Bike security at home...

mac_man

Just moved house and have nowhere in the house to store the bikes and no garage.

I was thinking of just getting a basic cheap shed and then bolting one of these through the floor into the slabs of yorkshire stone we have in the back yard. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secure-Brute-Gr ... 483&sr=8-7

The bikes aren't hugely expensive... 4 yr old rockhopper and similar age Carrera Fury, both looking a bit worn these days.

Is this 'enough' security for this level of bike? Bikes are only work no more than £500-£600 between them.

Mojo_666

I have the very same item, 3 of them actually, with 3 heavy duty chains and locks, never had it tested tho but I think they are pretty good tbh.

This chain btw
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Heavy-Du ... 188&sr=1-1

DodgeT

Get some sort of alarm on the shed, bearing in mind that if the doors are pretty solid, they'll usually just take the roof off..

oodboo

The wife stopped me from keeping my bikes in the lounge recently, they're in the kitchen now so she has to work around them.

TheEnglishman

oodboo wrote:

The wife stopped me from keeping my bikes in the lounge recently, they're in the kitchen now so she has to work around them.

And you're on the sofa? :P

Back to the OP - Layers of security work - get a IR light in the garden, a decent shed alarm (not a wickes 9.99 one on special) a decent chain (16 or better 19mm) and a good ground anchor (make your own?)

mac_man

TheEnglishman wrote:

oodboo wrote:

The wife stopped me from keeping my bikes in the lounge recently, they're in the kitchen now so she has to work around them.

And you're on the sofa? :P

Back to the OP - Layers of security work - get a IR light in the garden, a decent shed alarm (not a wickes 9.99 one on special) a decent chain (16 or better 19mm) and a good ground anchor (make your own?)

Cheers. Will get a decent lock for the shed to go along with the ground anchor and chain.
Had not thought about a shed alarm though.
The chain is only 10mm... is that too thin then? Just didn't want to end up spending more than the bikes were worth on security measures. Would understand if it was a £5K superbike...

mac_man

Mojo_666 wrote:

I have the very same item, 3 of them actually, with 3 heavy duty chains and locks, never had it tested tho but I think they are pretty good tbh.

This chain btw
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Heavy-Du ... 188&sr=1-1

Basically got the same chain as well...
I'll loop it round all three bikes (I know.... if that's done then they're all gone) but but am not sure a 'pro thief' is going to bother too much with my old clunkers. It's more to keep to the local chancers from making off with them.

Dirtrider

you thought about hanging the bikes up in some unused corner in the house? All you need is one of those hook things with a screw end on it. Turn the handlebars round when you ahng them and they would lay flat against a wall anyway.

Just a thought........

spongtastic

Don't bother with decent locks to the shed, if somebody wants to get in they'll just pry the door open/break the windows/cut through the 8mm thick wall.

Start with a decent sized chain and padlock. Then a ground anchor. Then an alarm. Then lights.

This is because unless you're a very light sleeper

The lights will help the theives see what they're doing.
The alarm will be hit with a heavy object and won't work.
A ground anchor is only as good as the chain that's attached to it.
A big f**k off chain will be difficult to cut through without either making as much noise as the alarm or without damaging the bike.

FunBus

I agree with getting a big chain and decent ground anchor. Alarms get ignored and/or smashed....or now it seems common for theiving scrouts to fill something with water and throw the siren in that.....ie, alarms are a bit of a waste of time.

Granted your bikes may not be on the front cover of MBUK anytime soon, but it'd cause grief and cost trying to replace them, £100 or so on securing them well is worth it in my book.....and then when you get your dream bike in future, you're already set up with the security

dmorton

You need at least 100mm of substrate for ground anchor and they're difficult to fit in a shed when compared to one of these - http://www.torc-anchors.com/shed-shackle.php

I think the shed shackle is more than enough for the value of the bikes, maybe upgrade the chain and lock though

Woody80

You've just got to make them awkward to steal and more difficult than your neighbours. Layers is defintely the way of doing it though.

If it's in a shed it can be worth cutting a small section out of the floor and mounting the ground anchor in concrete below - or even fill a big plant pot with concrete and mount it to that. Worth using multiple lock types - I use a combination of ground anchors, 19mm chains, D-Locks, alarms etc.... but then I've been properly done over in the past

mac_man

Woody80 wrote:

You've just got to make them awkward to steal and more difficult than your neighbours. Layers is defintely the way of doing it though.

If it's in a shed it can be worth cutting a small section out of the floor and mounting the ground anchor in concrete below - or even fill a big plant pot with concrete and mount it to that. Worth using multiple lock types - I use a combination of ground anchors, 19mm chains, D-Locks, alarms etc.... but then I've been properly done over in the past

That's what I was planning... we have a stone flag floor outside. I figured to cut through shed floor and fix the shackle to the stone... but I need to check depth of stone flag. Like the idea of laying a big lump of concrete beneath the shed.
Anyone know how big a lump I'd need to lay. I've no idea how much concrete weighs per cubic metre .

compo

I read somewhere of someone getting an electric wire, car battery etc. and making the wire around their bike live. Would sure give the theives a bloody big shock, but dunno if its possible

Darkstalker420

Not to bad for that round our way (we have a concrete built on the side of the house style shed). How about putting a black bin in your shed fill it up with cement and fix a nice thick mounting point in the muck before it goes off. Then use a big ass motorbike chain to secure your bikes with.

...... Get some dogs i've got a nice BIG english bull x staffie who barks when a fly goes past the window and when people knock the door gives them "evils" from the top of the stairs and sounds like he wants to EAT them..... Not unless i tell him to LMAO!

Thanks.

DodgeT

Why not just have a long length of 3 x 2 or similar, underneath the shed, which the chain is wrapped around. Then pass it up through the floor via a small hole. As long as they can't get to the peice of wood to pull it out, otherwise only way would be for them to pull the whole of the floor up.

dmorton

mac man wrote:

That's what I was planning... we have a stone flag floor outside. I figured to cut through shed floor and fix the shackle to the stone... but I need to check depth of stone flag. Like the idea of laying a big lump of concrete beneath the shed.
Anyone know how big a lump I'd need to lay. I've no idea how much concrete weighs per cubic metre .

Laying a new floor seems like a lot of work compared to the value of the bikes. Plus if you're laying a new floor then you can put a device in that embeds in the concrete like a semi-circular tube, which is better than an anchor.

I have the shed shackle. I was going to do what you propose but the guy at Pragmasis talked me out of this, even though their ground anchor costs more, he recommended buying the cheaper shed shackle for ease of use and fitting. For someone to steal the bikes they have to cut a 6ft lump of wood out of the side of the shed. Even then that will still be attached to the bikes. Plus the chain is kept off the floor (unlike with a ground anchor) it's harder to crop as you can't use your weight as leverage, e.g. the way the chains are cropped in this vid - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC3hFr8p2ck

.blitz

If it's a wooden shed you can get metal mesh lining to put on the inside that makes it difficult to break in and also provides an anchor point for locks chains etc

You can also use a London Bar on the doorframe to stop it being kicked in

Ideal if you want a garden shed that doesn't look like a fortress

Personally I would demand the bikes be stored in the bedroom, wait until it blows up into a big row then compromise and agree to let the bikes be stored in another room. Aim high shoot low etc

Bishbosh10

In my experience, if someone wants your bike (or car for that matter!) they will get it. Worst (and admittedly pretty extreme) case is they break into your house to get keys for the locks.

I would certainly endorse all of the advice above, but I would also ensure that the bikes are covered by a suitable insurance policy. Ours are on our household policy at no extra charge, they just wanted to know their value.

compo

.blitz wrote:

Personally I would demand the bikes be stored in the bedroom, wait until it blows up into a big row then compromise and agree to let the bikes be stored in another room. Aim high shoot low etc

BigJimmyB

Grill at windows (bolted, not screwed in).

Same goes for padlock and door hinges. Use bolts as opposed to screws so they are harder to remove. Stick nuts to bolts with Araldite.

It's all about slowing the thief down enough so they give up....

Bishbosh10

BigJimmyB wrote:

Same goes for padlock and door hinges. Use bolts as opposed to screws so they are harder to remove. Stick nuts to bolts with welder.

Fixed that for you.

jm5205

We have three bikes at home and bought an horizontal storage shed to store our bikes and all of our garden stuff.
Here's the link to pictures of horizontal storage sheds that might workj for you.
http://storage.suncast.com/products/horizontal-sheds/

idiotdogbrain

.blitz wrote:

Personally I would demand the bikes be stored in the bedroom, wait until it blows up into a big row then compromise and agree to let the bikes be stored in another room. Aim high shoot low etc

This - just keep them in the house. OH's bike lives in the hall along with the toolboxes, mine lives in the lounge, spares live in a corner upstairs.

One pedal off, front wheel out, turn bars sideways and they can be hung on a wall only taking up about 8" of space off the wall. Much easier than going to all the faff of fortress sheds with ground anchors...

spankone

What I suggest you do is read your insurance policy and follow there recommendations as a bare minimum the last thing you want is to fit the wrong lock and not be insured, my friend needs an anchor point in a concrete floor for each bike and their own locks etc. where as I only need a lock on the shed. consider the price of your excess and insurance going up compared to securing them properly in the first place. my excess is £100.

I've fitted an anchor to the side of my shed and 2 bikes and a lawn mower are all locked to it and to each other. I will be getting a new shed soon which I'm very excited about, I'm going to concrete anchors under the floor for each bike bike with gold standard locks etc.

Also some thing to consider is that insurance company tend not to cover stolen parts, so if the forks are un-chained and the wheels the thief may steal them instead.

Quick question will insurance companies also replace damaged shed / bike locks after a theft?

Red.Devil.Ghost

Any security measures will only ever slow a determined thief down. There really is no point in sticking an expensive lock on a cheap shed. I would assume that any determined thief stealing top end bikes from a house/garden would probably not be that interested in yours, given the value. Therefore you are looking to stop the chancer, or a local scroat. An anchor should be sufficient for that. The only thing I would do, is if you go away for any period of time and you don't take the bikes, lock them in the house, chained to something immovable and preferably not in view of windows etc.

Lighting and alarms are all well and good, but provide little benefit in reality for the cost involved. Most (not all!) people just ignore alarms these days, and unless they are hardwired into your house alarm and send a signal to the local alarm company/police who will respond (lots of money - I'd suggest you wouldn't be using a cheap shed!), they are easy to shut off (especially a standalone shed alarm). Lights are set off so easily by wildlife that people stop reacting to them going on after a while. Complacency breeds contempt.

There really isn't too much point worrying about it tbh. If you chain them to the ground, and cover them on insurance, there is very little to be gained from spending the extra money. Whilst I like my bike, it has no sentimental value to me (you may be different) and so an insurance payout for a new one is all I would really care about.