I just recently got into using a bike for commuting and I was wondering if this is a good way to secure my bike? I know, previously, people would recommend only needing to lock the back tire to a solid object, but I’ve seen videos of people easily cutting the back tire, breaking it and taking the frame/front tire. My method of locking is sort of similar, except I do lock around the splash guard. If this isn’t very secure, I’d have to get a longer ulock or chain, because there doesn’t appear to be an easy way for me to lock around the back tire, frame and solid object with my current ulock. Any suggestions are appreciated.
they can’t just undo some bolts and lift away, they have to cut either the wheel or the lock itself.
it’s a safe method recommended by sheldon brown
Should have said, unbolt and damage the wheels then lift away.
Which could be done with a spanner and by standing on the back wheel to squash it to an oval and push it through.
So then you’re buying a hardened D lock and making it as strong as an aluminium and rubber wheel. If they have very basic cutters they are through both wheels in seconds and can lift the bike away. Leaving the lock intact on the bar.
No point in having a hardened lock if it is going to be used like this. Just buy a bargain basement long cable lock as all the benefits of the hardened D are being removed.
very basic cutters that cut through both wheels in seconds
i would like to see that.
Are you writing from some experience or is this theoritical?
Never seen anyone actually doing it but have seen the results. If they are serious bike thieves they will take as much as they can as quickly as they can.
They’ll make a quick assessment. I can get all of a bike apart from the wheels quickly with very little noise vs spending the time dealing with the hardened lock. They will go for the quicker and quieter option.
Oh come on, it would be fantastically difficult to crush the wheel in situ and get it though the frame triangle and you’d end up with a fucked up partial bike that wasn’t that good to start with.
Locking the rear when in the frame triangle is fully secure.
Why would it be fantastically difficult? Wheels aren’t that strong.
The hardened lock actually helps the thieves to damage the wheel. All they need to do is find a way to get the lock to distort the wheel a little bit. E.g by standing on the lock or pulling the bike away from the rail. All the force is going through that part of the wheel.
Once they’ve distorted they can just stand on the wheel to crush it.
It certainly isn’t fully secure if they could steal all of the bike apart from the wheels with only a spanner.
Also saying they’d only end up with a partial bike shows you don’t understand bike theft at all. They will take as much as they can as quickly and easily as they can. If you give them 75% of a bike without having to deal with the hardened lock they will take that opportunity. If it’s the most attractive one there. The goal is to make the time and noise of getting anything from your bike as unappealing as possible.
Although if they target it to no bike is fully secure. I’ve seen the bike rail cut, D locks in pieces and most bizarrely a frame and two wheels left attached to a rack with every other bolt and component removed from the bike. That was totally baffling because the tools and time needed to do that seemed enormous to do insitu.
Next time I see a crushed wheel attached to a post I’ll take a picture.
