How to Best Discourage Theft of Bikes

Question:

Maybe Im not understanding how these mast-type bike locks work, but it appears to me from the video that all a thief would need to do is to loosen the knobs on the wheel cradles, slide the wheel cradles backwards thus freeing the tires, shift the tires slightly to the side off the cross-bar upon which the wheel cradles are mounted, and then lower the bike to the ground to make off with your bike. Or am I missing something?

asked by: Paul

Expert Reply:

You're right.

Any lock can be defeated by a thief with the time and sometimes the tools to do so. Locks are primarily included on items like bike racks to act as deterrents. In other words, to an extent they "work" sometimes just by encouraging the thief to take another bike that will be easier to steal than yours. Bolt cutters, hack saws and other tools can make short work of stealing a bike or a bike rack or both. There is, sadly, no such thing as "theft-proof".

The best way to decrease the desirability of stealing any given bike is to make it appear to be way too much trouble.

The best way to do this is often using multiple locks. With a rack like the Swagman # S64683 for just a few dollars you can add a secondary cable lock such as # e98891 or # 8122D or one of the many others we offer, shown on the linked page.

expert reply by: Adam R