Homemade Shed Security for Bike............LONG RANT

lobsterhotpot

Hi all, hope some of you managed to get out in the sunshine today, I was working unfortunatly. Heres the thing:

I have read a lot of posts about securing your bike in a wooden shed and all mention the obvious: Its made of wood!

I took a while to look around for various devices to secure my own bike and decided on a 2 meter ZONE chain with a shutter type padlock on the advice of a local locksmith. It was secured to two other bikes and a Black and Decker Workmate! My theory was that if the chained bulk was heavy and bulky the potential thief would not be able to get it out the door.

WRONG.

With luck it was a MTB friend not some scum, who showed me that the shed could be broken apart to remove the bikes and workmate, with two people it was not really that heavy. The theives would then sort out the chain problem later.

SO

With no good anchor points, I decided to make My bike as heavy to steal as possible, this is my answer:

You will need.

A hardened steel "concrete in" ground anchor (google it) (£12 - £50)
2-4 bags of post fix ( the ready made concrete for fencing) (£5 a bag)
A 25 litre (or bigger) plasic container (mine was a Sainsburys smart box)

Fill the box with the post fix, push the anchor into it, make sure the anchor is level and follow the instructions on the post fix bag.

Thats it
You will end up with a soilid very heavy lump of concrete with a soild attatchment for the chain and lock.

Ps, I would advise making the above in the place where it will eventually be, its a bit of a sod to move into place otherwise!

Hope it helps you sleep

Briggo

And then they'll come along ready prepared with their nice big chain cutters to pull apart your chain and render your supposed super safe shed useless.

Chains are easily cut.

lobsterhotpot

Check out Zone Chains, Sold Secure Gold. They cost about £150.00, Not able to cut it or freeze it or bend it.

Richtea70

Stick a shed alarm in, chains can be cut but its unlikely they'll hang around to cut a chain if they've got a siren whaling in their ear-hole !!

Just make sure its high enough to be out of reach if anyone tries to grab it off the wall.

Its a sad fact that if someone is determined enough, there's no security that will stop them.

ride_whenever

12mm chain is useless, 6' bolt crops WILL cut it.

Not to mention an angle grinder that would make short work of it... Try again

supersonic

What thickness are the Zone chains?

lobsterhotpot

Richtea70 wrote:

Stick a shed alarm in, chains can be cut but its unlikely they'll hang around to cut a chain if they've got a siren whaling in their ear-hole !!

Just make sure its high enough to be out of reach if anyone tries to grab it off the wall.

Its a sad fact that if someone is determined enough, there's no security that will stop them.

Totally agee, Nothing will stop them, but anything that makes thier life hard has got to be worth a try.

lobsterhotpot

supersonic wrote:

What thickness are the Zone chains?

Check out dimentions on line, my 2 metre is very heavy to lift and has 3cm links

nicklouse

cut the frame and sell the parts.

profit.

supersonic

Says 12mm - sadly that is pretty weak, bolt croppers would be through in seconds.

I like your idea, but you need 19mm chain ideally. This will at least stop bolt croppers.

Ona budget, this stuff is good:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=19mm ... m270.l1313

lobsterhotpot

ride_whenever wrote:

12mm chain is useless, 6' bolt crops WILL cut it.

Not to mention an angle grinder that would make short work of it... Try again

If the scum are thet clued up Its insured, I JUST DONT WANT TO SPEND MY RIDING DAYs FILLING OUT INSURANCE PAPERWORK

Briggo

lobsterhotpot wrote:

ride_whenever wrote:

12mm chain is useless, 6' bolt crops WILL cut it.

Not to mention an angle grinder that would make short work of it... Try again

If the scum are thet clued up Its insured, I JUST DONT WANT TO SPEND MY RIDING DAYs FILLING OUT INSURANCE PAPERWORK

Clued up about what, they expect things like your supposed super security with a ground anchor and a super 'zone chain'.

Carrying around bolt croppers or portable angle grinders is the norm if you're breaking into sheds.

They aint stupid, dont be so nieve.

lobsterhotpot

supersonic wrote:

Says 12mm - sadly that is pretty weak, bolt croppers would be through in seconds.

I like your idea, but you need 19mm chain ideally. This will at least stop bolt croppers.

Ona budget, this stuff is good:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=19mm ... m270.l1313

Had a look at the link, just looks like a big chain, not hardend, not sold secure. What do I know, perhaps you have the franchise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

supersonic

A big chain that cannot be broken through in 5 seconds with a bolt cropper! It won't fit in the jaws.

Sold secure means nothing, a very poor rating scale.

lobsterhotpot

Briggo wrote:

lobsterhotpot wrote:

ride_whenever wrote:

12mm chain is useless, 6' bolt crops WILL cut it.

Not to mention an angle grinder that would make short work of it... Try again

If the scum are thet clued up Its insured, I JUST DONT WANT TO SPEND MY RIDING DAYs FILLING OUT INSURANCE PAPERWORK

Clued up about what, they expect things like your supposed super security with a ground anchor and a super 'zone chain'.

Carrying around bolt croppers or portable angle grinders is the norm if you're breaking into sheds.

They aint stupid, dont be so nieve.

Post was just MY answer to a problem, if you dont like it thats fine but dont get personal.

concorde

Lol, what a waste of time and money that security is! Keep it in your bedroom chained to your foot!

Deputy Dawg

lobsterhotpot wrote:

supersonic wrote:

Says 12mm - sadly that is pretty weak, bolt croppers would be through in seconds.

I like your idea, but you need 19mm chain ideally. This will at least stop bolt croppers.

Ona budget, this stuff is good:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=19mm ... m270.l1313

Had a look at the link, just looks like a big chain, not hardend, not sold secure. What do I know, perhaps you have the franchise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sonics link is good if your on a budget (sheath it in an old innertube to protect you frame) & I'd have no qualms using one as a secondary lock to back-up an approved one for insurance purposses. It may well be stronger than some of them .

If you want a serious sold secure chain you gotta pay the price

ride_whenever

The Almax chains are nuts, but very secure. Personally I'd rather have something that's going to work...

Tbh op, youve wasted your money on the zone chain, it simply isn't big enough, and when it comes to locks, size is everything.

I'd much rather a 19mm unhardened chain than a 12mm hardened one, particularly from an 'unknown' company, hardening can actually make the chain easier to break if not done properly. If the chain is through hardened it becomes very brittle and is more easily cut than a case hardened one. But nothing will stop a decent angle-grinder which is why my bikes live in the house

TwSpanner

Every bit of security you can put in is a good thing, it all slows the scumbags down. But as has been said if they are determined thats all it will do.
I have my machine thoroughly chained but would like to alarm the shed too.
Any sparkys out there who can sketch out a simple alarm circuit for dummies? Was thinking vibration sensor on the shed door/wall, simple hidden arm/disarm switch and the loudest siren money can buy. Would need an auto shut off after 20 mins I suppose.
Is that practical or am I being simple?

cee

slow them down, add noise and insure the bejesus out if it.

thats as much as you can do.

cooldad

Wire up the handle to the mains. (And don't forget you've done it)

MrChuck

supersonic wrote:

Sold secure means nothing, a very poor rating scale.

Well, it means your insurance is valid.

Agree with all the above though, all my stuff is Sold Secure Gold but I'm not under any illusions that it will stop a determined enough thief with the right kit. But what can you do? It isn't always an option to have everything in the house.

My biggest security tip is not to give that thief a reason to be sniffing around your shed in the first place, and basically minimise the chances of nice bikes being associated with your house. When you arrive home on your bike have a look around and ride past if there's someone around you don't like the look of. Similarly keep to an absolute minimum the time spent loading up cars and try not to do it right outside your house etc etc.

I don't think thieves carry around the angle grinders etc. on the off-chance but they might if they have a target in mind.

nicklouse

MrChuck wrote:

I don't think thieves carry around the angle grinders etc. on the off-chance but they might if they have a target in mind.

but they do when they know what tools they need for a certain job.

TwSpanner

cooldad wrote:

Wire up the handle to the mains. (And don't forget you've done it)

If only you could!! Little buggers sue your arse off if they survive being electrocuted.

MrChuck

nicklouse wrote:

MrChuck wrote:

I don't think thieves carry around the angle grinders etc. on the off-chance but they might if they have a target in mind.

but they do when they know what tools they need for a certain job.

Er, that's what I said isn't it?

shm_uk

TwSpanner wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Wire up the handle to the mains. (And don't forget you've done it)

If only you could!! Little buggers sue your ars* off if they survive being electrocuted.

Even if you put up a big warning sign?

Oh wait, I forgot, the law is an ass...

unixnerd

If only you could!! Little buggers sue your ars* off if they survive being electrocuted.

So use a higher voltage to ensure they don't ;-) Any make sure the area outside the door is nicely earthed with a metal door mat!

Bar Shaker

You can't sue a farmer if you touch his electric fence. It won't kill you but is extremely unpleasant.

The same system is used around the Olympic Park.

The mains could kill you but a farm fence system may be an option.

The problem, though is trying to use the words 'shed' and 'security' in the same sentence.

cooldad

Bar Shaker wrote:

You can't sue a farmer if you touch his electric fence. It won't kill you but is extremely unpleasant.

The same system is used around the Olympic Park.

The mains could kill you but a farm fence system may be an option.

The problem, though is trying to use the words 'shed' and 'security' in the same sentence.

Lived in SA for a long time and one part of my security system (high walls, bars, alarm and armed response service being others) was an electric fence. The legal limit was 12,000v (low amps so in theory non lethal) but the installer was a friend and tweaked mine to 15,000.
I tried it out (once on purpose and a few times by mistake) and it really hurt.
Was awesome in the rain as it crackled and sparked.
Anyway back to my original suggestion - if someone gets taken out just contact Sheeps who has experience in hiding bodies.

LaAndy

Toerags stole my £4k Spec Enduro Custom, Spec Rockhopper & my wifes Gary Fisher bike last summer, all were chained together through a metal storage rack bolted to the wall. They undid the bolts and took the lot all chained together. Bas*ards.


If you want my advice, concentrate on getting your bikes locked down enough to ensure they are covered on your insurance, believe me if you can't prove they were secured within the terms of your policy then your insurance company will try and get out of paying. Also make sure you don't have a max limit on 'outbuildings', this is what got me so i lost out on around £2k.

Get a ground anchor, a decent chain and make sure they are locked, the shed/garage alarm is a good idea also.

Ultimately if thieves want your bikes, they will get them, no matter what. Sorry but thats the reality

Hope that helps.
Andy

blablablacksheep

keep bike in house :roll:

problem solved...

you also know insurance doesnt cover bikes in sheds most of the time right???