How Do You Secure Your Bikes in the Garage?

shie1977

Hi,

Looking for some advice regarding locking systems to securely lock my two road bikes and mountain bike in my garage.

I currently have one road bike and my mountain bike fastened together via a Kryptonite lock. However my other road bike which is currently fixed to my turbo trainer is unlocked. My garage has a sensor which is connected to the house alarm.

Do you guys have any suggestions how best to make these a nightmare for burglars to pinch should they break into my garage. Putting the bikes is a no-no as the other half won't allow it.

Thanks,
Darren.

homers_double

Mine are the same as yours minus the lock, I also clamp the garage door runners when we're away on holiday to prevent the door being forced open.

I also reverse my car within an inch or so of the door. As it happens the house builders built all our houses about 6' to close to the road so we have a very short drive, and I have a very long car.

feisty

Torc ground anchor and proper chain and lock

http://securityforbikes.com/products.ph ... Lock+Deals

veronese68

If you have an up and over type door these are really good:

schlepcycling

feisty wrote:

Torc ground anchor and proper chain and lock

http://securityforbikes.com/products.ph ... Lock+Deals

Definitely something like ^^ this on the inside and something like this http://www.screwfix.com/p/squire-garage-defender/79478 on the outside

pblakeney

Wheel it in, lean it against the wall, walk out, lock door.
On the other hand, the good bikes are kept in the house.

slowmart

Mine has a special place in the dining room and I have a special better half who is relaxed about the arrangement....

step83

Ive a dirty great big ground anchor an the bikes are shackled to that, plus the oldschool alarm mine. Bit of a legal grey area but I have a nice sign warning them its present plus the PIR light which when lit lights up the sign. FYI with those worth informing local plod and ensuring they are mounted correctly.

Also usually my car is butted against the garage door just for added annoyance.

iPete

Torc Ground Anchor, Protector 13mm Chain and Squire SS50CS Lock
http://securityforbikes.com/torc-ground-anchor.php

I've got 3 bikes on the one anchor. The 13mm is beefy, you'd need electrical tools to try and cut it.
Don't go bigger than 13mm, whilst their 16mm has a 'cant be hand bolt cropped' guarantee they are very heavy and could easily damage your bikes. They are primarily for motorbikes.

It doesn't take much looking around the web to realise that some cycle specific stuff isn't up to the job, like the kryptonite new york fahgettaboudit chain and padlock.

fudgey

I have an aluminium frame nailed to the wall that i hang the road and mtb on, they are then locked via one of those armoured cable things and a lock.
I also have an electric roller shutter garage door that supposedly cant be opened. Unless you ram raid it i guess.

slowmart

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is awareness of others as you cycle home just in case some lowlife takes a fancy to your bike and follows you home.

Another thing is keeping your identity online low key or GPS data vague as to your home address.

Making yourself low profile goes a long way to securing your bikes as does the physical deterrents and locks.

sniper68

Three anchor points bolted to house wall.
Three motorcycle chains and padlocks.
Three bikes all have all three chains threaded through them to each anchor point.
Two Kryptonite cables threaded through all wheels,into a D-lock also fastened to one of the anchor points.
Rollershutter door also padlocked at each side on the inside.

shie1977

Thanks guys, all good advice there.

Will take onboard your comments and select a suitable option.

Thanks again,
Darren.

ayjaycee

ibbo68 wrote:

Three anchor points bolted to house wall.
Three motorcycle chains and padlocks.
Three bikes all have all three chains threaded through them to each anchor point.
Two Kryptonite cables threaded through all wheels,into a D-lock also fastened to one of the anchor points.
Rollershutter door also padlocked at each side on the inside.

Where do you live, a township in South Africa? Sometimes, I'm very grateful for living in rural Gloucestershire (now that's tempted fate!).

sniper68

ayjaycee wrote:

ibbo68 wrote:

Three anchor points bolted to house wall.
Three motorcycle chains and padlocks.
Three bikes all have all three chains threaded through them to each anchor point.
Two Kryptonite cables threaded through all wheels,into a D-lock also fastened to one of the anchor points.
Rollershutter door also padlocked at each side on the inside.

Where do you live, a township in South Africa? Sometimes, I'm very grateful for living in rural Gloucestershire (now that's tempted fate!).

I live in North Sheffield in a relatively quiet/good area 8)
We've lived here 16 years and there's been no burglaries on our Cul-de-sac in that time but I'm taking no chances.Until recently I had a £4K FS MTB,a £2.5K HT MTB,a £2.5K Road bike and a £500 winter road bike so better to be safe then sorry!
The £4K MTB has gone but there's still over £5Ks worth of bikes plus the kids bikes in there.Total cost of security was about £350 so not even 10% of value.

meesterbond

iPete wrote:

Torc Ground Anchor, Protector 13mm Chain and Squire SS50CS Lock
http://securityforbikes.com/torc-ground-anchor.php

I've got 3 bikes on the one anchor. The 13mm is beefy, you'd need electrical tools to try and cut it.
Don't go bigger than 13mm, whilst their 16mm has a 'cant be hand bolt cropped' guarantee they are very heavy and could easily damage your bikes. They are primarily for motorbikes.

It doesn't take much looking around the web to realise that some cycle specific stuff isn't up to the job, like the kryptonite new york fahgettaboudit chain and padlock.

This.

I've got three of these on the wall, one for each pair of bikes and a chain threaded through each.
I did get the 16mm one first and I think the wall will give way first. As Pete said though, it's really heavy and overkill for what you need.
The 13mm is more than up to the job and the lock that comes with it would withstand pretty much anything.

The company linked to are really good to deal with too.

tangled_metal

Flimsy wooden door to a brick shed. No lock is used. I sometimes forget to close the little padlock on the door latch (that has been cut through once when a previous padlock seized but it has rusted closed at that point so ok right?)

PS I don't own anything that looks good and live in a small town with a low crime rate. We had the first burglary in our street, that I know of last year. That's the first I've heard of in 15 years but I reckon there will have been at least another one in that time I didn't hear about.

BTW I'm not even sure or bikes are fully insured even if we did lock them up to insurance industry standards methods. Also, there's a cycle trailer in an even more flimsy wooden shed along with camping kit.

What I guess I'm saying is security depends on risk and consequences. Decide on the risk and consequences for you.

I heard of a guy who had a 3500 quid bike nicked. It was locked with a gold rated chain to a ground anchor in a securely locked garage. The thieves got in by ripping up the roof and climbing in. They then had plenty of time to use the power tools kept in the garage to get the chain off and open the garage door. The insurers did not pay up because he'd not read the small print which stated the chain, lock and anchor had to be sold secure gold rated. The anchor was silver rated. They still cut through the chain not the anchor so how relevant was the anchor in that theft?

drummer_boy

+1 for floor anchor. I also have the dead bolts fitted to my garage door.

feisty

Just to say that someone broke into my outhouse last night. The alarm didn't work so didn't go off but I still have all the bikes. The Ground anchor and thick chains obviously did their job (albeit I am not getting complacent). So I can confirm they are effective

MisterMuncher

Chained to wall anchors, on axle stands, with the wheels under my bed.

slowbike

Deadbolt on the inside of the garage door ... but we are in a low crime area and strava has the privacy zone as well as "request to follow" set (although request to follow doesn't stop someone seeing your ride if they have a direct link.)
Plus - on Strava I don't list the model of all the bikes ... just a method of identifying them for me ...

dennisn

Metal doors and NO windows.

cornerblock

dennisn wrote:

Metal doors and NO windows.

And what about your garage?

dennisn

Cornerblock wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Metal doors and NO windows.

And what about your garage?

Are you talking about walls and roof?

N1TRO

Garage? What do you mean? I keep it in the house.

drlodge

Mainly as above, two lower value bikes in the garage, main door is fitted with bolts low down and sometimes I lock the bikes together with a D lock. 2 best bikes are kept on the landing.

ravey1981

Box section welded steel cage inside garage secured with three 5 lever mortice locks. No one is getting in there, ever, including me if I lose the keys....

cyberknight

Ground anchors with motorbike chain + lock

andy_wrx

Tangled Metal wrote:

They then had plenty of time to use the power tools kept in the garage to get the chain off and open the garage door

Ignoring power tools for a moment, the average garage has plenty of garden tools which could be used to cut or force many cycle locks.
It's alright locking it up, but if you also provide the tools to overcome the locks and chains...

steve55

After a recent spate of thefts in our area (thankfully not from me, yet) the only advice I would give is put in place as many layers of security as you can. The advice above of a ground anchor + motorbike chain is good and is the route I have taken. It might seem superfluous, but things like cheap motion senor alarms which run on batteries and fake CCTV cameras can make a small difference, I've done both. I'm of the view that the most determined thief will generally beat my security, so making it as annoying, difficult and loud for them to do so reduces the risk of that happening. Most thefts are opportunists put off by such things - if there's a simpler option elsewhere they'll go there first.

Rev0Knuckle

Think every option has been covered. Unfortunately if a professional thief wants your bike they are going to get it. The only thing I'd add is to make your garage a bit of an obstacle course for a any prospective thief. Make it difficult (time consuming) for the scum to get to your bike without making an almighty racket i.e. make them work for their prize!

I normally turn the electricity off so they can't see and park the motorbike, which is also shackled to the floor, in front of my bikes. I also tend to park the car right up against the garage door so they'd have to move that to even get in to the garage in the first place.