Security chain

rockmonkeysc

I need a heavy duty chain preferably about 2 metres long to secure my bikes. Any recommendations for a chain not much more than £50

getonyourbike

Have a look at Pragmasis

ride_whenever

go to your local boat yard and get some anchor chain, cheap and very effective.

rockmonkeysc

My local boat yard is 60 miles away & diesel is expensive so that's not a particularly cheap solution! Pragmasis locks do look very good but are a bit expensive, I know it will be securing thousands of pounds worth of bikes but I'm poor because I have spent all my money on my bikes so have a £50 lock budget

Northwind

Last time I looked, every purpose-made bike or motorbike chain at that price could be boltcroppered, making them all but useless. You've got a choice really, either go for a massive industrial chain and high quality padlock, which might be doable at this price, or go for something insurance-approved that'll offer far less protection

stubs

ride_whenever wrote:

go to your local boat yard and get some anchor chain, cheap and very effective.

Not a good idea anchor chain is made from wrought iron or mild steel and is not case hardened to allow it to stretch rather than snap. It can be bolt cropped very easily.

getonyourbike

stubs wrote:

ride_whenever wrote:

go to your local boat yard and get some anchor chain, cheap and very effective.

Not a good idea anchor chain is made from wrought iron or mild steel and is not case hardened to allow it to stretch rather than snap. It can be bolt cropped very easily.

you'd also need a pretty large guage which means you can pretty easily dent your frame too. That's the problem with big chains.

The Rookie

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OXFORD-HD-HEAVY-D ... 1e621ac93d

2m with lock, gold rated and protected, £51 delivered.

Simon

Northwind

Gold rating is good for insurance, meaningless for protection- that chain crops in seconds. Sold Secure and Thatcham don't test against large boltcutters despite that being the best tool to cut a chain with (they also don't test cable locks with large cable cutters). I may rant about this later

For anchor chain- what you do is, you go up to a size that'll be too big for most boltcutters to physically fit around. They can be brittle though so a bit more vulnerable to brute force attacks.

Richtea70

Northwind wrote:

Gold rating is good for insurance, meaningless for protection- that chain crops in seconds. Sold Secure and Thatcham don't test against large boltcutters despite that being the best tool to cut a chain with (they also don't test cable locks with large cable cutters). I may rant about this later

For anchor chain- what you do is, you go up to a size that'll be too big for most boltcutters to physically fit around. They can be brittle though so a bit more vulnerable to brute force attacks.

But then you've got to put a padlock on it, which will be the weak link !!

You cant win I'm afraid, if someones determined enough no security device will stop them.

Rich.

Northwind

Richtea70 wrote:

But then you've got to put a padlock on it, which will be the weak link !!

You cant win I'm afraid, if someones determined enough no security device will stop them.

Still a relatively cheap option to get a large chain and very strong shackle- and far more effective than crappy Oxford cheese-chains.

Any chain can be broken as you say but the reality is it's like swimming with sharks- you don't need to be impervious to theft, you just need to make it more hassle than going elsewhere. Most bikes are poorly secured, so most thieves don't bother having thermite or hydraulic cutters or using noisy attacks- why would you, somewhere close by will be a bike just sat unlocked in a wooden shed or "secured" with a cable lock or tesco's special that they could karate chop through.

Regardless, decent security is better than crap security, locking an expensive bike up with something like that horrible Oxford up the page is next to worthless- the thief will break the chain faster than the owner can unlock it. It'll stop kids and junkies and that's it.

Mojo_666

Where do you actually plan on chaining these bikes? I think this is a big factor, I lock my bike to my bike rack when it is on the car, but I would never leave it where i could not see it, I will leave it at a trail centre car park for a short while, most locks can be cut easily, my locks are just a deterrent for passing opportunists, my bike is also locked in my garage.

I would never lock by bike on the street, I would never leave my bike on the street for me this is a huge NO

If I had to commute and had to leave my bike on the street or somewhere insecure I would buy a cheap bike and cheaper d lock just for that purpose.

boulderballs

Oxford chain 3 seconds to crop.
http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/index.asp?pg=7

Not saying these chains are any good either. Hardened U-locks like abus 54 are miles better and 54 is in your price range.

You said you spent £000,s then you would be mad not too spend some more to protect them. Watch video on bike thief below. Good to see methods and how rubbish lower quality locks can be. Remember also you need to lock them together to something like a ground anchor or something else immovable.

http://www.lockyourbike.org.uk/how-to-lock-a-bike-guide/

stubs

Saw a lovely 2010 Specialized Stumpjumper chained up outside Morrisons in Ormskirk this afternoon. It was locked up with one of those locks you get in a poundshop, reckon I could have cut it with a pair of nail scissors. Hope the guy has got top notch insurance.