Locks and security

[JohnInStockie]

Lets face it, electric bikes are expensive so looking after and securing our bikes is very important. With this thread I would like people to give advice and their experience and tips on security (Good and Bad).

1. What locks are people using?
2. What are your experiences with locks, and do you have any tips for locking your bike up?
3. How many locks do you own?
4. Do you use different locks for portability and short time locking versus commuting and long-time locking / overnight storage?
5. What street furniture do you recommend attaching to?
6. How are your bikes secured at home?
7. Do you have separate insurance for your bike?

John

 

[Tim]

Hello, we've found a supplier of very good locks recently and will post more soon.
Tim
50cycles

 

[flecc]

I use the motor cycle lock supplied with the eZee bikes on those. The Twist has an excellent rear wheel lock built on, and I added the optional heavy cable which couples to that, giving both the wheel rotation locking and attachment to street furniture etc.

I try to avoid attaching to street furniture wherever possible, particularly where it might obstruct pedestrians, though if there's no alternative and the parking is very short term, I reluctantly do that.

When businesses who could be expected to provide cycle parking for customers don't do that, I'm always prepared to tackle them about it, if necessary writing to head offices etc.

At home my bikes are both in a triple locked garage and indoors.

Early in life I concluded that it would be wise to be my own "insurance company" and make the profits they do. Accordingly I only insure my building structure and have the compulsory third party insurance for my car. Over some 52 years of independent living I've profited greatly from that decision, since I've only "claimed" from myself for two very minor matters, the capital of the huge amounts I've saved growing all the time with the interest earned.

 

[JohnInStockie]

Ive been looking into this, and it seems that the vast majority of Cable and U Locks are simply useless (according to most of the reviews Ive seen on the net) taking less than 1 min to break with either a hammer, hacksaw, or bolt-cutters.

This one ActiveSportsKit.co.uk - Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit Chain and Padlock Lock apparently takes 45 mins to saw through with a hacksaw, and is impervious to bolt-cutters and hammers, and was rated as one of the best available. However, I understand that it wieghs 5.6 kilos !!!

John

 

[flecc]

All good locks and cables are very heavy, there's no alternative if they're to protect effectively.

 

[rsscott]

There was a TV programme a while back which showed several 'unbreakable' bike locks being picked by rather ingenious methods. Even the so-called top rated lock on the market was vunerable which caused quite a stir!

 

[Tim]

Brute U-lock

We had some of these delivered recently - very substantial U-lock with the advantage of coming with £1200 worth of insurance if the lock is broken. We chose to stock this one (and another smaller model with £800 insurance) because it comes with a mounting bracket and one of the five keys has a built in mini-torch which we though would come in useful this time of year.

50cycles Advanced Electric Bikes Catalogue - the UK's best electric bicycles with free delivery

 

[Nick]

I've got a key operated 'wire strand' lock which I use to lock my bike at work in the private carpark, and rarely go into town etc.

However, we are moving and the new premises use a public mult-storey carpark so I think I will need to improve the lock. I guess I could use the heavy one mentioned earlier int he thread and simply leave it at work rather than lug it around.

My bike's a Bionx on a Trek hybrid, so I can easily remove the battery, but it's an expensive bit of kit, and I also have a modified crank to cater for limited knee flexion, so it would be a right pain if my bike was pinched. It all gets rather laborious if you have to start removing wheels and saddles all the time but perhaps I'll have to do that - not sure where I can leave it all when at work though!

 

[Flying Kiwi]

The Twists built in rear wheel lock is a very handy thing. It doesn't stop anyone trying to pick up the bike and run away with it but I reakon I can run faster than someone carrying my bike can. As long as I have it in sight and it's well clear of the road when that frame lock alone is used, no worries. I've locked it outside a McDonalds once and watched a dodgy character study it - I think he might have been contemplating jumping on it and riding off untill he spotted the rear wheel frame lock.

When it's out of my sight or for extended periods I always make sure I park it in either a secure area (eg a locked gated off compound when I visited the cinema in Penzance) or a high visibility area (attached to a main pillar just near the entrance to the local supermarket) - certainly not down a dark alley. I use an Abus combination coil type cable lock and in the past have also used a cheap D lock. I'm not to worried about having a lock that takes ages to get through because I know the public areas I park in are the greater deterant because thieves dont like to be watched.

At home its behind the garage door (which makes alot of noise if anyone tries to force their way in - I was inside it one evening when a prowler tried). I leave it's frame lock on and the battery usually out, on charge.

If I had to leave it anywhere less than ideal (eg many railway stations), I'd use several D Locks and take the battery with me. Theives are less willing to try and break several locks. Of course that wouldn't protect it from being vandalised (I've seen a few bikes at railway stations nearby where the wheels and frames have been kicked in). I've managed to avoid needing to do this so far.

 

[flecc]

The Twists built in rear wheel lock is a very handy thing. It doesn't stop anyone trying to pick up the bike and run away with it

The optional locking cable is a very heavy duty job which latches into that lock Flying Kiwi. I use one and it's great for securing to street furniture etc. The half inch cable end engages in the hole opposite the key.

Here's the Fisher link, your cycle dealer can get one for you.

 

[Flying Kiwi]

The optional locking cable is a very heavy duty job which latches into that lock Flying Kiwi.

When I got my Twist Comfort brand new it didn't have the SL7 AXA lock on it but some other flavour without the same cable hole. A few months down the line it started binding and I noticed it was different to the locks I'd seen on other Twists so I had it replaced with a new SL7 by the dealer under warranty. I'm not going to speculate as to how the bike originally came to have the wrong frame lock (which didn't look all shiny and new from day one) but by the time I got the SL7, I'd already had my Abus coil cable lock for some time. I like the fact it has a mounting clip to attach it to the seatpost and it's about the same thickness as the AXA one. I dont need to worry about an additional key because its a combination model. I have considered the AXA as a secondary lock but is there a bracket or clip to professionally hold it to the seatpost? I'm 6' 5" so there's lots of room (for 2 cables) on my seatpost. I dont like to have to put a pannier or bag on just to carry locks and I dont like to have loose things rattling around on my bike (as it would if I simply coiled it around the frame - even though it's vinyl coated to protect the paint). My enquiry about storage attachment methods in the past came up with a "we get the variety that they send us" non-comittal response from the supplier I was considering. What do you do to carry it flecc?

 

[flecc]

If I'm using the large panniers I put the cable in the top pouch of one, but without the panniers I use a short bungee "figure of eight" fashion to hold the coiled cable on top of the carrier, pinned to it's side rails by the loops of the "eight".

On the Torq and Quando, the only time they're left unattended is when using panniers so no problem with carrying the m/cycle chain lock then. Riding for pleasure is without either lock or panniers usually.

 

[Nick]

That AXA lock with a cable lock looks interesting - I'd not seen it before. I'm still a bit doubtful about leaving my bike in a multi-storey though, as it will be there pretty well every day so it'll be a bit of a sitting duck. At least the bit I'll be in has restricted access for vehicles (some form of ID card), although pedestrians can wander around unrestricted.

 

[Flying Kiwi]

I'm still a bit doubtful about leaving my bike in a multi-storey though, as it will be there pretty well every day so it'll be a bit of a sitting duck. At least the bit I'll be in has restricted access for vehicles (some form of ID card), although pedestrians can wander around unrestricted.

Can't say I blame you feeling some trepidation about leaving it in a multistory. If your employer wont let you store your bike somewhere on the company premises (perhaps in the cleaners cupboard as a last resort), then I'd lock it up with multiple locks including strong D locks which you could leave at work (so their weight wouldn't be a problem). I saw a bike at the train station the other day with 3 D locks on it. It wont stop theives steeling it but if they're determined to take it, they'll at least have their work cut out.

 

[Nick]

If your employer wont let you store your bike somewhere on the company premises (perhaps in the cleaners cupboard as a last resort)

That's what I'll be trying to do but I'm not overly optimistic of my chances

 

[aroncox]

Leave or take battery

So if you're locking your bike at a station, outside work, or even outside a shopping centre do you take your battery with you or leave it attached to the bike?

I'll be moving home soon, much further away from work, so I'll probably cycle to the station and leave my bike locked there. I don't really want to have to carry my battery to work and back each day as it's pretty heavy. Do you think it's safe left on the bike?

As for locks, I have a long cable lock so I can lock the wheels together, and a New York U-Lock (with the new bic-pen proof lock) to lock the frame to something.

Aron.

 

[flecc]

I've always left mine on my bikes Aron. I think the comparative rarity of electric bikes is a protection in itself, since few realise the value and even those who might realise that could have difficulty finding someone with one of those bikes they could sell it to. The older profile of e-bike owners also means a lower likelyhood of them buying suspect items.

Of course if you have a number of your type of bike in your area, that might be a bit different, but they're very rare round here.

 

[Flying Kiwi]

So if you're locking your bike at a station, outside work, or even outside a shopping centre do you take your battery with you or leave it attached to the bike?

A thief stealing the bike is going to want something he can easily on-sell and if there's clearly a missing battery, it will be less desirable. I dont tend to take the battery off unless it will be left for some time (eg overnight or during the working day) or it looks a bit more risky than I'd like and there's nowhere else I can put it. The Twist battery is easy to carry as it has a foldable handle and weighs under 4 kg.

 

[nigel]

nigel

Originally Posted by aroncox
So if you're locking your bike at a station, outside work, or even outside a shopping centre do you take your battery with you or leave it attached to the bike?
Hi at the moment i am using my powabyke untill my twistlite is ready and i feel quite safe in knowing that a person would need to be the hulk to steal a powabyke bike battery.
I have often wondered how the powabyke would perform if it was half of the weight because even at 40 kilos the motor has good pulling power and does good mileage last summer i was doing a round trip of 36 miles with still more power left in battery.

 

[FatMog]

AXA SL7 and the EZEE SPRINT

Hi everyone - I have just ordered my sprint and thought I would fill in the awaiting-delivery period by buying it some presents.

I thought the Axa SL7 lock mentioned elsewhere in this thread looked very handy for my purposes ie. securing the bike in a low-risk environment with minimum of fuss. Has anybody fitted one to their sprint? I have been studying the bike photos, but you know, it's really difficult to find a good large photo of the sprint anywhere. None really show how much clearance there is below the rear seat stays, between the mudguard and the battery - it looks pretty tight.

I could wait for the bike to arrive... but where's the fun in that? If I had the lock ready and waiting I could be fitting it while I was waiting for the battery to charge....

(Yeah, I'm not too good on delayed gratification!)