Noisy security

[Lateralus]

Now that I've acquired my new pride and joy, I'm thinking about beefing up the security a bit and adding something noisy - either a bike alarm or an alarmed disc lock. I know it won't deter a committed thief, but if I'm in earshot at least I'll know to go have a look, rather than when I was at the pub on Saturday night and I kept going to check, “just in case”!

The bike lives outside, below my bedroom window, so it needs to be something on/attached to the bike itself, rather than the luxury of having a garage to stick an alarm on.

I know nothing about bike alarms, but I've had the Oxford Boss Alarmed disc lock recommended (but am slightly dubious about the brand), and know that Abus have a range of alarmed locks too. What would you guys recommend?

[Stu]

Personally I wouldn't bother with an alarm again as people ignore them although you won't but you may get pissed with it when it just goes off for no reason!

Any thief could cut the rest of the security off without setting an alarm off then have it gone before you even get your bed sheets off

I would rather spend the money on more physical security like chains and ground anchors! The more the better

A decent cropper proof chain and ground anchor would be my option as they would need a grinder to remove it and you would hear that

[Guest]

Almax chain round something solid like a lamp post, or install a ground anchor if nothing like that is available. Use the frame at the side not the rear wheel. You've just spent 6 grand on a bike, a couple of hundred quid to secure it is money well spent. If you want noisy security as well go for an alarmed disc lock. It wont do much other than make the thieves look a two levels of security and say "feck that, let's steal an easier one".

I'd be looking at a GPS tracking solution as well. I don't have one permanently fitted to the bike, but I have an old mobile phone with a PAYG SIM card, if I go away and have to leave it parked outside a hotel, I leave it plugged into a charger under the seat and running a piece of software called Hellotracks.

[Stu]

You could also buy a chain from our sponsors

https://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=63502

You can pick your length and type of lock and they are top quality

[Hoggs]

boom problem solved

[Guest]

boom problem solved

 

You are female and happy to have a bike in your lounge. If you have a man, he's a lucky, lucky, man. Most of us don't have that option. My wife fills my garage full of her shit, but I'm not allowed to fill her house with bikes, it's simply not fair.

[Hoggs]

boom problem solved

 

You are female and happy to have a bike in your lounge. If you have a man, he's a lucky, lucky, man. Most of us don't have that option. My wife fills my garage full of her shit, but I'm not allowed to fill her house with bikes, it's simply not fair.

 

Sadly it's not my lounge as we live in a 1st floor flat and whist I have looked at getting the bikes up the stairs, I don't think it would be practical But yeah when we move to the county we'll build a whole bike lounge so they can all stay snug in the winter and listen to radio2

[Mr Fro]

My wife fills my garage full of her shit, but I'm not allowed to fill her house with bikes, it's simply not fair.

 

Jesus Christ man. Grow some balls!

Wife asked me yesterday to put up a blind and fill some holes in some walls. Did I do it? We'll, yes actually but I went straight to the garage afterwards and hit things with a hammer until I was told to come back inside.

That my friend is how it's done.

[Lateralus]

I do already have a 16mm chain from Pragmasis, along with their Torc ground anchor, which is about as good as I'm going to get at home. The chain just, slightly awkwardly, fits through the frame trellis just behind/under the seat, so that's how it's locked up now.

The noisy bit is more for my own peace of mind, and I now think a disc lock might be better than a bike alarm because it's then also a physical/visual deterrent. I have a decent disc lock already (thanks [mention]Gerontious[/mention]), but it won't scream if someone's trying to take it off.

Unfortunately there's no way into my house without going up several steps, so the living-room storage solution is a non-starter!

GPS tracker is a good idea. This whole train of thought started because a guy I know had his bike nicked from his office - the alarmed disc lock alerted him, and whilst being too far away to stop it being bundled into a van, he was able to grab a photo of it happening from the first floor, and the tracker meant it was recovered fairly quickly. Getting it back from the police is proving more problematic. His office has now had ground anchors installed in the car park too, after a mere 3 or 4 bike thefts.

For no specific reason I'm slightly dubious about the Oxford chain and lock I currently use, so maybe an improvement there would be worthwhile too.

[Guest]

For no specific reason I'm slightly dubious about the Oxford chain and lock I currently use, so maybe an improvement there would be worthwhile too.

 

http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/t-wallofshame.aspx

There's your specific reason, hand cropped by a complete novice in 3 seconds

Can't stress enough, don't buy Oxford when you need quality.

If you only need earplugs, a clock for your handlebars, soft luggage, etc it's great because it's cheap and it does the job.

But if it needs to perform technically in some way, charge a battery, work as an intercom, be waterproof, withstand attack from a thief, etc, then buying Oxford a total waste of your money.

[Lateralus]

Good to have it quantified, I guess!

Well that's definitely a new portable chain and lock on the shopping list then, ahead of the alarmed disc lock, and a lesson learned to only buy soft and fluffy things from Oxford.

[Kikesin]

Good to have it quantified, I guess!

Well that's definitely a new portable chain and lock on the shopping list then, ahead of the alarmed disc lock, and a lesson learned to only buy soft and fluffy things from Oxford.

 

Apart from their chains.. these are soft and fluffy too

[Joeman]

Wireless doorbell with mecury tilt switch.

When the bike moves the doorbell sounds in your bedroom

[Guest]

Wireless doorbell with mecury tilt switch.

When the wind blows the doorbell sounds in your bedroom

Corrected for you

[Stu]

While oxford will not stand up to the 5 foot croppers that Almax used I bet they would stand up to the average joe's bolt croppers!

Not all thieves have a set of 5 foot croppers tucked in the trousers!

If they have access to 5 foot croppers then they are pro's and will just cut the chain off with their battery grinder they will have come prepared and if they are coming prepared you may as well kiss goodbye to the bike

That said I have the Pewag VKK12x45 chain and lock from Brindley chains and also an oxford one which are both the same length but the weight of the oxford is over 2kg lighter! so it just shows that the quality is not as good

My oxford chains are now pretty much redundant! I don't see the point now I have the pewag I want to get a shorter one for when I go away on the bike as the weight of the 2 metre one is a killer

[Joeman]

If it's under your bedroom window, have a pot of boiling oil ready to pour over them. Even the pros won't like that!

[Guest]

Not all thieves have a set of 5 foot croppers tucked in the trousers!

 

Most of them now just have one of these in their pocket instead

http://cdn.axminster.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/920x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/0/102774_xl.jpg

Or one of these

http://protech.koszalin.pl/images/products/zoom/makita-bga452rfe-314-centrum-elektronarzedzi-pro-tech-pro-tech-1.jpg

Edited June 26, 2017 by Anonymous

[Stu]

If they have access to 5 foot croppers then they are pro's and will just cut the chain off with their battery grinder they will have come prepared and if they are coming prepared you may as well kiss goodbye to the bike

 

 

Which is pretty much what I said here!

[Guest]

If they have access to 5 foot croppers then they are pro's and will just cut the chain off with their battery grinder they will have come prepared and if they are coming prepared you may as well kiss goodbye to the bike

 

 

Which is pretty much what I said here!

 

Yup, but with a decent chain, they need to make 3-4 minutes of noise with a battery grinder outside the chaps bedroom window, but with an oxford chain they are through it with bolt croppers making no noise at all.

[Hoggs]

If they have access to 5 foot croppers then they are pro's

 

Which is pretty much what I said here!

 

it's not the croppers you want to worry about Stu. A lot of them carry battery powered grinders

[Stu]

If they have access to 5 foot croppers then they are pro's and will just cut the chain off with their battery grinder they will have come prepared and if they are coming prepared you may as well kiss goodbye to the bike

 

 

Which is pretty much what I said here!

 

Yup, but with a decent chain, they need to make 3-4 minutes of noise with a battery grinder outside the chaps bedroom window, but with an oxford chain they are through it with bolt croppers making no noise at all.

 

Which is what I said in my first post

And 2 minutes as tested on an Almax with an 18v grinder

the tests I have seen you would struggle to cut two chains with one battery so and the likelihood of them having two batteries and the time to do it would be slim

[Guest]

Which is what I said in my first post

 

So we agree then. That's a good thing isn't it?

[Guest]

And 2 minutes as tested on an Almax with an 18v grinder

 

That's impressive, the test I watched was 2 1/2 minutes with a 240v, so I kind of assumed (maybe wrongly) an 18v would take longer. Depends what disc is in the grinder too I guess.

[Stu]

I never said I disagreed

Yes disc selection would make a big difference

[someone]

Get the disc lock too. The more security the better, the compromise is on how much time and effort you need to spend in putting it on taking it off that you end up not bothering. But a disc lock takes five seconds to attach or remove, so has no downside to you. Well, unless you forget it is there and try to ride off. Do not do that.

But is one extra thing for a thief to deal with. If they are determined and have the time nothing you do will stop them anyway, but it may make them look at that other bike with just the one chain instead, or take those few extra seconds they get noticed.