Pedal Head - Bike Safety

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Insurance and Spending

Like with many things in life, what level of security and the associated cost you throw at securing your bike is probably likely to be a compromise between how much the bike is worth, either in money terms or to you and also where you are going to be leaving it and for how long.

It’s always worth remembering that no lock is unbreakable and given enough time a thief can defeat it, so it is worth getting some insurance.

Two things worth noting about insuring your bike...

It usually doesn't cost much more to add bikes (if not already covered) to contents insurance if you have it, and that many of the better locks on sale today come with insurance sometimes up to £1500 if it is defeated by a thief, so check out all options.

Top Tips for Bike Safety

The more that you spend on a lock the more secure it is likely to be.
Make sure you choose where you lock your bike up with care - the more public tends to be safer, especially if you've locked up your bike well as thieves don't want to draw attention to themselves.
Putting the thief off choosing your bike is the name of the game, so it's often worth disguising it!

types of lock - what to choose

In terms of the type of bike lock that you might use, the D or U lock is largely regarded as one of the most secure as its design makes it more difficult to defeat. Unlike a chain or cable lock there is usually a thicker solid metal bar to cut through and the locking mechanism itself is more protected.

To really make the best of a D locks protection it is important that it is placed so that as much of the D shape is filled with bike, wheel and the secure structure you are locking it to. This means the thief has a limited chance of getting anything in there to jack or leaver the lock open without damaging the bike in the process, this coupled with the difficulty and time it would take to cut through often can deter the thief altogether.

Bike thieves these days are clued up on getting through even armour plated cables. But Cable (armoured) and Chain locks are not without their merit and the upper range of both of these types do offer significant protection. Used in conjunction with a D lock should present any bike thief with a challenge that’s simply too hard or time consuming to meet.