Great advice Jason (as always) as someone who lives in the country I use a frame lock with an attached cable through a permanent bike rack and linked into my wife's bike which also has a frame lock. We always park in very visible and busy areas, not hidden away places where a thief can work uninterrupted. As you say being over cautious is better than under. 👍
All good advice. I often joked that there was nowhere more secure to lock your bike to than a HEAVY wooden post or an actual tree because your average thief may have an angle grinder and a heavy bolt cutter but they never bother with carrying a chainsaw. Looks like the experience of the poor b'strd mentioned in the video is the exception that proves the rule. I currently only have an ordinary no e, just me powered bicycle. An all round workhorse. I have an e-bike ordered a couple of months ago but because I'm 2 metres tall I'm having to wait for more extra large frames to be made. Locally in my mostly rural area I just use a gold D Lock. The risk is low so it's fine. For larger towns or cities I pack a whopping 2 metres long chain with TWO mini D locks (I added the second myself) so I can lock it in an 8 instead of a long 0. That means the thieves will have to cut the whole thing twice. With the single lock It's rated Diamond for a bicycle or gold for a motorbike. 6.5kg+. I wrap it around the seat post and use the D Lock too, also transported around the seat post. Another 2kg. Although I've never weighed it so it could all be more? You say that's very heavy.....? Perhaps, but I'm 120kg+ myself, plus bike and I usually carry luggage or cargo so let's say that is about 145kg total and it can be considerably more. That's less than 6% additional weight. I'm not a group think roadie obsessed with every gramme!!!! Never mind pulling trailers with another 40-80kg behind me. The chain length gives a lot of options for places to secure my bike. It's still not a guarantee but it's what I've been doing in vulnerable places. Most bike racks can unfortunately be cut through in 2 minutes or less by an angle grinder. I actually try to avoid them altogether in the dodgy areas. They are literally the weakest link for thieves who are willing to carry a bike off or throw it in the back of a van around the corner. And there are unfortunately too many videos of crowds of people on public streets or at shopping centres walking right past thieves spending a long time angle grinding through expensive locks. And not even stopping whilst being filmed. Regarding the wearable locks I will echo doctors who deal with spinal injuries. DON'T. JUST DON'T! If you fall off or get thrown off your bike wearing a waist lock, if that catches in anything while your body is in movement, or how you land, that could be a life changing spinal injury you might never recover from. I don't know how they are legal at all. The very thought makes me shudder. Broken arms, legs, even a skull if no brain damage will heal. But a minor spinal injury in the wrong place could mean a life filled with pain at best. I won't bother mentioning the worst. When the e-bike eventually does arrive I'm going to stick with the chain and add a diamond D Lock. It's going to be a workhorse so it's going to be left out for long periods in public areas. Except perhaps to add insurance. Biking as the cheapest form of travel is getting a lot more expensive suddenly. 😮
Great advice Jason (as always) as someone who lives in the country I use a frame lock with an attached cable through a permanent bike rack and linked into my wife's bike which also has a frame lock. We always park in very visible and busy areas, not hidden away places where a thief can work uninterrupted. As you say being over cautious is better than under. 👍
Great tip! Thanks for watching.
All good advice. I often joked that there was nowhere more secure to lock your bike to than a HEAVY wooden post or an actual tree because your average thief may have an angle grinder and a heavy bolt cutter but they never bother with carrying a chainsaw. Looks like the experience of the poor b'strd mentioned in the video is the exception that proves the rule.
I currently only have an ordinary no e, just me powered bicycle. An all round workhorse. I have an e-bike ordered a couple of months ago but because I'm 2 metres tall I'm having to wait for more extra large frames to be made.
Locally in my mostly rural area I just use a gold D Lock. The risk is low so it's fine.
For larger towns or cities I pack a whopping 2 metres long chain with TWO mini D locks (I added the second myself) so I can lock it in an 8 instead of a long 0. That means the thieves will have to cut the whole thing twice. With the single lock It's rated Diamond for a bicycle or gold for a motorbike. 6.5kg+. I wrap it around the seat post and use the D Lock too, also transported around the seat post. Another 2kg. Although I've never weighed it so it could all be more?
You say that's very heavy.....? Perhaps, but I'm 120kg+ myself, plus bike and I usually carry luggage or cargo so let's say that is about 145kg total and it can be considerably more. That's less than 6% additional weight. I'm not a group think roadie obsessed with every gramme!!!!
Never mind pulling trailers with another 40-80kg behind me.
The chain length gives a lot of options for places to secure my bike. It's still not a guarantee but it's what I've been doing in vulnerable places.
Most bike racks can unfortunately be cut through in 2 minutes or less by an angle grinder. I actually try to avoid them altogether in the dodgy areas. They are literally the weakest link for thieves who are willing to carry a bike off or throw it in the back of a van around the corner.
And there are unfortunately too many videos of crowds of people on public streets or at shopping centres walking right past thieves spending a long time angle grinding through expensive locks. And not even stopping whilst being filmed.
Regarding the wearable locks I will echo doctors who deal with spinal injuries.
DON'T. JUST DON'T!
If you fall off or get thrown off your bike wearing a waist lock, if that catches in anything while your body is in movement, or how you land, that could be a life changing spinal injury you might never recover from. I don't know how they are legal at all. The very thought makes me shudder. Broken arms, legs, even a skull if no brain damage will heal. But a minor spinal injury in the wrong place could mean a life filled with pain at best. I won't bother mentioning the worst.
When the e-bike eventually does arrive I'm going to stick with the chain and add a diamond D Lock. It's going to be a workhorse so it's going to be left out for long periods in public areas. Except perhaps to add insurance. Biking as the cheapest form of travel is getting a lot more expensive suddenly. 😮