MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Afternoon folks,
There has been a spate of burglaries in my area of high spec'd bikes (road and MTB) and the Police reckon the victims have been picked, tailed and observed for coming and goings etc...
A close friend of mine who has a handsome collection of bikes was turned over on the weekend. His garage was quite well secured, but they cut through everything like it wasn't there. One of the neighbours disturbed them, but they were gone with the majority of the bikes sadly.
I have a well secured set up, but was wondering what you guys have? I have a motorbike security chain securing two bikes to a floor anchor and a second motorbike security chain (both gold rated) attached to a 36kg Kettlebell.
How effective are these trackers you can buy? Smar****er - is that a good deterrent?
Any extra bits i can add that can make it as difficult as possible then please fire them my way!!!
Ta in advance!!
Maybe upgrade to a torc ground anchor, as a 19mm chain fits thru, unlike my old kryptonite one. I also use a number of cheaper u-locks to lock the forks/wheels of different bikes together to make even dismantling part difficult.
Other than upgrading your shed/garage security, you sound to have a decent setup
CCTV? Large dog?
It's difficult, isn't it. Conventional wisdom is that you just have to be better protected than your neighbours, but if you're being deliberately targeted there's not a huge amount you can do other than keep your insurance current.
My bikes are kept in the house, I can't envisage a situation where I'd want to leave them in an outbuilding and mine are probably cheap compared to some of the kit you lot will have.
Depends how much you are prepared to spend really.
Smoke fogging systems are quite good in conjunction with a decent burglar alarm as they can't see what they're trying to nick.
[url= http://www.smokemachines.net/buy-security-smoke-systems.shtml ]http://www.smokemachines.net/buy-security-smoke-systems.shtml[/url]
I suggest advertising all your current security on th internet so they know what to expect !
I suggest advertising all your current security on th internet so they know what to expect !
🙂
I was going to write almost exactly the same thing about 10 minutes ago but thought it would be misunderstood and I'd get a slating.
I'm not going to say exactly what I have, except to make the point that if I had
Maybe upgrade to a torc ground anchor, as a 19mm chain fits thru, unlike my old kryptonite one. I also use a number of cheaper u-locks to lock the forks/wheels of different bikes together to make even dismantling part difficult.
It would take me longer to get a bike out than it would to commute to work.
Bear in mind that even a ground anchor might be tough enough to resist even hydraulic cutters, but it'll be out in seconds if they point a £30 SDS drill and chisel at the concrete it's attached to. A D-lock is easily overcome by a bottle jack. A grinder will go through a chain like butter (Ok, maybe hard cheese if it's an expensive chain and cheap grinder), etc etc.
If they're coming tooled up they'll take the bikes, anything else you add to the security beyond common sense will take you longer to unlock in the morning than it will take them to cut through whilst you're out.
I think the reverse is true. Instead of spending money on more security. Spend some on not getting your bike seen. Remove it from facebook, bike, club forums etc. Keep it inside the car when going to trail, ideally covered. The thieves know where to get information from. Dont make it easy for them. More security wont stop them as shown above.
Or:
Step 1: Insure home and contents.
Stem 2: Drink tea.
Pawsy, a good shout that. I've stopped using the tow bar bike rack for that very reason.
I dont think 'broadcasting' your security is a bad thing, if you was a thief i guess you'd be expecting a couple of obstacles at best to get around! I'm sure its nothing those scum bags haven't seen before either!!
How about wiring the stuff to the mains....in my world that would be perfectly acceptable! 🙂
I have a cheap garage alarm which may help.
Whilst I'm on are expensive security chainsxactually any better than a good lock and chain from B&Q? I'm asking in relation to my motorbike.
Depends if your bikes are kept in a wooden shed... which you could possibly gain entry to by unscrewing the door, hinges etc.
Make access as hard as possible.
Nice bright PIR floodlight.
Good ground anchor.
19mm chain and squire closed shackle lock (make sure chains are off the ground as its possible to get more leverage with bolt cutters stood on them).
Alarm and maybe a wifi alert to your email / mobile phone.
Make sure they are properly insured.
Move them inside if you can or are allowed.
I had good kryptonite locks but twice now they have been cut and disappeared along with the bikes.
I have given up trying to secure the shed and bought an [url= http://www.asgardsss.co.uk/bike-cycle-storage ]Asgard Shed[/url]. Bit of a wait for delivery but well worth the investment i reckon.
Custom made welded steel container bolted to the floor and double locked. Bikes are locked inside that.
Obscurity
It amazes me how many people seem to use their own name on Strava. Even if you use their privacy settings, creating a ring of mystery, 0.5km radius from your home, they can always look you up in the phone book, street view etc...
Lucky enough to be able to keep all mine in my cellar..
If someone is found down there attempting to nick my bikes?
Well, good luck to them.. Their day [i]will[/i] be ruined.
Kevlar wearing Tibetan Mastiff with reinforced teeth. Shotgun. CCTV. GPS. Steel Doors. Reinforced Concrete Walls. Alarms linked to the police? 😀
That or just get insurance.
An alarm rigged up to 5 or 6 sounders. They might get your bikes but they won't hear anything for a good long time. A couple of strobes or a smoke machine will make their lives miserable when they're in your garage . And slow them down with big locks. Make life very very unpleasant, even by their standards.
Looked at a house recently that had a nice big double garage. Went inside with the estate agent and the look on her face when she saw the very substantial and large metal cage in the corner was priceless as she thought it was something kinky! 😀
Asgard shed, ground anchor, you name it it's worth it. Make it more hassle than next door and the scrotes will move on.
The one thing I'm thinking at the moment is a high power PIR light isn't that useful. There are so many in gardens around our area that nobody takes much notice, all they do is provide useful light for the tea leaf to see what they're doing!
oh and my suggestion - build a pit to your your bikes in with steel bars that lock in the top under the fake garage floor. Slide a heavy bit of furniture over it or have some of those rubber floor mats when the bikes are in there and lock up a couple of BSOs with rubbish locks but painted and with fake stickers matching your bikes in plain sight.
A close friend of mine who has a handsome collection of bikes was turned over on the weekend. His garage was quite well secured, but they cut through everything like it wasn't there.
If they are coming prepared then there isn't much you can do with locks. My suggestion would be to fit things that make it very noisy or attention grabbing towards anyone trying to get access.
Extra alarms, lights etc.
That and don't make it obvious you have bikes so don't leave them outside - clean them on the street all the time, leave them on the roof of your car, meet friends on your doorstep etc.
I'd do the minimum the insurance company stipulate.
I've only got 26" wheeled MTB's and no one wants them so i'm safe!!
oh and my suggestion - build a pit to your your bikes in with steel bars that lock in the top under the fake garage floor. Slide a heavy bit of furniture over it or have some of those rubber floor mats when the bikes are in there and lock up a couple of BSOs with rubbish locks but painted and with fake stickers matching your bikes in plain sight.
Haha love it!
Get an alarm and set it up with the alarm box inside the garage/shed. I cannot express how uncomfortable a Yale siren is if your in the same room. Even if they find it and chuck it out the shed it's still going off for a good while.
..The thieves know where to get information from. Dont make it easy for them. More security wont stop them as shown above.
Think that's about it - just enough security to cover insurance demands and deter opportunistic thieves, the pros will get pretty much anything they want and it's not that difficult to locate a bike goldmine using forum posts and strava routes 🙁
I have a CCTV camera on the shed door and inside the shed. Has kept the little scrotes away so far...
(Expect I'll get burgled next week now I've said that)
Fit a couple of fire alarm sounders and a strobe inside, controlled by a door operated switch.
A hidden override switch outside the shed to stop yourself getting deafened every time you go to get your bike 🙂
Bombers.
Owning : for the purpose of.
thisisnotaspoon - Member
Or:Step 1: Insure home and contents.
Stem 2: Drink tea.
Step 3: Ask insurance company exactly the terms of the coverage and what you need to do, make sure you have this in writing and keep proof of locks etc.
Then drink more tea.
A well prepared thief (as these sound like) will be able to get through most security and will be doing it at a time when they are unlikely to be disturbed. So you either need a massive noise maker - disabled after you set it off once too often at night or a bank vault.
Bikes are just a collection of metal and plastic.