Reason I ask is that I’ve recently had two unlocked, shed stored bikes stolen.

I’ve bought a new windowless shed and sheffield bike stand (below) which will be cemented into the ground, through the shed base. The new bike/s will be D-locked (Abus) and chained to the stand.

I’m wanting to avoid damage to the shed when the thieves come round again to try and lift the new bikes. So should I get a 150dB shed alarm and leave the door unlocked? In the hope that thieves see and hear the new security measures leave empty handed.

had a bike attached to a solid wall on a 40mm solid bar steel shackle.
it was fastened on to the shackle with a kryptonite new york lock.
the whole lot was jemmied off the wall anf lifted thru the garage roof.

if they want it they WILL get it.

I have had a D-lock broken, yeah. Don’t think they present much trouble to anyone serious – ie people who break into sheds with tools to steal bikes.
Shed alarm sounds like a good idea, though. Or a big fking dog.

I can’t see the point in getting into an arms race with thieves who you expect to come back? What massively compelling reason is there not to put your bikes in the house?

Someone attempted to steal my bike, failed, then kicked the cr@p out of it instead, shattering the back wheel. Had a 4 mile walk home dragging the bike behind me 🙁

I had an Orange C16 broken on a stand like that – front wheel off, D-lock through front wheel and seat stays. They chopped spokes then got a scaffold pole or similar in there and tried to twist the lock apart. Except all they did was bend the lock and fold the seatstays. They nicked the stem and bars (threaded steerer so forks stayed attached) and left.

Given enough time and a small amount of competence and tools, most locks will be broken. Else with a nice bike, there’s a lot of goodies you can remove just with an allen key.

I’d get a decent security light up (handy when you’re locking up after dark anyway) then the shed alarm is a good idea too.

What massively compelling reason is there not to put your bikes in the house?

a story on here posted on here a few years back;

essentially a guy woke up in the night to two masked men waving a shotgun in his face demanding the keys! 😯

Cordless angle grinder(£40 if you’re buying one, bike thieves just nick them as well) will be through that stand in seconds. Dogs, alarms, CCTV and Police, CPS and courts giving a damn would help more.

I would get a high quality ground anchor and a high quality D lock. I wouldn’t use one of those stands but a cement in ground anchor

Ultimately they are only a deterrent but high quality locks and ground anchors are a good deterrent
My D lock weighs over 3 kg, has a double locking pick proof lock, a 16 mm hardened high tensile steel bar and cost £100 ten years ago. While it could be broken it will take serious tools and time to break it.

Almax is one company often thought of as good but I have no direct experience.

this sort of thing is where I would be going
http://www.mandp.co.uk/productinfo/500835/Security/Ground-Anchors-Cement-In/Oxford
along with shotgun alarms / mines and a serious set of locks

I’m debating one of these http://www.yanchor.com/ and a 16mm chain/padlock combo from elite security supplies for my shed.

At uni my bike was locked up in a shed with a d-lock. They just cropped through the d-lock and off they went. The whole shed was emptied (8 bikes)apart from one (my neighbours), as she’d not got round to fitting the front wheel. They obviously couldn’t be bothered with an incomplete bike!

Hers was the most expensive one in there too – a decently specced Merlin Malt 1.

I can’t see the point in getting into an arms race with thieves who you expect to come back? What massively compelling reason is there not to put your bikes in the house?

I’m not certain they’ll come back but the Police think they might expecting to get hold of new insurance replacements. The massively compelling reason they won’t be kept in the house is because my wife doesn’t want them there, which is understandable as we’ve got a baby who’ll soon be crawling.

I’ve recently sold my Nomad which was always kept in the house, and it’s replacement, when I get one will be too, but my wife’s bike (<£400 MTB) and my work bike (<£300 Singlespeed) will have to stay in the shed, neither bikes are that high value that I’d like the house burgled for.

Thanks everyone for the input, I’ll take a trip to Maplins at the weekend and see what alarms and lights are available.

The best you can hope for is to slow them down enough that they give up or someone hears them.

Personally use an Almax immobilizer chain and concreted in ground anchor. Neither could withstand heavy cutting tools – grinder or hydraulic cropper but a thief would need that sort of kit and it might slow them down enough.

shotgun mine
http://www.henrykrank.com/alarm_mine.html

My bikes live in my flat but I would deffo have one of these for a shed. I might even point it at the door and put a bit of salt in the cartridge 😈

At worst you make ’em shit themselves

Had to ‘steal’ my own bike when the D lock barrel packed in, paid just short of £90 for it, advertised as highest security rating on the packaging…………took me two mins to get through it with angle grinder, never again shall I be buying an expensive lock. Old bike to commute, other two in house under lock and key *(which I know can also be stolen).

It’s worth noting that, according to the fuzz, thieves rarely if ever use angle grinders since they tend to wake up the entire neighbourhood – if you have one.

I’ve got an Almax chain. I wondered what all the fuss was about til they arrived by courier. I could hardly lift the things – they are about 10x larger than they looked in the pic. Absolutley MASSIVE. I use two 2m lengths and together I can barely lift them. The rod the links are made out of is about 2cm in diameter, each link is a good 10-12cm long and 6cm wide.

Home use only, naturally!

Have read (but not actually looked into it in detail) that PIR sensors can give false alarms in a shed / garage environment due to them detecting changes in heat (not movement as people believe). Dual technology (PIR and microwave) are better as it only goes off if both are triggered. Though contacts on the door might be better.

You can beef up the hinges / padlock etc. on the shed using bolts which may slow them down a bit. See here for examples but all readily available

molgrips – I know the Almax chain (16mm) will be better than a 13mm chain re security but is it worth the extra in weight, useability and possible damage when fitting to the bikes? tks

My mate and I put up a bike shed this weekend, he in a previous life has tested the security of sheds without the owners permission (note: he is now reformed)

Using my masses of spare wood and bits and pieces he advised and helped with the upgrading of the security. Not finished yet. New hinges are to be fitted with renforcing behind them. all seams of the shed are to be reinforced with 1″x1″ screws at different angles

Ultimately his advice was that my real outcome is to make it as awkward as possible for a thief to get into the shed and get at the bikes. All screw ends are drilled smooth so they can’t be removed. massive bolts into the floor from one door padlocked shut top and bottom.

If a thief is going to get your bike, he’s going to get it, if he has to make a lot of noise, then the chances are he will go to the next shed along the street.

Your right. Thieves dont use cordless grinders.
They use cordless reciprocating saws with a high quality blade. There’s no defence against these. Thieves have recently been tanning the high security steel site cabins you see building firms and councils storing their gear in.
One battery and at worse 2 blades and the entire lock, shroud and hasp and staple is off. Dead quiet too. Not as loud as your TV or bedside radio at any rate.

Sleep tight.

Thread is reminding me that I really need to secure my bikes better. Currently they’re stored in an old wooden shed with a cheap old padlock and dodgy hinges, all of which would be effortless to get apart with a crowbar 0_0

Are alarmed d-locks good deterrents or not worth the bother?

I came out of my house one morning to find the lock in tact but the bike gone! the bastards cut through my frame!

So – recommendations for lock and chain? Almax seem popular on this thread but I tried contacting them several times and they didn’t bother responding. Any others that would provide a good deterrent (I need a long enough chain to go round 2 bikes and through an anchor)?

They use cordless reciprocating saws with a high quality blade

I seriously doubt that would get through an Almax chain. The steel is pretty hard, a lot harder than a D lock.

Almax were always good for me with customer service. Give them a ring. Once you see one you’ll know what I am talking about. Makes the likes of Abus etc look like string.

ononeorange – Member
So – recommendations for lock and chain? Almax seem popular on this thread but I tried contacting them several times and they didn’t bother responding. Any others that would provide a good deterrent (I need a long enough chain to go round 2 bikes and through an anchor)?

I’ve been looking at the 16mm chains on here:

http://www.elitesecuritysupplies.co.uk/locks_and_chains.htm

Those chains look very like Almax but with a different end on them and even thicker links!!

With a Squire SS65 and a concrete in ground anchor you’ll put off all but the most well equipped and determined thieves. You’d need to check the anchor can accommodate such a large chain.

Had a Kryptonite New York cut with such ease the edges were completely smooth. Hot knife through butter came to mind.

How long before they start cutting through the bikes to nick the chains? 😆

Thieves couldn’t break my d lock so they trashed my bike instead. I now have a ratty £25 unbranded mtb I got from a charity shop that I lock up in town. I lock it with a £1 lock from poundland and no ones touched it, ha ha. I no longer have a window in my garage and have 3 locks on any decent ride, but I know if someone wants it they will find a way, sad state of the world

How nickable would a bike be without the wheels? Granted a good frame, forks and transmission are worth a lot but the thief has to sell it as a broken bike which many wouldn’t be prepared to. So why not keep the bike in the shed and the wheels in the house, under a bed or somewhere out of the way?

Incidently I helped on a rehab program as a voulenteer. A reformed bike thief got chatting to me when he knew I was into mountain biking. He said he recons he could and has got through any chain/lock and has done. If the chains too thick and will take time to cut through you attack the lock or whatever the bikes anchored too.

He said he recons he could and has got through any chain/lock and has done

Yeah but you need time and kit, and might make noise.

I do wonder how he’d fare against an Almax or similar chain tho. Several orders of magnitude tougher than your Abus or Kryptonite.

the thief has to sell it as a broken bike which many wouldn’t be prepared to

Au contraire – I think many if not most bikes are stripped and sold on eBay.

I agree with molgrips on the eBay thing, it’s harder to trace a stolen bike if it’s stripped and sold through various eBay accounts. The fact a bike had no wheels would just make portability an issue for a thief. As for the bike thiefs stories part of me was intrigued part of me wanted to wring his neck… Almax chain would do the job. ( yes that’s a joke I know he’s reformed etc… ) chains still need a lock, a chains only as good as the padlock

The Squire one that Almax sell you is pretty good. There’s only a tiny bit of padlock loop visible out of a huge block of metal.

but the thief has to sell it as a broken bike which many wouldn’t be prepared to

Mate of mine locked his bike up to some railings near a pub in Cambridge (he was going into said pub).

When he came out, his frame was still locked to the railings, but everything else had been nicked.
CCTV showed a Transit pull up to hide what was going on and they pretty much stripped it in 5 mins and off they went.

How long before they start cutting through the bikes to nick the chains?

I keep my chains locked up when not in use!

Maybe (I think what you’re doing fits the bill anyway) get insured and as long as your locking procedure follows their rules, they can do what they will and you’ll get your compensation.

There is no real answer, but that shotgun thing looks good!Oops, spilled the Saxa 😆

Locks thread

Been linked to before but you can while away your lunchbreak reading the many pages. Covers things like stopping your bike being stripped – pity that bikes can be high value, easy to steal, difficult to trace and can be quickly stripped and sold through a variety of channels.

shedfull – Member
How nickable would a bike be without the wheels? Granted a good frame, forks and transmission are worth a lot but the thief has to sell it as a broken bike which many wouldn’t be prepared to. So why not keep the bike in the shed and the wheels in the house, under a bed or somewhere out of the way?

I might take the wheels off my wife’s MTB and store them separately at least while they’re clean and new, but my Singlespeed work bike doesn’t have QR so I’ll not be getting the spanners out every morning and night.

I like the idea of sticking an alarmed disc lock through your chainring….

big f off dog that doesn’t mind sleeping in a kennel