Roughly 300,000 bicycles are stolen in Germany every year. Wouldn't it be nice if you found your bike where you thought you'd left it after a long day at work? Protecting your bike with a bicycle lock is simple and effective. But even a massive, expensive bike lock is of little use if it isn’t used correctly. Want to know the best way to secure your beloved bike? We tell you how to make the best of your lock.
Before college/work/school/restaurant/cinema, I'm sure you had it parked here. And now? Gone! Really annoying!
But you can do a lot to make sure it's not one of the 300,000 or so bicycles that are officially stolen in Germany every year (there are probably many more, because not all thefts are reported). Simply secure your bike with a suitable bike lock. Or even better: Take two locks at once! Then your bike will be even safer, even if you live in Berlin or Leipzig, the two strongholds of the Bike-Klaus.
A cheap bike by the way, is no guarantee that it won't be stolen, because there are two kinds of bike thieves. Thieves who want to enrich themselves at the expense of others steal expensive bikes that are easy to resell. Bikes from well-known brands are particularly at risk here. Bikes that are very trendy at the moment also disappear more often than others. Until a few years ago these were mainly mountain bikes, today of course E-bikes and gravel bikes are among the particularly endangered species.
The other criminal variant is too lazy to walk or too stingy for a bus ticket. For the way home an old, cheap, badly secured bicycle is stolen and later parked somewhere. With a bit of luck, these bikes will find their way back to their owners, unless they end up in the nearest river.
Is a bike with a bike lock really perfectly safe?
First, the bad news: no bike lock is uncrackable. If a thief wants to get to your bike, he will, especially if you make it all too easy for him. Here's the good news: There are three tricks that will make it harder for even the most skilled thieves to get away with your bike.
Bike thieves want two things above all: the theft has to be quick, and they don't want to be observed doing it. With this info, you can put your bike lock in place so that nothing happens to your bike.
- How to park your bike safely
Aside from using a security lock, you can secure your bike by parking it in places where there is always a lot of public traffic and which are also well lit at night. That way, thieves will feel they are being watched and will look for another object of desire.
The best trick you can use to make life difficult for bike thieves is to combine two locks. One locks the bike frame and rear wheel together, and another lock secures the frame to a large object like a streetlight, fence, or another bike. Picking two locks on one bike is too much work for most thieves, it just takes too long. That's why you can buy some bike locks right away in an extra-secure two-piece set.
- Look closely at the material of your bike lock(s)
The thicker and heavier a bike lock is, the harder it is to pick.
What does a good bike lock cost?
You can get bike locks for as little as a few euros. You probably won't be surprised to read here that these locks are more symbolic, they don't really secure your bike.
A rule of thumb is how much a good bike lock costs.
A rule of thumb is: You should invest about 10% of the purchase price of your bike in security technology. A flea market bike for 100 euros is sufficiently secured with a cheap bike lock, if it is gone, it is gone. A 3000 Euro Fully is reasonably safe with two high quality bike locks starting at 100 Euro
A cheap lock for under 20 euros however, is perfect for attaching your helmet to your bike or permanently securing your bike basket to the luggage rack.
These bike locks are available
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Bike lock
> all U-locks on BMO
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- consists of a solid steel shackle, locks with a deadbolt
- considered to be the most secure bicycle lock
- would have to be sawed through, that takes time
- there are different shackle lengths
- there are different material thicknesses
- heavy
- may be difficult to handle as it is not flexible
- Must be stowed in a backpack or in a special holder
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Chain lock
> find chain locks here
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- the fabric cover protects your paint
- the glowing fabric cover also serves as a signal - "this bike is protected against theft"
- can be wrapped around the seat post while riding
- Comes in different lengths and thicknesses - the thicker, the safer
- can be flexibly locked around bike and lantern/ bike stand/etc.
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Folding lock
>here's where to find our folding locks
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- Cannot be easily "tweaked through"
- is therefore considered very secure
- heavy
- not flexible
- needs a mount on the bike as it cannot be wrapped around the seat post
- the rivets between the metal elements are a weak point
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Cable lock/spiral lock
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> discover cable locks at BMO online store
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- Consists of a steel cable covered with plastic
- light and easy to handle
- The thicker the cable, the harder it is to cut
- comes with grommets on the ends, then you can use a padlock of your choice
- It comes with a key and as a combination lock
- it comes in a spiral shape to save space
- is available in different lengths, for trips one long cable lock is enough for the bikes of the whole family
- Short cable locks are very handy
- are easy to handle and come in many bright colours, so they are perfect for children's bikes
- can be cut - with the right tool - quite easily
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Frame lock
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- It mounts firmly to the rear triangle, a bolt slides between the spokes of the rear wheel and then locks into place
- It's permanently attached, so you always have it with you
- perfect for "just a quick..." when you stay in sight
- it's often factory-mounted on children's and youth bikes or city bikes, but can be retrofitted if necessary
- is considered less secure due to its size and design, as you can't connect your lock to a large object
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Is a bike lock with alarm recommended?
From the company Abus you can find some bike locks in our online shop that have an alarm function . The alarm systems register vibrations and react to them with loud beeps. If you often have to leave an expensive bike alone, a bike lock with an alarm function is a safe alternative. Of course, you then have to park it in such a way that someone hears the alarm and rushes to help.
The problem with security classes
Abus, Kryptonite or Hiplock, there are many manufacturers that make good bike locks. They test their locks extensively and then divide them into security classes. If they pass an impact test, can't be drilled open, or a bolt cutter can cut its teeth on them, they get the highest security level. However, these security classes are not standardized! Bicycle lock veteran Abus, for example, distributes security levels from 1 to 15, with 15 being the highest security level. Hiplock and Krytonite call their particularly secure locks "Maximum Security", simple locks are "Basic Security"
How to find a secure bike lock
So if you're looking for a particularly secure bike lock, you should first choose a manufacturer and then look for the highest level of security among their products. Or you can filter by price, because with bike locks, you get what you pay for
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Expensive bike lock = heavy, thick, secure lock
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cheap bike lock = less secure lock
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If you don't want to dig too deep into your pocket for a lot of security, you can easily visit our sale . Bike locks pop up there at bargain prices from time to time.
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Keys or numbers on a bike lock?
Bicycle locks with keys are considered more secure. We haven't checked, but supposedly it's harder to pick the lock cylinder than it is to break the part with the number wheels, because most of the time bike locks are picked in the lock cylinder area, not cutting the chain, cable, or anything else.
With most combination locks, the number code can be set individually by the user.
What else you can do to secure your bike or keep loss to a minimum
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- Register the frame number of your bike. Stolen bikes are registered by frame number. Before someone buys a used bike, this can help determine if it is stolen property
- For expensive bikes, it is definitely worth having bike insurance
- so that you can prove to the insurance company that you didn't carelessly put your bike at risk because it wasn't locked, you also need the purchase receipt of the bike lock
- Purchase receipt, photos - set aside some evidence that shows your bike is actually yours
- Even individual parts of bikes tend to get stolen, which is why there are lockable clamps for handlebars or saddles
- if you have an e-bike, you should always take off the display and plug it in when you park your bike, because the displays are usually just plugged in and disappear especially quickly
- By the way, a bicycle lock secures not only bicycles quite excellently. From the pram in the hallway to the ladder in the garden shed to the wintering caravan, there are many occasions when a bike lock will secure your belongings
- For very high value bikes, it may be worth hiding a GPS chip somewhere on the bike. This will allow your bike to be tracked
- You want to secure your bike in the basement or garden shed, but there's nothing far and wide where you can plug your bike in? At accessories for our bike locks you will find screw-on eyelets that you can first mount firmly to the floor or wall and then connect the bike to them. You can also find brackets for U-locks and folding bike locks here.
- Hiplock makes wonderful bike locks that you can wrap over your shoulder or around your waist (hip=hip, lock=lock) while riding, some of them are reflective and improve your safety
