Bicycle Safety

Solismaris-My DD has a couple really expensive bikes but her favorite is an old beach cruiser someone gave her. She rides it to work every day. If she lost that one she would be very sad.

Keep them hidden. Or stay around and guard them. No lock will stop them; all locks are trivial to open.

My solution is somewhat different: My bike is so old and funky that nobody wants it! It was a fairly decent mountain bike back in the day (Kona) and still rides great but I've put some silly bmx riser bars on it with the wrong color, covered up the name decals with tape, and added a homemade rear rack. A flimsy cable lock is all I use and no issues yet; had it 15 years now. I don't take it to cities; the thieves may be less discriminating there.

There are a couple of locks made by lock companies like Abus and Kryptonite that guarantee their locks against theft in New Your city (or anywhere). With these it is more likely a thief cuts the thing the lock is locked to like a bumper or pole than the lock itself.
These lock would have to be cut with a grinder as the metal is big and very hard, even a sawzall would take time.

With a nice bike you will have to lock the frame and the wheels and if you have a nice seatpost then you might just have to take it out.

Otherwise, put the bike inside where it is not seen, and keep it hidden all the time so people don't know what you have. Cover it with a blanket if you have to put it out while you are in for the day. They will be as bold to try to steal it while you sleep.

The only reason the cheap walmark or old Schwinns would get stolen is that the homboi is tired of walking and the owner made it easy for them.
Most of you have such cheap bikes you could put a sign on it, "free", and it would still be there when you get back..

One good solution is to render the bike unrideable. Remove parts like the pedals is easiest. Keep the front wheel inside. Flatten the tires.
But, if you have a carbon-wonder bike then any piece or part is worth stealing, so this would not work in that case.

mittshel wrote:
OK. Here it is. Highlands RV Park in Bishop, CA. Nice, isn't it?

It's smack dab in the middle of an urban / commercial area? Probably a good number of tweakers living around there.

OK. Here it is. Highlands RV Park in Bishop, CA. Nice, isn't it?

mich800 wrote:
And the place I was talking about with the stealing problem was one of those nice places away from populous areas. All it takes is someone in the community to be less than honorable.

I'll give you that. Can happen almost anywhere from time to time. But if it's a common issue? That's not such a nice place then, wouldn't you agree?

Campfire Time wrote:

mich800 wrote:

You are naive if you think theft only takes place on the wrong side of the tracks. On my travels it has been the nice places that have had reports of theft. But that is where the nice stuff is so not really a surprise. That is not saying theft is a rampant problem. One of the places I visited it was actually the locals taking advantage of the clientele because they knew the type that stayed there. And when caught they were not the type of person who actually needed the money or item stolen.

And you are naive to assume that I was referring to "wrong side of the tracks", your term, not mine. Most of the problems I've seen and heard of were at these "nice" places that were in close proximity, or inside of city limits. Doesn't mean they aren't "nice" in the definition that most RVers use. We've learned there are far better places away from populous areas that simply don't have these issues. Nice in that RVers definition, and nice in that there are not theft issues.

Then I misunderstood "Hmm... Can't be that nice if people are walking around with bolt cutters stealing bikes"

I took that as it must be a bad place. And the place I was talking about with the stealing problem was one of those nice places away from populous areas. All it takes is someone in the community to be less than honorable.

Twodownzero-The guy with the two really expansive bikes had a toy hauler and chained the bikes up outside. Makes no sense to us.

mich800 wrote:

You are naive if you think theft only takes place on the wrong side of the tracks. On my travels it has been the nice places that have had reports of theft. But that is where the nice stuff is so not really a surprise. That is not saying theft is a rampant problem. One of the places I visited it was actually the locals taking advantage of the clientele because they knew the type that stayed there. And when caught they were not the type of person who actually needed the money or item stolen.

And you are naive to assume that I was referring to "wrong side of the tracks", your term, not mine. Most of the problems I've seen and heard of were at these "nice" places that were in close proximity, or inside of city limits. Doesn't mean they aren't "nice" in the definition that most RVers use. We've learned there are far better places away from populous areas that simply don't have these issues. Nice in that RVers definition, and nice in that there are not theft issues.

You can easily get a cable or chain that would be impossible to cut with an average set of 18-30" ish bolt cutters and very difficult with a large set of bolt cutters. You can't really get something that cannot be cut with a cordless grinder with a zip disc, however that takes longer and more importantly makes noise MUCH longer than 1 snap with a bolt cutter.
If you want to defend against average bolt cutters, large cable, like 7/8" or larger, or high tensile chain. Any bolt cutters you can buy at the hardware store or Horrible Freight will not get through a 1/2" grade 100 chain. Then the lock becomes the weak link to get a lock that will go through chain like that and not be exposed to grinding or cutting.