Shed security

1892

I'm in the process of buying a new bike and the it will have to live in the shed. I've been looking @ ways to beef up the security of the shed & was wondering if there was anything anybody could recommend. Don't think I would get away with planting a mine field in the garden.
A few sites I've been looking @:
www.dgsecurity.co.uk
www.torc-anchors.com
www.tuskstore.com
Any advice gratefully received. :?

rdaviesb

If you want to make it really solid then you really need to build the shed yourself, using 3x3 (or at a push 2x2) as the main frame. Double skinning the shed also helps (and makes it a nicer place to fettle the machine in winter) The alternative is to construct a frame inside the existing structure, into which you mount a 1 inch steel or iron bar, to lock your bike to. Also re-inforce the doors, and think of the number of padlocks you are likely to need, then buy twice as many. Security isn't cheap, but I hate to see my machines go walkabout.

xio

I have a shed-shackle and a £160 motorbike chain and padlock, along with an additional padlock on the shed door. Can't tell you if it's any good though as no-one's tested it yet.

McBain_v1

Get the Shed Shackle - it's a brilliant gizmo. I've got this and a New York Fagetaboutit chain lock (that the insurers required) - chain and shackle probably weighs 7 times more than the bike itself, but it's worth it for the peace of mind

passout

Get it insured properly and buy a cheap shed from B&Q? Not what you wanted but an option.

Clever Pun

McBain_v1 wrote:

Get the Shed Shackle - it's a brilliant gizmo. I've got this and a New York Fagetaboutit chain lock (that the insurers required) - chain and shackle probably weighs 7 times more than the bike itself, but it's worth it for the peace of mind

got any linkage?

I'm looking to buy a shed to just keep my bike(soon to be bikes) in and good rack solutions to keep em sweet???

formerlyknownasbonj

even fairly thick shed walls can be sawed, or chopped with an axe. You're going to have to spend a lot of money on timber to make it thick enough not to be able to be sawed through with even a handsaw.
Whatever security chain, padlock and anchor you buy, if you attach it to the wall, then it's only going to be as strong as the wall itself. Much better to fasten the ground anchor into a proper concrete floor. Then even if they flatten the entire shed your bike will still be shackled to the floor.

inaperfectworld

i read about a plate connected to a rod and an eye on the end. you dig a hole in the ground put the plate in and fill in, leaving the eye above ground you then build the shed on top making a hole for the eye to stick through the shed floor. with the weight of soil it can't be pulled out and to get at the retaining earth you'd have to remove the shed. sorry i can't remember where i saw it but suspect it was the ctc mag. or the independent cycling column as i only read these regularly. maybe it jogs someone else's memory or else it is surely somewhere on the internet

irb10

Securing the bikes to a concrete shed base is a pretty good option, using something like this: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8495 or http://www.torc-anchors.com/shed-shackle.php. If your shed has clear windows, make sure the bikes are out of view either by covering them or obscuring the windows. You can also buy shed alarms from most DIY stores, although these are probably a bit of a pain if you nip in-and-out of the shed alot. Of course if you make the shed look too much like Fort Knox, you end up advertising the fact that there's something valuable in there - you can't win!

1892

Thanks for the advice. I think the best way is, like you say to spend more time and money securing the bike inside shed instead of advertising the fact that there's something worth stealing inside the shed going to town on stopping them breaking into the shed although I'm going to make that harder to do without it looking that way.
Once again thanks for your advice and if you come up with any more ideas please let me know.
I don't care if it takes me 1/2 hour to unlock it from the shed it's better than walking!

xio

It's a tricky one, but like anything it's a trade off between security and usability. I use the shed shackle as mentioned above and have insurance. A ground anchor would be more secure, but you've got to ask yourself what kind of person steals a bike... The (best) bike I have cost me about 3.5k, yet would probably still only fetch about £50 to the proverbial "geezer down the pub" if someone nicked it, same as my wife's bike that cost about £250. Yes, the previous poster is right, they could saw the shed apart and take the shed shackle with the bike and worry about the chain/padlock later, but how many bike thieves are really going to be that bothered given the value of a second hand bike? Also, given that my bike is a custom build, even if they scraped the frame nos etc off it, a tape measure would still prove it was mine when presented with the pre-build designs.

ianhearse

I got one of these after my garage got broken into and my two mtb's and road bike were nicked.
Stores three bikes securely and you can put an anchor point in when you lay a conrete base for it.
http://www.screwfix.co.uk/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=101545&ts=59576&id=18775

1892

ianhearse wrote:

I got one of these after my garage got broken into and my two mtb's and road bike were nicked.
Stores three bikes securely and you can put an anchor point in when you lay a conrete base for it.
http://www.screwfix.co.uk/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=101545&ts=59576&id=18775

It doesn't look that strong from the picture. How secure are they :?:

ianhearse

I've got it bolted down to the ground and both of the arms either side can be padlocked to lock it, feels sturdy enough, then inside I have them chained up to a ground anchor.

1892

I've got the shed shackle piece of p**s to fit, very solid also got a floor anchor. I know you can't stop the light fingered little b*****ds completly but if you can slow them down long enough to catch them and help them to walk through a brick wall face first your happy :twisted:

oldwelshman

Well I made my own purpose built shed, using 3 x 2 wood and shiplap.
The floor is also 3 x 2 with 2 sheets 8' x 4' fixed to it.
Cost about £500 to build but it weighs a ton and would cost twice that to buy
I made a bike rack similar to the ones you see at stations which you wheel the fron wheel into and it is screwed to the floor.
To secure them I have a wire rope which is spliced into a hoop at one end and threads through all 6 bikes and locked other end
So to steal them they have to hire a crane to take the shed and bikes or need blow torch to break welds or wire rope
Oh and I have a front access only in a terrace so they would have to come through my house or the back neighbours to get to my shed
All bikes also insured