This is drastisc i know, but it works: lots of electrical tape spray paint, coffee grounds, sawdust and more spray paint. Be sure to tape/paint over all brand names and emblems so the bike looses its identity. Put random pieces of ducttape on a few cables and gear changer. Never wash it and always leave it a bit dusty. Basically make it look like garbage and not worth the effort. It should look unsellable. I did this after having 3 bikes stolen within a year. Now i can hopefully have it a bit longer. Protip: use foil paint /plastic dip so its technically reversible.
this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
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[Dormant] Electric Vehicles
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I'm sorry to hear yours was stolen, and making it look like a piece of shit is technically an option.
For this, I'd prefer to invest in good security measures instead of security through obscurity.
Well all i can say is that every time my bike was stolen it was locked with a heavy duty chain, or in a locked basement, or in a locked cage-room in the basment so the thieves have no chill. My biggest mistake was probably that it wasnt locked to an immovable solid pole in the ground but you cannot always find that whereever you need to park, and a thin bikerack that is the only thing you can find in the city is so easy to cut open for thieves that they'll cut that instead of the lock so no lock will help here either. Thieves are lazy so making it look like it'll take hours to make the bike resellable is the only true option together with a heavy duty chain like the abus city chain x-plus
I have a very long electric lock (no key no number rotator) that I bind into both wheels, the frame and around the object I want my bike to stay at. Most thieves give up when they see such a lock and don't bother. They would need very good bolt cutters and walking up to a bike with these is usually very suspicious.
I have one of those $15 motion-activated alarms from Amazon (with a key-fob) buried under the seat of mine. That way, it will at least make some noise while it's being stolen. Obviously, use a lock (first and foremost).
neat idea, thank you!
My bike is customized to the point that if you want to use / sell it you're going to have to spend a quite while removing duct tape and glue residue from it. I almost never leave it out of my sight except in my garage but when I do I lock it with 2 locks, U-lock and a chain-lock and I take the battery with me.
Roger that. I use the u lock and take battery with me. I don't have a chain lock but may add that. I was hoping there were better, high/low tech ways. I haven't really kept up to date since getting an ebike.
I use a Chipolo One Point which supports Google's find my device hidden on my bike in addition to locks.