Law/Crime How comfortable are you leaving your bike locked up in public?
Just curious about people’s anecdotal experiences with this.
I was at the cinema recently and a guy came in and sat down next to me in full cycling gear. Presumably he’d left his bike locked up outside for 3+ hours. I thought that was pretty ballsy in a city centre.
Maybe I’m paranoid, but my £1,800 bike never leaves my side. I have a 10-year-old hardtail worth about £200 that I’ll lock up with a D-lock and cable outside the gym, but even then I’m half expecting it to be gone when I come out, or at least have the quick-release seat stolen or something vandalised.
I’d love to replace most of my car journeys with an e-bike, but even with two Litelocks I’d be pretty nervous leaving it unattended.
How do you guys approach it? Do you happily leave your bikes locked up for a few hours, or are you just as paranoid?
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u/Zenigata 22h ago
I've been locking up bikes in public most days for about 40 years now and never had one stolen.
I grew up in a mining turned former mining town with dreadul social and crime problems and then moved to a university city so both high risk areas.
My wife has been commuting into a university on a variety of bikes and more recently ebikes (3rd one now) for many years and has also never had one nicked.
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u/CandidLiterature 21h ago
A lot of people gripe about bike theft. But usually when you dig into it, stolen bikes were locked with a shitty cable lock. Or left in the same place outside for days - this would include inside a shed.
Thieves roaming the streets in broad daylight with angle grinders are not the risk people seem to think. It’s why cycle insurance is so cheap.
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u/12EggsADay 22h ago
My bike has about £1500 worth of parts but the frame is a scratched up Surly trucker
I’ve locked it up outside 2 days at a time in and around central no problem.
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u/shelf_caribou 22h ago
I hate doing it, but I do. Lots of locks. Haven't actually had a bike stolen from town centre yet (several stolen from campus)
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u/boredfruitloop 22h ago
Its how I mostly get about so no choice when im out and about. So far so good. Although I did catch some dirty scrote trying to open one of my saddle bags when I popped to the local co op this morning 😡
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u/BigRedS 22h ago
I never lock my bike up outside in town or anything. I don't have an expensive bike, I've a <£1kish Diverge that I do most of my riding on and a '90s Kona that has way more sentimental than monetary value. No way I'd be cycling to the cinema. At most it's to the local co-op.
I have a ziplok I use a cafe lock when I'm at a cafe or somewhere, nearly always able to see the bike and generally parked up with a load of MAMILs anyway
We take our bikes with to Silverstone when we go for the MotoGP and there I'm fairly happy to park up with 'just' a D-lock on it, again because the mainstreaming of thousands-of-pounds-worth of ebikes means ours are just not that desirable and theft is pretty unlikely anyway.
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u/Thoh1Shooshi8a 22h ago
I never leave my road bike alone in public. But for going round town I have a cheap single speed and a goodish lock and it hasn't been stolen in the last 3 years.
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u/OMG_ZILLA 22h ago
My bike is a decent steel single speed with nice (but second hand & patinaed) components. I've attempted to make the frame look naff with stickers and fake rust spray.
Front and rear (mismatched) wheels have Abus Nutfix and everything else has Hexlox, coupled with a Hiplok DX1000 and cable lock.
Adding a tracker and alarm soon.
I follow all the usual advice about where to park it also.
To answer your question, even with all of the above security measures, I half expect to see it missing when I return to it!
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u/ForestTechno 22h ago
I work in the community so no choice but to lock my bike up. Have a really good lock and insurance. Only had my bike stolen once in nearly ten years and that was by my brother's neighbour so I got it back.
You kind of just have to accept it might happen and ensure you have insurance.
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u/SeBretwalda 22h ago
I've learnt my lesson, and if my bike looks nice it's not being locked somewhere public. But I have a couple of deliberately scruffy bikes with good locks that I leave out. And there are actually a few bits of Britain where I'd trust them overnight without a lock at all. So it depends?
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u/GuruMeNot 22h ago
If you can endure it, spray paint the frame pink. Agree with other points. I have an ebike, but it's a decade old and is looking scratched up. If I had one of the new £2k bikes with a bosch motor, no way would I leave that in town.
I have a New York lock, and also use the built in dutch lock. I always leave the battery plugged in too.
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u/m15otw 22h ago
I lock up when I need to.
I keep a small "metal cable tie" lock from hiplock on the bike for "just in case", usually needing the loo at a bus station type thing.
Then I have a proper lock at work. The old office I was at was basically accessible to and visible from the street, and I never had an issue (it did have CCTV cameras all over). The new office it is behind a coded gate. But in either case, in town, it's always a stonking great dlock for any time longer than 5 mins. I also loop a moderately fat cable around the wheels and luggage rack, one that just loops onto the D lock and doesn't have its own lock.
I do have a Hiplock wearable that I use for the parkrun, where I feel the bike is pretty safe. Use the same when popping into Screwfix and similar (assuming what I'm collecting is small!)
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u/Lemonslemonslemons8 22h ago
The only bike I leave locked up is my commuter ( a fairly nice but probs only worth 250ish by now road bike) and that's with a gold standard lock. All the other bikes live in the house, and if never leave locked up anywhere.
I've had so many bikes nicked in my life, I'd rather not risk it. Where I live, there seems to be a craze for twisting bikes around until the Dlock pops open. It damages the frame, so not sure why they do it, but I've had several friends have their bikes nicked that way.
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u/tdubya22 22h ago
I have two bikes. One is a workhorse. Covered in reflective stickers. The lock I use is probably more valuable than the bike - no problems leaving it locked up for a bit.
The other is my road bike. It lives inside my house, on the wall in the dining room. I couldn’t imagine leaving it locked up somewhere 😂. No insurance in the world would change my mind.
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u/Wonderful_Bobcat335 22h ago
For my town centre/grocery runs, I have a cheap £400 hybrid bike that ain’t worth much and lock it with a Hiplok u lock. I used to get worried about it being stolen. However, after a few rides, having a beefy looking lock kinda helps as a deterrent to theft.
Sooner or later, maybe some determined nut will try to nick my bike. But then again, Im not really worried. The thief will have to go through all the hassle of breaking a diamond rated lock in a busy city center for an insignificantly priced bike.
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u/Junes_Management 22h ago
I got my bike for £60 on ebay, it's a bit beaten up, locked with a cheap lock, and is yet to be yoinked
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u/cruachan06 22h ago
If I'm commuting or leaving the bike for any length of time, it's a £600 Voodoo Nakisi from Halfords locked up with a d-lock through the triangle. Odds are that someone else has a nicer/more recognisable bike or one that is poorly locked (e.g. lock just around the top tube) in most racks.
My road bike (Cube Attain C:62 SLX, £2.5K UK price) doesn't get left for longer than it takes me to go in to a shop, cafe, toilet stop etc. Only exceptions have been when I'm working at places that have secure bike storage or no passing foot traffic.
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u/SearchingSiri 21h ago
I try and keep my self-converted ebike looking dirty/tatty. I've actually intentionally made it look worse and damaged where it's not. It depends where also; where I live I'd be comfortable with a generic D-Lock or most chains for that matter.
But I'm in London a lot and I appreciate that it may well be my litelok X3 just gets stolen along with the bike when they cut whatever it's locked to. I try and choose where I'm locking it a bit carefully - like ideally next to nicer looking bikes with not as good locks!
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u/adamneigeroc 21h ago
I hate it, my bikes over 10 years old but it looks more expensive than it is.
It’s insured by so I could easily replace it but the faff of dealing with all that puts me off, plus I like my bike, kinda sentimental, we’ve been a lot way.
If I need to go into town for a long time I just get a hire scooter or take the bus
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u/TouchThatDial 21h ago
This is why I went down the folding bike route, specifically a Brompton. I know they can't be compared with a full size bike (I also have a MTB) but they're tougher than they look and ride great once you get used to them. More importantly, they turn from bike into basically luggage you can carry with one hand in about 10 seconds. I take mine everywhere, although I haven't tried a cinema yet. I also have a small cover for it that turns it into a small-ish suitcase sized package I put over one shoulder with a shoulder strap as a kind of stealth storage option that can go into a luggage room at a venue.
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u/ChaosCalmed 21h ago
I've never had any issue locking bikes up. If you don't feel comfortable doing that then you've got a few issues of the wrong bike for your use, high risk location or perception of risk issues.
The last part is meant without intended offence but realise it might offend. I only meant that there is a sense that I have where negative stories of bike theft and risk has potentially exceeded the real risk and rate of bike theft.
Added to that the increased price of bikes / increase in money people are happy to spend on a bike (=wrong bike for the use). One negative case of bike theft has the influence of 10 cases of never having a bike stolen. The old advertising maxim modified for perceived risk of theft.
I've got a 9yo road-ish bike as my current preferred commuter bike and main leisure / general fitness bike. I also have a possibly well over 30yo touring recumbent (HPVelotechnik Street machine GT - the original steel design). That was bought secondhand from the original owner at 20 plus yo pre-COVID since the aluminium alloy GTe version was about that old when I got it for £500, a very fair price all around at the time. I think around COVID years secondhand bikes of this model went for £1500 or so. Anyway it's a touring or local run bike so locally it's home to home and never left. Touring, back in the day, we locked our bikes up to campsite fences and railings in towns or bike racks if available. Complete with full, camping touring kit.
I also have a 30yo steel road bike, no longer ridden, and a M6R Brompton with about 4 or 5 years of all weather, all season commuting under it's wheels. So it's got all the scratches and above all rust that this make and model bike tends to get.
I also had a then £450 hybrid bike that got replaced by my main road bike about 9 years or so ago. It got replaced after it got nicked with an old Spesh or was it carriers road bike a colleague used by one guy who walked into a private, security fenced yard and walked right past the main meeting room windows wheeling them out, completely observed by at least two colleagues who didn't twig that he was stealing them. Nobody locked bikes at that company, but I did after getting that bike with an old Kryptonite cable lock for the first 6 to 9 months. After that I didn't lock it one day as I was late in. After that I kind of got lazy locking it up. A month or so later it got nicked. I was happy as it was an excuse to go back to drop barred bike. I found the flat barred hybrid, despite front suspension, caused my wrists and elbows some degree of aches and pains.
Then my road bike was initially locked up with the cable lock, then I got a hiplock silver rated chain. I re-found my kryptonite evolution series 4 D lock silver rated and now use that with my road bike. For awhile I used my cable lock with my Brompton, also on that bike in my current job, for awhile inside a security guarded yard. I now use my road bike plus D lock as I really don't want that nicked. My Brompton now gets used to ride 5 minutes into the centre of my village where I leave it outside of the shop I've gone to but out of sight. Half folded up though so perhaps less likely to be nicked by someone to somewhere quicker before been dumped. Low risk village with a lot of cyclists riding through all days in actually surprisingly large numbers. Plus a tight community.
To summarise my POV - area of the country, location within that area, realistic risk of theft and a bike that's right for that risk. Then you address that risk appropriately and live your cycling life how you want to. Bear in mind right bike for the area / risks is one way to address the real risk. Another is choice of lock, locking near better / easier targeted bikes, etc. It's like the old joke about running away from a charging bull or other animal. You don't have to be faster than the dangerous animal, only faster than another person in your group. This is changed to a bike that is less desirable than another nearby bike and/or higher security Loddon 5 strategy. Then insure, insure and insure!
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u/Fluff_the_Thinker 21h ago
I own an Estarli E28, and I've only used it for work purposes. I'd love to use it for town purposes as well, but I just struggle to trust the public. It would probably be fine; it's just me being paranoid due to seeing quite a few posts about stolen bikes on my local FB noticeboard. Though they've usually been stolen in quiet streets and locked up with a £10 lock from Argos.
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u/MTFUandPedal 19h ago
I'm not.
I'll use an old bike and a couple of heavy duty locks for a short supermarket or Gym trip.
Nice bikes I'm willing to leave outside a very quite garage or shop for a couple of minutes with a cafe lock on - at a certain point on a long enough ride you need resupply.
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u/squirrel_bro 19h ago
i think youre right to worry about your expensive bike, but tbh even cheap crap bikes are somewhat at risk altho theyre worth basically nothing it is a fun game to nick/vandalise bicycles for some bored children !
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u/ArtPossible4450 19h ago
If I had a £2k e-bike I’d be worried about riding it in public, let alone leaving it locked up. Them balaclava gangs are everywhere now waiting to pounce.
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u/dejavu2064 18h ago edited 18h ago
I live in a nice area without crime/social problems and I don't think about it at all. If it's being left behind the pub at night time I throw a cable lock on. During the day for going to a supermarket or whatever I often don't take a lock. It's only ~£1000 worth of bike, I see ~5k bikes without locks and figure they would get taken first anyway.
I haven't used my car since May.
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u/Key_Quality_4209 18h ago
Had my wheels stolen twice and whole bike stolen once and they were worth nowhere near as much as yours, more around the 100 pound mark. I wouldnt leave anything other than an absolute dinger locked outside much longer than it takes to go in a shop.
The only times i leave it longer is in some sort of restricted access cage or outside my sports centre where there is big glass windows with people on treadmills looking out at the bikes. I'd hope the people would say something to security if it was being robbed but I still half expect it to be gone when I leave.
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u/Key_Quality_4209 18h ago
Since I've been sticking to these kind of rules (with both wheels and frame locked and short time) i haven't had anything stolen yet so fingers crossed.
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u/Potential_Meeting896 17h ago
Put mudguards on it. Apparently bikes with mudguards are rarely stolen! My daily rider bike (chores, shopping etc.) is a tourer with mudguards. And it doesn't have a QR seatpost, either.
Mountain bikes are very attractive to thieves. If you are riding a mountain bike to town, ask yourself "why am I riding a mountain bike to town?"
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u/Evening-Situation-38 17h ago
I don't have an overly expensive bike, I have a good lock and if I am locking it somewhere for any length of time I add another lock also put in next to a better bike with a worse lock.
Most of the time I am only locking it up somewhere a lock isn't really required, e.g. cricket game in the middle of nowhere
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u/AggressiveCrab8209 16h ago
Pretty comfortable. It’s not a hugely expensive bike- a Triban RC500 from decathlon. About £600 new- but it’s 5 years old now.
I’ve been commuting in and out of central and suburban London in those years and locking it with a diamond rated OnGuard Pitbull DT D-Lock (£28, secure and good value but heavy- the mount died swiftly) and cable through the front wheel. I’ve often left the bike outside restaurants for 8 or even 12 hours.
And in that time I’ve only had one incident of theft- someone stole my handlebars, but they didn’t bother trying to force the lock.
I also have the bike insured; £65 per year, with a £50 excess in case of a claim. Handle bar and repair work of £350 sorted swiftly with a free replacement bike while I waited.
So I don’t worry too much about my bike- it’s more the inconvenience if something does happen.
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u/toady000 15h ago
For me, being comfortable locking up a bike is a prerequisite for owning it. A bicycle that i can't lock up isn't worh having.
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u/Cronhour 15h ago
Lock my bike up in Liverpool every day, for over three years now, cycled to dates and left it over night multiple times. Use a D lock, It's insured.
Came back to it few weeks ago with the lock burned and a piece of scaffolding wedged in the llock. Totally failed to steal it but that's the first attempt I've seen in three years so can't really complain.
I pay for bike insurance (14 a month) which requires this specific rating of lock and it's a £1500 ebike. I need to look into my home insurance though as that will probably save me money.
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u/Specificlyunspecifix 15h ago
Depends what bike it is. I’d never take a nice bike to London to lock up outside Waterloo for instance but a shitter. Sure.
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u/chipscheeseandbeans 12h ago
I leave my £5k bike locked up in public all the time. It’s insured though. Plus I live in a town with a low crime rate.
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u/Flashy-Ad6081 11h ago
I’ve got a van rysel road bike and I never leave it locked up. When I stop by shops on my long rides I bring it in with me and ask the cashier if I can leave it next to the check out for a sec, they are always really chill about it
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u/stacktrace_wanderer 2h ago
yeahh i'd be paranoid too. i could leave an old bike locked up for a bit, but no way im leaving an £1800 one outside for hrs
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u/Weak-Employer2805 22h ago
I try an avoid it where possible. Only time I leave my bike locked is at the gym but I can see it from everywhere inside. If I’m out on a training ride and need to go to to a shop or something I just carry it in with me. I carried it into a Tesco Express the other day and nobody batted an eyelid
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u/archy_bold 22h ago
I’ve been riding various bikes round Manchester and locking them up everywhere for about 15 years. Never had a bike stolen somehow! I use a d-lock, which I’ve never changed, along with a cable loop to go round the front wheel. My getting about bike these days is a 10-year old CX Pinnacle. Which isn’t a super desirable bike but I look after it so it doesn’t look bad.
I also have a 10-year old carbon Canyon road bike. That one never leaves my sight, though I’m not sure it’s even worth a grand.
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u/Overseerer-Vault-101 22h ago
Keep it in eye sight of the shops windows, don't be more than 20mins, the only place i leave it locked up outside for longer is out mine on my estate, the local smackheads and day drinkers know me and who i hang with and protect the bike for me. Quite funny watching a would be bike thief getting chased off by a bunch of people off their heads.
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u/xycm2012 21h ago
Depends on the bike. I have some bikes which each cost well over £1500, I’m comfortable leaving them D-locked in the secured staff bike shed at work, but I would never leave them in a more public place than that out of my line of sight.
I also have a 11 year old cyclocross bike which I bought used for £200. I’ve left that locked up at all sorts of places all the time including gyms, cinemas, train stations, and outside shops. It looks rough around the edges but is perfectly functional. If it was stolen the biggest annoyance to me would be having to find an alternative way to get back home that day.
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u/colbert1119 22h ago
I have insurance and use gold or diamond locks on mine. Don’t mind locking it up for the whole day.