Making a bike look less attractive to thieves

moonio

I'd like to get another bike that I can ride to meetings in london and leave locked outside on the street. I also want it to be a great bike to ride with big wheels, smooth drive chain and very responsive.

Have you got any suggestions for a make of bike or how I can customise one so that thieves wont find it so attractive.

I currently ride a Boardman Hybrid Comp.

Cafewanda

Customisation: Paint it bright pink and put a basket on it? Not Harry, whichever one you end up getting

Just had a thought: A Pashley?

mtb-idle

cover the frame with inner tubes.

You know, the way some riders use an old inner tube as a chainstay protector except use multiple tubes to cover the whole frame.

Makes it look unattractive to thieves but you might find someone with a rubber fetish shows more than a passing interest

Stevo_666

I've heard somewhere that drop bars are a good deterrant to the average thief. I mean, who'd want to nick a bike like that?

Apart from that, maybe get some 'Apollo' stickers made up and plaster them over the brand name on the frame :P

milan_ns

use invisible paint

this technique is popular with the pros:
http://www.funnyphotos.net.au/images/in ... cycle1.jpg

milan_ns

You could also paint it to match the background (i.e. wall).

This could be somewhat inconvenient as you'd always need to leave it in the same spot.

Use the photo as a guidance:
http://loyalkng.com/wp-content/uploads/ ... le-car.jpg

tailwindhome

Use the same strategy as I do with my car.

Park it beside a better one

Simples

moonio

you lot are not helping..

Ok the drops idea is ok, but I'm not sure if its true...there must be a bike with a shitty brand thats still ok to ride...what about Raleigh??

Specialized Needs

moonio wrote:

you lot are not helping..

Ok the drops idea is ok, but I'm not sure if its true...there must be a bike with a shitty brand thats still ok to ride...what about Raleigh??

Hmm, I won't get into a discussion about the relative merits of the recent Raleigh range ...

Instead I'll point out that you are wanting to combat the attractiveness to the potential thief. It does not matter what the brand means to us - if it is a well known brand (such as Raleigh) and shiny and of a style easy to offload, then it is generally worth more effort to a thief (and don't forget there are a range of thieves, from the 'pro' to the opportunist so this is a generalisation) as they'll expect a better return on it. A well worn looking, unpopular style/make of bike I would think would be best to counter that.

I would go for a nice enough second hand drop bar bike that has been well used but not abused, and with decent parts, but go for the 'less shiny' options (such as black rather than shiny chrome, if getting bits changed). Also, you are less likely to worry about painting/customising a second hand bike.

rolf_f

Very easy - buy a nice bike with a step through frame. Because women aren't so keen as men as making a good deal in the pub car park, there is much less of a market in stolen womens frame bikes. You could probably get quite a nice one and keep it looking nice and it still wouldn't get pinched.

Different in Holland - step through frames are ridden by men almost as much as women so they are probably just as nickable.

Orleandrew

Get a cheap second-hand bike and do the following to it: http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol11/ ... erity#pg76

sarajoy

I'm intrigued by the inner tubes thing - what do you, slice them and stitch them back on..?

mtb-idle

sarajoy wrote:

I'm intrigued by the inner tubes thing - what do you, slice them and stitch them back on..?

Sara,

Kind of, you get an old worn out tube and cut out the valve. Then cut right through the tube to give you a long tube/cylinder.

Then cut down the middle and you have a long flat bit of rubber.

You can then either cut down the middle again to make two narrower bits of rubber and you wrap them round the frame a bit like the bar tape on a road bike. You can use black gaffa tape when you start to hold it firm and then again when you get to the end.

Here is a pic of someone part way through doing it



yup, it looks horrible but that's kinda the idea

shouldbeinbed

how far are you planning on riding and how determined are you on big wheels, sounds like you're more worried about theft so some semblance of folder that you could stash inside might give you more peace of mind. theres a good range and some decent riding bikes out there not just the ubiquitous bromptons.

davmaggs

A fair proportion of the price you pay for a bike is for the styling and branding. To uglify it seems very odd.

I think that it's better to buy a reasonable machine that you could live with being stolen and then to do all the dull stuff like a decent lock, good locations, and locking it sensibly (e.g not throught the wheels as I recently saw) and so on. Its all old stuff

If you are going to meetings then you might be able to leave the bike in the building's inside storage areas so its not on the street.

ride_whenever

wrap it in electrical tape... looks rubbish but can be quite funky.

Not to mention most decent frames are pretty recognisable. There is a completely wrecked brand new specialised near me and you can immediately pick it out because it has zertz inserts and the distinctive curved frame. I had half a mind to steal it just to make a point to the owner about wrecking a halfway decent bike.

El Diego

Don't buy a specialized, Trek, Cannondale etc. Go for something less well known to your average thief...Ribble perhaps?

Gussio

Hammerite.

emdeef

I like the idea of the step through frame. The components would have to be a bit rubbish too, though.

jonny_trousers

El Diego wrote:

Don't buy a specialized, Trek, Cannondale etc. Go for something less well known to your average thief...Ribble perhaps?

Buy my Ribble that will be appearing on Ebay later today. It's a gorgeous ride and is really well kitted out, but as it is about ten years old it doesn't look anything special. The only reason I am selling is that it is a 56cm frame and I am more comfortable on a 54 or less.

Regarding one of the posts above: I'm not sure that matt black is not actually attractive to thieves these days. The Bad Boy seems to be the tea leaf's bicycle of choice (I park my bike next to one with nice shiny disc brakes and a very cool lefty fork. I wonder whose bike will get nicked first )

The Rookie

Most tea leaves have no idea what they are nicking, as has been said they want something nice and shiny and 'cool looking' to shift on quick, so a nice quality old fashioned thin tube steel frame with decent components and left unwashed will probably score a minus on the tea leaves sellable radar!

Simon

jonny_trousers

The Beginner wrote:

so a nice quality old fashioned thin tube steel frame with decent components
Simon

Like I say, my Ribble on Ebay.

(Link removed as for some bizarre reason the mods in the classified section do not allow Ebay links)