Bike security

... Stuart would have a good suggestion on the bolt system, as he is, well was in the building game. You need special bolts to secure the eyelets, so they can only be removed by you!!
Let's wait for the smart boy's to come out!!!!
Bernd

now you've got me paranoid

... again...
http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLang=us&sid...
abus is in Aussie, too!
Bernd

Also, just as important as securing your bikes is to make sure they are covered by insurance. To have them covered by your home & contents insurance you generally need to list them. With this you need to take into consideration all the bling you add. You can also opt (which I do) to insure them out of the home.

very disappionted that you would think any of us would make light of such a serious topic. This is a very general question that can really only be answered specifically depending on the physical aspects of your storage area. So post your address and where the shed is and I'll come around and have a look for you. (nice one Bruce)

Seriously though, all good responses so far and you have to utilise all of them. Quality gear is probably the most important. Having spent many years working alongside countless crooks (well I was in the building industry for a long time, not that I am saying all demolishers or labourers are crooks) I've learnt that a padlock will fail for a couple of reasons.
1 Its cheap - get quality gear
2 It can be picked - get quality gear
3 The "arm" of the lock can be either cut or "smashed" away from the body. To prevent this you need to look at a couple of things. The best way is to restrict access to this as Bruce has described. I would speak to him directly about that as typicaly these work very well on tool boxes where there are few moving parts but are very hard to make work when you are trying to feed chains and fixed bolts into a very restricted space. Failing that you can make sure the "arm", the part you feed through the chain, is as small as possible. This restricts the area left to physically apply a pair of bolt cutters and also makes it harder to "break" the lock body away from the arm using a lump hammer and a chisel. The best padlocks I have found for this are the Abus Discus range http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLang=us&sid... That's a German site but these are readily available at most locksmiths.

So lets assume you have your padlock sorted out, what do you fix it to? Locksmiths will sell eye bolts that can be fixed to the building structure. Don't get hardware store ones, they are too soft and easily cut. They will recommend the best fixing method. If its mounted on a plate then you would preferably use one way screws, like Bernd was talking about. The type you see on a properly fitted window lock. That said, these are domestic so probably not the most secure thing around. Ideally you want an eye bolt that fixes directly into the concrete floor. Best to epoxy this in but make sure the hole is clean and dry first other wise the epoxy won't take and the bolt will just pull out with enough force. Ramset and Hilti make two part epoxy products you can get from Bunnings.

As the boys said, get the best chain or wire rope (cut resistant) you can afford and use more than one. One that feeds through all the bikes and into the secure point. Another one that just joins all the bikes together. Three bikes chained together are hard to either ride or be carried away. Keep your front wheels off and preferably locked together in the unit, again this just makes it impossible for someone to ride your bike away.

Get an electrician to fit an alarm to the space and make sure the siren is not readily accessible, you don't want it just smashed into pieces as soon as it goes off. Key the alarm from outside, somewhere not obvious. It will be easily overlooked and you want the alarm to sound the second the door opens. Sadly, if your storage area is not in a well trafficked area then no matter what you do a determined theive will just close the door behind them and work at getting the security measures off, hence the reason for the alarm with a really loud "screacher". You might want to look at moding a car alarm. My tray back ute had a "Rhino" car alarm on it that had motion and vibration sensors so that if someone jumped onto the back tray the alarm would sound, It would be good for the alarm to sound as soon as someone started to work on the outside of the door trying to get access. This could also be turned on and off via remote. Maybe worth a look

Its also important to make sure you secure the door as well as possible. If it looks too difficult to get into then the chances are they will move onto your neighbours. The longer it takes them to get in, the greater the chance that they will be spotted doing so. MAke sure the door is atleast a solid core door. Use fixed pin security hinges. Ideally the door should "open out" so it can't be kicked in. Fit a couple of locks, good quality. You want atleast one that locks into the floor as well as the door jambs.

Probably the best securilty measure YOU could take would be to download some of the photos on this site of your bikes, print them off and hang them inside the storage shed. Any discerning theif will see what they are about to steal and just walk away.

Abus have a page here http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLang=us&sid... solely on bike security options

Sorry its so long winded but you can never be too paraniod, particularly where you live.

on the abus links, it took me a while to write that.

Nice one

A bolt might go missing from the suspension and the thieves kill themselves in the process of stealing your bike!

hows that for Karma

So there is an upside to owning a specialized

Loz

this is a serious thread, stop attempting to be funny. Note I only say attempting.

Remember also that he is not the only one that owns a specialised. Rumour has it Jedi just bought one too.

for my brother in laws motor cycle i had my engineer make up two plates that 1/4 inch thick had four holes drilled into them with two large rings welded onto them they were both dyna bolted onto the ground and had the nuts of the dyna bolts welded to the plates
then we used purchased motorcycle type locks and chains to secure it

i spose you could make up a similar thing to hold down three bikes
but as i said to the brother in law
measures like this will only delay them
if they want it they will get no matter what you do

if you want some designs or drawings let me know

cheers
Kurt

don't just spot weld as this will easily be "knocked" off with a pointed chisel. Weld all the way around. Another method is to hit the top of the bolt and nut with a relatively sharp masonry chisel. This burs the thread of the bolt into the thread of the nut. As you can't get a purchase on the bolt you can't undo it. Make sure you cut the bolt down flush with the top of the nut first.

Get yourself a good insurance policy, and don't ever let the broker see your race photos...

When I used to ride to work I got a home & bike policy with Cyclecover (which might be the Bicycle NSW pushed policy). What is good about that is that your bike is covered in pretty much any situation except racing (and you can get cover for that) - so if you get hit by a car your bike is covered, if it's stolen from work you're covered etc. You need to compare the smallprints for your home contents insurance because although Cyclecover is more expensive than your average contents cover, it covers you for a whole lot more stuff that's likely to happen to your contents.

I've found that your average policies are very basic and don't cover much as far as bikes or anything else that isn't at your home is concerned. You might be able to get your current home insurers to do a separate policy for your bike but I'm sure it would be quite expensive and I'm not sure they'd be able to cover you for all the things that might happen to it.

It's worth comparing the Cyclecover smallprint with your current policy and working out the cost of the policy vs the cost of not being covered for something.

And no, I don't sell insurance. I'm just not a gambler..

The Cyclecover policy does look good. I spoke to them to see if they would do a stand alone cover just for bikes but no luck.

I will do as you suggest and look more closely at their detail stuff and compare it to my current contents insurance. In the end it may be worthwhile changing everything over to the Cyclecover policy...... looks like a long night in reading the fine print !

CB

Lorrie,

I'm still keen to give you a hand with the bolt - PM me anytime.