How To Prevent Your Bicycle From Being Stolen

Since a bicycle is an investment more so than an idle purchase, keeping it safe is an important activity. Protect Your Bubble Reveals Top Tips To Prevent A Bicycle From Being Stolen

For a lot of people, a bike is the primary mode of transportation. Here are a few tips to keep the bike safe when the owner’s eyes cannot be on it.

A Good Lock

There is an old saying, “Locks keep honest people honest.” While true, a bicycle lock keeps thieves at bay as well. Putting a quality lock on a bike means a thief will not take the time to best that lock and instead keep looking for an easier target. Spend a few thousand on a bike but skimp on a lock is a recipe for a visit to the police station for a stolen property report. A lock with the ‘sold secure gold’ standard is the best, and can be required by some insurance companies.

Keep It Locked Unless It Is In Motion

There is no excuse for not taking a second to put a lock on a bicycle. It does not take a thief long to be gone with an unlocked bike. Spend the extra 20 seconds to lock the bike properly, or take an unnecessary chance. A thief needs less time to steal than it takes to lock the bike up.

Lock It To Something Secure

If your bike is not securely fastened to something that is also secure it probably won’t be covered by insurance. When locking a bike, fix it to an immovable object and be sure that it can’t be lifted over the top of it either.

Remove Detachable Items

Most thieves are opportunists, and if there are items that can be unclipped from the bicycle they have a high likelihood of going missing. Wheels, expensive lights, pumps, panniers, cycle computers are all likely to go missing if they are not screwed to the bike.

Commute On A fixer upper

If locking your bike in the street, don’t have a flash state of the art machine that will attract prying eyes. Bikes are stolen to sell on, so if it looks a mess it is not so likely to sell, and therefore not so likely to get stolen either. Old tape, dodgy stickers, hand painted frames and a torn saddle can make a perfectly good ride look decidedly second-hand.

Microchipping and Tagging

Chips can be used to inform the police of the rightful owner if the bicycle is checked by them. Place the device inside a tube and hey presto, they should be able to recover it should it end up with the police. Alternatively add a bike to the National Bike Registry is a good idea, it may not stop the bike from being stolen, but could help it find its way back to the owner

Lock It Where It Is Seen

It is wise to stay out of dark, scary places, so why lock a bike in one of them? Keeping a bike locked where it is in public view is a good move. Again, thieves do not like an audience unless it is another thief.

No matter how much security is in place, bikes do come up missing. When that happens, Protect Your Bubble can be there with replacement insurance. Protect your bubble has a replacement policy for bikes, gadgets and such, if they are stolen or lost.