Cycle Security

Your bicycle is just as vulnerable to theft at your home as it is in the street, so it is just as important to follow precautions at home as you would out and about. The aim is to make your bike less appealing as well as difficult to steal.

You can do this at home by:

• Locking your bike (e.g. with a padlock and chain or a D lock through the back wheel and frame) even when in the house, shed or garage, will mean an opportunist thief won’t be able to ride it away or use it as a quick getaway. See www.soldsecure.com for more advice on suitable locks for indoor and outdoor use.

• Keep your bike in a secure shed or garage with a robust lock on the door.

• Secure your bike to an immovable object or consider installing a floor or wall-mounted anchor lock.

• If storing in a communal area and the front wheel is quick release, take the wheel indoors.

When leaving the bike unattended when out and about in public:

• Always lock your bike, even if you are leaving it for a couple of minutes.

• Leave your bike in well lit areas where a potential thief can be easily seen.

• Lock your bike to an immovable object. Use a bike rack or robust street furniture that offers multiple locking points.

• When locking, try to avoid gaps where tools could be inserted within the lock to gain leverage to break the lock. Also avoid leaving the lock resting on the floor, where it could be hit and broken.

• Secure removable parts (for example, wheels) or take smaller parts with you (for example, lights and quick release saddles).

• If you return to your secured bike, but it’s developed a flat tyre since you’ve left it, don’t leave it there overnight. Bike thieves are known to deflate tyres in the hope that bikes get left overnight so they can work on the locks undisturbed. Especially with combination type locks.

• Think about having your bike security marked. This can be done free of charge at your local Police Station.

• Register your bike for free with the national property register http://www.immobilise.com/