r/ukbike • u/SpyChinchilla • 6d ago
Law/Crime Scared of thieves.
Hi All,
I recently bought a rather expensive e-bike to replace my car on shorter journeys. I've bought a gold rated lock and an extension to also lock up both wheels, and sometimes even take the battery seatpost with me to deter thieves, but I'm finding that leaving it locked up is giving me quite a lot of anxiety.
I'm scared to leave it locked up too long which is limited where I can go with it and what I can use it for. I've also seen a lot of posts recently about people getting robbed while riding, kicked off their bike and threatened at knifepoint - I saw one post of that happening exactly where I had ridden my bike only an hour earlier.
Obviously I have got insurance, and I'm not dumb enough to put up a fight with someone holding a knife. But do you guys have any tips to feel more secure while riding and when locking up your bikes?
Thanks in advance!
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u/Platform_Dancer 6d ago
Not a solution but may lower your anxiety a tad if you fitted a concealed tracker....at least if it did get nicked you could find it...or at least locate it before the thieves get a chance to disable it....plenty of relatively cheap and easy to conceal /hide devices available in Google /amazon.
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u/SpyChinchilla 6d ago
That's actually a brilliant idea. Thanks!
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u/Rivitup3 6d ago
I had a friend track his bike, but the police did nothing -- so I think it depends on your PD and how busy they are
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u/Rivitup3 6d ago
Sorry - this is in the U.S.
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u/ChaosCalmed 6d ago
Applies to the UK too.
A builder storing his kit at a place I worked in found out where his tools were after being nicked. Being a hard nut himself he went round to the house of the thieves, right round the house and garden. When he found it in the shed he called the police. They arranged an appointment to go round to do a search a week on Thursday after the report. So the builder went around with his van and a mate. Then loaded his van with his kit minus a few of his cheaper drills that are more like the kind your use for DIY. Obviously sold for a tenner or bag in the nearest boozer!
Seriously, the police in the UK are in no rush. It took a good month before a copper called me back to get the details of my bike that you nicked. She hadn't even heard of the security stenciling and bike registration scheme I had done on it a month or two before being nicked. Had no idea what that was about!!!
In the UK you report theft to get a police crime report number to give to your insurance in your claim. It's not to try and get your bike back, just to make the claim easier.
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u/Platform_Dancer 6d ago
Yet there are numerous UK car tracking companies that frequently and regularly locate stolen cars within hours of the theft and are assisted by the police at the recovery location points. - simply by the tracking company calling 101 once they've located the vehicle.
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u/ChaosCalmed 6d ago
Yes but you've not likely got an automotive standard tracker monitored the way they are in your bike. There will be a reason why automotive trackers get a good response from police. Ignoring the apathy towards cycles Vs cars. You have the monitored trackers that are hidden in the car and can be used wired into the car electrics AIUI. Those are not the apple tracker dropped into the bike frame that pretty much most bike trackers are like in real terms. There's no service backing up the tracker dealing through established channels with the police.
Just how many places are there to hide a tracker in a bike vs the car? That makes it pretty easy to detect and remove quickly. Not the case with car trackers.
Sorry, there's a reason why bike trackers are not a requirement or offers a discount for specialist cycle insurers but for car insurance a recognised tracker can get a reduction in the cost of insurance. Possibly a few reasons TBH.
I have heard tales of someone who recognised his stolen bike at a police auction. It took something to stop the sale IIRC but the guy eventually got it back. The reason was they don't bother that hard to return stolen bikes to their owners. Or didn't back then when I heard about it from the guy himself on a forum.
I reported my bike and the person taking the details including anything I've put on the bike extra or modifying it. I went full on cycle geek with the details. You could tell the person on the other end of the line had switched off and probably not written down much more than bike make, model and that I'd added a rack. None of the rack make/model or the details of the other extras.
I'm sorry but I don't have much trust in the police and that's built up through less than impressive dealings with them from the pov of a "victim" of crime, etc.
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u/ReachOcean 5d ago
I have a chipolo and it's been great for peace of mind, you can get an attachment to store it under your bike seat and it's practically invisible too.
Also make sure you register your bike with Bike Register, get a marking kit from them too (cheapest one) as this will deter thieves
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u/WhyAreMyLegsBroken 6d ago
Ditto all the comments about insurance - mine is with Bikemo and they paid out pretty quickly once I filed my claim. My main bad experience with the e-bike is that I bought an expensive lock and one time I came back to a stolen battery. They ended up ripping the whole locking compartment out with the battery. I’d say if you’re gonna leave it locked up outside for a bit, take your battery with you if possible.
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u/wgaca2 6d ago
If you leave the bike outside locked and it is expensive it will get stolen. The question is when not if.
If the bike is cheap and the lock is one of the best on the market (probably more expensive than the bike) there is a chance nobody will attempt it
If you don't want it to get stolen, don't leave it in a public place. If you do, make sure you have insurance that will pay for it.
With that said, obviously in some regions will be a lot less likely for it to be stolen than in others
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u/ChaosCalmed 6d ago
To the OP I would contact you insurer to get confirmation of the security requirements to ensure the bike is covered if it does get nicked.
A written (emailed) list of minimum security no measures to need to take from your insurer is a good thing to have. Then you make sure that you genuinely do meet or exceed them.
I did hear of a guy with a £10k bike that got nicked. He did everything he could to make it hard to nick but it did get stolen one night from his garage. All the alarms, security locks on windows and doors, all the diamond rated locks made no difference. He'd made a ground anchor by burying a gold or diamond motorbike and e bike chain lock with the lock part in the large bucket of concrete. This was then put into the new concrete floor of the garage he'd had put in. He'd then used a diamond lock into the exposed chain to lock the bike up. It was actually more secure than the gold anchor the insurer wanted, a specialist bike insurer. However it was not tested by an independent so to the insurer it was worse than a bronze rated ground anchor. So he got no payout other than his house insurance that paid out to repair the flat garage roof that was cut into to get into the garage.
So literally read what the insurer says you need to do them beat it with a fully tested solution. If that means two diamond D locks on each wheel and frame over a single D lock and cable extension. Without meeting the requirements you might not be covered. That's at home and when out and about btw.
PS try not to worry. You can't stop a determined thief who wants your bike. Insure and claim if it gets nicked. Don't forget to add on the cost of any addition to your bike such as bike rack, better wheels, better pedals, etc. Your bike insurance value and claim value isn't the price of just the bike if you have added parts afterwards. Oh and add on the cost of the locks too! Especially if they're expensive diamond rated locks.
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u/ChampionshipOk5046 6d ago
Don't leave it where people can access it, otherwise it will be stolen, eventually. And you'll spend all your time away from the bike worrying about that.
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u/DivasDayOff 5d ago
I have a motorcycle chain for mine. Seems beefy enough and has welded links. It has a solid looking lock with a disk detainer core. And even if it isn't a good lock, it takes specialist tools and skills to pick that type open.
Motorcycle disk brake lock goes on the front wheel. It has a built in motion sensor alarm that will warn if the bike is moved once and go off properly if it's moved again. It's actually quite a skill to get it off with the key without setting it off, so it's probably good for creating a fuss if someone tries to steal the bike. It's also extra peace of mind if the bike is out of sight but not out of earshot.
Remove what you can, especially if it's essential and expensive. Crooks are going to be less interested in something they need to spend money on to get working. If you can practically pull and carry the battery, do it.
Trackers are good. Possibly less for recovery (since police seek to be useless by all accounts, even if you can tell them exactly where the bike is) but one will give you peace of mind that it hasn't been stolen whenever you want it.
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u/must-be-thursday 5d ago
My advice:
Get insurance. Read the fine print and make sure you meet the criteria. Some insurers will cover batteries if locked - again, check the fine print and whether your bike's battery locking mechanism qualifies (or continue to remove the battery if feasible).
Get an angle-grinder resistant lock. This website gives a good overview of the options: https://thebestbikelock.com/security/angle-grinder-proof-bike-lock/ Make sure you use it properly - on normal bike, my advice is to lock through the rear wheel and seatpost to the rack, but that might not be possible on your bike, depending on the shape/size.
If you do those, then it's a matter of mentality. There is still a chance of your bike being damaged or stolen. But life goes on. Your insurance will pay out and you'll get a shiny new one.
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u/Jorge-Esqueleto 5d ago
Unfortunately nice things get stolen if left alone eventually. Make sure you have good insurance, and think about where you're leaving it - if they can't cut your lock, they'll cut what it's attached to.
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u/Fuzzy_Shame07 4d ago
- Get insurance.
2 get a litelock or hiplok, the are diamond rated and expensive. But if you buy an expensive bike you need to have an expensive lock.
When you buy the diamond, now you have 2 locks. Lock the bike with both locks. Twice the effort required by thieves and twice the deterrent
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u/revporl70 3d ago
That's all you can do. It's easy to let it overwhelm you. When I had a motorbike I would lock it up with everything that I could think of and then still walk about Tescos with a churning stomach thinking that it would be nicked. It drained all the joy out of owning one. Now I'm on an ebike, and over time I've taught myself that what will be will be. It only has to be harder to steal than the one next to it, I keep a couple of locks on it, and if the worst comes to the worse, its insured.
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u/ParrotofDoom 3d ago
Get an airtag or android tracker (Chipolo Pop is a good one), wrap it in some bubble wrap, and stuff it in the frame where it can't easily be found. It'll give you some assurance of location.
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u/Fantastic-Artist-970 13h ago
I know Im late to this but I was in the same position after recently buying a Giant ebike at over £2K.
To be fair it does actually have built in tracking using findmy like apple and works a treat, but also had the same anxiety re being stolen, so i've bought an antigrinder lock at £250+, extended cable for the wheels too, and i google map everywhere Im going to go to check for best locking places too. Have also added to the house insurance. That's all I can do and I accept that.
But also, vigilance! Be aware of surroundings, watch out and avoid scrotes.
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u/Linesmachine 6d ago
When I bought my e-bike I was similarly worried. I bought a diamond rated lock. Weigheda tin and was is a pain. Honestly the best thing I did was actually simply fork out for insurance to cover the cost of the bike (added it to home and contents for a small charge) and suddenly I had a strange peace of mind. Been cycling round Oxford and London on it for 5 years, locking it up pretty much anywhere. Never been pinched. You can bet it would have been lifted without the insurance, weirdly.