How to protect your bike, is a new video release from the London Cycling Campaign as part of its new Beat the Thief initiative (watch it below). The video's central message is that having a cycle lock is not much good if you don't use it properly, oh, and two locks are better than one. During the short film Barry Mason of the Southward Cyclists branch of the LCC talks us round the locking methods used on real bikes by real cyclists on some sheffield stands somewhere in London – Barry isn't that impressed.
Barry's recipe for keeping your bike out of the hands of thieves is to use two locks one through the front wheel and one through the frame, and preferably also something to lock any other jewellery, like leather saddles, you might have on there too.
Two locks doesn't necessarily sound that practical to us, especially if you can simply whip your front wheel off and lock it to the rest of the bike with a good gold rated Sold Secure lock rather than lugging Silver and Bronze rated locks about. Barry is also spot on about cheap cable locks – a visual deterrent only as far as we're concerned, but we're not sure the chain in the video would last much longer – a small pair of bolt croppers would be through that in a trice says our man in the hoodie and turned down baseball cap… although he might not have used the word 'trice'.
road.cc's bike locking Dos and Don'ts
Do lock your bike to a secure, immovable object - ideally one designed for the purpose Do make sure the frame and both wheels are inside your lock, or use two locks, or locking wheel skewers on the front wheel Do use a lock, and use it properly even if you are leaving your bike unattended for even a moment Do remove lights and anything else that isn't securely fixed to your bike when you are locking it up Do lock your bike when you get it home, especially if you keep it in a shed or garage Do buy the best lock or locks that you can afford
Don't leave your bike unlocked and unattended even if you are just nipping in to shop Don't lock your bike up in a secluded location where a thief has time to work on your lock undisturbed Don't lock your bike to trees or fences that can be easily cut through, or, posts or signs that it can be easily lifted over Don't leave space in your shackle - that gives space for evil bike stealing tools to do their worst or leave your lock lying flat on the ground for the same reason Don't forget your lock
We're strong believers in always filling your shackle but we're always looking for new ways to help beat bike thieves so if you've got any bike security tips you'd like to share with the crowd let's hear them!
Help us to fund our site
We’ve noticed you’re using an ad blocker. If you like road.cc, but you don’t like ads, please consider subscribing to the site to support us directly. As a subscriber you can read road.cc ad-free, from as little as £1.99.
If you don’t want to subscribe, please turn your ad blocker off. The revenue from adverts helps to fund our site.
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £1.99. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
Tony has been editing cycling magazines and websites since 1997 starting out as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - which he continues to edit today. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes.
Latest Comments
Car Delenda Est
2 sec ago
Yes. If you were to ask these people why they disregard the facts they'd give you some story about about how it's Insulate Britain, Extinction...
Yes. If you were to ask these people why they disregard the facts they'd give you some story about about how it's Insulate Britain, Extinction...
Whose car, though?
With regards to signalling when passing both parked cars and cyclists (and anything else that happens to be in the carriageway) when driving, I...
Not since the start of the year - he's got a bigger job now. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/22/chris-boardman-to-lead-n...
Submissions for the Jubilee City nominations were supposed to highlight their royal associations and cultural heritage, Milton Keynes didnt even...
If you want the full details, look on YT for DCrainmaker or Gplama, they have run the numbers, and with crank based powermeters in Shimano...
Expected a breakaway win. Made a last minute change to my planned transfers and didn't go for Yates as planned. Chose Hindley instead which was a...
My bitter experience with carbon fibre Fulcrums, descending at high speed in the Alps with rim brakes, I burnt through the side wall of my rear...
You can also look at Soller, which is at the bottom of the Puig Major - which leads to the Sa Collabra, etc. If you're definitely going and need...
How can it do the one without doing the other (Newton's 3rd law)?