Seems I've yet again made the mistake of buying a utility bike that I'm reluctant to leave locked up.
When I was last living in Oxford the only bike I ever left anywhere public was the next-to-worthless Raleigh Routier I'd found abandoned.. once home and journeys became longer and more rural I bought the Fuji, which has served me well on supermarket runs; while thankfully many have the bike parking visible from inside which helped to calm my anxiety.
Now I've bought the Genesis since it's more suited to all-weather city riding and I'll be using it regularly to get to work. It looks pretty new and shiney and is reasonably identifiable as having some value so I want to do as much as possible to keep the scallies away from it.
Current lock setup is a middling Kryptonite D-lock with a long steel cable that (on the Fuji) goes through the front wheel and pannier bag handles, anchored at the lock which goes around whatever's available to lock the bike to, the frame itself and if there's room the rear wheel. Head unit is removed and pocketed.
The bike ideally gets locked up in areas that I can see constantly from where I am, or at least periodically. Ideally with CCTV coverage (which while useless after the fact might at least serve as some deterrant) and for the shortet period of time possible.
With the Genesis I plan to "debadge" it where possible - probably covering the branding on the bike and components with tape to make it less obvious.
So, what other tips can the good folk of CC offer? Do you think it's better to secure the bike amongst a load of other bikes so it's camouflaged or on its own so that a potential theif would be more obvious / exposed? Are people happy leaving panner bags attached? Does anyone have any faith in movement-triggered alarms or other deterrants?
Cheers
When I was last living in Oxford the only bike I ever left anywhere public was the next-to-worthless Raleigh Routier I'd found abandoned.. once home and journeys became longer and more rural I bought the Fuji, which has served me well on supermarket runs; while thankfully many have the bike parking visible from inside which helped to calm my anxiety.
Now I've bought the Genesis since it's more suited to all-weather city riding and I'll be using it regularly to get to work. It looks pretty new and shiney and is reasonably identifiable as having some value so I want to do as much as possible to keep the scallies away from it.
Current lock setup is a middling Kryptonite D-lock with a long steel cable that (on the Fuji) goes through the front wheel and pannier bag handles, anchored at the lock which goes around whatever's available to lock the bike to, the frame itself and if there's room the rear wheel. Head unit is removed and pocketed.
The bike ideally gets locked up in areas that I can see constantly from where I am, or at least periodically. Ideally with CCTV coverage (which while useless after the fact might at least serve as some deterrant) and for the shortet period of time possible.
With the Genesis I plan to "debadge" it where possible - probably covering the branding on the bike and components with tape to make it less obvious.
So, what other tips can the good folk of CC offer? Do you think it's better to secure the bike amongst a load of other bikes so it's camouflaged or on its own so that a potential theif would be more obvious / exposed? Are people happy leaving panner bags attached? Does anyone have any faith in movement-triggered alarms or other deterrants?
Cheers
