How To Lock Your Bike In Town | Urban Bike Security Guide

Leaving your bike unattended in an urban environment puts it at high risk of being stolen. Doddy shares some tips on how and where to lock up your MTB to reduce the chance of theft as much as possible 🔧

Using a D-Lock or heavy-duty chain lock, locking your mountain bike in the right area, and in the correct way will all reduce the risk of it being stolen.

Do you have any more tips for bike security?

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[klg]

Pro Tip: Lock it up next to a more expensive one

[SusiBiker]

Sorry Doddy - NEVER wear a chain around your waist! As an ex-motorcyclist with a friend in a wheelchair due to a broken spine caused by a chain around his waist...
Wrap it carefully around the frame, but PLEASE do NOT put it round your waist!! All it takes is one nasty OTB onto your back on hard ground, and you ain't walking again. 😢

[buckanderson]

I rode my bike to a movie one time and when I came out my bike was still there but because they couldn't steal my bike they stole my seat. I'm still mad about it and that was ten years ago. I honestly think them just stealing my seat for spite makes me madder than if they had just taken the whole bike.

[tylerfallon]

“Thankfully most locks these days, certainly the gold standard ones are pretty much pickproof.”

LockPickingLawyer has joined the chat

[TheProjectX]

I am a welder. I carry my tools everyday to work and I... weld my bike to fence till evening.

[maxlarock]

0:03 The pigeon is trying to steal the bike as he's speaking

[SytzBurrito]

So if you wanted to steal a bike just have a friend with a camera stand across the street. If someone stops you just say that you were filming a video and that it's your bike.

[tinetannies]

As a New Yorker who's seen stripped and vandalized bikes littered about the city for years, there's only one true safe approach to urban bike riding: Get the absolute worst, crappiest, beat up bike you can and use that for your urban commute. Then get a separate nice bike for your pleasure riding and don't even bother with a lock for your nice ride because you NEVER want to lock it up, you want to park this one inside. Always. Without exception. Urban thieves don't just steal bikes, they also massively vandalize them -- they twist the wheels, bust the frame, slice the cables. Get something as un-tempting as possible, something that says "I absolutely don't care about this bike". Added bonus, you'll be able to save $$$ on getting a cheap lock as well since no one will want to steal it.

[THINKforYOURSELFinstead]

I've been locking bikes up for 40+ years ... and I still learned ALOT from this video. You also gave me a number of ideas that I never thought of. My compliments brother. Great job.

[JogBird]

Its like leaving $12000 just laying around, except the police wont give a care when its stolen

[bass-man]

I once worked in private and public security as a guard and security advisor. In a large city like Vancouver I found that thief's often wore a reflective vest posing as a city worker removing so called "illegally" parked bikes. On security camera footage you would see them talking to the public as they where stealing the bike(s). You would be surprised how often that happens. Some would take up to 4 bikes at a time and walk away with them and NO one cared at all or even notice what was happening.

[dreadsanddirt]

Realizing this is two years old I still have two to offer: take the chain off the chainring entirely. A quick and simple practice that has a similar effect to the hard gear approach. Might not save the bike from being stolen, but it'll buy you a few precious seconds. Secondly, even way back in the 80s my group had the wherewithal to put removable zip ties around the brake lever, squeezing it to the grip. Same idea, it might not keep your bike from getting stolen but there's a great chance if someone goes to steal it and throws themselves over the bars because the brakes are locked you just might recover your bike. Nothing is going to stop your bike from being stolen if someone is out specifically to steal YOURS, but it's not common for a thief to make multiple runs at the same spot in one sitting so if you can simply deter them you stand a much better chance at not having your bike nicked.

[GamingWilloh]

I've been watching this for 15 minutes. Then I realized I don't even own a bike..

[DanielNit]

When it comes to how little people care, i once lost my key due to a fire accident and had to "steal my own bike" at a very busy train station in Berlin, Germany. It took me and a friend nearly one hour of sawing through the lock with no major interferences whatsoever. That was maybe 16 years ago.

Over that period, only three people came to me asking what i'd do and upon saying that "I lost my keys and need to saw through my own lock to get my own bike back" they all left us alone to our business.

It should also be noted that a police station was maybe 100m away around the corner, thus not far away and it was mid-day during workdays.

So far for "how much do people care about the theft from others (not themself)".

[francisrowland]

It’s worth checking the bike hoop you lock to in town, too. Another thieves’ trick is to cut a section out of the hoop, and then disguise it with duct tape. That leaves them then the possibility to just lift your bike and lock(s) out of the whole hoop! So be sure the thing you lock to really is secure.

Good video, though. Thanks!

[deeb.]

My husband who loves his locks and is always saying that
" Most locks only give the illusion they are secure & in reality are there to keep honest ppl honest!"

[GorgeGeorg]

You really need a spike, spring loaded in the seat tube so that if the bike is stolen, when they sit on the seat, the spike is driven up through their rear end. One attempted theft and they'll never sit on a bike seat again.

[Espen_Danielsen]

Never use only a single lock! All locks have a weakness against specific tools. Always use two locks of different types that require different tools to break, like a wire lock and a folding lock, or a chain lock and a D-lock... That way you also have a separate lock to protect your fork and front wheel.
Also there are folding locks with an integrated alarm that works quite well!

[xaviergm]

Sadly, a new trend is: thief brings a lock of their own, locks your bike with their lock and then you can’t take your bike anymore.
Then, they will come back at, let’s say, 3am armed with everything they need to crack your lock (no matter how strong it is) and get away with your bike...

[mateopetric]

I just get my bike out of house, drive to my destination, sell the bike. When I'm ready to go home I just buy another one