Security whilst touring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH8kD3Dp9to

Skip to 2 mins in and tell me a cable is better than a chain.....

A cable is better than a chain :aidan

Who said a cable was better than a chain :nenau

I can find you any number of YouTube vids showing a chain being cut through in under the 3 minutes it took the guy to nibble through the cable. What would that prove :nenau

I use chains in the workshop but this thread is about the most convenient method of security when on the road.

What I did say was that I have had two instances of attempted theft of bikes out on the street and both times the cable defeated the thieves. I still use the same cable.

For 'me' a cable is better 'cos it's more compact, lighter, plastic coated so doesn't damage your bike and with the U lock I use I pass the lock through the front wheel/forks and attach the cable to it. The other end is looped through itself which gives me approx 2m to wrap around a lamp post/ other bike/whatever.

A very visible deterrent and for me more convenient than a chain.

Andres
 
I think any thief armed with the right tools will get through most security in a matter of seconds. Pretty much anything will defeat a casual opportunist thief though who isn't armed with any tools.

Although this vid is aimed at cycle security it shows how quick a cable can be snipped.


For me, I'd go on the basis that while on tour anything convenient that you'll remember to use has to be better than nowt.
 
A thick cable might defeat small croppers and a weedy thief - and if you keep it off the floor, that does make it harder to crop – but I've tested these things and I promise you that with a good set of 42in croppers, with the jaws on the floor, it takes a 16+stone lump of me next to no time to go through 12mm cable: just put all my weight on the top handle aaaannnndddddd.... it's through. Not hot knife through butter, perhaps, but relentless, unstoppable and far too easy.

It has to be said that the big croppers will cut through a small chain pretty much as easily as a cable, but for me the big thing is that cropping a cable is really, really quiet. You can smash chains or angle-grind them, but that makes a lot of noise and should attract attention. But you could be 10ft from a cable being cut and not hear a thing.

The other thing is that good bolt croppers are really expensive. If you have a tough-looking chain, some thieves may not want to risk damaging them by taking it on. But a cable won't dent the cutting face or warp the croppers. To be fair, the kind of chains capable of doing that tend to be too big for travel use - the big 16mm or larger heavyweight jobs from the likes of Pragmasys and Almax. But there's no danger of a cable damaging a £250 set of croppers, so it's always worth a thief having a go.
 
Thanks all for the great input, After giving this more consideration I've decided to ask my other half if she'd mind packing less stuff so that we could fit a small pit bull in the top box :D
 
My two penneth worth, carry a decent U Lock and use it, on the continent in 99% of the places and times you stop your bike and kit will be fine , but is it worth the holiday being monumentally f*cked up by the theft of your bike.

Use commonsense and if a hotel is in a town or city centre try and pick one that has a secure garage .

I've dealt with stolen motorbikes belonging to foreign tourists in the UK and it is an utter pain in the arse to sort out if they are eventually recovered and will be no different if your bike is nicked by some little scrote in a foreign country.

Imagine what your insurance company will require in order to pay out ie copies of crime reports , statements and if it is recovered will it ever get back to the Uk
 
Jeez, if you lot are so paranoid about your awesome steed being nicked in the badlands of France or Switzerland, your best bet is to stay at home.
 
A cable is better than a chain :aidan

Who said a cable was better than a chain :nenau

I can find you any number of YouTube vids showing a chain being cut through in under the 3 minutes it took the guy to nibble through the cable. What would that prove :nenau

I use chains in the workshop but this thread is about the most convenient method of security when on the road.

What I did say was that I have had two instances of attempted theft of bikes out on the street and both times the cable defeated the thieves. I still use the same cable.

For 'me' a cable is better 'cos it's more compact, lighter, plastic coated so doesn't damage your bike and with the U lock I use I pass the lock through the front wheel/forks and attach the cable to it. The other end is looped through itself which gives me approx 2m to wrap around a lamp post/ other bike/whatever.

A very visible deterrent and for me more convenient than a chain.

Andres


Knowing your bikes are you sure they were the target or were they just after the chain :D
 
Jeez, if you lot are so paranoid about your awesome steed being nicked in the badlands of France or Switzerland, your best bet is to stay at home.

Portugal tomorrow for me , are your not very far away neighbours OK too or should I be really paranoid and not go???? :D
 


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