Securing a bike in a wooden shed...update

Darra8

Hi Guys,

I thought I would post an update on what I ended up buying/fitting.

After lots of looking on the internet, there was, in the end, only one website that offered a good quality package of parts that were "sold secure " approved/rated.

Pragmasis.

http://www.torc-anchors.com/index.php

As mentioned before on this forum, the guy who runs the company, Steve Briggs, is very helpful, and answered my emails very quickly. Overall, I am very impressed with the company, the service and the parts.

Here is a quick pic of the shed shackle, 13mm protector chain and a squire SS50SC lock in action, so to speak

Andrew_J_Heard

isnt it just attached to ply board though?

sorry to ask stupid question

Darra8

No, the board is just the lining of the shed. 8mm bolts go through the main framework and outer cladding of the shed, then you fix the shackle to the bolts and secure with shear nuts. Check out the website for very detailed info about it.

Andrew_J_Heard

aw ok...cool

although sadly im a firm believer of if someone wants to take something badly they are going to take it. just a matter of slowing them down and putting off chance thieves i guess.

Darra8

Andrew_J_Heard wrote:

aw ok...cool

although sadly im a firm believer of if someone wants to take something badly they are going to take it. just a matter of slowing them down and putting off chance thieves i guess.

I agree, but wouldn't you rather try securing it, rather than just handing it to the thieving b@stards!

Andrew_J_Heard

ye i agree with you. didnt mean it to sound like i wasnt.

i want at least enough security to give me long enough to be able to grab some pants and a baseball bat

Phillw454

EDIT- Saw the shear nuts comment.

Just hope it keeps the scum off! Next step is buying a big dog and keeping that in the shed

Briggo

Darra8 wrote:

Andrew_J_Heard wrote:

aw ok...cool

although sadly im a firm believer of if someone wants to take something badly they are going to take it. just a matter of slowing them down and putting off chance thieves i guess.

I agree, but wouldn't you rather try securing it, rather than just handing it to the thieving b@stards!

Not really, you're paying for some 'security' that will be ripped apart by a thief who wants it, most thefts are by people who know you have the bike there so come equipped for this 'security'.

mossychops

Jake151 wrote:

Many thieves are looking for easy targets, just grab and go. Anything that will make too much noise they wont bother. If you can, get another shed anchor and wrap another lock around the bike and if you are leaving the house for a number of days bring it inside. Better to be safe than sorry.

Also I would rather my bike got totaled from someone attempting to steal it than them actually stealing it, at least then I know that the fu@kers never got to use it/sell it.

I'd agree with that - I kind of work on the lines of if they want to steal something they will; just make it easier for them to rob someone elses stuff and you should keep your bike.

MeddlE

Speaking from personal experience you need to lock the wheels as well. My shackle allowed me to keep my frame but they made off with the wheelset that was attached to the bike and the spare wheelset that was next to the bike in the shed.

Welsh_Tom

also, put the chain around more then one bar of the frame, i have been told they cut the frame open just to get the parts off.

nozzac

Obviously it is impossible to secure a bike 100% but that doesn't mean it's not worth trying.

If the thief can get into the shed and spend time with the bike without being noticed then it will not stop a pro but might stop an opportunist. But if the shed is overlooked, well lit at night, behind proper fencing/gates and has an alarm then the time delay it would cause might well stop a determined thief because their main motivation is not getting caught.

So I'd definitely check your perimeter security in general and get lighting an a shed alarm.

Pragma

Hi,

Briggo wrote:

...Not really, you're paying for some 'security' that will be ripped apart by a thief who wants it, most thefts are by people who know you have the bike there so come equipped for this 'security'.

This is Steve from Pragmasis. You might think we are biased and choose to disregard what we say, but I believe the above to be fundamentally incorrect and it seems to show a sad lack of responsibility. Perhaps going some way to explaining why all our insurance premiums are going up so much (and FYI there is a lot more to come in that regard).

1) I'd say the majority of bike thefts are opportunist and of those, the majority are from domestic sheds where a thief breaks in and doesn't know whether he's going to find a nice strimmer, bike, or any of a number of other things. He often has no clue whether there's any security at all. _Anything_ that you do to keep him out, to slow him down once inside, and to make it noisy or awkward or indeed impossible with whatever tools he may have with him, increases your chances of keeping your stuff. The sooner he is deterred/scared off, the less damage he is likely to cause. That is where good quality security scores big time over cheap Chinese tat because if the thief can see straight away that it is decent stuff, appropriate for the value of item(s) concerned, and used properly (chain off the floor, anchor behind the bike, etc), he is much more likely to just walk away without even trying. That is the effect we want to achieve.

2) You talk like any thief can steal anything. That is simply not true. Not all thieves carry 42" bolt croppers. Not all thieves are big enough or skillful enough to use them effectively. Even if you are unlucky enough to find someone that is serious about it and happens to have such a tool and happens to weigh 25 stone and happens to be willing to spend the time, even then it is not a foregone conclusion he will steal the bike. Not all chains are created equal. We only suggest our 16mm+ chains for high or very high value bikes but we guarantee them impossible to cut with those croppers. I can't even cut our 13mm chain with 42" croppers - I'm simply not big enough. I can cut the 11mm but if you keep the chain off the floor then it is a lot harder to cut. Besides, the vast majority of bicycle thieves don't carry 42" croppers anyway and the smaller ones are much less potent. They prefer to use 24" croppers and similar tools they can conceal more easily, for obvious reasons. They will get through a lot of poorer quality chains and locks but even they are better than nothing.

Why ever would you want to make it easy for the scrotes??? Do you leave your house unlocked and your car open when you go out? It's crazy to do so in most areas and you can be sure to get more stuff stolen than someone else that bothers to take care of their stuff.

Cheers,

Steve.

tsenior

totally agree with steve above about the 'moral hazard' of relying on insurance and not trying your best to protect your gear.

to the op though

8mm bolts go through the main framework and outer cladding of the shed, then you fix the shackle to the bolts and secure with shear nuts.

so the bolts are still only through timber?

sorry but set in concrete is the only way to go......cut a hole in the floor, dig a pit, rebar and anchor, pour in. ALso DIY rape alarm trip.

Pragma

Hi,

tsenior wrote:

totally agree with steve above about the 'moral hazard' of relying on insurance and not trying your best to protect your gear.

to the op though

8mm bolts go through the main framework and outer cladding of the shed, then you fix the shackle to the bolts and secure with shear nuts.

so the bolts are still only through timber?

sorry but set in concrete is the only way to go......cut a hole in the floor, dig a pit, rebar and anchor, pour in. ALso DIY rape alarm trip.

Don't forget we manufacture the highest-approved ground anchor on the market and something like that will certainly give better absolute security. However, lots of sheds are just sitting on mud and many people don't have the time/inclination to dig up the floor and lay concrete underneath. Besides, you'd end up with something at floor level to secure something at, err, bike level, so it is likely to be harder to use than the Shed Shackle. We designed the Shed Shackle because we didn't want to use a floor-mounted anchor for our own bikes.

The Shed Shackle uses 8 bolts and covers such a large area of woodwork that it makes the shed steel-reinforced, and even if someone tried cutting it out with a wood saw (never heard of a thief carrying one of those!), they'd still have about a 4-foot-lump of shed hanging off the side of the bike they are trying to nick!

All in all, it's intended as a product that is easy enough to use such that it actually is used, rather than something that might give better security but is awkward and ends up not being used. I guess we've sold over a thousand and we have _never_ heard of a Shed Shackle being attacked by a thief, whereas there have been instances of other bikes nearby, not secured to the Shed Shackle, that have been stolen.

However, if people do want to use a 'proper' ground anchor, we can help there too :-)

Cheers,

Steve.

timpop

That's a good looking ground anchor, I might get one of those. I'm looking to beef up security after the last theft from my shed. I'll be getting an alarm and door bar too. And possibly a bear.
I'll be beefing up the side, big iron gate too. They lifted it off the hinges last time and scaled the fence then ripped the shed door off. I only had a basic lock on the shed so the shed bar should help as well as a better lock.

paulbox

Pragma wrote:

even if someone tried cutting it out with a wood saw (never heard of a thief carrying one of those!)

Unfortunately a lot of sheds come with them...

Briggo

Oh well the guy from the shop selling locks etc told us we all need to load up on them, so we better buy more eh

Joking aside, I never said you should rely on your insurance. I merely stated that the security will be ripped apart by a thief who wants it Opportunist thefts mainly occur in city/town locations where the bike is on show with poor locks.

Usually organised crime target specific locations, so they know where you have the bike and will come equipped.

Thats when its game over, but if its an opportunist then probably not, like I said a thief who wants it, which means not someone who is chancing it... :roll:

Anonymous

Briggo wrote:

Darra8 wrote:

Andrew_J_Heard wrote:

aw ok...cool

although sadly im a firm believer of if someone wants to take something badly they are going to take it. just a matter of slowing them down and putting off chance thieves i guess.

I agree, but wouldn't you rather try securing it, rather than just handing it to the thieving b@stards!

Not really, you're paying for some 'security' that will be ripped apart by a thief who wants it, most thefts are by people who know you have the bike there so come equipped for this 'security'.

Most thieves are oppurtunist. You will never stop an organised thief.

MrChuck

I had a bike pinched from my shed last Autumn. My other bikes on a chain and ground anchor* weren't touched- they had a look and didn't bother, so job done as fas as I'm concerned. Opportunists with no idea what they'd find I expect, as mentioned above.

I fully expected someone to be back with the right tools in fairly short order, but it never happened.

Obviously a determined thief with the right tools and opportunity will get round/through pretty much anything that you could realistically use, but you can certainly make it more likely they'll move on with some decent security, even a Shed Shackle.

* From Pragmasis as it so happens