Cheap alternative to a ground anchor

[Ghost Donkey]

Since just before Mrs Donkey gave birth to baby number three two months ago I have not commuted. We had to make more room in our small house for all the extra stuff babies use which meant putting a lot of items of low value in the shed for a while until we can get rid of the baby stuff (again). I now can't get my bikes out without a big effort so I haven't been commuting by bike. I've ordered a waterproof cover and will most likely keep my commuter bike in the side passage during the week so I can get back to a daily commute. It's pretty safe where I live but I don't want to take any chances with a £400 bike. Ground anchors cost £50 which I will pay if I have to. Does anyone have any good cheaper alternatives?

I was thinking of using raw plugs and thick screws with a loop in the end to run my expensive cable through. The passage isn't much wider then the handlebars and the bike would be next to the locked door to the side passage which wouldn't be able to open without first moving the bike. Someone would have trouble getting a good purchase on the cable to rip the fastenings out due to the bike being in the way. If I run the cable through more than one loop it makes gripping the cable itself and using it to twist the screws out very difficult. I would also use some kind of gluing substance to hold the screws in too. Does anyone use anything like this or have any better ideas?

 

[mickle]

We have a zillion Oxford 'Brute Force' ground anchors in the warehouse which were purchased for no good reason and never used. They sell for a tenner. How many do you want?

 

[Steve Austin]

Tusk make good cheapish anchors

alternatively a bucket of concrete makes a good anchor

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

Take up a flagstone, run your chainlock underneath it and cement the lot back down again...park bike on top of it and chain up.

 

[kyuss]

Are you using a chain or cable? Doesn't really matter how secure the ground anchor is if you're only using a cable lock. Cable locks are useful for stopping opportunists thieves when you're at the shops or for securing wheels etc. but nothing more. Personally I'd never trust them if I was leaving the bike outside all night. A cheap set of bolt cutters would be through even the expensive ones in less than a minute or two. A decent hardened steel chain or D lock would be much better.

 

[Tynan]

couple of proper anchor bolts into the brickwork

mind you they'll break that with a jack if they wanna, had one taken once with a proper D lock through an iron loop as thick as my thumb, they managed to snap the loop

 

[Ghost Donkey]

Thanks for the suggestions . I obviously hadn't looked far enough to find a cheap one . I'll probably get a couple of the oxford brute force anchors and bolt them to the concrete floor of the side passage, measure the size of the holes and buy a decent chain and lock.

 

[skwerl]

On the subject of waterproof covers. has anyone come across one that is coated with a rust inhibitor? They used to available a few years back. The only one I can find now is designed for a motorbike. It's pretty substantial but costs 100 quid. The ones I remember were yellow polythene with a coating (some sort of ionic substrate or some such I guess) on one side.

 

[fossyant]

You don't need rust inhibitor especially if you have good air flow - i.e. the cover doesn't quite reach the ground, or the wall side is more open. Just wash the bike regular and keep it lubed !

My mtb lives outside all day under a cover, then in the garage at night. Quite often use a fan to dry it off after washing, as there is no air flow/low temps in the garage over winter and it wouldn't dry.

Use the ground anchors on a large flagstone/ maybe two adjacent ones and/or maybe into the wall as well.

I have a huge ground anchor for my best bike in the garage, all the others aren't locked down, but the garage is secure. The ground anchor goes 6 inches into solid concrete - almost blew up my dads good drill doing it - mine wouldn't cope.

 

[bonj2]

you don't need to get the fancy ground anchors, just go for the cheap eight quid oxford one.