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Bicycle Security
With all the bikes being stolen out of people's garages and from events, leads me to think about bicycle security at home and in transit.
AT HOME
I have a fleet of bicycles who all live in my garage. They are all locked to eachother in some way (chains, cables, U shackles). However none of them are fixed to a solid object (like the floor or wall). Any ideas on how to store bikes securely at home.
IN TRANSIT
My bicycle does not fit in my car, so i have a Q-Spear bike rack which mounts on the towball. The problme is, i am too paranoid about my bike to leave the car for 2 mins with the bike on the back. Due to its design, there isn't alot you can do to secure the bike onto the rack. Idea??
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Check these out for ideas
http://www.elitesecuritysupplies.com/ground_anch...
My solution has always been to ensure there is an immovable object to chain my bike to.
I've made a stand out of heavy steel with a solid baseplate, bolted it to the floor and welded the dynabolt nuts on, so the stand cannot be removed easily.
Then I went out and bought a $130 chain, about 1.8m long. (German brand, with a nice canvas cover, generally sold for motorbike security). It's heat treated high tensile steel, and can't be cut with bolt cutters. That is secured with a $100 padlock, with a hardened shackle that also can't be cut with bolt cutters.
The key is to slow someone down. I guess if someone came with an angle grinder they could eventually overcome the security, but there's noise and time involved.
If a few people are interested I could make a batch of security stands. They sit about a metre high, two 50x50 heavy wall square steel tubes welded to 8 or 10mm plate top and bottom. The chain passes between the upright tubes, and through the bike frame. For myself, I've wrapped & taped some soft cloth around the top to protect the bike paintwork, and they are a good stand in their own right. They'd be somewhere around $175 as a kit with dynabolts, painted and ready to bolt in.
Another alternative is to install a hardened shackle to the wall of your garage, and run a chain through it. These are available from locksmiths, and are in the vicinity of $100. Popular with Harley owners!
pm me if interested!
Most hitches have one or two lugs for bolting safety chains to (connect your trailer to car in case it pops off the hitch - I've seen this happen to trailers coming off the ferry at Wisemans). When leaving the bike on car you could get a Kryptoflex or similar cable & lock the bike to this mount. Always remove when driving as it may rub on the frame.
If your hitch doesn't have these lugs you might also find something under the car to wrap a cable round. Erm... not the exhaust!
Always make sure you have decent insurance if you are at all worried about this. There are many threads here about that.
I had a similar problem with my garage and the answer was staring me in the face. I have beams going across the top and hang my bikes by their seats on the beams and lock them to the beam.
As Whisperer points out, his type of home security is popular with moto riders and the whole moto industry, including media, is full of solutions.
When transporting a bike the only real way to maximise safety is to buy a wagon or van and have it locked inside.