By Greg Heck and the Chicago ABUS team Riding to work, meeting friends for brunch, and trips to the beach can be much more enjoyable (and often more efficient) on two wheels. However, a perfect day can be ruined if you return to find your bike missing. Sadly, bike theft is an epidemic, with a bike stolen every 30 seconds and very few of them are recovered (source: Project 529). Those facts may give pause to a lot of riders, however, with a proper lock system and smart locking habits, you can make thieves consider finding another profession (or at least another bike). How 1. Always use a high-security u-lock, folding lock, or chain to secure the main frame of your bicycle.
If your bike was stolen today, how much would you pay to get it back? An upfront purchase of a high-security lock is a good investment.
2. Never use a cable or other low-security lock as your main defense against theft. Cables should only be used for securing individual components like wheels or saddles.
3. Since replacing components on any bike can be quite expensive, always secure the individual components (wheels and saddle/seatpost) with a cable or component security system like the ABUS NutFix.
4. We all make mistakes. Even the most seasoned bike commuter can lock their bike improperly. ABUS always recommends taking a step back to look at your bike after locking it up to make sure it is secured before heading on your way.
Where While we recommend locking to a proper bike rack, finding a bike rack is not always possible. In these cases, other permanent structures should be used. These include parking meters, light poles, and permanent traffic signs.
Register Your Bike Registering your bike can help in its retrieval in the unfortunate event that it is ever stolen. For Chicago residents, bicycle registration can be done with the Chicago Police Department: https://home.chicagopolice.org/online-services/online-bicycle-regis...
The Chainlink also has additional resources to help you register your bike on Bike Index and what to do if your bike is stolen.
A few recent ABUS product reviews on The Chainlink: Product Review: ABUS Bordo 6100 Combination Lock by a CommuterProduct Review: ABUS Bordo 6000 by a Mountain Biker |
Comment
Good tips, please also note the first photo in this article is a No-No. When using a public bike rack keep the key on the Bike side, not the rack side. By doing this you take the other side of the rack away from a fellow cyclist. They can't lock up and block your key hole. This, of course, is if they even notice which I doubt many will. Now you come back and your key hole is blocked by another bike and you are unable to unlock your bike.
203 members
1 member
270 members
1 member
261 members
You need to be a member of The Chainlink to add comments!
Join The Chainlink