lock) and remove the front wheel to put it through the same lock. This way the thief cannot get as much leverage when trying to steal and it's more work to one) break the lock, two) pick up the bike and front wheel separately and three) not be able to instantly ride off/push the bike away from the rack . always worked for me!
Other tip? Hose clamp around the quick release wheel lever. I have this on my front wheel. It make bike thieves more difficult with needing another tool and more time consuming to steal. If they snip the secondary cable for my front wheel, they still need an 8mm wrench to loosen the hose clamp from the inside of the fork with the spokes in the way. I filled in the screwdriver slot, painted it black and put black tape just to make look better and match my bike color. Quality locks? I got 3 main locks (Krytonite NY standard u-lock, Krytonite NY Noose chain lock and Bully Alarm Pager u-lock) but I only use 1 at a time. My go-to lock is the Krytonite NY standard u-lock with a cable. The Bully Alarm Pager u-lock has a loud "disorienting" blaring alarm and comes with a pager that immediately pages me when somebody touches my u-lock. Great feature.
I use 2 or 3 locks. One being an Abus Granit X-Plus. The issue is most bikeracks in my city sucks. They are low on the ground and the type where you shove your front wheel into a wedge. Meaning it's very hard/impossible to lock the frame into the rack. You kind of have to just lock the rack into the frontwheel. No where else to lock it on those racks. Unless you back into it and lock the backwheel.
I think you forgot to mention that you should spend at least 10% the value of your bike on locks.
He did mention it
Jitterbugg Will r/wooosh
He said it
He always forgets that
@@augmentedkeys5971 He was being sarcastic.
I think the thing you forgot to mention was bus racks! If you commute and place your bike on a bus rack often, you need to pay attention. People can walk up to the bus when it stops or people can get off the bus at a stop and just pick your bike up off the front rack. In most cases the bus driver, nor anyone else will even try to stop them. You need to pay attention. You can sometimes, if you have a quick release on your front end, snap it open as you rest it in the rack, this way if someone tries to jump on it and steal it, well you see where I'm going. Or if you are going a long distance on the bus you could even use the U-lock, attaching the front wheel and frame. In short, don't think that your bike is safe just because its on the bus! Pay attention!
Zach B very true!
Hell Yeah and great advice!
Just lock the rea tire to the frame and you're good to go always do that.
Brian Delaney did he sue?
If you put your bike on a bus rack, sit (or stand) as close as you can to the front and never let it out of your sight.
Grabbed my Hiplok Gold and never looked back. The thing is built like a tank, can easily be work over the shoulder/around the waist, and has saved my bike seemingly countless times. The lock itself is covered in tiny knicks from people trying bolt cutters on it and failing. Sure, an angle grinder could almost certainly break through it, my Cinelli stays inside when I'm at home, and locked up in view of the security desk at work.
Also, you failed to mention the best security: camouflage; if you're fine having a bike that looks cheap most thieves will pass it over. You can also hide it in plain sight by making it so noticeable/ traceable that it's too much of a risk to pinch. With my old bike I took all the branding off the rims, spray painted the frame, and sticker-bombed the whole thing, you couldn't tell there was a Miele columbus steel frame under there.
Looked like shit, rode like a dream.
Thought about the same thing myself. Remove all brandings
@@tacticalg6686 FR, you know they are good components, all showing them off does is make you a target to some dude with bolt cutters and a drug problem
I had my bicycle stolen before in 2014 like the fixie thruster from Walmart!! In 2019 I had my bicycle stolen like Schwinn & Diamondback mountain bike & had it locked up in back porch when I was staying in Englewood!! I had a Jamis Beatnik single speed bicycle in the basement & 🤦🏼♂️😿 that bike got stolen in 2021!! I am still learning my lessons everyday!! This time I keep my 3 bicycles in my house & I have retrospec Harper plus black & grey!! I also have a Schwinn Glenwood hybrid bike!!
I have been commuting with a bike for a decade. Often left it outside even over weekend. Never got it stolen. Because I have an ancient MTB that looks like it is worth $3 but rides really well. I keep it looking like crap. A friend joined me one day, left his fancy enduro bike locked next to mine, outside of a train station. It wasn't there on the way back. Because it screamed "his front brake is worth more then this piece of crap next to it". But it is not, it is a sleeper. Looks like a beat up Walmart bike with Marin badge. Downside is biking in rain with rim brakes, which can be scary. Also I would prefer a 1x drivetrain, but they were just not good when it was made. Other than that, it is stiff, good geometry, rides smooth, I love it.
I never had a problem with rim brakes in the rain... aside from the loud screeching noise.
I'm pretty sure some random pedestrian will get a heart attack at some point because I used my front brake.
Get some Huffy stickers
I don’t even have a bike but still watched the whole video, now I also know to spend 10% of my bike’s value on locks
Be careful with quick-release hubs. I had my bike double-locked and cabled on Michigan Ave in Chicago (lots of foot traffic, highly visible location, anchored to a very secure 10-foot-tall signpost) and some ass-hat decided one day that if he couldn't steal my bike he was make me pay for his disappointment by removing the front quick-release hub. If I hadn't noticed that when leaving work for the day I'd have likely been seriously injured or worse. Yeah, that's life in the big city.
Was once told to buy an obnoxious garden shed cable of oversized length and old school combo Masterlock. So far, only had my bungie cords for my trunk taken but wheels, frame, seat, basket, trunk intact since the cable fits being wrapped throughout all parts while ALSO being long enough to tie the bike to masonry, some gasline pipes, most telephone poles, etc.
That said, yes, I am a little sad knowing someone's going to take my garage sale bike whose motorized front wheel cost more than the bike was sold new.
A word of warning about wearable chain/U-locks. They are great until your crash with the lock between you and the tarmac. In this scenario the lock always gonna win.
A disc brake alarm does wonders. It's visible, comes with a brightly colored "reminder" strap that also works as a deterrent, it's impossible to take it off the wheel. As soon as your bike gets touched it'll beep loudly several times, then if it's touched again within 30 seconds the alarm will sound super loudly for like 15 seconds and then the the thing repeats. No measure is a complete deterrent but if you stack enough obstacles you reduce the probability of theft exponentially.
The only ones I'm finding on Google are for motorcycles. Will those work on bicycles with disc brakes too?
@@newqI was wondering that too
I have an electric trike which cost me @3500.00. What I do is first lock the frame to bike rack with a Kryptonite U lock with a cable lock around the front wheel. I then cover my bike with high quality bike cover. I lock the bike cover to the bike rack. I then set the alarm that will go off with a shake of the bike at 160db. I got it at Amazon @$15.00. The bike cover covers my basket which I keep tools, pump or groceries etc. If you raise the bike cover a few inches the alarm will go off. I have timed myself locking my bike at @8 to 10 minutes. A little extreme but after three years I still have my bike and a piece of mind.
I used to make food deliveries by bike at the university and saw a lot of signs of bike theft on my daily deliveries. The most sinister was the bike thief had used a saw to cut a V shape wedge in the bike rack; most likely when nobody was around. The V shape wedge was taped back in place with duct tape. When there was a quality bike in the rack the thief just remove the wedge remove the bike and retape the wedge. I inform the campus police about these 'bike traps'. They found 12 around campus at different colleges sometimes two or three on one bike rack. Lesson is look at what you're locking the bike to carefully.
Being someone who recently had their precious bike stolen (a simple inevitability in Berlin), this video speaks to me. This was my own fault given that I only used a crappy cable lock only around the frame. Honestly, having my bike like this without it getting stolen for more than 4 years before it was stolen was a god damn miracle!
My new bike is always secured with a Kryptonite New York U lock around the rear wheel and frame and another hardened steel heavy chain around the front wheel and frame and I never leave the saddle and seat post on the bike when I leave it.
I'm also considering fitting a GPS tracker inside the handlebars. Would this maybe be overkill?
It was not your fault. You are a victim. The thieves are the ones who stole it. They would be at fault even if you had left your bike unlocked.
No if it makes you feel secure.
The paranoia comes natural when you care about your bike indeed!.
I use a flimsy wire lock atm but i will definitely go for a heavy duty u-lock asap.
you missed an important one...many of my customers from my bike shop have lost bikes stored in their garage because they neglected to LOCK the bike securely , with a U-Lock or similar lock, to a steel wall mounted bracket or similar...bike thieves will brazenly walk right into unlocked garages and steal a bike if it can be carried away.
If I saw a thief I would attack them
@@sjlevi99if
They stole my bike right outside my house door and it was locked! In broad daylight with local businesses around. Bike thefts are an everyday thing in Rotterdam Netherlands, and this video helped me prevent this incident from happening again. Thanks man. Great video and l will start using 3 locks as well. Subscription well earned.
If I saw a thief I would knock them out
I ride regularly to downtown Santiago (Chile) where there's plenty of bike racks scattered and plenty of bike thieves as well. I settled on a specific rack that's outside the front of a lot of restaurants, and during day only. Thieves might (I hope) assume the bike belongs to someone who works there at the restaurant and go try somewhere else. And I never ever park at night, period.
There is locks with alarms attached to it and also AirTag tracker to place on your bike to keep track if ever stolen there is just so much tech today you can use to secure your bike you just need 2 less expensive locks for both wheels and one expensive lock for your main bike with alarm attached, it may cost you some money but if your bike is expensive better to be investing in securing everything.
Sad thing for me is I am watching this AFTER my beloved 3 speed Raleigh was stolen - had it for 20 years, no one ever touched it, left it locked in an office parking lot overnight and next day - gone. Vintage Brooks saddle, covered with plastic bag so it wouldn't be ruined. Pouring rain, brakes didn't work, could have put inside the office building or even walked it home but I didn't think anyone would steal it. Can't fix stupid. My friend gave me her old Schwinn but wow...so not the same. Thanks for this great video.
I got a 40$ bike ( most of the parts were rusty, I used it so it wouldn't get stolen, it made my commute to the train station much quicker) with a 35$ lock stolen, the lock hurt more than the bike
He clearly said your lock should be 10% the cost of the bike. $35 lock made someone think $350 bike.
I'm from central london, and I cankot remember the number of bikes I have had stolen. It took me 20 years to get to the point where I wasn't losing at least one bike a season. I was riding vintage racers worth basically nothing, and crashing them fairly often in traffic situations. Insufficient grip, bad handling, bad brakes etc. That had to change.
These days I ride proper mountain bikes with no dodgy handling characteristics.
My strategies:
#1 use a link based heavy duty chain designed for securing motorbikes. I wear it round my body while riding and yea it's heavy. It's a form of weight training.
#2 carry the bike in wherever possible. Has to be very light and also clean and nice to look at in in a host's place. Hence carbon/titanium frames etc.
#3 adding reflective stickers / removing decals. My bikes do not have any logos on them. Hence they would be hard to sell.
#4 extreme vigilance - if it is locked up outside I am probably within 30m keeping an eye on it.
I used to live in central London and I rode a vintage '80s race bike. I used good Kryptonite locks on it (an Evolution Mini that I had bought for the lower risk city where I come from, plus a Kryptonite New York Standard) and it never got stolen. This bike is a bit of a Frankenstein, a mish-mash of parts, only cost £100 too, so I hope thieves don't think there's much reason to steal it, especially with two Kryptonite locks on it, when many people lock up much more valuable bikes with much worse locks.
Can I ask why you don't like vintage racers, and why you switched to a mountain bike? From my experience road bikes have more than enough grip for the paved roads of a city. As for brakes, that's nothing to do with the style of bike. Old MTBs have shit brakes too. Just replace the brake pads and make sure the callipers work and they're enough to stop you. The MTB you ride, does it have suspension? MTBs are of course heavier than road bikes, especially with suspension which adds to the weight massively. Also carbon/titanium? Sounds very expensive, and therefore attractive to a bike thief. I think my £100 steel scruffy '80s roadie was a great vehicle for getting around London. I would never have gone with an MTB personally due to the extra weight. Interested why you went that route?
Of course there is another option in central London which I'm a massive fan of too - Boris bikes. Very affordable, only £2 for 24 hours' access, which is way cheaper than the tube, especially when you consider a return journey or multiple journeys in a day. And best of all you don't have to worry about having your bike nicked at all!
My relatively small town (400k population) provides free smartlock stands near bigger shops/locations (those are stationary heavy duty bike stands that lock your frame and a wheel) . Lock it via phone app or dial a number or use a registered public transport card thingie. Convenient!
Wow nice, tell me more about your city
400,000 is a small town? Where are you? India?
so i read a couple of tests on locks and watched a few youtube videos, and chain locks usually are not the most secure. The U lock always are better. Chains are easier to use a bolt cutter on (i think also because most chains are hardened and more brittle) , and more importantly, as soon as you crack one member of the chain, the whole chain is gone.
U locks on the other hand, even if you cut through the U, its still locked. so you either have to cut through the U in 2 places, or you need to bend the U away. The first one doubles the time needed to steal, and the second one is actually pretty impractical. So never buy a chain if you can get a U lock.
additionally, the foldable locks are not that great either, because the fact you have a good lever for bending the lock out of shape makes it an easier target, and on top of that you can easily use a nut cracker on the pins connecting the parts of the foldable part. and again, destroy it in one place, destroy the whole lock.
U LOCKS ARE JUST SUPERIOR IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE
Glueing a ball bearing into the hex fitting is one I have never heard of before. Brilliant!!!!! Thank you!!!! I have had a titanium rail seat, carbon post, carbon bars, stem, Dra Ace shifters, carbon cranks and front carbon rim wheel (the wheel had a bolt on skewer) all stolen by a thief with tools in less than 20 minutes while in a store in Portland, OR. $3,500 gone in minutes on a busy public street right beside the store entrance with a security guard just inside the door. Hex keys, cable cutters and an apathetic populace resulted in me losing. Walking home with my frame and rear wheel I noticed that the same thief had hit upward of 20 plus bikes in downtown Portland that day the same way! This went on for months until a group of riders put out a bait bike and got him. The cops searched his tents (he had multiple tents) under a bridge since he has over $1,000 in bike parts in his back pack and recovered tons of bikes and parts that most of it made it back to the owners. He had been selling the parts for drugs to a guy that would in turn would sale the parts and bikes in Seattle and Vancouver BC. No one felt sorry for his homeless plight being a mass thief like he was.
Buy a boring value bike using just for daily downtown and take your dream bike when doing longer rides.
and remember, comfort is the thief's silent accomplice!
This has definitely worked for me. No thief in their right mind steals a "K Mart" special.
When I lived in Helsinki, Finland I never had my bike stolen. I didn't even bother to lock it most of the time when I used it to quickly visit grocery stores. The lock I had was made by myself out of a length of rope and a padlock, and you could've hacked through it with a knife in seconds. It's nice to live in a safe city.
My bike was complete shit though, so I guess thieves didn't have any reason to steal it lol.
Nice country
if i catch a bike thief there will be a whole new chapter in paramedicine students to learn from ...
Good strategies, good reminders. I haven't had a bike stolen since 1985, so I must be doing something right! However, a couple of years ago I parked my bike in a sketchy part of town in the middle of the day for about two hours, and someone snatched my (unsecured) Brooks saddle and carbon fibre seat post. It was an expensive lesson. Now I loop a cable through the saddle.
Where i live people go around with saws sawing the chains off and i need a bike to get around and work, it sucks i have constant anxiety that it might get stolen.
Hiploc recently came out with an angle grinder resistant U-lock called the Hiploc D1000. It's sold out now, but you could get on the waiting list. Bad news is the price, it's $345 U.S.
Another lock you could look at is the Abus Granit Extreme 59 motorcycle U-lock. It's one of the most secure U-lock currently available. Though it does weigh 6 lbs. and costs about $200 U.S.
on my good road bike i never leave sight of it, non cyclysts dont understand
me neither. best way to ensure your bike is safe is to keep an eye on it. never leave it unattended.
JogBird same herw
mine goes to the bathroom w/me lol!
Yes! I only leave my main ride unattended when I am refuelling in the middle of nowhere, small towns are usually very safe around here. If I bought another road bike, it would either be in my room or under my legs.
You don't need to be a cyclist to understand thievery.
The discussion here focusses on reducing the Theft Likelihood relationship shown at 3:11 by increasing the "risk" element. But another way to achieve the same reduction would be to decrease the "reward" term in the equation. Make your bike unattractive. My Bianchi was never stolen in Berkeley CA despite having Campagnolo hubs and derailleurs because I painted it black with house paint and used downtube shift levers. You can file off or otherwise obliterate or remove logos (like that "Brooks" tag on the saddle). Don't shout "Expensive."
And remember, you have to carry all those locks around with you. How much do they weigh? If the bike is close to the UCI weight limit (6.8 kg) and your 3 or 4 locks come to another 6 kg (Arbus - 1 1/2 kg, Kyptonite Fahgettaboudit - 2 kg), you might as well by a heavier, off-brand bike at 10 kg, make it ugly and put good wheels on it and buy a lighter cable lock.
Like a "sleeper" car.
Having a very uncommon bike helps as well, as thieves can't easily resell it, and they know it. E.g. here in Vienna, Bromptons are very uncommon, so nobody knows their real value and the market is also very small. On the other hand, a high-end race bike screams to be stolen if left weakly protected. However, also be aware some thieves focus on cheap weakly protected bikes, especially the opportunists just needing a quick ride, so using a cable lock is always a bad idea, even for a 50$ bike.
You mentioned increasing risk but forgot to mention reducing the reward for the theif. At the expense of fixie points, you can de-badge some of your compents that theives know are expensive components by looking at the labels
Or do the opposite. On a crap bike put dura ace stickers
@Bikechanic yea
I have two locks, one for quick stops, so like ten minutes max. It's a foldable lock that I can store on the frame. The other is a beefy AXA chain lock, more so meant for motorcycles.
Need be, I'll bring both, heavy duty for back wheel and frame. Foldable for front wheel.
My mom dropped me off at a friend's house when I was younger. She was talking to his mother. 1 minute. She didn't lock her bike, standing behind her. Gone. Just like that.
What also helps (or at least what I heard helps) is to
Hide your bikes value:
- get rid of quality components decals and sticker (like fork stickers).
- cover quality brand name with tape or stickers
- put some horrible brand names on you bike (the worst chinesium names you can find)
- keep your bike a bit dirty
- sticker bomb or personalise in any other way
Make your bike look ugly:
- put some cheap/old/out of fashion looking accessories,
- if you don't care about resale value give it few scratches or a horrible paint job
- in extreme cases give it a coat of black spray paint, then some rusty brown in spots where bike normally rusts, spray thick clear coat, sprinkle some chocolate powder (it's not a joke) and seal the powder with another spray of clear coat. It will look like rusty bike.
I've never had a bike stolen either, those U-locks are the real deal. Just got a chain one too for my new bike that's over two grand. After seeing this video, I'm going to get a third one.
Wow! Great video!
What if you lock your bike with a thick and heavy industrial chain. Would that keep it safe? I could buy some from a hardware and keep it with me in my book bag when I need to ride out.
I'm using a handful of things to help secure mine. On top of the locks, I have a Tile and an AirTag hidden in different spots inside the frame, an alarm attached to the seat, and I registered my bike with 925 Garage and got the decal. And of coarse I keep it inside at night and my workplace lets me keep it in the warehouse while I am at work. One other thing that can help with recovery is to have a custom paint job, decals, tape, or anything to make your bike unique and make sure to take pictures of it with you in the picture.
I use "Kryptonite New York M18" U-lock with 18mm STEEL SHACKLE + Alarm lock on front wheel brake disc + Abus armored cable + GPS tracker inside seat tube and if everything fails got surprise for stealer under saddle. And all of this on 300$ bike. I guess its like 200% on 100%.
Why do i use so expensive protections ? Because its still cheaper than buying a new bike every half year.
I was thinking to put a bag of human poo under pressure and if the bike is moved without activated a nfc card to cover the thief in human poo
Hexlox for wheels, headset cap bolt, seat post clamp, and saddle clamp. Beefy U lock through rear wheel and frame.
thats my setup, never had any problems.
Exactly. Use security skewers on both wheels, seat post and tube cap. Then use a 16-18 mm U lock on frame + any wheel. Register your bike.
Last is optional. Install a GPS inside your seat post.
Guaranteed you have the safest bike out of anyone.
As an ex bike thief. I'm not necessarily worried about people. I wouldn't nab a bike in the middle of the city, next to Subway, unless it was unlocked. But a small store with minimum foot traffic, sure, in an out in seconds. I always looked for easy locks to break, especially those that used a really cheap and weak lock through the front wheel and a pole, etc. Those are really easy to pull apart. If I saw a bike with a u-lock, it's an instant disregard, because those are a hassle to deal with. Especially if you have to cut at two places, which we don't know because there's so many alternatives. Shading is also a major benefit for me, shade offers low visibility and close to no foot traffic. No one wants to be in the dark at night. So, to protect your bike, always stay around people, always park it where there's a lot of light at night. And most importantly, use a u-lock through the bars and back wheel. Preferably, lock it around a pole. If you add a second, or third lock, no one will bother to take it. We want to be in and out in under 3 minutes. If you own an ebike, any kind, and it's not too big, most stores will let you guide it, or leave it near the register. No matter what you use, get good locks, superb locks. And if you have more money to spend, get an alarm that goes off when the bikes being moved slightly. It will be painful to listen to, but it will get someone's attention.
Don't worry, I've more than enough paid for my crimes I did as a teen. But if that was teen me, imagine what an adult is thinking. You need to be smart about securing your bike. If it sounds absurd, go above that to secure it.
The above doesn't apply if you live in London for example. They don't care about where they are, time of day, or pedestrians. Bikes aren't safe outside, so don't leave it anywhere. And people are too scared to do anything about it. Why? Because gangs steal bikes. Gangs can be dangerous, gangs have knives and other tools you don't have.
Basically, if you wouldn't let your kids go to a certain location or spot, don't park your bike there. Every city has a police station close by. Park it there, even if that means walking further.
there is another tip, I lived in NYC. many riders lock their bike to poles of street signs. make sure check to see if the pole is secured to the ground, even the ones that is cemented into the ground. I heard thieves could loose them from the ground and is able to pull the pole off the hole which the pole was cemented to. so even if is a pole, make sure its not loose and rattle in the ground before you lock your bike onto it..
Never show off your expensive flashy bike in a shady part of town. Common sense yeah, but its likely to be the case for some people.
Nicolas Honrade I live london, the whole bloody place is shady
Joachim Macdonald the point is valid for London
*Custom paint your bike with 2 different color if you have the resource/time*
Make it clear that this bike as not his original paint. My bike is half red and half blue and very obvious that the application of where the paint junction from red to blue is not "Professional". *My custom paint doesn't look bad, it look very good. It doesn't need to make a vomit paint*
Some thief try to sell the bike in the same condition it was stolen. A custom paint generate risk for the thief when Selling on Craigslist, Kijiji, Ebay, ect.
Ironically, talking about "Custom" I had a Custom Kona FireMountain stolen one day. The custom thing was... it had 4 brakes (And 4 Levers).
I found it back because the idiot was listing it as "4 BRAKES".
TwinShards lol 4 brakes
Kaspar Ambuehl i guess it like and emergency brake sort of thing
This is such good advice!
I have a bicycle with 4 brakes, 2 disk's and 2 dual pivot brakes. Another Bicycle of mine has 3 brakes, 2 dual pivot brakes and 1 coaster brake. Both Bicycles are internally geared hub's. 9 speed and 7 speed. 9 speed is a cool hybrid. On & off road.
I live in NY and had my bike stolen the first day I had it out here. Got a new one a year later and won’t let it go to chance.. this was helpful 👌🏽
How did this happen, did you neglect to lock it up?
My bike got stolen from my drive way once, but after a few days it was back again. It was probably a tourist wanting to some shopping without having to carry all the stuff back by hand.
Lock your bike even if it's in your home! Years back a 14 year old neighbor broke into my house, kicked my dog, and stole my BMX bike from my garage, painted it and rode it around the block for weeks. Apparently his whole family stole bikes often, chopped them up and sold the parts. Police wouldn't do anything about it. (Houston/Katy area). Houston is a garbage fire of a city.
Install a car alarm on your bike + hidden gps tracker
wat
Pff, if only GPS trackers were small enough.
@@AWriterWandering check Sherlock they are gps/ANTI THEFT TRACKERS made for bikes
Go on Amazon and search "bicycle alarm". $15 gets you a pretty loud alarm with a wireless key fob. Put the fob on a ring with your bike lock key(s). Anyone messing with your bike will set off the alarm and at least give you warning / attract attention.
If you regularly have to leave your bike locked in public for long hours, make sure it's worth 10% of your U lock. Keep your better bike for rides when it's under you not locked on streets.
A bike "worth 10% of your U lock".🤔
@@mechanicaldavid4827
Yes, so whatever the worth of your bike is, the lock should be 10x more expensive, very simple
@@agentmikster44 That is both bad math and a dubious lifestyle choice. My advice: Have a good bike. Enjoy riding it. Don't be shy about protecting it with a good quality lock. There will always be some naïf whose nearby bike is only guarded by a flimsy cable lock.
@@mechanicaldavid4827
I thought it was obvious I was being sarcastic...
@@agentmikster44 I thought so too. That doesn't mean I agree with anything you really wanted to say (but wanted to perform in ironic form).
The best way to not have your bike stolen is to be on it and riding so fast that no one can catch you
Because otherwise they'll push you off your bike and snatch it.
@@trekkie9942 Thats why I have a remote self destruct button.
I would mangle my own rims to ride full ramming speed into someone trying to push me off my bike. Kamikaze shit.
You missed the spring loaded spike that shoots through the seat post if the brake is not pulled 3 times before mounting,an added bonus is you can hear them screaming for miles....
Good points if you ask me! Maybe also do a follow up about what to do when your bike gets stolen and how to prepare for when it gets stolen (write down frame numbers, keep prove of ownership, registration if that's a thing in your country, airtags i guess, searching on places bike thieves use to sell their stolen goods, etc.)
Strongly agree with the content in this video. I have also never had a bike stolen but view it as a when and not if kinda' issue. I always lock my bike using my full setup even if its a brief stop.
One time we used an angle grinder to cut free my friends bike in public in the city centre after he'd lost the keys. Sparks were going all over the place, it was broad daylight, countless people walked past and the police drove past slowly, no one stopped to ask us the deal or what we were up to. Everyone assumed we were not stealing a bike (which we weren't) but we totally could have been.
Fuck bike thieves, if you love bikes do not buy bikes if you even suspect they might be stolen!!
In college I broke ALL of these rules and my bike was never stolen even after leaving it on campus for a year because my bike was ugly af 😂 So, maybe making your bike as unappealing as possible also has security benefits!
Funny story about 20 years ago
I got home from work and put my bike in my garden while I put my bag and helmet in the house..
I was gone for less than a minute
Come out side to put my bike away and it had gone 😡
I contacted the police and they said contact my insurance
The following day I was at work and told my friends about what happened
A few hours later my friend said my bike was in the bike rack????
Really I said thinking he was messing with me (Not funny)
But I looked in the rack and my bike was there?????
I spoke to security and they contacted my manager, checking cctv
A new lad had started work and come to work on my bike
Police got called he was taken away
I got my bike back
True story
I hope he got fired too? cheeky fucker
I put a simple rechargeable tracker that will light up if it's jostled under my seat with a simple snap. Most people won't check under the seat before trying to steal it. Someone touches my bike, I get an alert, and then come running about to put someone in the ground.
I got my classic used CCM with an awesome basket for my groceries stolen on the night of my birthday 3 years ago downtown after I had a good time and came out of the club at 1am. The chain was broken. I had my lesson never to leave a locked bicycle overnight 2 times and I use a hard U lock. Thanks for the advice.
Wish this video came out sooner I got my bike stolen at school. R.I.P aventon matero
This guy is so smart when it comes bike security this video made me think back about how and why I lost the 10 bikes I’ve gotten stolen within a 7 year period, I wish I knew then what I know now. They need to come up with like a shock lock something that would electrocute these bastards.
Wow mine has got a pretty low chance of being pinched, at least from a theives point of view considering my lock is half the price of my bike. Plus who wants a 40 dollar bike.
A homeless man who collects aluminium or iron?
@@metal87power haha jokes on you mines made from trash the makers found on the side of the road so it is completely invaluable
@@durrymuncher2728 invaluable means it's value is beyond price. You mean valueless.
You would be surprised. I've had bikes that I dragged home from the garbage with parts missing get stolen out of a locked, fenced yard because crackheads wanted scrap metal.
Had nice bright red trek cyclocross bike that I used in college for 3 years. Finally was taken after I (stupidly) locked it up outside, in the main part of campus and didn't check on it for days. It was before I was a cyclist...it deserved better than me at the time.
I have that same abus ulock but after watching this video I'll definitely at least get a second lock. On top of that, I just insured ly bike against theft and damage. Definitely worth it for the first couple years if you're buying a brand new bike.
Thank you for posting this video. I recently purchased an e bike. I use 3 heavy chain locks and I use them all every time. I also keep it locked where I can see it. At night, it comes inside.
I have the perfect solution for everyone here.
I recently bought a $4,000 dollah bike and planning on riding it to work.
Sooooo without further ado,
Here's the list I made:
1. Invest for 3-4 good locks (If you can carry a bit more, buy some cheap ones on a dollar store and put a ton o' locks so the thief won't even bother to touch your bike)
2. Buy a bike cover (The sneaky ones with colors that blend in the surroundings)
3. Be smart on WHERE you lock your bike.
4. Too much work = less likely to get your bike stolen
5. Buy a GPS tracker and an alarm whenever someone puts it in motion.
6. Here's my lock combos:
6.1. Front wheel + Rim + Fork + and/or somewhere you will lock your bike to.
6.2 Seat tube + Rear wheel + and/or somewhere you will lock your bike to.
6.3. Saddle + Seat stays + and/or Rear wheel.
6.4. Handlebar + Stem + Front wheel and/or Frame (Use a chain on this one and make sure to lock it tighter than your anus)
7. If you have something on your bike that you could carry, BRING IT WITH YOU. Heck if you could bring the whole bike, never think twice.
8. Lastly, I own a bike cover with lock holes so I have an extra lock (On this one you can use a cheap lock but if you're rich and ballin', just go for a $30-$50 lock) and make sure the bike cover won't go anywhere as well. The lock goes thru the lock holes, thru the front wheel/rim and/or somewhere you will lock your bike to.
ALWAYS MAKE SURE EVERY LOCK IS SECURED.
You can mix and match on what and where your locks would go, just make sure the bike is securely locked in place.
The most effective and alternative way is to buy a cheap bike and use that one for your daily use and preserve your dream bike for long rides with the boys (and girls, not tryin to be sexist here)
I only use my dream bike more often because it's like this, imagine playing on a high-tier gaming computer with high-end specs for a year and then try playing on a shit computer with old components. I bet you won't even last a day.
If you're riding it for work like me, find the perfect spot for it. I personally I lock mine at back of the building where people rarely goes then hide it with my bike cover.
Usually bike thieves go around town in a van looking for easy bikes to steal to make some easy money out of it. So never lock it in plain sight.
Not all bike thieves are rich enough to buy an angle grinder. If the bike thief is smart, be smarter.
Remember, the more work the thief will need to do to steal your bike, the less likely it will get stolen.
Prove me wrong.
PS: I heard that there's insurance for bikes now, try to look it up if it's available in your country.
I REALLY hope this is a joke
Dude i used to lock my bike with lock and chain that is ment for motorbikes and place i locked my bike in was in room that you need seperate key to get in to and to get in to hallway the room was in you need whole another key again and also i did put the chain in to water pipes that run the water of the whole building and also for those keys only certain people would be able to get them so there are not many suspects and also there is a shit ton of work because chain cover made of kevlar and stuff chain itself too buff for tools and weakest part was titanium lock which could be picked but none of them was left also muh bile was heavy like really frikken heavy so add all that chain and lock and some xtra stuff and cheap combinatios locks to add some struggle but still didnt stop muh worthless bike from getting stolen learn a lesson dont put too much security on a bike because it makes thieves want it and the room had couple other bikes that were worth 100x times more and were not even locked and i used muh bike daily so there was only couple hours in the night to do some thieving since i put my bike in there late in the evening after hanging out with friends and stuff