someone tried to get in my garage last week, but luckily failed.
i have all the bike locked up with hardened steel chains and warehouse locks, and a lock attached to the back of the up and over door, that i can just get my hand into to open the padlock.

but i am thinking this is not enough, so on saturday i got a bloke out to put a bar across the outside of the door, fastened with a couple more warehouse locks, also lined the roof with steel flooring grid.
and as 1 last measure he is making me a 5mm thick steel bike box that will take 3 bikes, this will be bolted to the garage floor from the inside, with a d ring on the inside to chain the bikes to, and it will be locked from the outside with 2 more warehouse locks.

am i overdoing it.

what have you got to keep your bike safe.

I think sometimes when something is locked up like fort knox, it attracts thieves. My bikes are locked up, then hidden behind some old sheeting.

minigun?

Ton

Sounds like you have the physical side of security sewn up (like most of us). But what about our security awareness?

Is bike theft now conducted to order (or a big business to some criminals)? From a few of the descriptions on here I think so (pre-planned thefts from pretty secure garden sheds etc). If this is the case then I reckon we all need to think about security awareness. Many of us post pictures of our expensive bikes on this website.

It would not take much for a criminal to track us down? Just some thoughts.

I've got the good bikes locked in the back bedroom and keep the curtains shut , the also rans live in the brick shed outside behind a security gate

What's a warehouse lock ?

Have you got an alarm system? I agree with Wors – if you make it look like Fort Knox it'll attract attention.

to be honest, i think they know the bikes are in there.
i live just off a byway which is usedas a shortcut.
just trying to make it very hard for them to get in.
they will need cutting gear to get in now.

dogs !

http://www.lockshop-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/Straight_Shackle_Padlocks_.html

stan, got one mate..

might get a nice friendly rottie to live in the garage…. 😉

what have you got to keep your bike safe.

i live in a nice part of the world with a very low crime rate.

I was targeted 6+ times earlier this year, they got in once but the motion detector picked them up and alerted us, whilst I'm not willing to share on the WWW the details of my garage security, on the advice from several people in the know I was told to put signs on the garage letting potential crims know it's alarmed, It hasn't been targeted since.

Once they know there's bikes in there obvious security measures are effective, IMO the best deterrent is a proper alarm hooked up to your house.

good insurance and reasonable security.
Some crap bikes outside that you could break the locks with a dirty look the good ones would take some time /effort and set off an alarm.

Where did you get the steel flooring grid from? Is it expensive.

Park yer car up against the garage so theyt have to get passed that first??

Failing that, get a life size cardboard cutout of yerself, and nail it to the door..

if that don't scare them off, nowt will..

this is the stuff, the bloke brought it with him..

Unfortunately parking your car up against the door doesn't stop the mutants. They'll climb over your car and bend the top of the garage door over to get in. A proper alarm does seem to make them scarper though.

And as you know, there's no such thing as a nice safe place to live with a low crime rate, to the thieving scumbags this is just a nice quiet area where people who can afford decent mountain bikes live. It's where they go to work! They really do justify it to themselves that people in nice areas can afford to lose stuff, and they assume you'll be insured too.

Ton, you're doing well, some great security going on there, I'm impressed. Just get yourself a decent, full on, house alarm, if you haven't already. Burglars don't like the sound of breaking glass, or a proper burglar alarm.

Personally I can't believe that anyone thinks that insurance is a real alternative to stopping the mutants getting into your property and taking your pride and joy? Doesn't the thought of scumbags sneaking around your house at night and taking what you have worked very hard to earn do anything to you? Plus surely your bike is a personal thing, that you've put together carefully and been to great places with, not just some lump of metal that a bunch of Halfords vouchers from your insurers can replace?

I got followed by a dodgy looking car when driving home from a trail center a few months back. I didn't like the look of the cars occupants, and breifly considered driving past the estate where I live. Sadly I convinced myself that I was being paranoid. The dodgy car also turned onto my estate and drove straight back out again after passing my driveway.

Garage was burgled three nights later, so looks like I wasn't being paranoid afterall.

I had the bikes chained with motorbike chains which thankfully stopped them. You could see a slight mark where they had tried to bolt crop it. Had my garage linked into the house alarm by RC straight away in case they returned with bigger croppers or a cutting disc. No power supply was needed and it was a fairly cheap addition to the house system, I think an alarm is well worth it, we were in when they broke into the garage!

the normally alert dog? – slept through the break in.

I just make do with a ground anchor and a couple of hefty chains/locks (I put bars across the window at the back of the garage to). That's about the limit of how much I'm prepared to inconvenience myself in the name of security. Bike boxes etc sound a lot of hassle (and expense), I'd rather just claim on insurance if the worst ever happened – not like any of my bikes have sentimental value or are irreplaceable.

I have a load of shit bikes just proped up in the garage, but my bike is fixed to a steel post concreted into the floor slab and lock via a Krytonite NY Lock.

The wifes car blocks the garage, oh and I have a Boxer Dog. She is too thick to understand anything and would probably show a burgler her arse rather than bite them. So I dont rely on her!

M&S. I'll just replace everything if it goes.

After having our shed done and losing my bike I went down the "70 locks and chains" route but this caused a daily inconvenience that started me thinking why should I have to take extreme measures and pay insurance too! So now I just do what is required by my insurance to make my cover valid and no longer bother holding an emotional attachment to the bike. Hell its just a pile of metal at the end of the day. If a scrote breaks in and nicks it then I get a nice new one, thats what I pay insurance for 🙂

problem is they often come back again, for the insurance replacment bike as well knowing how to get in and take it having done it already.

You hear of thieves coming back again and agin to same places to take insurance replacment bikes!

problem is they often come back again, for the insurance replacment bike as well knowing how to get in and take it having done it already.

You hear of thieves coming back again and agin to same places to take insurance replacment bikes!

happened to me about 15 years ago with my first proper bike (Scott Yecora?) got nicked from my garage and was replaced on insurance. Not being naive I kept the replacement at the in laws. sure enough about a month later, garage was done again. Don't you just wanna do unspeakable things to the thieving scum?

We've had a number of thefts in the area (luckily not mine yet) and been discussing this with the wife as she works for a well respected security company.

She says that there are two aspects which deter thieves

1. Shite strong chains, locks etc
2. Alarm wired to your house

Means the thieves have to get in, disable the lock in under 2mins as the alarm is going off. Security lighting and CCTV adds an interesting angle too it also as this can help in courts when prosecuting for burgundy.

If anyone is interested they are just starting a promotion aimed at cyclists on the back of all the thefts – bascially providing some serious chains, locks, shed shackles, ground anchors and alarms at good prices. Drop me a message and I'll see if I can get some sort info out

The level of complacency from some posters on this thread is unbelievable.

Just moved house – bikes were originally in the cellar and covered by M&S. Now in the garage – fitted ground anchors, gert big chains and an alarm. I'm sure if anyone wants them, they'll still have them, but I'd rather discourage them in the first place than just sit on my M&S laurels.

Do you think keeping your bikes looking muddy (maybe keeping only the drivetrain and other select areas clean) would deter them? If you think they may want to resell them or the parts to make money – surely them having to put a bit of work in to clean them would deter them (if they could be bothered to put some work in then they'd probably have a job!)

I got followed by a dodgy looking car when driving home from a trail center a few months back. I didn't like the look of the cars occupants, and breifly considered driving past the estate where I live

Drive past your estate, then do a U-turn at a roundabout. They'll know you've clocked them. If they follow you, drive to a Police Station or such like.

It's another reason to carry bikes inside the car rather than on the back.

I just built myself a lovely new shed, I have used double glazed windows and double glazed frecnh doors, am hoping this is more secure (certainly looks nice). Alarmed in conjunction with the house system.

This was brought about by the old shed getting done, and losing my Tinbred and the wifes freshly built bike. Am fairly certain this wasnt opertunist theiving and they knew exacly what they were coming to get. They left behind £££££ worth of other bikes probably as there was 2 of them so 2 bikes taken. (guessed that bit)

Double garrage here,

Car lives in one side, bikes in the other. Bieks are moved through the back door so no one knows theyr in there in the first place.

Bikes are just stacked against the wall, you'd struggle to notice them as being of any value, tea leaves would more likely go for my toolkit and take the car for a joy-ride.

Everything is pretty identifiable though, road bike is only 50% original parts, MTB is resprayed and has no stickers, XC bike is cheep, fixie will be pretty unique, tourer is 30 years old and purple! I'd put good money on all that being easy to spot on ebay!

Do you think keeping your bikes looking muddy (maybe keeping only the drivetrain and other select areas clean) would deter them? If you think they may want to resell them or the parts to make money – surely them having to put a bit of work in to clean them would deter them (if they could be bothered to put some work in then they'd probably have a job!)

No deterrent whatsoever.

My Tinbred was a one off polished frame with eclectic mix of parts on it and the wifes was also a one off build from a mish mash off stuff, dont rely on that as any form of security thisisnotaspoon… having plenty of detailed pictures made the pain of working out insurance values for both a lot easier and take note of the frame numbers.

Not seen either of mine again. 🙁

Not really a security thing but I always check the car behind when i get within a couple miles of home as i was followed once in my motocross van (old 308 Merc). Normally just me and my missus with the bikes in the back but on this day we had a trailer with 2 more bikes and 6 of us in the van…

Spotted pikey tipper transit behind, took a few deliberate turns and then turned into a culdesac a couple miles from home and was followed. Made sure they knew they had been spotted and then took a very longwinded route home.

Mate living a mile away who had been at same race meet had his garage broken into a couple nights later but they were disturbed.

I just built myself a lovely new shed, I have used double glazed windows and double glazed frecnh doors, am hoping this is more secure (certainly looks nice). Alarmed in conjunction with the house system.

This was brought about by the old shed getting done, and losing my Tinbred and the wifes freshly built bike. Am fairly certain this wasnt opertunist theiving and they knew exacly what they were coming to get. They left behind £££££ worth of other bikes probably as there was 2 of them so 2 bikes taken. (guessed that bit)

Well if it was me I would never keep my bikes locked up in what is no more than a wooden box, however better arrangements are not always possible.

Your security is only as good as it's weakest link.

Aristole – That may be good advice in a rural area but in a city you see scroats every few seconds, it wouldn't be that easy avoiding them, hence why I thought I was just being paranoid – "just some more scroats in a car". Obviously my gut feeling was right on that occasion though. I actually did a u turn last night as I neared my address, due to a car full of youths right astern.

mccett – mate had the same done to his moto GP bikes, seems quite common.

Got to be careful not to make your life a misery, thinking everyone is out to get you bike though! 😉

I was at a meeting last night where the police gave a talk on this and mentioned using smart water, immobilise.com and recording frame numbers as the biggest problem was proving bikes were stolen and returning them to the rightful owners.

Just in the process of buying a lock up to keep stuff in (tools and my motorbike, the mountain bikes can stay in the shed). I was worrying a bit about security – I can see the roof of the lockup from my house (just). The area is pretty good… but with a few grands worth of bike in there…

I was thinking one of these:

http://www.pjbsecurity.co.uk/garage-defender

For when the car is out (usually that will be parked right up against the door, and being a 4×4 it will block it pretty effectively)

Then throw in a few ground anchors and chains… and probably a tatty old bike cover too.

Is there anything else I should consider?