Secure Shed

secretsam

hiya

Currently, the fleet lives in my garage, but I'm converting that into a room for my ever-growing boy.

I have a typical 2x3m shed in the back garden, any hints/tips on how to make it a safe place to store a couple of bikes?

bradsbeard

Firstly remove external hinges and fit internal ones.

Re-enforce the door and surrounds with something like decking timber. This allows hasp and staple to be bolted to the frame.

Good strong locks.

Shed alarm.

Inside if possible install a ground anchor and also loops that can be bolted to the frame of the shed.

I use a motorbike chain lock and two decent U locks inside.

Remove the glass and board up and also secure from the inside.

tangled_metal

Or replace with a more secure bike shed like asguard

slowbike

Or put the boy in the shed and leave the secure bike storage where it is?!

elbowloh

A friend of mine lived in Uganda for a while and was getting sick of being burgled a lot so he wired his boundary fence to the mains. Not sure if you could get away with that here...

inbike

Take lots of photos of your bikes outside a neighbor's house and put them on Strava, then always start and finish your rides at their house.

That way they'll break into the wrong shed.

tgotb

1. Put good bikes in shed and photograph
2. Remove good bikes from shed, and replace with "beater" bikes
3. Set light to shed
4. Submit insurance claim for good bikes
5. Spend insurance money on 20' shipping container, and put it where the shed used to be

monkimark

I used to have a shed to store bikes in my old flat - I cut a hole in the base and dug a hole beneath then cast a 16mm diameter rebar into it to attach a lock to. I guess you could just cast one end of a chunky chain into the concrete and use that to lock the bikes.
You'll probably want to beef up the door and frame as described above and maybe consider an alarm - I had a battery powered PIR alarm that I got for about a tenner on ebay. You can also get alarmed padlocks but I heard reports of a lot of false alarms with them.

slowbike

IIRC - getting into a shed with anything worth taking doesn't necessarily involve the conventional entrance - thieves will remove the roof if it's easy enough - and to be fair - most sheds don't have secure roofs.

monkimark

Slowbike wrote:

IIRC - getting into a shed with anything worth taking doesn't necessarily involve the conventional entrance - thieves will remove the roof if it's easy enough - and to be fair - most sheds don't have secure roofs.

Having recently taken apart and moved my shed from one end of the garden to the other, I would definitely try breaking down the door or just tearing the side panel apart before removing the roof.
Mine was held on with 4 bolts and probably a dozen screws, fixed from the inside.

tgotb

Is the primary objective to make your bikes as secure as reasonably possible, or to make them secure enough that validity of the insurance cover is not in doubt?

Either is a reasonable position to take, but if it's the latter your starting point should be a good read of your policy, and probably a couple of other policies too, so you don't end up trapped with one insurer and unable to shop around at renewal time.

slowbike

monkimark wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

IIRC - getting into a shed with anything worth taking doesn't necessarily involve the conventional entrance - thieves will remove the roof if it's easy enough - and to be fair - most sheds don't have secure roofs.

Having recently taken apart and moved my shed from one end of the garden to the other, I would definitely try breaking down the door or just tearing the side panel apart before removing the roof.
Mine was held on with 4 bolts and probably a dozen screws, fixed from the inside.

may be - but you were, no doubt, aiming to dismantle it with as little destruction as possible? Thieves won't be quite so worried - but sounds like yours is a bit more secure than many ....

tangled_metal

Definitely check that a home made ground anchor satisfied the insurer's requirements for cover before anyone tries to mock your bikes. Hole in the ground with concreted in steel rebar might not legally cut it even if it could match gold rated anchors correctly installed.

If insured then make sure you have all the small print covered.

Btw a local guy got his 6k bike nicked by the thieves removing the felt roof and gaining access to a garage with all the tools and a bit if sound insulation to use them.

monkimark

I wasn't claiming that the shed roof is particularly secure, just that the walls and doors are easier to break and more convenient for access.

Good point about the insurance, if you need a rated anchor then just bring the concrete flush with the shed floor and fix the anchor to it.

I have seen special shed anchor kits that are basically metal frames that screw to the shed in various places and have an anchor point attached. I'd rather use concrete but the metal frame would be easier and possibly have a solid secure rating.

edit - this is the anchor kit
https://www.insight-security.com/shed-s ... chor-point

anonymousblackfg

Bought a ground anchor off Ebay, two bits of welded 3" box section the two bits of rebar sticking out of the section you stick in the concrete. I never considered if it was insurance compliant.

Other ideas, line the inside with OSB to strengthen they whole thing. I was considering adding a few of these to the door with nuts like these on the back. That way if going on hols you could just drive the nuts in with an electric drill and have another level of security.

frogonabike

Would that be on the assumption that tea leaves don't carry a torx set?

anonymousblackfg

frogonabike wrote:

Would that be on the assumption that tea leaves don't carry a torx set?

Sorry, wrong link, I meant more along the lines of these... https://www.tcfixings.co.uk/main/produc ... d-Screws/1

Every chance they could have a socket for them, especially if they've cased the joint but a proper ball ache if not.

secretsam

Slowbike wrote:

Or put the boy in the shed and leave the secure bike storage where it is?!

Don't tempt me...

Tangled Metal wrote:

Or replace with a more secure bike shed like asguard

This is, of course, the other option...

frogonabike

anonymousblackfg wrote:

frogonabike wrote:

Would that be on the assumption that tea leaves don't carry a torx set?

Sorry, wrong link, I meant more along the lines of these... https://www.tcfixings.co.uk/main/produc ... d-Screws/1

Every chance they could have a socket for them, especially if they've cased the joint but a proper ball ache if not.

How about a random selection of different heads? That’ll bamboozle ‘em!

elbowloh

Ever thought about building an extension?

jds_1981

What I've done is three ground anchors into concrete. These are then surrounded by a wooden rectangle ( a bit like a planter .) Bikes are then stored vertically with rear wheel balanced on the wood beams, front wheel off, forks connected to thru axle -> qr adapters (or suitable) that is fastened in wood on the wall. Long locks can then reach through the frames. Frames can also be locked to each other. This is very space efficient and I hope reasonably secure.

drlodge

I've heard that thieves will cut up an expensive bike, bin the frame and sell the parts. Therefore its doubtful if any level of security will prevent them from getting at the bike once they're inside the shed. So you need to make entry to the shed nigh on impossible, which is v tough.

tangled_metal

I disagree. Make your storage conform to insurance conditions then claim when or if it gets stolen. If necessary get all requirements spelt out clearly in a communication with your insurers. If they then try anything on you have their written communication giving the requirements and if you have evidence if conforming to them through photographs, lock/ anchor packaging and receipts if necessary then you'll get the value back.

I think it isn't being pessimistic to take the view a bike can always be stolen so trying to stop it could ultimately be futile. So the only option is to limit the loss if it happens.

Abscissa

Place it in a more secure bike shed.