Bike security

batfink82

So my bikes have been stolen for the second time from my garden shed. They were chained with a large Master chain through the back of the shed and onto a concrete fence post. The b*rstards used bolt cutters to just lop through the chain and 2 padlocks. I thought when i installed this it would be pretty secure.

This time I am going to build from scratch a steel bike tank inside my shed. I think I will use 30mm x 30mm x 3mm thick box section welded together and then covered completely in sheet steel. This will be bolted to the shed. It will then have a small hidden hole at the back where a even larger replacement chain will secure the bikes to the concrete fence post behind.

I have bought 2 massive van 'hockey puck' style padlocks to secure the opeing doors. I have also bought a wireless shed alarm which has a magentic door contact system which will sound when opened.

I will also use weld on hinges for the doors these will have welded ends so the pins cannot be driven out.

Does anyone have any other ideas of what i should consider building into my tank??

I reckon i can build this for about £200-£250 which is much cheaper than the Trimetals bike store which to be honest looks really lightweight and cr*p.

Thanks for your time.

The Northern Monkey

you can use a rape alarm as a shed alarm.

If you attach the body of the alarm to the shed door, and then attach the rope you pull out to set the alarm off around the door frame, someone that doesn't know its there will be met with a very loud peirecing screech as they open the door.

If you make the rop slack enough so that you can get your hand in and activate/deactivete it, its a pretty good method.

Also, your mrs can get one for free from the police station!

biff55

keep bike indoors , wherever you live , no matter what you have to do to achieve this.
would never consider storing anything more valuable than a hedge-trimmer in any sort
of shed.
the only other security option is under-fed rottwieller.

Northwind

Don't rull out chains, a big chain like an Almax 3 or the heavy Pragmasis one is basically immune to manual bolt cutters (some motorbike thieves have hydraulic cutters but I suspect that's rare with pro bike thieves) and takes an age to cut with a grinder.Though unfortunately, since the frame generally has low resale value anyway, some thieves will just chop the frame instead and walk off with the bike in 2 bits

jjojjas

look at the motorbike web sites. The bike locks are way better than the cycle ones. Not that portable, but a better alternative than a big mild steel chain.
Jas

AidanR

batfink82 wrote:

Does anyone have any other ideas of what i should consider building into my tank??

No tank is complete without a turret-mounted large-bore gun.

Northwind

jjojjas wrote:

look at the motorbike web sites. The bike locks are way better than the cycle ones. Not that portable, but a better alternative than a big mild steel chain.
Jas

Well. Most of them are still s*** to be honest. You have to take Almax with a pinch of salt because they're trying to sell chains at the end of the day but their videos on Youtube are legit (they used to repeat the same tests live at bike shows, until Oxford threatened to pull their more lucrative stand from the shows, and so Almax got kicked... I cut a link off a £150 oxford chain myself, it looked impressive til a scrawny 10 stone runt chopped it in 10 seconds.

Rich25

http://www.garden-security.co.uk/Asgard ... Store.aspx

Have you thought about this one? Im thinking of getting it for my garden. Thought about all the other ideas, concrete base etc but this seems to fit the bill.

weeksy59

Almax chains are the only chains on the market (as far as i know) that are impossible to cut/crop.

They're expensive i admit... however if they save your bike.. they're a bargain.

http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/

batfink82

Rich25 wrote:

http://www.garden-security.co.uk/Asgard-Addition-Bike-Store.aspx

Have you thought about this one? Im thinking of getting it for my garden. Thought about all the other ideas, concrete base etc but this seems to fit the bill.

These look good but still seem quite flimsy and very expensive. i have just ordered steel box section, sheet steel and kryponite van locks to build my own bike store inside my current shed. This will then be bolted to the concrete fence post behind.

Thanks for the links to the Almax chains might try and get one of these for securing the bikes to the post aswell.

Will be welding this together in the new year!

.blitz

biff55 wrote:

keep bike indoors , wherever you live , no matter what you have to do to achieve this.

QFT. 15 years at my current address and the neighbours don't know I go MTBing

clwydian_rider92

You can buy a chip that you can put inside your seatpost. I think theyre relatively cheap, and you can track the location of your bike when its been stolen.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/DataT ... 1883/#more

Northwind

That's not a tracker, just a tag- makes it easy to identify a stolen bike but that's all.

singlespeedexplosif

far better to not get it nicked in the first place....

ropey

Run an electrical cable to the shed and wire it to the tank.....nothing like 220v to welcome any thieves

MrVanilla

End of the day, you may as well just buy an el cheapo chain and padlock purely on the basis of stopping opportunists. These Almax chains are great! UNTIL someone comes along with a powered bolt cropper. If someone WANTS to nick your bike, they WILL, regardless of what you use..... Just make sure that the lock/chain you use is approved by your insurance company and if it's nicked at least you'll be able to recoup the costs of a loss.

Northwind

MrVanilla wrote:

These Almax chains are great! UNTIL someone comes along with a powered bolt cropper. If someone WANTS to nick your bike, they WILL, regardless of what you use.....

The point of these chains is to make them not want to nick it- adequately securing a bike means that a thief's more likely to go elsewhere. Any security can be broken (or the bike itself can be broken) but you can still deter a thief even if they'd be able to beat it, just because it stops being worthwhile for them.

I don't think many cycle thieves have hydraulic cutters. And they're much less subtle as well, you can stick a set of 30 inch croppers down your jacket but you can't with hydraulics.

Horton

The 13 mm Protector Chain with Squire lock recently came out trumps in What MTB (I think it was What MTB anyway) and having got the 2m length version, it's going to need powered bolt croppers to get through. Have a look at the website - http://www.torc-anchors.com/ and check out their packages. Before you go to town welding up a box, check out the shed safe products - combined with the 13mm + chains and a solid padlock, should put off all but the most well equipped tea leaves and if they do get it, at least your insurance will pay out.

MrVanilla

Northwind wrote:

MrVanilla wrote:

These Almax chains are great! UNTIL someone comes along with a powered bolt cropper. If someone WANTS to nick your bike, they WILL, regardless of what you use.....

The point of these chains is to make them not want to nick it- adequately securing a bike means that a thief's more likely to go elsewhere. Any security can be broken (or the bike itself can be broken) but you can still deter a thief even if they'd be able to beat it, just because it stops being worthwhile for them.

I don't think many cycle thieves have hydraulic cutters. And they're much less subtle as well, you can stick a set of 30 inch croppers down your jacket but you can't with hydraulics.

I think you re-iterated my point. Someone who wants to nick it, will, they don't care about Almax, sold secure approved, thatcham 1 approved chains. If they *really* want your bike, they will take it. Seriously, do you think a pro thief is going to come along and say, I'm not touching that, thats an Almax chain! They'll be back in seconds bringing the equipment to chop it or...work around it. Like I said, insurance is key, as long as the lock you buy is approved by your insurers you should "in theory", get your money back.

Northwind

Absolutely, as I said a thief can be dettered even by a lock which they have the capacity to cut- a pro thief will look for an easy target. There's no shortage of high value, poorly secured bikes, after all. And only a very small number of bike thieves have the tools needed to break a serious lock.

As you keep saying, if they really want your bike they'll take it. But proper security is going to make it less likely that they'll want your bike, and the hassle involved in getting it.

Buckled_Rims

Here's some more tips if you need any.

1. Paint the shed with anti-vandal/climb paint on surfaces you can't see from your house.
2. Take the wheels off and leave them in the house..
3. Put a good padlock into the chainset.
4. Put an old seat post in that's been sharpened to a point :twisted:

Speckled Pants

Well if my bike had been pinched out my shed (let alone twice) theres no way i'd put another in there. They'll know your into your biking and just keep coming back and back. They might not get it another time but its the hassle and damage they'll keep causing.

batfink82

Speckled Pants wrote:

Well if my bike had been pinched out my shed (let alone twice) theres no way i'd put another in there. They'll know your into your biking and just keep coming back and back. They might not get it another time but its the hassle and damage they'll keep causing.

I agree but I dont want to give cycling.......

My house is a small cottage and there isnt space inside to store two moutain bikes. So they have to go outside in a shed of somekind.

The previous bikes were chained down with a master chain but I guess it just wasn't up to the job.

I have bought the steel and locks etc so i'm going to build the tank and try and make it as difficult as possible for them to get in. Of course if they want it they will get in but I want to make it alot harder, more time consuming and risky. Hopefully they will then think twice about it.

Any way I have just ordered a Merlin Malt 1 (ltd edition £499)

clwydian_rider92

Sorry i posted the wrong link the other day, quoting -

You can buy a chip that you can put inside your seatpost. I think theyre relatively cheap, and you can track the location of your bike when its been stolen'

The corect link is:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Immob ... 9905/#more

pyro_maniac

thats exactly the same kind of thing as a data tag, still no tracking its just an rfid chip that allows the frame to be returned if its ever recovered and the old bill scan it for a chip
still better value though as its half the price of a data tag for essentially the same product

clwydian_rider92

My friend bought one to go to Uni, and at that price for what it does is worth it. Another point is, why don't people insure their bikes, ive heard of people insuring their bikes for £75!

The Northern Monkey

I really need to get insurance now... 3 bikes on the go, and i'll be very very pissed if any of them go missing

Iwingstein

[quote="batfink82My house is a small cottage and there isnt space inside to store two moutain bikes. So they have to go outside in a shed of somekind.
[/quote]

Small steel garden toolshed bolted to house and/and floor. Ensure it's awkward to get bikes into and difficult to get to chain secured to house/floor. Use several chain if necessary.

Also get remote control shed alarm with time delay - so you can disarm when opening door), but ensure it is in a difficult to damage box so the can't silence alarm with quick whack with big hammer.

bobpzero

may have already lookd at this but here it is anyways
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/how-to-toughen-up-your-bike-shed-part-1-21131 hope you get what you need.

tomos

These are great and not to expensive..
Add a decent chain and lock and they will have to pull the side off the shed off to get your bike out

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... ackle-9445

I would not use my garden shed without it

DamonC

bobpzero wrote:

may have already lookd at this but here it is anyways
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/how-to-toughen-up-your-bike-shed-part-1-21131 hope you get what you need.

Part 2 here

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/h ... rt-2-21414