Going to Morzine in a few days and I have booked rental bikes. I'm wondering how to secure the bikes when I stop for coffee/cake or lunch. I've no experience of riding in areas like that outside the UK, or hiring bikes there, so I don't know what's the risk of theft and typical precautions taken (esp for rental bikes). I know from skiing that the mountain restaurants are really big so I don't think that I would be sure of always geting a table where I can keep bikes in sight all the time. So should I plan to take more precautions, like a lock? What are people's experience? Is a light lock (like a cable lock) useful/pointless/better than nothing?
the amount of bling bikes people leave lying around, nobody is going to look twice at a rental.
on the mountain/lunch stops, I'd say risk of theft very low. mostly you'll be able to sit outside and see them - remember it wont be as crowded as winter, and the weather is nicer. with hire bikes like hire skis I guess there is the tiny possibilty of someone who has hired a similar bike taking yours by mistake.
but really, a little cable lock will suffice for daytime. make sure they are locked away at night.
I’ve been going to Morzine for 25+ years and never carried a lock for during the day use.
I just don’t let my bike out of sight. it is possible on most mountain/town restaurants and bars.
you could I suppose carry a little Hiplock as a slight insurance but I really don’t like carrying anything so don’t.
Most of the thefts I’m aware of were carried out at night in locked garages etc.
I think you could get away with a decent cable lock as most people won’t lock their bikes up so just by having a small deterrent will make them more likely to nick something else.
Thanks. That's a relief and avoids weighing down my luggage. (I'm hoping the chalet is reasonably secure)
As zerocool says. We always tried to stop at cafes etc where we could sit outside near our bikes.
We always kept bikes in our rooms rather than accommodation storage. Can be an issue if its very wet/muddy!
At cafe stops and suchlike I usually take an axle in with me, only takes thirty seconds to remove/replace.should stop an opportunist riding off on it
I agree its not really needed, but I have something like this
which cost about a tenner, weighs nothing, is chucked in my camelbak and is enough of a deterrant that I think it'll just make the theif pick the next bike. Wouldn't stand up to a minute of abuse though