Hard lesson learnt today - Cube Ltd Team spirited away
Discussion
4pm at Cycle Surgery in Holborn, bike was locked up to the railing immediately out in front, in 15 min it was gone.
I had an ABUS lock. Only a 30 quid job. My thinking was that I never leave the bike for long periods and it just needed to stop the opportunist and be light to carry around on my (long) commute. Apparently that sort of lock on the right bike is exactly what the opportunist is looking for. Which makes me wonder what the f
k they bother making them, if the only thing theyre worth securing is worthless bikes.
If you see this, clothes line the fker riding it:
It now has a red-walled Panaracer rear tyre on it.
Edited to update for latest pic.
I had an ABUS lock. Only a 30 quid job. My thinking was that I never leave the bike for long periods and it just needed to stop the opportunist and be light to carry around on my (long) commute. Apparently that sort of lock on the right bike is exactly what the opportunist is looking for. Which makes me wonder what the f
k they bother making them, if the only thing theyre worth securing is worthless bikes.If you see this, clothes line the f
ker riding it:It now has a red-walled Panaracer rear tyre on it.
Edited to update for latest pic.
Edited by Reardy Mister on Thursday 21st April 11:55
Mars said:
What sort of ABUS lock? Google throw up several and none below 47 quid on the first page.
Sorry about the loss. Was it insured? I know that's not the point but it'll soften the blow a little.
A sSorry about the loss. Was it insured? I know that's not the point but it'll soften the blow a little.
t one that had more plastic that cable and obviously took no time to snip through.Not insured as I just moved out of my ex girlfiends place. The hit is all mine to take.
Reardy Mister said:
A st one that had more plastic that cable and obviously took no time to snip through.
Not insured as I just moved out of my ex girlfiends place. The hit is all mine to take.
Ah yes, a teeny pair of bolt croppers would have dealt with that in less than 3 seconds.t one that had more plastic that cable and obviously took no time to snip through.Not insured as I just moved out of my ex girlfiends place. The hit is all mine to take.
In my time of bike ownership, having lived in london my whole life, I've learnt the following:
If you EVER lock your bike ANYWHERE for ANY amount of time, it will be stolen.
This theory has been proven again and again. Unlucky chap. I'm guessing lesson has been learnt.
Please report the theft. Include as much detail as possible and a frame number if you have it. I know the location and there *may* be a CCTV camera that looks towards it.
Unfortunately cable locks are not worth their weight. They are what I would class as 'insecure'.
For London work you need a quality D-Lock. I use an Abus Granite Futura D-Lock as I know from experience that they shatter the hardest jaws of bolt copper available, and take some time to angle grind through. I also have a cheaper Abus D-Lock that I use on my commuter bike. Spend as much as you can reasonably afford, 10-15% of the bikes value down to a minimum of £40. I have to say of the locks I've broken (many hundreds in a former life) Abus were generally the toughest which is why I use them.
I've had 2 bikes nicked in 10 years: One was unlocked in a shared stairwell as I was a stupid student. The other was nicked from a train station, after I locked it up whilst tipsy and neglected to put the lock through both frame and wheel. I was left with just the wheel. I think that's par for the Course in London. It's a sad fact that you can't leave any bike you really like locked up there.
Unfortunately cable locks are not worth their weight. They are what I would class as 'insecure'.
For London work you need a quality D-Lock. I use an Abus Granite Futura D-Lock as I know from experience that they shatter the hardest jaws of bolt copper available, and take some time to angle grind through. I also have a cheaper Abus D-Lock that I use on my commuter bike. Spend as much as you can reasonably afford, 10-15% of the bikes value down to a minimum of £40. I have to say of the locks I've broken (many hundreds in a former life) Abus were generally the toughest which is why I use them.
I've had 2 bikes nicked in 10 years: One was unlocked in a shared stairwell as I was a stupid student. The other was nicked from a train station, after I locked it up whilst tipsy and neglected to put the lock through both frame and wheel. I was left with just the wheel. I think that's par for the Course in London. It's a sad fact that you can't leave any bike you really like locked up there.
I have a mid-1990s "Specialized" branded D-lock with one of those security keys (the ones that are a small cylinder). I don't use my bike for other than leisure but occasionally it might be useful to leave it locked somewhere. I have heard that D-locks are easily overcome with a bottle jack. Is this likely and do thieves come *that* prepared? Clearly they do *some* planning or they wouldn't have bolt cutters on them.
Sorry to hear about it. One of the things I like most about Brompton ownership is not having to worry about locking the thing up.
Time to dig out this post: http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html
You can get a decent lock pretty cheaply, especially if you look outside the normal cycle vendors. If I was locking up in London, the idea of an alarmed disc lock or padlock through the chainrings would be pretty appealing, especially if I was in in earshot.
Time to dig out this post: http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html
You can get a decent lock pretty cheaply, especially if you look outside the normal cycle vendors. If I was locking up in London, the idea of an alarmed disc lock or padlock through the chainrings would be pretty appealing, especially if I was in in earshot.
studog said:
Very sorry to hear that. I lost one very simlar a year ago from work.
I now use an £80 kryptonite U lock even in the garage at home it is a pain but there are a lot of scrotes out there.
When I was commuting on a (very cheap and nasty) folding bike, the scrotes tried to nick off with that after having succeeded in getting a colleagues bike from the space next to the office (central London).I now use an £80 kryptonite U lock even in the garage at home it is a pain but there are a lot of scrotes out there.
Quite stupidly, the thieving scrotes then came back - THE NEXT DAY - to try and get a few more bikes, but they were nicked this time. And just to prove their stupidity, they were using one of the bikes they'd nicked the day before.
But the lesson was learnt - when i got my bike on the scheme a month later, I also went for one of the largest kryptonite locks I could fit on the bike. Absolute life saver, although its weight did slightly negate trying to find a slightly lighter bike.
sjg said:
Sorry to hear about it. One of the things I like most about Brompton ownership is not having to worry about locking the thing up.
Time to dig out this post: http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html
You can get a decent lock pretty cheaply, especially if you look outside the normal cycle vendors. If I was locking up in London, the idea of an alarmed disc lock or padlock through the chainrings would be pretty appealing, especially if I was in in earshot.
Pointless.Time to dig out this post: http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html
You can get a decent lock pretty cheaply, especially if you look outside the normal cycle vendors. If I was locking up in London, the idea of an alarmed disc lock or padlock through the chainrings would be pretty appealing, especially if I was in in earshot.
They don't cycle these bikes away. They carry them away/chuck them in a van to deal with later. You have to immobile the bike to secure it against theft, and by immobilise I mean lock it through wheel and frame to something totally affixed to the planet. Even a 9 foot parking pole isn't really good enough - you can easily lift a bike off such a pole.
Bromptons are also amongst the most stolen bikes - they have a high resale value and their frame design makes locking them securely very tricky. Take care of yours! Keep it under a desk if possible.
Mars said:
I have a mid-1990s "Specialized" branded D-lock with one of those security keys (the ones that are a small cylinder). I don't use my bike for other than leisure but occasionally it might be useful to leave it locked somewhere. I have heard that D-locks are easily overcome with a bottle jack. Is this likely and do thieves come *that* prepared? Clearly they do *some* planning or they wouldn't have bolt cutters on them.
I have tried to break both cheap and expensive D-locks with scissor jacks and bottle jacks. The cheap one gave in eventually, but there was no way the expensive one was going to give in. Even the cheap one took 10 minutes of faffing and I have to say I've never found a bike thief carrying a jack about. Not an issue IMO. Like 'freezing spray' its one of those things that sounds good down the pub but doesn't really work practically.Spend at least £40, I don't personally like the 'circular' key locks, there are a couple of easy exploits for them and those mechanisms tend to be weaker in my experience.
boobles said:
Which lock did you use? I am interested to know because I am currently using an Abus Magnum Plus Armoured Cable.
Sorry, but armoured cables IMO are a con. To be light enough to carry, and stay flexible the cable and armour has to be very thin. Once you crack open the armor you'd be shocked at how thin the cable is. It's often thinner than the cable on a moderately pricey cable lock.The tools of the bike thieves trade are:
Wire clippers
Junior hacks.
Screwdriver.
Possibly small cheap bolt croppers.
These 3 tools will defeat almost any cable lock, armored cable and many cheap D locks.
Professional thieves may also have a small angle grinder and a larger pair of bolt croppers. Defense against these is a matter of time and shackles hardness.
My advice: Strong reputable D-Lock or else a very well made motorcycle style chain and similarly tough Padlock are the only locks to entrust your bikes security to.
WeirdNeville said:
Pointless.
They don't cycle these bikes away. They carry them away/chuck them in a van to deal with later. You have to immobile the bike to secure it against theft, and by immobilise I mean lock it through wheel and frame to something totally affixed to the planet. Even a 9 foot parking pole isn't really good enough - you can easily lift a bike off such a pole.
Bromptons are also amongst the most stolen bikes - they have a high resale value and their frame design makes locking them securely very tricky. Take care of yours! Keep it under a desk if possible.
I mean as an additional security measure, on top of a d-lock.They don't cycle these bikes away. They carry them away/chuck them in a van to deal with later. You have to immobile the bike to secure it against theft, and by immobilise I mean lock it through wheel and frame to something totally affixed to the planet. Even a 9 foot parking pole isn't really good enough - you can easily lift a bike off such a pole.
Bromptons are also amongst the most stolen bikes - they have a high resale value and their frame design makes locking them securely very tricky. Take care of yours! Keep it under a desk if possible.
My Brompton doesn't leave my sight - I find it odd that I see so many locked up outside. fwiw, they do have a triangular part above the BB which is pretty secure for locking through.
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