Hidden in plain sight?

fury21

I'm hopefully picking up my new bike tonight, but with storage in the house not an option and a dedicated bike storage unit being beyond my budget currently, I'm left with 2 choices:

1. Store bike in the shed, using a shed shackle or similar. Shed has its own lock and is inside the 6' foot fence around our back garden. Problem is its just a small shed and the bike would have to come out each time I needed something else from the shed (minor PITA)

2. Store bike in carport, using a good ground/wall anchor. This would be outside the fence and visible from the street, but does have a security light and I could place a wall anchor about 7' up on the wall, making access to the lock difficult.

This is in a residential area with few thefts that I've heard of, but its better not taking chances. I know neither (and for that matter, no) option has 100% security, but is allowing the bike to be seen (option 2) also a deterrent as any potential thief could be seen trying to break the lock or is it just asking for trouble?

With either option, would an existing U lock be sufficient or are the dedicated chains worth the extra? (that may be a question for my insurance company)

Agent57

I'd go for the shed. With a good lock and a sturdy fixing within the shed. And a lock on the back gate. Leaving it out where people can see and have easy access to it is, I reckon, asking for trouble. Even if you lock the frame with something sturdy, you could lose your wheels (I would think even an "extension cable" through the rims would be quickly cut). Security lights aren't reliable if the bulb goes. Depends how attractive the bike is as a target, I suppose.

simple_salmon

+1 for the shed. They can't nick what they don't know about - it could make all the difference.

Kieran_Burns

"Out of sight out of mind" is the phrase that springs to mind in this case.

In the shed - all it will be is a target for any wannabe thief if left in plain view

Jamey

I live in a one-bedroom flat and we don't have the garden (we're upper ground floor, the garden belongs to the basement flat) so I had two choices:

1) Keep bike in hallway, annoying other people that live in the flats above and have to squeeze past it every time they come and go.

2) Lock bike in alley down side of property.

When I moved in I was a caring soul, worrying about making enemies among my new neighbours so I went for option two, installing a secure anchor into the side wall of the property.

Mistake.

Nobody ever managed to steal my bike because it was securely locked up but two or three times a week I'd come down in the morning and discover that somebody had tried to nick it.

Sometimes they'd left a bit of cosmetic damage (scratches, dents) where they'd attempted to simply yank it, sometimes there was no damage but I could tell it had been moved since the previous evening and the feeling that someone had been in the alley while I slept was almost as bad as if there had been some damage.

If all thieves were intelligent enough to take one look at a securely locked bike and think "oh, that's securely locked, I shan't bother attempting to steal that one" then keeping it outside would be fine but unfortunately they're not intelligent... They're thick as sh1t and they'll still try to yank the bike regardless, only giving up when they realise it won't physically pull away from the wall. And even then some of them will give it a kicking to "teach you a lesson" for not allowing them to steal it.

Bottom line: if they can see it they'll have a go. If they can't they'll probably never give it a second thought.

I leave my bike completely unlocked in the hallway... All it would take is for someone to smash the glass, reach inside the door, open it and voila, they'd have my bike. But because they can't see it this never happens.

fury21

The shed it is then. Thanks folks.

Soul Boy

I did read somewhere somebody had fitted one of these type opf personal alarms to their shed door.

http://www.personalalarms.com/store/ero ... #1115X1117

Body of the device fitted to the inside of the shed and the cord placed on a nail on the door in a discreet position. Maybe worth a shot if the shed is your best option...

AndyManc

fury21 wrote:

I'm hopefully picking up my new bike tonight, but with storage in the house not an option:

are you sure ? :roll:






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