Smartlock

So you locked your bike up securely. The bike thief has bolt cutters. He lines them up on your cable lock........



Smartlock is design registered with DAC/Bikeoff and currently available for licensing. When cut, it sprays the bike thief and bicycle with colored dye. The dye renders the bicycle undesirable and therefore unsellable. The Smartlock also sprays transluscent Smartwater, an invisible forensic property marking liquid. Shame it doesn't spray skunk scent and pepper spray.

Bicycle Uglification

I touched on bicycle uglification in my first bike theft prevention post, but I felt it was necessary to go a bit farther. Uglification is a current popular trend among bike commuters. True enough, not much sucks as much as getting off work and finding your ride gone or stripped of essential parts. I can understand the need to make your primary mode of transportation undesirable to thieves. The less incentive they have to liquidate your ride, the better. The problem is, thieves are not stupid. Sometimes they just want transportation themselves.

Uglification of bicyles by commuters seems to be simply a backlash against the expensive shiny bikes ridden by the lycra clad weight weinies. Most of the tricks cyclists use either weakly disguise an expensive bicycle, or ruin it. It is far better, in my opinion to resurrect a previously discarded bike for the purpose of commuting. Regrease dry bearings. Oil the chain. Rebuild the bike as inexpensively as possible, without caring about appearance. Then get a lock that will deter all but the most determined thief. It's all about the work to benefit ratio.

But if you want to explore bicyle uglification, here are a few links:

Ugly Your Bike

Ugly Your Bike #2: A Case Study

10 Uglification Tips

8 Ways To Ugly Your Bike

Junk-ify Your Bike

Bicycle Security

I am using a Kryptonite New York Noose to secure my commuter bike. At present, I am removing the front wheel to secure it in the noose. My only complaint about this lock and chain is that one more link would have been helpful. The chain I am using is the 27 inch version, and it is barely enough to bind the frame and both tires around a reasonably large pole. A fifty-two inch version is available, but it entails almost twice as much weight. I prefer the chain to a U-lock due to the increased flexibility.
Soon, I may purchase a U-lock to secure the front wheel on the bike. The extra lock will also give me the ability to lock up my wife or little girl's bike, so we can travel by bicycle to places together. I am considering a different brand from the Kryptonite, just to have two locking systems on the bike.

Cyclists chuckle and say that any weight savings on an expensive lightweight bike is quickly offset by the locking device necessary to secure it. There are many schools of thought regarding the prevention of bike theft. One thing all bicyclists agree on though, is bike thieves suck. All it takes is a quick search on You Tube using the keyword "bike thief" to become convinced that a determined thief can make off with almost any bicycle. Here are some strategies to help make certain your bike is still there when you return from your errands.

1. Always lock your bike. Many stolen bikes were never locked in the first place. If you lean your bike outside a convenience store to dart inside for a soft drink, the thief will have a head start plus your bicycle to help him escape. You will be on foot, and you will likely never catch him.

2. Buy a quality lock. Cheap chains and cables easily fall to bolt cutters. Standard lock shackles are sliced in under 15 seconds with bolt cutters. The cutters get stashed back in the thief's backpack, and he makes off on the bike in under a minute. For details on how to properly use your lock, visit Sheldon Brown's Lock Strategy page, and mechBgon's Bicycle Locking page.

3. Lock your bike to something secure. Bike thieves are known to remove or loosen bolts holding together bike racks to quickly remove the prizes locked to them. Parking meters may have the heads loose for quick removal. Poles may not be secure in the ground. These are known as "sucker poles." The thief waits near the pole, a sucker quickly locks the bike to the pole, and enters a building. The thief pulls the pole from the ground and off the bike, and rides off on the bike or tosses it in the back of a pick-up truck if the wheels are bound.

4. Secure the small parts on your bike. Quick release seat posts are an invitation to ride home with a seat tube poking you in the ass. Even if you discard the quick release in favor of a bolt, use a chain to secure the seat to the frame. I like to use a bicycle chain for that purpose. Walking a unicycle home sucks even more than a seat tube up your butt. If you have a quick release on your front wheel, secure the wheel with a lock. Locking skewers are available, but the cost is almost as much as another decent U-lock. When you purchase lights, make certain they have quick release fittings so you can take them with you. Riding home without handlebars sucks too. If you have an Allen bolt(s) securing your handlebars, fill the recesses with glue. A pick will quickly pop out the glue in the shop, but the thief with only an Allen wrench will move on to the next target. I decided to put kiddie handlebars on my commuter bike for several reasons. First, they were free, off a junked little girl's bike. Second, they give me a narrow riser bar. Third, a bike thief just wouldn't find them desirable. Which brings up another point......

5. Make your bike one of the least desirable ones on the rack. It doesn't have to be a junky clunker, it just has to look like something that a bike thief can not sell quickly. Chain it up right next to the shiny Orbea or the Cannondale. Many cyclists wrap expensive bikes in Saran wrap, duct tape and such. Bike thieves are not stupid. They know a marketable prize lies beneath the wrappings. Reflective tape and latex house paint work better to make the bike thief choke and move on. Another tactic is to buy or build a bike that suits your needs, but which nobody would really desire. Check out pawn shops and garage sales. Forget expensive stuff. Buy an older, middle of the road bike with functional but obsolete components. Rusty bolts never hurt anyone, just spray them with some penetrating oil so they will turn when needed. Scratches and scuffs in the paint just increase the odds the bike will still be there when you get back. Once you have a suitable pariah bike, remove any of the good stuff, and bolt on the stuff you need to make the bike more utilitarian, and even less desirable. For more ideas on how to make your ride less appealing to a thief, go here.

Lock It or Lose It

How to Keep Your Bike from Being Stolen

Avoiding the Bicycle Thief

Locking Your Bike

Victim Complex: Coping With Bike Theft