How do you secure your bike at home

2WheelsNot4 said:
I live myself in a 3 bedroom, and as i only need the one the other 2 have become a workshop and whats otherwise known as The Bike Room.
I personally wouldnt leave it in a garage or anywhere like that, shed, custom built bike store etc, all are suseptable to thieves, it's the places that type of scum target first. In the house they've a well secured front door to get through and that just isnt going to happen.
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It is not going to happen until it happens. You may think you've got all bases covered but a thief knows ways to get in that you don't. Even low life thick as plank scumbags.
 
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My bike was stolen from my garage last yesterday, it was chained to an Abus ground anchor and they cut through the shackle with an angle grinder - we, and the dog, didn’t hear a thing. So I’ve upped the security with My new 5 stage system:
1. Replaced the crappy fence they basically walked through
2. installed an Arlo floodlight and camera pointing at the garage door (excellent btw)
3. Replaced garage door with heavier duty door with anti drill lock barrel and vibration alarm
4. extended house alarm to the garage which now goes on every night
5. Installed new heavier duty Pragmasis ground anchor with 16mm chain and higher security padlock.
I know nothing is 100% secure but happy that I’ve done what I can
 
When we were burgled 2 years ago they climbed over two 6-foot walls to avoid the exterior camera. They dropped a wifi signal blocker to knock out the camera on the garage door, levered it open, then retreated for 10 mins to see if anyone had noticed. They then came into the garage, disabled the interior camera (without damaging it - it was turned off and placed on the side!), cut the fairly insubstantial cables locking the bikes with tools from my toolbox, and took three bikes.

They clearly knew what they were coming for, other bikes (including a Brompton) were ignored, they didn't take any of the tools, they didn't damage anything they didn't need to. It was almost polite. I'm honestly not sure if I could have stopped them.

As mentioned above, I've now got a monitored alarm covering the garage 24/7, SmartWater signs up (my wife thought they were ugly so despite having used it, there were no signs previously), and I'm using 13 mm Pragmasis chain. The latter is still cuttable, but the advice I got was that any heavier risked damaging the bikes in daily use, and it's fairly easy to cut the bikes instead and still worth it with high value, so any advantage of going heavier was marginal.

I bet they can still get in and steal them if they really want to though.
 
BBear said:
My bike was stolen from my garage last yesterday, it was chained to an Abus ground anchor and they cut through the shackle with an angle grinder - we, and the dog, didn’t hear a thing. So I’ve upped the security with My new 5 stage system:
1. Replaced the crappy fence they basically walked through
2. installed an Arlo floodlight and camera pointing at the garage door (excellent btw)
3. Replaced garage door with heavier duty door with anti drill lock barrel and vibration alarm
4. extended house alarm to the garage which now goes on every night
5. Installed new heavier duty Pragmasis ground anchor with 16mm chain and higher security padlock.
I know nothing is 100% secure but happy that I’ve done what I can
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Sorry to hear that BBear.

I've had 4 attempted thefts of motorbikes and bikes out of my garage. They've done damage but they've never been successful in stealing motor or pedal bikes.
Everyone's situation is different, and the thieves that pick you vary in intent and ability. Lucky for me, I've been partnered with thieves that are as thick as sh1t and CCTV footage look like a Benny Hill sketch... (for those who remember that).

Things that seem to work are things that slow them down, make noise, or need them to make noise, and anything that might impede their exit. Absolutely bolt this stuff down too, as the thieves are fast and even if you're 20 seconds behind them, they're gone if there's nothing pinning the stuff down.

Prevention:
motion-triggered Floodlights,
Gravel,
Enclosed space before garage door or shed
CCTV

Defence:
Strong garage door - Sectional, not the up-and-over flimsy type.
Two zwave vibration sensors (for avoiding false alarms) and Smartthings hub. Fires off lights and sirens in the house and garage if triggered (Shakes off thieves before any damage is done)
If they were able to get in to the garage - 4 sirens in the garage including a mains air-horn style ear-bleeder, flashing floodlights, two more CCTV cameras plus one dummy one.
5v battery backup (mobile phone charge banks) for CCTV in case power is cut/fused from external floodlights)

I have a 16mm Squire chain (circa 5 mins angle grinding), lock and ground anchor and Oxford Beast 22mm chain (20-45mins angle grinding, as heat expands the link and clamps the disc if too hot!), sirens on the chain (oxford beast) and on the motorbike.

If I'm away from home, I've used tasker mobile app to sound an alert on my phone if during the night and I get a smartthings alert to wake me up wherever I am.

The motorbike and Orbea Rise both have trackers and send SMS messages if moved too, but chances are it's night and you'd miss that.

The trackers breadcrumb their position so even if the trackers are removed, the last location is known. You'd have to remove the EP8 to get the tracker out, so it'll take a while!

Also adding £5k of ebike (not quite the full value) to my home insurance policy only cost an extra £5. (Halifax).

Things that don't work for me:
  • Chains under 16mm. My Thieving team always carry boltcroppers and would take them 10 seconds.
  • Datatag, item security marking - It's not going to prevent the theft, and hard to prove who's the thief ("guy in pub").
  • Stuff not bolted down - They'll nick it anyway.
  • CCTV is not a deterrent for my thieves, but it helps to confirm an alarm so you can look and see if it's a burglar, vs your partner!
  • Moving the bikes to the house. I wouldn't want bikes in the house. Yes, it's less likely they'll break in, but I wouldn't want to put any additional risk of putting thieves anywhere near my family.

Hope that helps. I know mine's an extreme case and I'm sorry for anyone who's had stuff stolen - The thieves are proper scum.

Will
 
Funkeydunk said:
Is use a Dougie, its a contraption that weighs 35kg (77 lbs for our American buddies) it has massive teeth and makes a lot of noise. Warning it does smell bad on occasions, and you have to empty it twice a day. But it’s been great at deterring any would be intruder including the kids. This is a picture of my contraption.
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I've attended 100's of house burglaries, and I can't honestly remember attending one where there was a resident dog.

I wish I had the time and money to keep a dog.
 
BBear said:
My bike was stolen from my garage last yesterday, it was chained to an Abus ground anchor and they cut through the shackle with an angle grinder - we, and the dog, didn’t hear a thing. So I’ve upped the security with My new 5 stage system:
1. Replaced the crappy fence they basically walked through
2. installed an Arlo floodlight and camera pointing at the garage door (excellent btw)
3. Replaced garage door with heavier duty door with anti drill lock barrel and vibration alarm
4. extended house alarm to the garage which now goes on every night
5. Installed new heavier duty Pragmasis ground anchor with 16mm chain and higher security padlock.
I know nothing is 100% secure but happy that I’ve done what I can
Click to expand...
Been through very similar this time last year and had my levo stolen. i hate to say this but they also came back a few months later knowing that the bike would be replaced or just to get stuff from the garage that they had eyed up previously. This time they did not go for the side door on the garage but the main garage door which they tried to force but didn't succeed. I've put a baby monitor plugged in the garage with the receiver in my bedroom. I had a steel bar door And window made for the interior of the garage and also put many extra locks on the main garage door. Also installed an alarm and security light and camera. Now I can sometimes sleep at night.
 
They’ve already been back Apac - the camera floodlight picked them up peering through the garage window to see if I’d replaced the bike. The camera app buzzed while we were watching the telly but they’d gone by the time I went out (probably a good thing). Gave the police my video footage but the scumbags were wearing the usual hoodies/face scarves.
 
BBear said:
They’ve already been back Apac - the camera floodlight picked them up peering through the garage window to see if I’d replaced the bike. The camera app buzzed while we were watching the telly but they’d gone by the time I went out (probably a good thing). Gave the police my video footage but the scumbags were wearing the usual hoodies/face scarves.
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Always worth calling it in even with such circs - you never know if plod happen to be mooching around locally (and all plod like to catch burglars however lazy said plod is). I've nailed a few scumbags like this, who, after being turned upside down were found with tools/balaclavas etc and being close to a recent attempt makes them very likely to get charged for going equipped if nothing else. Can also get footwear impressions/prints from the scene whilst roadside and if they match it's game on for an attempt burglary charge.
 
Al Boneta said:
If they break into a home in the United States they are more likely to steal your consumer electtonics and personal information to steal your identity.
A bike is the last thing they want. Have you seen how fat we are over here?
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Exactly!

Thieves can't ride a bike anyway because the waist of their pants is always below their bum cheeks. Makes it too hard to swing their leg over!
 
I think the dog is the best idea. I rent so I can't own one though. A doggie door between the house and your garage would be great. I like that comment about using a baby monitor. Insurance is still the best (replacement value policy) It's cheap for me $6700 ebike I think it's around $80 a year. You could have all the security chains, cameras etc. (I use both) in your garage and then the perp or perps stop you in traffic or your out alone on the trail and they just "take" your ebike from you! I'm not about to die trying to fight them off. And they know if they are ever caught the liberal judges will let them off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Clearly, penalties need to be more severe. Treat them like horse thieves used to be taken care of. They just buy a cheap Harbor Freight battery operated handheld grinder. So insurance is a must:
 
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Dave said:
This is a bit of a follow on thread from “how do you lock your bike up”...
I’m lucky enough to have a house with an integral garage, so was going to put a couple of o rings into the concrete floor and use the best chains and/or d lock to secure it down form there. Then just take the quick release seat in the house .
I also have a shed which was the second option, was going to remove floor boards and dig a hole and bring the concrete to shed floor level and again put o rings in the concrete pad, I think the key there is to make the concrete pad 2ftx2ft so there is weight there.
Or third option was to leave the bike in the house and buy a bleedin big dog .... and put the wife and kids on doggy litter duties :poop::poop::cry::cry:
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In the garage with Abus Steel-O chain 9808, Abus foldable lock, HOME - BikeFinder and Wireless Outdoor Surveillance Home Security Camera | Wyze
 
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