Hi Chaps,

Has anyone used Self Amalgamating tape on a whole bike to make it look less expensive carbon and good to steal. I was in NYC recently and noticed quite a few MTB’s dressed in the black stuff for protection. My lad is at Uni and wants to join the SU bike team and stay fit. They have a secure area for storage where access is restricted to students only but better if it’s not shiny and tempting. I have lockable skewers and a big fat lock for him.

Or is not really feasible?

Ta

Shared storage is a nightmare, the other students will leave the doors open, let unknowns in etc, please do not treat it as secure.

I arrived with 2 bikes to uni and flatly refused to use the storage at our halls because so many bikes were getting pinched, having parts nicked or just getting damaged.

Just buy a lightweight bike bag so he can keep it in his room under his bed, that’s the best way to ensure the bike stays his for more than a week after arrival.

Halls may not like you bringing bikes in but a large black bag is ‘luggage’ not a bike, honest officer.

zedz – Member

Hi Chaps,

Has anyone used Self Amalgamating tape on a whole bike to make it look less expensive carbon and good to steal. I was in NYC recently and noticed quite a few MTB’s dressed in the black stuff for protection. My lad is at Uni and wants to join the SU bike team and stay fit. They have a secure area for storage where access is restricted to students only but better if it’s not shiny and tempting. I have lockable skewers and a big fat lock for him.

Or is not really feasible?

Ta

Posted 8 minutes ago # Report-Post

This ‘secure area’……do you have any idea how secure it is?
We had ‘secure bike storage’ at uni and when a load of scrotes decided to turn up one evening in a Transit, they had no problem getting in and taking a shed full of bikes.
The only one that didn’t get taken was my mate’s who had been too lazy to get round to fitting the front wheel to her bike so they left it there, presumably because it was incomplete.
Most of the bikes were old clunkers – mine was a £180 Halfords Apollo, but was still worth nicking to them.

If it was me, I’d get a cheap bike and if possible get him to keep it in his room.
If that’s not possible, then get him to at least consider wheels and seatpost out and stored in his room, just so it’s not so attractive to thiefs looking to make an easy sale.

As for the ‘disguise tape’; it might put some thieves off, but if someone has gone to the trouble of getting into the secure storage, then they’ll probably just have the lot. Only thing it might help with is if there are other bikes there that are obviously worth more….?

i would imagine that whatever works in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester would suffice.

+another for just keeping it in his room, any sort of uni bike storage is an absolute hotbed for theft!

Used to keep mine locked to the underside of my bed in uni. Cleaning it after rides ensured that our shared bathroom was one of the most spotless in the halls.

My ‘secure storage’ at Uni was a joke. It would have been okay if students had respect for other peoples property.
Stuff got damaged, stolen and bits nicked.
I ended keeping 3 bikes in my room without much bother.

Also one who had a “secure storage” area for bikes in halls – both of mine were secured with hefty D-locks. They tried to twist the one on my Orange Clockwork with a scaffold pole or similar and just bent the seat stays. They settled for stripping as much as they could from both, and some of the less well-locked other bikes in there.

Bike bag into room is the best way by far for bikes that you’re worried about.

im on my 5th London bike in <3 years. all stolen.

2 from secure compound with electric gates, residents only fob access, floodlights and cctv.
1 from outside a pub when heavily locked to railings. cut through chain.
1 was liberated from a D-stand outside a co-op. lock and stand were still in place and untouched!?

current one lives indoors.

lock and stand were still in place and untouched!?

Cut frame?

kept my bike in my room at uni. we were told when the inspections were so moved the bike for the afternoon.

Thanks Guys, good advice about the bike bag, I know that size of the rooms in halls in the centre of London are very small, (and may not be any larger that the other cities, before the rapier whit of Mr Smith lets loose.)

Unfortunately I cannot assess the security not being there, and strongly suspect he will lose his bike before the end of year. He is an adult however and makes his own decisions, so hopefully I can refrain from getting in the way too much in that annoying manner adults have.

Just wondered if it is a thing here as it is in NYC, or indeed if anyone had done it with success?

Ah yes bikes and hall inspections, that was a merry little dance. Got caught out once and they found the (by then 3) bikes in my room.

Was told it was policy not to allow bikes in rooms as they constituted a fire hazard.

I asked the inspector when he’d last seen a bicycle spontaneously combust.

Was told to button it and put them in the risible excuse for secure storage they provided.

Hid the bikes at a mate’s place for a few days then moved them back into my room.

Just wondered if it is a thing here as it is in NYC, or indeed if anyone had done it with success?

How do you define success? I didn’t have my bikes covered with any sort of tape, and none of them got stolen whilst at uni. So I deem tape wholly necessary. Plenty of people will have had bikes stolen despite making them look shit.

It will perhaps make them very marginally less appealing to thieves, but I’m not convinced I’d go through the hassle. If he really is hell bent on using the secure storage I’d just make sure he’s got decent insurance.

I keep my Mtb in my room in halls in Leeds (also a very small room), there’s no way I’d leave it in the ‘secure’ storage the residence provides. There are built in draws under the bed so it just lives propped up with a sheet thrown over it. I leave a crappy commuter in the shed with a d-lock and chain though. It’s just not worth the risk of leaving a decent bike anywhere.

The “make bike look shit” plan has worked for me, leaving overnight & weekends at a busy station for 2 years without any problems. A full on carbon race bike would be pretty hard to disguise.

Get him a marin

mines on wall mounted hooks above the bed. never a hindrance up there

thestabiliser

Get him a marin

Brilliant, job done!

I went for bike bag in room, definitely the way to go!

The Marin thing doesn’t work. My son had my 20+year old Eldridge Grade knicked from outside work despite a hefty lock!

seems to me bikes are generally stolen for components these days, is why they happily cut through frames like they did with mine, what with their pesky distinctive decals and serial numbers! ive had decent bikes nicked, then ive bought shitheaps but still invariably end up pimping a little bit (im a hobbying cyclist like everyone else, we have to have some pride in our rides) even if its just a decent pair of tyres. thats when they go walkies again!