So, I'm a bit of a bike riding noob, well I do a lot of bike rides on the weekends along tracks and trails and stuff, but a noob when it comes to the "Ride to the shops/work and lock up your bike" type bike riding.

I'm looking to get a lock for my bike, but I figured I might get some opinions, whats the best sort of lock to get? Don't imagine I'll be leaving my bike in any high crime areas, and it lives inside at home, so I'd imagine this will mostly just be if I'm riding to the shops/gym/some cafe and need to lock it up for a few hours max. And I've got quick release wheels, so what do I need to get to secure those? Or do they even need securing? I got a quick release thing on my seat too, but I've been told the best solution for that is to just get rid of the quick release and put a normal bolt in there.

Also, what about my helmet, do I just leave that hanging off my bike or is it likely to get stolen or f***ed with?

I've always put combination lock chain through frame then one of the things under the seat then through a loop in the helmet strap.

Good enough for goin into the shops.

How far have we degenetated that retarded nerds need to ask the 'community' how to do something that some basic mental analysis could solve for themselves. I get that you dont want to have your bike photographed because you have chained it up to a pole that someone could just lift your bike up and off with the chain still attached but do you really need to make a thread to tell QGL that you are working off your fatass riding on trails on the weekend?

Wow, were you molested by a bike lock as a child or something? So much hate...

U-Bolt is usually the only lock most people willinsure against, so one of them.
Release your wheels and you can put the bolt through them.

Also, who would steal a seat? Damn kids.

Khel prefers it with no seat anyway

get a krytonite. mine had £1500 insurance through the lock, im sure they do the same here.

yup, Kryponite is definately the way to go.

last edited by stinky at 08:11:09 16/Sep/09

They also do nice stuff like register your key number online, if you loose it you can get replacements.

I thought the krytonite insurance actually only covered the excess of insurance you were assumed to already have?

U-lock++, Kryptonite

Good luck pinching it!

weren't you ever a kid?

Really long piece of steel cable, run it through as many loops as you can, dirty big pad lock. Done.

Rottweiler, leash. Tie to bike.

And put a toddler just out of the Rottweiler's reach to fire it up - ready to attack.

Cannondale have a good quality lock that comes with a treated and coated cable as well, I think the kit of two costs about $80.

A good starting point is 10% of the value of your bike. Locks that cost less than $60ish are pretty easily thwarted.

Basically you want the lock to be as small as possible, so that thieves can't fit a car jack or similar between the hoop. You also want to leave the lock facing the ground, and make it as inconvenient as possible to tamper with.

When actually locking the bike, you only need to lock through the rear wheel (if you only have one lock). Basically you go through the rear wheel, and onto the grounded object. (hah, grounded - there's another idea, just lock it to a three-phase connector, that'll stop thieves). The idea here is that because the wheel is locked, it can't pass through the rear triangle, and a wheel under spoke tension (and through the rubber and braided wire or kevlar of the tyre) is pretty much impossible to cut through with a hack-saw.
If you then also have a cable, create a slip-knot and loop it through around the front tyre (plus around a solid structure if you can), and attach the other end to the U-lock. If they defeat either joined end of the cable it would have been completely able to be removed anyway, so it doesn't matter that only one end is attached to the lock.

I'll go outside in a bit and take some photos for you to explain.

holy crap stinky, open a krytonite with a pen lmao

Yes, you want the series 2

Yeah U-Bolt is the only thing I would recommend. Most decent bike shops sell them.

http://www.randomfunnypicture.com/pictures/1822bicycle_fail_22.jpg

How far have we degenetated that retarded nerds need to ask the 'community' how to do something that some basic mental analysis could solve for themselves. I get that you dont want to have your bike photographed because you have chained it up to a pole that someone could just lift your bike up and off with the chain still attached but do you really need to make a thread to tell QGL that you are working off your fatass riding on trails on the weekend?

This made me laugh.

He's right btw. Good job on trying to lose weight.

make sure you wear your lycra when you ride to the cafe so you can look like a total wanker sitting there drinking your *insert wanky coffee type here*

Here you go Khel, done just for you - basically what I wrote, but with an actual bike and lock to explain.



As for your helmet by the way, take it with you. Don't leave it with the bike.

One flaw in the way I've locked the bike above is that it leaves the fork to be completely removed - normally I'd actually loop the cable through the fork crown and the stantions as well as the front wheel.

last edited by Raven at 13:27:14 16/Sep/09

make sure you wear your lycra when you ride to the cafe so you can look like a total wanker sitting there drinking your *insert wanky coffee type here*

ahah so true, so many wanky things in khel's post.... riding a bike between the gym and the cafe, oh dear..

Hey, its melbourne, its all about the cafes and the lattes, no lycra yet though, fat guy in lycra is not a sight anyone wants to see.

Thats awesome Raven, thanks heaps for that :)

Awesome video Raven. You doing the Brissie to Gold Coast on the 11th next month?

personally I'd love to see a fat guy in lycra riding down the street

lol @ photo, thats so london. i swear i saw a bike a day "phantom" locked. one guy at the pub with zipp wheels, and he only ran a u-lock through the frame. should of taken his wheels to teach him a lesson ; )

normally I'd actually loop the cable through the fork crown

good if you can, i run a cable through the bars too.

last edited by mooby at 20:11:20 16/Sep/09

Awesome video Raven. You doing the Brissie to Gold Coast on the 11th next month?

Brisbane to Gold Coast? That's only like 70km. And I'm in Melbourne.

But the 2009 MTBA Australian Marathon Championships are on this Sunday (105km) - I was originally going to use the bike you see there in the vid, but a last minute pep-talk by the guy who's won the event the last 3 years straight convinced me to use the Anthem instead (see photo).

As for the fat guy in Lyrca... we had to get quite a few sets of XXXXL done in our club kit. Though in fairness, in our club kit I need a Large, and in everything else I'm a Medium, Small or XSmall. Yeah, sizes are f***ed :(

good if you can, i run a cable through the bars too.

Through the bars?

last edited by Raven at 20:16:46 16/Sep/09

I recommend the Kryptonite Mini D-lock. It's relatively compact for lugging around and it's also easy to find a spot to mount it on your frame without blocking either water bottle cage mounts. For the wheels and seat, I prefer replacing the regular quick-release skewers with anti-theft ones, such as the Zefal Lock N'Roll kit, over any additional cables.

How much of that race is cross country, raven? I thought you only rode road bikes eh

Hell no. Most of us XC guys do most of our training on the road because we can't ride single track all day and it's just easier to train on the roads. In this years marathon champs there's 0km sealed bitumen road, I'm told about 35-40km of fire trail or double-track, and the remainder is singletrack. If it were a pure road race, 105km would be over in about 2.5-3hr.

Sidetrack:
Last years Open Men winner did it 5:48 (who last week beat me at crits by 2 seconds - we're both quicker now than last year, and I'm much quicker over long/enduro events) - I'm targeting around 5:30 and a top 5 for this years event.

But yes. Should be fun. And the bike lock stays at home, cos that just adds about 2kg ;)

no bike is safe with these puppies.
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9233/boltf.jpg

Hey Raven, have you done the highland fling? Apparently they've got a 105km run. I'm thinking of doing the half fling next year.

no lycra yet though, fat guy in lycra is not a sight anyone wants to see.

You can get MTB pants from the states that will fit you. They basically look like normal pants but have padding included. You can also get non-skin tight jerseys.

How far do you cycle? When I come down to Melbourne in November, I'll bring my Bike and we'll ride around and pick up men ... I mean go to cafes and drink coffee.

I meant to post this a while back - cool wired story about lock picking and lock security. I think qmass is wrong; this is a pretty valid question - if you don't know how lousy most locks are you might just end up buying a s***ty lock and getting pwned. Specially when there's so many bikers on this forum, definitely worth tapping that resource.

Read the article though, it's pretty interesting!@#

my mates stole my seat for a week once, worst week of riding a bike evar.

How far do you cycle? When I come down to Melbourne in November, I'll bring my Bike and we'll ride around and pick up men ... I mean go to cafes and drink coffee.

This is the real reason Khel wants to get some chains. It's a bit hard to justify fluffy hand cuffs for securing your bike.

Brisbane to Gold Coast? That's only like 70km. And I'm in Melbourne....

http://www.bq.org.au/b2gc100/

· 100km ride starts at South Brisbane progressively from 5.15 am to 6.45am
· 60km ride starts in Logan City Council at Albert River Park at 8am
· Ride finishes at Southport

Which one of you is not telling the truth?! :(

Read the article though, it's pretty interesting!@#

Should have contained a warning that it may take up half an hour of work time. Totally worth it.

my mates stole my seat for a week once, worst week of riding a bike evar.

you're not fooling anyone buddy

Hey Raven, have you done the highland fling? Apparently they've got a 105km run. I'm thinking of doing the half fling next year.

Again, I'm in Mexi^H^Hlbourne.

The Highland Fling is Huw Kingston's bulls*** self-proclaimed 'Australian MTB Marathon Championship', and it's in Queensland.

Which one of you is not telling the truth?! :(

I suppose I could be lying about being in Melbourne...

But alas, I was guestimating.

Specially when there's so many bikers on this forum, definitely worth tapping that resource.

While ordinarily I wouldn't at all try to talk people out of wanting to tap this resource, the guy:girl ratio of these forums change that.
err, I mean... uhh...

My bike got stolen the other week with a braided steel lock, that was inside a shared lockup garage with security cameras, didn't look at the cameras because it costs a couple of hundred.

I was talking to another mate about this and he said he nearly had his bike stolen if it wasn't for his neighbour chasing a couple of kids away. Apparently they had an angle grinder hooked up to a portable battery.

My bike got stolen the other week with a braided steel lock, that was inside a shared lockup garage with security cameras, didn't look at the cameras because it costs a couple of hundred.

It costs a couple of hundred for you to look at cameras? Why does the place have them installed, if not to be a cash cow?

sounds like a sydney thing

Again, I'm in Mexi^H^Hlbourne.

So? My experience with crazy MTBers is that they tend to travel around to all of the good, or at least interesting, comps that they can get to. From my level of ignorance, there didn't look like there was that many large 100km+ MTB races in Australia.

I was considering to do round the bay, a Melbourne, event next year simply because it a) seemed cool, and b) it's an excuse to go to Melbourne for a few days and catch up with friends.

The Highland Fling is Huw Kingston's bulls*** self-proclaimed 'Australian MTB Marathon Championship', and it's in Queensland.

If by Queensland, you mean anywhere north of Victoria, I suppose you'd be correct. However, I suspect that you really mean The Epic, which is actually in Queensland. The Highland Fling is in the Southern Highlands of NSW. It's probably only 5 hours from Albury.