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Last year we had a bike and some wheels nicked out of the car. It was in a well to do neighbourhood of York under CCTV cameras. They smashed the rear hatchback window and lifted the frame out. In out and gone with the alarm going in less than a minute I should think. Apart from the insurance wrangle (car v home etc etc) got my dosh back for a relatively unimportant bike.
So..... we decide to go away again for a short break and have to risk leaving the bikes in the car again. Going to be parked in a well lit and CCTV covered area so my solution is to D lock the frames together and through the hooks that hold the seats to the body work when the are up. I wanted the locks cable etc to be clearly on display so that chancers know its going to take a long time to get the bikes out and hence being lazy scripts don't bother.
Mrs wingnuts wants to cover everything up with a sheet so that they don't notice the bikes. I say that it just adds to the temptation as they won't know that there are the locks to contend with.
Accepting I'll always be wrong here is there any support for my position from the STW security experts?
Do both.
What car is it?
Do both, you might end up with a smashed window if they gambled on the bikes being under the blanket as worth it, but at least you have your bikes as they won't come for a second attempt with tools for the locks.
If they can see the locks before then they can come with the right tools and do it anyway.
Where can you possibly be going that means they need left in the car. Even the skankiest hotel or air BnB I've stayed at has let me put my bike in left luggage/a shed /round the back locked up .
Leaving bikes in cars is like dressing a shop window to entice folk in given that cars tend to be parked in public places.
Golf GTI and I do take them inside whenever possible but some places are really snotty about bringing even sparkly road bikes in. Thinking about car parks after rides as well (when we go for recovery drinks). Nicked in York and going to Bournemouth. (holds head in shame) The point about the sheet is that they'll guess its a bike but not see the effort required to get them out.
Covered up. Out of sight out of mind. Lock them to the seat latch mountings.
Covered up, as my insurance won't pay out otherwise
Mrs wingnuts wants to cover everything up with a sheet so that they don't notice the bikes.
I'd concur, assuming you can't move them somewhere safer.
premier inn and bikes in the room for me
I'm with your mrs, covered up. Locks just show value, one poking out under a sheet is just going to make them wonder what's locked under the covers....
Mine are always locked inside and all covered over, spent countless nights in the car all over the country like that in all kinds of places and never an issue.
Well she's in love with you lot!
I would (and if necessary do) lock the bikes to a suitably solid part of the car and cover them up with a dark coloured sheet held taught(ish) from the back of the front seats to over the parcel shelf so it's not obvious what's underneath.
Bike bag and bring them in incognito.
nickdavies - Member
I'm with your mrs,
Never mind the bike, someone has stolen your wife!
Www.familysolicitor.co.uk
[quote=Caher ]Bike bag and bring them in incognito.
Is the correct answer if staying somewhere which might get snotty. I've done that in lots of places and never had any problem.
Another vote for covered up. Plain, dark tarp or sheet to make it not stand out.
Cheap black Tesco bed sheets work a treat, I use them for covering up my bikes when in the car.
Seats down, bike in, sheets over... you can barely see anything..
The advice from the police is to not leave valuables on display.
Leaving expensive bikes visible is just adding temptation to the situation. The thief will probably have a go and at the very least will cause damage even if the bikes can't be removed.
I would try wherever possible to take the bikes out of the car and leave them in your accommodation.
A couple of these might help convince people that you won't leave a message behind:
http://www.polaris-bikewear.co.uk/Bike-Rug-2017-p/pol01-7510.htm
What bikes? Mtb or road? Take wheels off drop saddles turn remove bars and the bikes should go in the boot possibly with wheels. If not then wheels in to accommodation with you.
leave a message behind:
A dirty protest?...
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As has been said, a lot of insurance policies have a clause that bikes in cars can't be visible, although not sure how they'd prove they were (or more likely, how you could prove they weren't)
Duffbag monster. Really tough but non-padded (so not bulky when folded and not in use). Completely black on one side, once inside a car very difficult to see. And also handy for carrying bikes incognito into hotels where reception are particularly snotty.
But of course the right STW solution is to buy a van 😀
legend - MemberÂ
Covered up, as my insurance won't pay out otherwise
Same with mine. Must be secured inside and not visible.
Black out the windows temporarily?
[url= https://www.windowfilm.co.uk/buy-online/window-film-by-the-metre/tinted/charcoal-autotint/charcoal-very-dark-05 ]Window film[/url]
Surely with the wheels and seatpost removed any bike frame will fit in the boot of a Golf even with the seats upright and the screen pulled over? We regularly hide two road bikes in the Passat with wheels on top, car seats upright, screen pulled and nobody would ever know they were there. A golf boot can't be much smaller than a Passat boot.
At 99% of hotels nobody cares a damn if you take a bike upstairs. If they do, just use their luggage store.
Put some really cheap black out window tint on all the back windows.
Do a really bad job of it making sure to leave lots of bubbles.
Put a nurburgring sticker on the boot.
Thieves will belive there's nothing of value then.
I lock and cover, using manky old grey wool army blankets and a ridiculously over engineered 2x Kryptonite D-lock and cables type arrangement always locked to an immovable part of the van. I usually run one of the cables through the steering wheel, as well, just in case they thought about nicking the van.
Golf GTI and I do take them inside whenever possible but some places are really snotty about bringing even sparkly road bikes in.
Simple bike bag (no padding etc, just basically a big hold-all) and take the bike in with you. It's just luggage and no-one cares.
Failing that, chain to something structural in the car and cover. My Mk2 Golf has a handy bodywork section below the tailgate that you can run a chain through, but I appreciate that more modern cars are fully packed out with plastics and carpet.
If you're really worried maybe look at getting a simple ground anchor bolted into the boot floor.
We have a fleecy blanket with a black/waterproof side that fits well over a bike in the back. Under that, and behind tinted windows, it's [i]really[/i] hard to see anything inside.
Always take my bike into hotels with me. Holiday inn expresses, premier inns, Ibises, none have batted an eyelid.
Tarps as last resort but really put your case to the hotel if they complain. Hotels are supposed to look after their customers.
Cover them. We had a Safebag for our estate car. You couldn't tell what was in it. Could be garden waste or bikes, etc. Never bothered to lock them
cover them up with a large dog.
Holiday inn expresses, premier inns, Ibises, none have batted an eyelid.
some places are really snotty
I'm guessing the OP might not have been thinking about Ibises, Premier Inns and Holiday Inn Expresses when he posted that?
Window tinting and black sheets over them? Could you put enough crap on them to make it look just like a pile of old clothes etc?
I always try and get the parcel shelf on (if it's not possible to put the bikes fully under the parcel shelf - wheels off etc) if I'm leaving the bike(s) in the car, with a cover over the bike, and no bike paraphernalia on show (except perhaps kids bike helmets etc which won't attract much thieving attention I hope).
I have taken a bike into a hotel room or had it put in the luggage room at various hotels. If they wanna be snooty they can suck my hairy plums.
If it's that much of an issue and buying a van isn't an option (this has [i]got[/i] to be the perfect excuse for buying a van, no?), why not hire a van for a couple of weeks?
[quote=BadlyWiredDog ]Simple bike bag (no padding etc, just basically a big hold-all) and take the bike in with you. It's just luggage and no-one cares.
The thing is, even if they think it's a strangely big bag, and might even work out it's a bike bag, it's not screaming "bike" at them in the same way as if you just took an unpackaged bike in. What's more there is a genuine reason for them to be worried about you taking a bike in - because it's very easy to mark walls etc. however careful you are. Having it in a bag pretty much removes those concerns.
I've certainly taken my bagged bike into places considerably posher than an Ibis or Premier Inn without any problem - also into apartments where you're not supposed to have bikes.
An uncovered well secured bike will lead an opportunist scrote to send a text to a mate asking to borrow his bolt croppers.
Let the thieves have them, they will have them if they want them whatever you do.
Get a new bike on the insurance. That is what it is for.
I'd cover them with a sheet and not lock them to the car, if they are prepared to break a window they are prepared to make a helluva lot more mess of the car.
As said if you leave the parcel shelf in and use a dark sheet, it is much less obvious to the casual scrote whats there.