Nothing keeps us from using our bikes for everyday purposes more than worrying that our bike might be stolen. and knowing that most stolen bikes are never recovered.
Most bicycles are stolen from home, from out yard or garage, where the bike spends most of its time. If you leave your bike unattended, lock it. The best place to store your lock is to use it on your bike!
U-Locks are the most secure type of bike lock, followed by cable/lock systems. - but even thick cables can be cut. Only lock your bike to an immovable object. Trees, posts, and chain-link fences can be easily broken or cut, allowing the bike to be lifted over the post and carried away. Look for something embedded in the concrete, such as a permanent bike rack or a parking meter, but be sure that the locked bike cannot be slipped over the top.
Don't park your bike so that it obstructs handicapped zones, stairs, entrances, ramps, pathways, door-opening buttons, or traffic thoroughfares. Be courteous and use bicycle racks whenever possible.
The best way to use a U lock is to put the U around that immovable object, push your bike up to the post so that the bars pass inside both the frame and rear wheel, and then place the front wheel and locking bar in place.
Don’t lock the bike to itself by locking the front wheel to the frame. A thief can simply carry the bike away. Don't pass the lock only through the front wheel, rear wheel, and post. You will return to find two wheels without a frame. You must pass a lock through every component of your bike that you wish to keep, so get both wheels and your frame at once.
The favorite way to remove a U lock is to pry it open with a tool. and break it open. To make this as difficult as possible, fill the space inside the U with as many components as possible, so that your leave the thief little room to work. Use your bike, front wheel, and the post so that you can still close the lock. Use the smallest lock that will still work. Some U locks are wider than necessary, making it harder to fill and far easier to fit a jack into than with a thinner/narrower U.
If you already have a cable lock, wrap the cable tightly around your bicycle and a fixed object, keeping the locking device as high above the ground as possible. This will make it difficult to gain leverage by bracing one leg of a bolt cutter against the ground. I always recommend a cable that is at least six feet long. Place the cable though both wheels, around your frame and then around that immovable object.
You can really foil the thief, bby using both the U Lock and the cable. Few thieve will have the tools to violate both systems. Get a quality lock. Ask at a bike store, where you’ll get good advice.
When parking your bike, mix it up if possible by changing location. The same bike parked in the same spot day after day is an easy target
Let’s all lock our bikes, and let’s all get more people using bikes.