Pedal Security

myqul

Ive just bought some nice new shiny speedplay frogs and i dont want them stolen off my bike as there quite expensive (60 quid).

I was thinking that whenever i leave my bike in Central London (high bike crime area) or elsewere in London for a longish time I could take just one pedal off. I'm guessing that theives are less likely to steal one pedal than a pair, even though i'm well aware there are plenty of crackhead numpties out their that will steal literally anything. This may get a bit tiresome after a while though

Anyone got any ideas how to secure pedals?

ride_whenever

don't bother

just never park the bike anywhere that it is accessable. Alternatively do speedplay do any cheaper pedals?

Bikerbaboon

just dont grease the threads when you put them on, then after a week no one will be able to get them off ever :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Greg T

Has anyone ever had a set of pedals stolen from a bike on the street?

ride_whenever

We'll I've thought about doing it...

The speedplays are hex only. You could put wax into the hole to stop a key getting in, then you can dig it out when you need to remove it. Or maybe get a hole blanker for screws, that might work.

victor ludorum

Greg T wrote:

Has anyone ever had a set of pedals stolen from a bike on the street?

Do you know, it had honestly never occurred to me that someone might do that.

I've had Crank Bros Quattro Ti's on my commuter for years and left it in all sorts of places and never had any trouble at all - and my bike isn't exactly low-key at the bike rack...

Thieves are very market driven, so it might be that there's not much demand for Crank Bros sole road pedal (I don't know why, they're fantastic), but then, I can't imagine there being much demand for used pedals anyway.

You'll probably be alright. I'm not going to guarantee to replace them if they get stolen, but I will be very surprised.

(The other effect of this, is that you will go away reassured, and I will go away suddenly paranoid about my pedals.)

myqul

Guess i m a bit paranoid at the moment. Never really used to leave my bike locked up on its own but now that my back and hip problems are clearing up i can ride more often and i want to be able to leave my bike around (locked up of course).

The pedals themselves dont look like much, plastic looking black body and black spindle so pretty low profile.

victor ludorum wrote:

Thieves are very market driven,

I like your thinking here victor. I guess that why so many fixies are stolen at the mo cuz there really fashionable right now. My ride is a recumbent. Not many of those around and not many people in the market for buying one so might be an extra level of security for my bike.

Greg T

myqul wrote:

My ride is a recumbent.

Do you bother locking it up at all?

I can imagine an opportunistic bike thief comes upon your "lie back and think of England" affair unlocked and thinks "I'll have that!".

Then works out that he can't even begin to work out how to ride it or even what it is.

Safe as houses.

myqul

Greg T wrote:

myqul wrote:

My ride is a recumbent.

Do you bother locking it up at all?

I can imagine an opportunistic bike thief comes upon your "lie back and think of England" affair unlocked and thinks "I'll have that!".

Then works out that he can't even begin to work out how to ride it or even what it is.

Safe as houses.

LOL - Yea i lock it. A thief could strip the parts to sell like my nice racing wheels or the deraillers. But unless you've ridden a recumbent before you wouldnt be able to just "jump on it and ride away"

BUICK

I can't imagine there being much of a 'black market' for cycling stuff - but given the amount of bike thefts I guess there must be. Trying to picture a shady looking character approaching us in the pub: 'Ere, mush - want some Speedplay frogs? Like new they are. No packaging like...'

myqul

BUICK wrote:

I can't imagine there being much of a 'black market' for cycling stuff - but given the amount of bike thefts I guess there must be. Trying to picture a shady looking character approaching us in the pub: 'Ere, mush - want some Speedplay frogs? Like new they are. No packaging like...'

You've obviously never heard of brick lane market here in London. People openly sell stolen bikes. It's well know among the London bike community in that if you get your bike nicked go to brick lane on sunday to see if your bikes' there

redvee

Do the casual bike thief carry a pedal spanner with him? Pedals need a large, thin spanner to remove usually and this isn't the usual thief's tools of trade, allen keys are their favoured tool.

victor ludorum

redvee wrote:

Do the casual bike thief carry a pedal spanner with him? Pedals need a large, thin spanner to remove usually and this isn't the usual thief's tools of trade, allen keys are their favoured tool.

Increasingly nowadays, high-end pedals are installed by means of an 8mm hex through the back of the crank.

Belv

Wax and a ball bearing in the allen key hole - removeable with a lot of effort (and how often do you remove pedals?), but should be too much hassle for an opportunist.

myqul

Belv wrote:

Wax and a ball bearing in the allen key hole - removeable with a lot of effort (and how often do you remove pedals?), but should be too much hassle for an opportunist.

Frogs dont have an allen key hole. They just bolt on with a pedal spanner