Today my flatmate spent about half an hour wondering where the second chain for his bike was until he realised that someone had cropped it off and taken it. He realised this when he checked his other chain and the two for my bike and noticed bolt cropper marks on all three.
Other than going to sleep in the tree outside with a cricket bat, Id love to hear peoples bike theft related stories and advice. Although I have two fairly hefty chains round the bike attached to a ground anchor, if they come back next time during the day with an angle grinder and no one is about then they'll mostly likely still be able to take it.
It is a very annoying feeling knowing that someone has been actively trying to take your bike. Unfortunately no amount of sacrificial offerings has so far bought me any closer to catching one of these little bastards in the act.
Share your horror stories, victories, and security knowledge, please!
Mate we had a run of bike thefts hear in my small town about two years back my TTr is my daily rider so its kept on the drive under the car port most of the time two ground anchors front and rear with three chains two on the back one on the front and they are up against the house wall but I still worry about it. would I get up in time if I heard something in the night could I still swing the baseball bat and not put my back out for the required 50+ swings to beat them to a pulp. Its a time thing three 14mm chains even with a grinder take time and you might get two of them with 4 foot pair of croppers but they are going to be jaw ****ed time you put them on the third chain. Most thefts are kid joyriders them you stand a chance of stopping them but a Pro is going to come equipped to get what he wants.
im pretty lucky , used to chain mine to the floor but after a few years it just sits in the shed . although we do have a Dog (border collie ) which may deter anyone sneaking in at least it would bark I hope .
i dont wash it out the front of the house when returning i go straight into the back yard to limit people knowing i have a bike .
if i go away for a while its chained up and the ign unit is removed so it wont go and would cost too much to replace .
last resort its insured and there are plenty for sale at a good price here to replace it , only thing is mines all set up for me and id have to start again .
I wired up a hidden switch to the coil power line so they can hot wire it and it'll turn on but not start. Hopefully that'd confuse the chancer little scrots enough to dump it.
Problem is at the moment in Brighton locks are being cut during the day (because no one pays attention to noise during the day) and bikes are being put in the back of vans. Lots of organised gangs operating here at the moment. Really the only positive is my bike doesn't really look like its worth nicking.
petenz - the abus 68 locks seem like a good design, I used one previously but unfortunately they don't work with my current disc setup. Now I use a small kryptonite d-lock through the rear sprocket (mine has holes in) which is then chained to an anchor point, and another of the same d-locks around the frame chained to the same anchor point, at least when I'm at home.
I like using the d-lock through the rear sprocket over disc locks because I've seen bikes that have been stolen where they just cut the disc to free the bike.
