Hopefully the Mats will be off on holiday down later this summmer. We want to take a couple of bikes and given the boot is full of luggage there’s no chance of them travelling in the car. They’ll be on the tow bar rack (atera strada). Travelling with 2 small children means more service station stops than we’d otherwise like. I’m well aware of how vulnerable bikes are in these sorts of scenarios, so any tips on pragmatic deterance? I realise there’s not much you can do against a battery grinder and a couple of uninterupted minutes.

I’ve been considering buying a beefy chain to go through both bikes and then locking through the towing eye. I’d ensure the chain was tight enough to stop the towing eye being unscrewed. D-Locks are generally my preference but getting them through the frame onto anything secure is nigh on impossible without removing them from the rack everytime. The other thing i’d wondered about was alarmed locks.

I use 6 metres of Pragmasis’ finest when stopping at s service station. The four metre length goes through the four frames and most of the wheels. That then links to the end of the 2m section which loops around the rear axle.

It’s an utter pain in the arse, completely. Much quicker in reality for us to take turns pissing instead.

Wouldn’t be so bad if we could leave the main chain on the bikes but it weighs about 15kg or something silly and would totally overload the rack.

So, for piss stops, take it in turns. For anything longer, Pragmasis, but in reality have a think about whether you should be leaving it for that long full stop.

Or we reverse into a parking space with a pole behind and then lock the bikes to that. You don’t get as mucky guddering about under the rear axle, but it takes just as long because you must lock the other lock around the steering wheel to remind you to unlock the bikes from the pole before driving off …😝😈😃

I use a Pragmasis chain with the ‘noose’ ring on one end. I can thread the chain through the ring (in the bottom right of the photo), so the crash bar behind the bumper is in the middle of the loop, then thread the chain through the rack and bikes, and then lock it around the outermost bike.

How long is that one Bails?
I imagine it’s loads shorter, and lighter…
2.5m?

Thanks both of you, it’s quite a long drive and the kids are pretty young so keen to let them properly let off steam as sub optimal as that is for security. What diameter pragmasis do you reccomend? was thinking 11 or 13mm, Also which padlock?

We just always had one of us in view of the car when at all possible. One supervised the three kids, one loitered a few times.

We avoided the usual motorway service stations, less volume of customers = fewer folk with battery grinder and a van…

Edit: we took picnics and found local parks. This worked well at times – we discovered some brilliant public parks in France, some nice posh farmshop places in UK with playparks etc.

I also back the thing up against walls or similar, they’re they more hidden by the car in the way and harder to reach.

We used a cable lock and the pragmatism of good insurance, because it happens.

How long is that one Bails?

I imagine it’s loads shorter, and lighter…

2.5m?

@thegeneralist I’ve got the 2m one. Still heavy, but half the length that I’d need if I was using a normal chain. I set the bikes up on the rack and used a bit of string to get a rough measurement of what I needed.

@Mat mine is 11mm. Obviously 13mm is more secure but heavier. My view is that there a very small subsection of thieves who will be stopped by a decent 13mm chain but not by a decent 11mm chain. It’s beefy enough to put off opportunists* or anyone with pocket sized bolt croppers that would go through the standard plastic-coated cable.

*Some scrotes broke into my garage and tried to use my garden loppers to cut the 11mm chain and free my bike. It just dented the blade of the loppers. If it had been something like this then I think they might have got through it.

Looking Ng at old emails, I’ve previously bought a ground anchor, 4m x13mm; 2.5m x16mm, 2m.5 x13mm and 2mx11mm chains.

Starting with the Biggie, 16mm is a pain in the butt to use. The link now barely fit through a 28 spoke wheel and not through a 32 X 26 inch wheel. I got a 2.5m length which is quite short.

The 4 metre 13mm chain is great, but I wish I had bought a bit longer so I could lock all wheels and frames when wrapping round a tree. It doesn’t quite fit. Likewise when locking to the front axle of the van.

The 11mm one is used for out and about. Too heavy to carry any distance, but if I wanted to lock a good bike up for a few minutes somewhere

How expensive are the bikes?

Do you want to leave the lock on whilst driving?

I’d go for the 13mm personally.

The chap (Steve?) Is really helpful, but if he has one failing it is always suggesting too short a chain. He recommends using a length of string to measure, which is of course bollocks, unless you have some Queen Elizabeth 2 mooring rope lying around.

IIRC they say that the 13mm has been hand chopped with a standard huge bolt cropper, but the guy who did it was a 6′ 4″ ex squaddie with enormous talent and loads of time/ practice. Defo don’t go thicker than 13mm for car use.

I’ve used the Kryptoflex solution in the past 🤔 – including pit stops at French services in the summer. Appreciate it’s not as secure as a chain, but concerned that the extra weight of a chain rubbing on the frames on a long trip will cause some damage. Have then locked the cable to the sturdy bit of the rack by the towball.
Have also got a locking arm on the rearmost bike as an additional deterrent. Hoping that together with the cable it would keep all but the most determined away long enough to have a leak.

Take them off the rack and put them on the seats? Loads of room when you aren’t sitting on them.
Bit harder to get at and the car alarm and suchlike helps

Is anything more than opportunist bike theft a thing at service stations?

What about a couple of long cables larks footed together and looped through an alloy wheel?

I have just ordered some 10mm plate steel to make a fixing point, which I will bolt behind the ball, a bit like those sheet bits of metal that stop you running the trailer into the bumper as you hook up. Seems like a viable option, bolts have plenty of spare thread.

What about a couple of long cables larks footed together and looped through an alloy wheel?

AIUI most, if not all, cables are easily cut with minimal equipment. When one of mine got snipped years ago I was amazed how quickly my housemate chopped the remainder into shreds with a pair of plier type snips.

The gear cable cutter in your toolkit would probably do it in seconds. And no worries about being arrested for going equipped.

I use 2 big Oxford motorbike chains, the canvas covered type.

One goes on to the towbar and is strapped to the rack. The other goes around the bikes and they get connected together. One of the kryptonite plastic coated wires through the wheels.

Like that you can travel with them on and still tilt the rack if you route them right. Use a strap to take up any slack and add a bit of protection where it might rub your frame.

We use a combination of d-locks and chains and so far…. Been ok.
I also use bungees to stop the bikes rolling side to side too much and a reflective board on the back which disguises the bikes nominally, but all adds additional faffage.

A good solution ive used is to use the cheap panic alarms where you just pull out the pin. Tightly attach the pin to one point of the chain lock via a piece of wire (the wire has to be tight and at the point that the pin is about to come out) and the holder to another point so that when your lock is moved the pin will come out from the holder and the alarm will sound. Its a bit if a faff to set up, but once you have it dialled it only take 2 minutes.

I like the idea of a big chunky lock for when outside B&Bs, or at rest stops, or even locking to the bike rack whilst stored in a holiday cottage garden

@bails – do you use a D-lock at the opposite end from the noose? Or do you thread the end link thru a nearby mid link and create a 2nd noose for a padlock?

i’ve a long lock with a noose at one end and a plug lock at the other. noose goes round a rear wishbone, then up the back of the car, through all the frames and loop round the last one with the lock.

What car, what tow bar electrics? VWG (and others) integrate the vehicle alarm into the electrics if it’s a factory job or a properly coded Westfalia or other oem unit. I got a 13-pin curly extension lead which gets threaded through the bikes between the Atera lights and the car. Basically adding an alarmed loop into the rack.

@5lab – got an link to that? Or a photo?

@ElShalimo – the second one. It’s like a very long pair of handcuffs. I made a cut in the fabric covering to put the end link through.

Thanks @bails. I’m looking at doing that myself. Did you singe the sleeve to stop it ripping more than needed?

Is anything more than opportunist bike theft a thing at service stations?

I’m sure there’s been a few cases of people being followed on the way back from events or trail centres. Rare, and probably very unlikely given how long it could take to steal anything but who knows.

I always reverse right up against a wall or hedge or similar – it prevents immediate access although it’s still not foolproof.

@elshalimo

it looks exeactly like this, but I could swear the brand is different – https://www.meetlocksonline.com/products/meetlocks-bike-lock-flex-loop-cable-dia-1cm-2-4m

Thanks

I have been looking at these at srewfix Hardened Steel Chain I intend to use it with the D lock which I can fit around the back of the towing hitch.

Get 1/3rd off Milenco chains & locks at the moment:  https://www.milencomoto.com/shop

Most of their stuff is Sold Secure rated for motorbikes and cycles.

I’m tempted to get the Pragmasis like bails has as we have an 11mm in the garage already with a ground anchor. It’s when we’re out and about the bikes can be vulnerable hence I’m always a bit worried.

I just used a collection of dlocks to lock the bikes and wheels to each other, and cable locks that were locked to something big inside the boot and/or through the rack. I figured that any thief who was equipped for both dlocks nad decent cables, and was willing to spend enough time to cut through at least 3 locks to get one bike off probably deserved it.

I also put the cheapest bike at the back (usually one of the kids bikes) so it would take even longer to get to the more expensive ones.

@bails – thanks for your help. I’ve ordered the Pragmasis 11mm with noose & their D-lock (not much more than the basic padlock and gives me more options for locking)