John in CR
100 TW
If someone steals one of mine, I will catch them, and I will chop one of their hands off. Deterrence is the key. Where bike theft is common, there is no punishment. Inconvenience is the only deterrent.
Best methods to secure ebikes in public?
- Thread starter RoadWrinkle
- Start date
Not much bike theft around here - still, the best plan is not to leave for more than a few minutes...
I have a keyswitch and different locks for different locations/situations:
1. A frame lock on front wheel for quick 3 minute rest stop on the bike path or to buy a beer bomber. It's always ready and locks the front wheel in 3 seconds. If it's not easy to use, skipping it 'just this once' is too tempting...
2. Another wheel lock that barely fits around the rear tire (hook on below rear fender for obvious "I'm locked" sign).
3. A hardened chain and lock around downtube for 10-15 minute stops.
And, of course, having a 6 1/2ft 150lb cargo bike is a bit of a deterrent for the casual one-man thief - if you can't lift it, you have to go through all the locks
I have a keyswitch and different locks for different locations/situations:
1. A frame lock on front wheel for quick 3 minute rest stop on the bike path or to buy a beer bomber. It's always ready and locks the front wheel in 3 seconds. If it's not easy to use, skipping it 'just this once' is too tempting...
2. Another wheel lock that barely fits around the rear tire (hook on below rear fender for obvious "I'm locked" sign).
3. A hardened chain and lock around downtube for 10-15 minute stops.
And, of course, having a 6 1/2ft 150lb cargo bike is a bit of a deterrent for the casual one-man thief - if you can't lift it, you have to go through all the locks
http://www.integratedtrackers.com/GPSTrack/
Just add cheap prepaid SIM, and voila. Innocuous, dirt cheap GPS tracking.
I'm building a recumbent, which is far less of a theft risk. I'm just going to get a chain/U-lock at Harbor Freight, and lock the middle of the frame with the mini-u to the chain, to whatever I want to lock it up to. Throw my light in my pannier if it's at night, grab the QL2 Ortlieb release handle and walk away.
Nobody is going to try to steal the highly identifiable, hard to sell recumbent trike that weighs ~100lb's with the locked rear wheel and ridiculously thick hardened chain + U's. They'd have to have a power saw and a getaway truck. And then they'd have to disable the GPS tracker they don't know about BEFORE they go/get to their chopshop.
Not going to happen.
Just add cheap prepaid SIM, and voila. Innocuous, dirt cheap GPS tracking.
I'm building a recumbent, which is far less of a theft risk. I'm just going to get a chain/U-lock at Harbor Freight, and lock the middle of the frame with the mini-u to the chain, to whatever I want to lock it up to. Throw my light in my pannier if it's at night, grab the QL2 Ortlieb release handle and walk away.
Nobody is going to try to steal the highly identifiable, hard to sell recumbent trike that weighs ~100lb's with the locked rear wheel and ridiculously thick hardened chain + U's. They'd have to have a power saw and a getaway truck. And then they'd have to disable the GPS tracker they don't know about BEFORE they go/get to their chopshop.
Not going to happen.
RoadWrinkle
100 W
teklektik said:Not much bike theft around here - still, the best plan is not to leave for more than a few minutes...
I have a keyswitch and different locks for different locations/situations:
1. A frame lock on front wheel for quick 3 minute rest stop on the bike path or to buy a beer bomber. It's always ready and locks the front wheel in 3 seconds. If it's not easy to use, skipping it 'just this once' is too tempting...
View attachment 1
2. Another wheel lock that barely fits around the rear tire (hook on below rear fender for obvious "I'm locked" sign).
3. A hardened chain and lock around downtube for 10-15 minute stops.
And, of course, having a 6 1/2ft 150lb cargo bike is a bit of a deterrent for the casual one-man thief - if you can't lift it, you have to go through all the locks
Thank You, excellent info.
Here's a post about front-mounting the frame lock - it's really supposed to bolt on the existing mounts on the bridge across the seat stays (or on rear v-brake mounts), but I had electronics back there, so...RoadWrinkle said:
The beauty of this lock is that it does't rely on being affixed rigidly to the frame - the wheel can't turn far even if it's bolted to nothing at all - fine for quickie stops like a bit of privacy in a big plastic whizzerator.
RoadWrinkle
100 W
kriskros said:
One won't do the trick?
RoadWrinkle
100 W
teklektik said:
I like how beefy it is, sure to turn away all but the most dedicated thieves, and lets face it, thieves are like predators they go after the easiest prey...the jackals!
Funny you mention "whizzerators", I was once on a tour bus in china traveling from Nanjing to Que Lin when a fellow traveler made a whizzerator out of a plastic shopping bag at the back of the bus!, He then carried the leaky affair the length of the bus and gave it to the Bus driver while he was driving! He then pulled over, walked off the bus after saying some evil things in Chinese, and a few minutes later a cab picked him up and there we were with no Bus Driver. Took three hours for the tour company to send out a new driver. Moral, make your whizzerator leak proof before....
alienbogey
10 µW
xenodius said:
I know nothing about "cheap prepaid SIMs" and I couldn't find any indication of the cost of said items on the link.
Can someone give me an example of the cost of a cheap prepaid SIM?
Where does one get one in the USA?
Are there monthly fees?
How would it work for this tracker?
I sure like the idea, but don't want to have to pay monthly $$ for it.
http://eftm.com.au/2013/03/aldi-mobile-pricing-plans-official-5gb-data-per-month-for-35-10115
Any "pay-as-you-go" sim card plan would be perfect. you can go online and recharge it whenever you need to, and there are some freaking cheap plans out there: $15/year! I don't like monthly fees, but that's quite reasonable. And at 5c/mb the tracking features won't use hardly anything, the initial 12c text is the heavy hitter.
Any "pay-as-you-go" sim card plan would be perfect. you can go online and recharge it whenever you need to, and there are some freaking cheap plans out there: $15/year! I don't like monthly fees, but that's quite reasonable. And at 5c/mb the tracking features won't use hardly anything, the initial 12c text is the heavy hitter.
dogman said:
I personally run a wireless security camera that I use to stream the video online which I watch on my cellphone.
Gotta have a cell connection wherever I park the bike, however. Luckily, that's not usually a problem where the bike is most likely to get stolen (In the city).
cwah
100 MW
swbluto said:
How do you do that? You bring a camera with you and hide it somewhere in the street?
chilledoutuk
100 W
how about using an electric fence charger and connecting it to your frame with some sort of remote to disable it.
bowlofsalad
100 kW
swbluto said:
What precisely is the camera hooked into? I would guess you are hooking some hidden camera to a smartphone with 3g, and then you carry around another smartphone with 3g. What kind of lock is the camera pointed at? This idea seems pretty good so long as you are diligent. Perhaps if it notified you of motion. What I am coming up with are those balance alarms, but instead of making it sound an audible alarm, it sends a notification to your smartphone.
bowlofsalad said:
The camera is hooked upto an arduino with an Arduino cellular shield, and some simple code takes the picture from the camera every 2 seconds and sends it online.
The lock is a fahgettaboudit, which should buy me enough time to catch the thief.
el_walto
10 kW
Keep your bike frame dirty, put pieces of random duct tape and electrical tape all over it etc. People think my ebike is not worth stealing.
Ugly your bike: http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol11/?pg=76&u1=texterity&cookies=0#pg76
Ugly your bike: http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol11/?pg=76&u1=texterity&cookies=0#pg76
RoadWrinkle
100 W
chilledoutuk said:
I would actually love this idea if it did not require leaving the battery on the bike (assuming to charge the "electrical fence"). The Bear wires I use at my Tahoe Cabin would work exceptionally well...I am sure someone would call it illegal and then you would have would-be thieves trying to sue you for electrocuting them...."Well you honor I was just going to move his bike over a few inches...not steal it...and then BANG-POP!"
RoadWrinkle
100 W
el_walto said:
This is almost like when a society over reacts to terrorists, and thereby, gives them the power to change our free culture into a police state. If the thieves succeed in getting you to do things to your bike you don't really want to do, then they have sort of won, IMHO. :x
Chalo
100 TW
RoadWrinkle said:el_walto said:
This is almost like when a society over reacts to terrorists, and thereby, gives them the power to change our free culture into a police state. If the thieves succeed in getting you to do things to your bike you don't really want to do, then they have sort of won, IMHO. :x
Does "things you don't really want to do" include toting around a heavy, clunky, expensive lock?
One thing to keep in mind is that most bike thieves are less discriminating than normal folks. Sure, a "professional" thief seeks an attractive, expensive bike-- but a crackhead or crazy homeless bum doesn't care whether it's worth $5000 or only $5. He only cares whether or not he can ride off with it. Uglying up your bike does nothing to prevent this common kind of theft.
Having a scruffy-looking bike probably lowers the threshold for what constitutes an effective lock, though-- because it would tend to deter the business-minded thieves who are the most capable lock breakers.
A frame neatly wrapped in tape or inner tubes has become a dead giveaway for an expensive bike slumming it on the mean streets.
teklektik said:
The only problem I have with these is that someone could still just grab the headset, lift up the front wheel and walk away with it to an out-of-sight area. Unless you had line-of-sight or vibration alarm the whole time, I'd be leery. At least in my city. But I love the simplicity, and if we were talking about an 80lb velomobile with 40lbs of batteries, 20lbs of motor, and 15lbs of accessories then I'd be over it like hot potatoes. With a backup GPS tracker, of course. =)
This is kind of like those motorcycle disc brake locks, except for wheels...
I'm actually with Chalo on this one, I don't think ugliness is a big deal or a good defense. The theives win when they get your bike, not when you take measures to prevent them. I'm already losing my pride by riding a bicycle, but when I throw in ebike, let alone recumbent... let alone trike... good luck.* People think I'm WEIRD when I explain it to them because it's not a car/motorcycle or even one of those things called bicycles that are only for teens or children to use, wasting energy to ride up and down the street.
speedmd
10 MW
I like the exploding ink pack idea that they use for bank robbers, as long as you like the look on your bike. You could proudly let the bike wear it as a additional theft deterrent. May be change up the colors so you can show off how bad ass you triggers worked multiple times. :lol: Electric fence / taser is a great idea. Solar powered for certain.
For NYC, I think their could be a much simpler approach. Just get the mayor to get his cronies to pass another one of his infamous laws requiring that everyone take and post pictures of any suspected wrongful activity when in the vicinity. Add to the "Good samaritan" law. With over a million smart phones walking around, it will not be long before all the rats are Id'd.
Cab lobby is huge there and would not put it past them to hire help in getting ebikes off the streets any way they can. Guards "taking rounds" or not being aware while bike gets clipped sound like inside jobs. Mark all your expensive parts as they do turn up most times close to home.
For NYC, I think their could be a much simpler approach. Just get the mayor to get his cronies to pass another one of his infamous laws requiring that everyone take and post pictures of any suspected wrongful activity when in the vicinity. Add to the "Good samaritan" law. With over a million smart phones walking around, it will not be long before all the rats are Id'd.
Cab lobby is huge there and would not put it past them to hire help in getting ebikes off the streets any way they can. Guards "taking rounds" or not being aware while bike gets clipped sound like inside jobs. Mark all your expensive parts as they do turn up most times close to home.
nukezero
10 kW
I have these two as my counter-theft devices. The top-of-the-line products from Kryptonite.
Make no mistake. That chain is a beast. Weighs like 10 lbs and it is very heavy to lug around. I have to wear it as a belt or commando style. It is also very abrasive as it will scratch the paint when it comes into contact. Amazon reviewers were not kidding when they said this chain can be used wholeheartedly as a weapon. You will literally knock someone's jaws off if you just swing this at them. It's also so bulky that when you unlock the chain, you have to be extremely careful because if you let go of the chain, it has so much mass and momentum that when it swings down it will hit you in the leg or damage the bike's paint.
The new york u-lock has a double-lock mechanism and I usually wedge this between the rear tire, frame, and a bike rail. I also use a cable lock to lock the front/rear wheel.
I honestly do not suggest locking any eBike for long periods like Dogman says. I rode my bike down to NewPort Beach during labor day and there was a lot of high foot traffic. I only needed to go to the restroom so I was counting that I would be back in 90 seconds tops. By the time I got out, I already saw 3 sketchy dudes scoping out my bike. I had to say excuse me to get them out of my way so I can unlock the bike.
Just get a beater bike if you intend to lock the bike in questionable areas.
Make no mistake. That chain is a beast. Weighs like 10 lbs and it is very heavy to lug around. I have to wear it as a belt or commando style. It is also very abrasive as it will scratch the paint when it comes into contact. Amazon reviewers were not kidding when they said this chain can be used wholeheartedly as a weapon. You will literally knock someone's jaws off if you just swing this at them. It's also so bulky that when you unlock the chain, you have to be extremely careful because if you let go of the chain, it has so much mass and momentum that when it swings down it will hit you in the leg or damage the bike's paint.
The new york u-lock has a double-lock mechanism and I usually wedge this between the rear tire, frame, and a bike rail. I also use a cable lock to lock the front/rear wheel.
I honestly do not suggest locking any eBike for long periods like Dogman says. I rode my bike down to NewPort Beach during labor day and there was a lot of high foot traffic. I only needed to go to the restroom so I was counting that I would be back in 90 seconds tops. By the time I got out, I already saw 3 sketchy dudes scoping out my bike. I had to say excuse me to get them out of my way so I can unlock the bike.
Just get a beater bike if you intend to lock the bike in questionable areas.
