theft

Review: A Cheap But Effective Wheel Lock With Alarm

I consider myself a pretty happy and positive person, but if there’s one thing I do hate with a fiery passion that consumes my soul, it’s bicycle theft. I’ve lost two bikes in my life (two and a half if you consider that one was an electric tricycle), and I’ll never forget that feeling of anger and violation. That’s why ever since I’ve made sure to follow a number of steps to prevent anyone from stealing my electric bikes again. One of those methods is to use multiple locks of different styles, which led me to discover this neat little bicycle wheel lock.

Before I go any further, I want to make something clear: this isn’t a primary lock. I would never use ONLY this lock. This is a secondary lock; something to add another layer of protection to your bike.

Ok, now let’s get to the specifics.

The wheel lock itself looks like a cross between a long shackled padlock and a U lock. It is designed to mount on the rear of a bicycle frame and lock through the spokes, meaning that the wheel can’t spin without destroying all of the spokes.

But wait, THERE’S MORE!

It also has a vibration alarm. More on that soon.

Bicycle wheel lock installation

The lock itself mounts very easily to the bicycle with just a couple of machine screws. I put it on the seat stay (the frame member that connects from the rear wheel up towards the seat) though in theory you could probably mount the lock on the front fork as well. However, mounting on the fork might require a modification to the mounting plate.

Once the bicycle wheel lock is mounted to the bike, it just sits there, holding its own shackle in a second set of holes. This convenient feature means you don’t need to unlock the shackle each time you want to use it, you just slide it out of the holder.

A ball-and-spring clamp inside one of the holes securely holds the shackle in place so it can’t bounce out while riding. A firm tug is enough to free the shackle when you’re ready to use it.

Operation

To lock the wheel, you slide the shackle out of the holder, turn it 90 degrees, and slide it through the wheel from the opposite side of the bike. This can all be done from the lock-side of the bike, meaning you don’t have to walk around the bike to lock it. Just give it the ol’ reach around.

You’ll probably catch at least a couple spokes in the shackle, but the ingenious design of the lock means that your wheel is secure even if you don’t actually capture any spokes in the shackle. To ride off on the bike, the wheel would have to turn and break all the spokes, rendering the wheel useless. And if someone tried to unbolt your expensive hub motor wheel and remove it, they’d actually have to saw through the rim and tire to slide it out, butchering the wheel.

So yes, while someone can still technically steal your wheel this way, they’ll have to do all of that work with an alarm ringing in their ears. And not just any alarm, but a terrible, shrill, make-you-want-to-turn-that-saw-on-yourself type of alarm.

It’s not just the volume (which is loud but not earsplitting) but rather that it’s simply a terrible noise, with a combination of screeching and high pitch sounds firing in rapid succession. I accidentally set mine off in my driveway and then went running for the key on my kitchen table before my neighbors could try and kill me.

One feature I really like about the alarm is that you can choose whether or not to arm it. Generally I leave it armed, but sometimes when I lock to a busy bike rack or a bench that I know will make enough vibration to trigger the alarm, I leave it unarmed. It’s still a good lock even without the alarm.

To choose whether the alarm is armed or not, you insert the shackle flipped 180 degrees. One of the legs has a groove, while the other is fully round. The round leg depresses a switch in the lock to arm the lock, while the grooved side clears the switch and leaves the alarm unarmed.

The need to inspect the shaft to locate the arming side each time I locked the bike quickly became annoying, so I added a strip of red electrical tape on one side. Now I just remember “red-rear” for arming. If the red strip is towards the rear of the bike, the lock’s alarm will be armed. This definitely helps in low light situations too where differentiating the small difference in the ends of the shackle would be even more difficult.

My thoughts

I’ve always wanted to use a wheel lock on my electric bicycles, but I don’t have disc brakes, where nearly every type of wheel lock is intended to mount. This style of wheel lock is exactly what I’ve spent years searching for. It allows anyone to lock a wheel on their bike, regardless of the style of brakes they use.

Functionally, I have only one, complaint about the lock. When locking the shackle, you have to insert the key and turn, you can’t just shove the shackle in and call it a day. My main chain lock doesn’t require a key to close it, so I only have to take my keys out of my pocket to unlock my bike, not to lock it as well. It’d be nice if the locking mechanism on this wheel lock were spring loaded so that a key is only required for unlocking, but perhaps making it this way creates a more secure mechanism.

Other than that single complaint, which is admittedly trivial, I have only praise for this bicycle wheel lock. It simply works great and is very easy to use. If you leave the alarm unarmed, you just set the lock and go. If you arm the alarm, you hear an audible beep when the shackle is inserted, signifying that the alarm is armed (and that the batteries aren’t dead, I guess). From that point you have a 15 second window before the alarm will sound from a vibration. I’ve found that’s enough time to disconnect my battery and remove it from the bag, plus let any little vibrations die down from the locking process.

The couple times I moved to0 slow and didn’t get my battery out of the bag in time, I accidentally set off my own alarm, proving that if I did leave my battery unattended, my wheel lock’s alarm would go off when someone unzipped the battery bag. I probably won’t take that risk, but it’s nice to know.

One important thing to note is the potential to cause serious damage to your wheel if you forget about your lock being engaged and try to ride off, especially if you hit the throttle on a powerful hubmotor. If you set the alarm, there’s no way you’ll be able to ride off, as your ears will be bleeding the instant your butt hits the seat. But if you didn’t arm the alarm, you can be in for trouble if you forget to remove the lock. That’s why I added a reminder cable to mine.

reminder cable on ebike bicycle wheel lock

Some people call my ebike “dirty”. I call it “urban camouflage”.

Reminder cables are usually meant for disc brake locks on larger scooters and motorcycles, where a wheel lock combined with the weight of the vehicle is enough to prevent nearly all theft. The brightly colored cable, usually yellow or orange, is placed on the lock and strung up to the handlebars, serving as a visual reminder for absent minded riders. It also has a secondary benefit of drawing the eyes of would-be thieves to the lock.

The verdict

This lock makes a wonderful secondary lock, as I mentioned earlier in the article, because it functions entirely differently than your main lock. You should already have a heavy chain or U-lock securing your bike to an immovable object. But just in case some thief thinks he can test his luck on your main lock, seeing a second lock that inhibits riding the bicycle is another strong deterrent. Suddenly a thief is going to need to be extra lucky to get through two locks.

In reality, this wheel lock itself isn’t the most secure lock in the world. The tumbler could probably be drilled through in about 30 seconds, and a pair of large bolt cutters could probably get through that shackle. But the instant that alarm goes off and everyone turns to see some dude standing frozen next to your bike with a drill or bolt cutters, I’d say the situation has definitely changed for him.

Where to get your own

I got this lock from the Chinese website AliExpress.com, which if you aren’t familiar with it, is like a combination of Amazon’s online convenience and Walmart’s intense-competition-driven low prices. I don’t know what this lock is called, mostly because there isn’t a single word of english on the package.

If you can tell me what any of this says, please comment below!

Here’s the link to the exact product I bought, which at the time cost me $14.60 with free shipping.

Many items for sale on AliExpress have a way of coming and going, for example this similar lock which was available a few weeks ago but right now is currently unavailable.

That one, while similar to the lock I reviewed here, is designed to mount to the front fork, lacks an alarm and has a different lock mechanism. I didn’t test that lock, so I can’t vouch for it’s effectiveness.

If you’re going to pick up one of these locks from AliExpress, be prepared to wait anywhere from 2-5 weeks for it arrive on the slow boat from China. Mine took about 3 weeks. Also, consider picking up one of those reminder cables while you’re at it.

Lastly, remember that this is only a secondary lock, meant to add protection on top of a heavy duty main lock. To learn more about bicycle locks, check out my article on the best locks for electric bicycles.

image source 1

The Best Bike Locks For Electric Bicycles

It seems these days there are as many types of bike locks out there as there are bicycles. There’s quite a range of styles and qualities available, but which ones are best for an electric bicycle? Let’s take a look at some of the most common bike locks available and see how they stack up for ebike use. And consider checking out my article on 10 ways to avoid getting your electric bicycle stolen. Spoiler alert: it’s more than just about your lock.

With bike locks you get what you pay for

Now before we dive in, let’s talk for a moment about the price of bike locks. Good quality bike locks are expensive – there’s no beating around the bush here.

They say the rule of thumb is that you should spend at least 10% of the value of your bike on your locking system. I don’t know who “they” are or where they got the 10% figure, but I think it is a good place to start, and can help keep you from being too cheap when it comes to protecting your electric bicycle. A nice ebike can easily cost $1,500, so doesn’t $150 seem like a reasonable price to protect that investment? And remember, a good lock is something that should last you a while. There’s no reason a quality bicycle lock couldn’t last you a decade or more if you take care of it.

Now let’s take a look at the range of bicycle locks on the market. We’ll start at the weaker end of the spectrum and move up from there. And if we’re talking about weak bicycle locks, we’ve got to start with cable locks.

Cable bike locks

Cable locks are about as low security as it comes. The only less secure method that would still count as at least attempting to protect your bike would be to tie it with rope and double knot it.

Cable locks are a problem because the tools required to cut through them are simple hand tools. The weakest cable locks can be cut through with pliers while the slightly larger cables require bolt cutters. Both are tools that can easily be concealed in a bag or jacket and can be silently operated in a matter of seconds. For these reasons, a cable lock should never be your main lock.

Cable locks do have their place though. They make excellent supplemental locks. One of the best ways to deter bicycle thieves is to use multiple locks on different parts of your electric bicycle. While cable locks aren’t very good on their own, using them in addition to a main lock, perhaps to lock your motor to your frame, can make a powerful deterrent to a thief that now sees two or more locks standing between him and his target. Cable locks are small and lightweight which make them easy to add to the seat post or frame and forget about them until you need to use them.

Another nice thing about cable locks is that you can get them for a great price compared to the larger locks below. A great quality Kryptonite cable lock costs just $13 and would make a great second lock.

Disc brake locks

A slight step up from a cable lock is a disc lock. Unfortunately, disk locks only work if you have disk brakes. If you have them though, this can be a great supplemental lock as well.

Disc brake locks work by sliding over your disc and putting a pin through one of the cooling holes in the disc. The obstruction obviously keeps the wheel from spinning. Until the lock is removed, no one can drive off with your ebike.

Like cable locks, these make terrible locks on their own. A disk lock does nothing to prevent someone from carrying off your ebike, or removing the wheel and rolling it away. But combined with a larger main lock, a disk lock is a powerful reinforcement. You should always remember to put the reminder cable, usually a bright orange or yellow color, on your handlebar when you engage the disk lock. This reminds you to remove the lock before you go riding off. Forget to take the lock off and you could seriously damage your bike.

disc bike locks should employ a reminder cable

slide one end of the reminder cable on the lock and the other end on your handlebar to remind you to remove the lock before riding away!

A disc brake lock with a motion alarm makes a great addition to any electric bicycle. The disc brake with reminder cable makes it obvious to thieves that they aren’t going to be able to ride away on your ebike, and if they even try to do a little checking around on the bike, a super loud alarm will send them packing before suspicion is aroused. A great alarm disc lock is the Xena version.

Wheel locks (Amsterdam locks)

Next on the list are wheel locks, sometimes called Amsterdam locks. These locks mount above the wheel, usually the rear, and lock around the rim and tire to prevent the wheel from turning. Just don’t forget to unlock it and try to ride off with it engaged, or you’ll find some seriously damaged spokes.

Like a disc brake lock, wheel locks simply prevent the thief from being able to ride the bike, not steal it.

A nice thing about the wheel locks is that you never have to worry about carrying it or leaving it behind, it’s always attached to your bike and ready for use. But once again, these locks are only effective as a supplemental lock to a larger bicycle lock.

I recently reviewed an interesting type of wheel lock that can lock any bicycle wheel, even those without disc brakes. You can check out my review here.

U-locks

Now that we’ve discussed a number of supplemental locks, it’s time to check out the main attraction: full security bicycle locks. We’ll begin with the tried and true U-lock. This might be one of the most well known types of bicycle locks, perhaps outside of the cable lock. The U-lock is a single piece of steel shaped like the letter ‘U’ that fits into a locking tube at the top. Or bottom. Depends how you hold it. I guess if it’s at the bottom that would make it an n-lock.

U-locks come with a variety of advantages. They are fixed shape, meaning you don’t need to go snaking them through different parts of your frame like a cable lock or chain. The fixed shape means you can hop off your bike and be locked in seconds.

U-locks often come with special mounts to make it easy to store them on your bike while riding. Because of their narrow design, they are inherently well protected against leverage attacks. Try fitting a tool between the u-lock and a post – you don’t have a lot of room to work with. This will also depend on how you use the U-lock as well. If you have a wide lock and put it around a narrow object then you might leave enough room for a thief to use a scissor jack or long pipe and implement a lever attack. The best bet is to use the narrowest U-lock that works for your bike/area and try to leave as little room in the ‘U’ as possible.

U-locks are not without their shortcomings. They are somewhat limiting to what you can lock to. Anything wide than the ‘U’ is automatically a no-go. No decent sized trees, no concrete pillars, no telephone poles – you get the idea. Parking meters and sign posts are the best things to use a u-lock with, but sometimes you just can’t find anything of that size. And like anything else, you get what you pay for. There are some really cheap U-locks out there that can be defeated easily at the ‘U’ or the locking mechanism.

As discussed above, you should be spending at least 10% of the price of your ebike on your locking system. Your lock is your insurance. Would you really trust your $1,500 ebike to a $15 u-lock?

There are many good brands of u-locks but my favorite is the Kryptonite New York line of locks. They are pretty heavy and a pain to lug around, but that’s also what gives them their strength. Superman couldn’t break through one of those things (get it? Kryptonite?) though Lois Lane might be able to if she had a good angle grinder with a dozen replacement blades prepared.

Chain locks

Next on the list are chain locks. Depending on the quality of your chain, it can be weaker, just as good as, or even better than a u-lock. Chain locks are great because you can snake them through your bicycle to lock multiple components AND go around bigger objects like trees and telephone poles, giving you more options for locking.

The strength of the lock comes down to two factors: the strength of the chain and the strength of the locking mechanism itself. A good, thick hardened chain will take a while to get through with an angle grinder, as will a decent lock. Generally, you’ll want your length of chain and your lock to be two separate pieces, that way you can make sure each is made of high quality steel. You can find chain locks with a locking mechanism built right into the chain, but those are usually cheaper locks.

Many chain locks specifically made for bicycles come with a canvas cover to keep the chain from scratching the bike and reduce noise from the chain dangling around. Some people prefer to buy a length of strong chain at the hardware store, in which case the chain will be bare. The advantage of a bare chain is that it shows a potential thief, in no uncertain terms, that you’ve got a seriously strong chain that they don’t want to mess with.

You can even combine a length of strong chain with a U-lock to get the advantages of both systems. Heck, throw a disk lock or amsterdam lock on there too for peace of mind. No one will be messing with your bike anytime soon!

The exotic world of bike locks

The locks covered above are the main staples of the bicycle lock world, but there are many other types of locks out there. All sorts of bike locks have sprung up over the years, including handcuffs, folding locks, skewers, pitlocks and more. Soon I’ll be writing up an article on unique and obscure bike locks.

In the end, the name of the game in bike locks is redundancy. Anywhere you think bike thieves might target your ebike, you need multiple locks to send the message to that bike thieves might as well move on instead of gambling that they can make it through all of your locks. A strong chain or u-lock should be your first line of defense, followed by some type of supplemental lock to complete the one-two punch and send would-be bicycle thieves packing.

photo credits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

10 Ways To Make Your Ebike More Theft Resistant

It’s an unfortunate reality of the electric bicycle world that ebikes make great targets for thieves. The combination of a high value ebike and commonly inadequate anti-theft protection make electric bicycles low-hanging fruit for the scum-of-the-earth that are bike thieves.

Electric bicycles, like all bicycles, are usually stolen in one of two ways: either by having parts scavenged from the ebike or by having the whole electric bicycle stolen in one fell swoop. Your best bet is to protect yourself from both of these scenarios. Follow these tips to protect yourself and your ebike.

1. Location, Location, Location

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. This may be common sense, but it still needs to be said: be careful where you lock your ebike. You know where the bad parts of your town are – just don’t park there. Why needlessly increase your chance of theft?

Do your best to avoid shady areas that are likely hives of bike theft activity. If you know that a few certain blocks are notoriously bad areas, park a little farther away and walk the last bit of distance. Not only will it decrease the chance of having your ebike stolen, but you’ll get some free exercise too!

2. Bring your ebike inside with you

Sometimes you can’t avoid trips to bad areas of town. Maybe that’s where the farmer’s market is, or the best pizza place in town, or the only Wal-Mart (heaven forbid). If you have to park somewhere shady, try to bring your ebike inside with you.

Many retail establishments, such as supermarkets and shopping centers actually allow people to bring their bicycles inside the building. Ask an employee if it is ok to bring your bicycle inside and leave it near the door. Then, lock the wheel to the frame so that no one can easily wheel it out. It will be pretty obvious if someone is trying to drag a heavy, locked up ebike out of the store to their vehicle.

3. Don’t fall into a routine with your ebike

Avoid parking in the same place everyday. Electric bicycles make great commuter vehicles and for that reason ebikes are often part of a daily routine. Many people use their ebike as a daily driver to get to work, school, etc. However, when you park in the same place every day, this gives diligent thieves a chance to study your pattern and locking system to prepare a targeted attack.

These types of theft are hard to defend against because the thief can take weeks or even months to prepare for your specific lock, schedule of traffic in the area, and even set traps. I’ve seen thieves hack sign posts so that they slide out of the ground. Unsuspecting riders lock to a stop sign like they do every day, but on this day the thief simply lifts the sign out the ground and walks off with the bike. Another good reason to double check that any object you lock to really is secure.

4. Park in well lit areas

At night, park in an area with good visibility, preferably directly under a streetlight. Thieves don’t like to be the center of attention during their activity, and having a giant spot light shining on them while they work is a strong deterrent.

The jury is still out on whether it is better to park the bike near lots of foot traffic. Unfortunately, many experiments have shown that, at least in the USA, almost nobody will interrupt a bike thief at work stealing a bike. Studies have shown the fear of confrontation causes most people to ignore a bike thief at work or walk quickly by, avoiding contact. This means putting your ebike near an area with high pedestrian traffic won’t necessarily keep thieves from trying to steal it.

In fact, putting your electric bicycle in a well trafficked area actually exposes your ebike to many more eyes, and thus more opportunity for thieves to notice it as a target. On the other hand, parking in a back alley means less chance for thieves to know your ebike is there, but guarantees less chance of someone confronting a bike thief in action if he does find it.

When in doubt though, I still prefer a crowded area and hope for the best in people. Just because studies show most people won’t confront a bike thief, that doesn’t mean the thieves will have big enough cojones to test that theory.

“Maybe I should have parked closer to the lights…”

5. Bike locks: the more the merrier

Use more than one bicycle lock, preferably of different styles and brands. If one bike lock is good, then two bike locks are better.

really good electric bicycle theft protection

And if two locks are better, twenty six locks are… even better-er

Here is how a common bicycle theft operation goes down: a bike thief surveys a potential target bicycle and weighs his chances of successfully opening the lock (never a guarantee) with how long it will likely take and the chances of getting caught. It’s not uncommon for a rider to return to their bike to find a mangled but still intact lock – indicating a thief who lost on his gamble and decided to cut his losses and bug out.

When you add a second lock, it greatly reduces the bike thief’s view of his chances of successfully stealing the bike. Not only is he taking a risk on one lock, but now he’s got two locks to deal with, and neither of them are a guarantee. All but the most brazen of bike thieves will see two sturdy locks and immediately pass over the bike, instead looking for an easier target. This is one of the single best methods for increasing resistance to electric bicycle theft: simply add a second lock.

6. Plan your locking method for maximum destruction

Lock your electric bicycle in a way that requires it to be seriously damaged in order to remove it from the lock.

This means you have to factor in a few things. First, whatever object you lock to should be stronger than your bicycle (and preferably stronger than the lock). Stick with things like solid metal posts, street lights, concrete barriers and steel parking meters. Avoid locking to flimsy objects like a chain link fence, wooden post, tree thinner than your arm, etc.

If the lock and anchored object are stronger than your bike’s frame, that means that your bike is now the weakest link, forcing the bike thief to cut through the bike to steal it. If a bike thief’s only option is to destroy the bike to steal it, he’ll look elsewhere.

Next, ensure that however your lock passes through the bicycle requires the most possible damage to the bicycle to remove it. The lock should ideally pass through both the frame triangle AND at least one wheel, preferably the hub motor wheel. This means that a bike thief would have to cut through the frame of the ebike, effectively ruining it, AND cut through the hub motor rim, ruining it as a usable wheel.

On a standard bicycle this would usually be enough deterrent, as the unusable bicycle wouldn’t be worth much anymore after its frame and wheel were destroyed. However, this has somewhat less deterrence for electric bicycles because the motor, battery and other parts can still be sold even if the thief has to destroy the frame in the process. However, it still makes more barriers that can dissuade a potential bike thief. The more of a headache you can make your electric bicycle, the more chance a bike thief will move on.

This is what happens when you lock just your front wheel

7. Lock your parts to your ebike

Lock the individual parts of your electric bicycle to the bike itself.

Start with the battery. Ebike batteries are the single most commonly stolen part of any ebike. If you have a battery designed for easy removal, such as an aluminum or plastic case battery that slides on and off, you need to find a good way to lock it securely.

These types of ebike batteries almost always come with a factory locking solution, but it’s never enough for the good bike thieves. The type that slide onto an aluminum or steel plate often require only the smallest of handheld snips to cut an opening in the plate and release the pin. Sometimes you can even simply bend the plate out of the way with a screwdriver, releasing the battery.

To counter this, run your lock through the handle of the battery, if it has one. This provides a little more deterrence for casual bike thieves, but won’t stop any serious attempt to steal the ebike’s battery. For more theft deterrence, consider adding a chain, plate, block, etc that passes over the end of the battery, locking to the frame, and preventing removal of the ebike battery without your key.

Additionally, if you don’t plan on needing to remove the battery from the bike for charging, you can go with a more permanent method, such as bolting or welding a plate over the end of the battery. Keep in mind though that this could present a problem if you ever need to perform maintenance on the battery.

8. Camouflage your electric bicycle

This one is simple: make your ebike look less desirable. Many people won’t want to go this far, especially if you love the way your ebike looks, but uglifying your ebike could be a great way to protect it from thieves.

There are many different ways to camouflage a perfectly working bicycle into what appears to be a piece of crap. Some of my favorites include fake rust painted on, scraps of duct tape, random bits of spray paint, a grocery bag over the seat, mismatched hand grips, etc. Anything that keeps your ebike from screaming “I’m a brand new, expensive toy!” will reduce attention from bike thieves.

9. Choose your company well

Park next to something more attactive. By this I mean choose a spot with better options of bikes to steal than yours.

Maybe it’s a beautiful, brand new, candy-apple-red racing bike.

Maybe it’s another bike with a flimsy cable lock next to your ebike with two U-locks.

Maybe it’s a more expensive ebike than yours.

Anything that makes a bike thief want to pass your bike over for something else will work. Some people might object to this rather selfish approach, but the fact of the matter is that you can’t stop all electric bicycle theft, you can only stop YOUR electric bicycle’s theft. There will always be thieves trying to steal bikes. The best you can do is just try to keep it from being yours.

10. Get creative with your defenses

Put a fake GPS tracking sign on your ebike. I made a simple, fake GPS tracking logo on my computer, printed it on glossy sticker paper, and slapped it on an easily visible part of my bike. It works just like the home security company logos or “beware of dog” signs people put outside their homes. Even the mere suggestion that there are hidden forces at work, tirelessly standing guard 24/7, is enough to make many bike thieves look elsewhere.

Sure, maybe they’ll question whether or not you’re fibbing. But at least they are thinking about it. Again, all of this weighs into their mental calculation of the gamble they are taking. It’s up to you stack the odds against them.

Oh, and also you could use a real GPS tracking device too.

The bigger picture of electric bicycle theft

Many of the electric bicycle theft protection tips described above are simple behavioral changes you can make to better protect your ebike from theft, while others are hardware options that require forking over a bit of cash. How much your ebike is worth to you is your call.

When it comes down to it, you are really battling two different types of bike theft: theft of opportunity and deliberate, targeted theft. Theft of opportunity is where someone walks by and sees an easy chance to snatch your seat or battery. Deliberate, targeted theft is where someone studies your ebike and comes prepared for the job. The best bet to deter both types of electric bicycle theft is to combine a number of diverse options listed above. The harder it is for the bike thief, the more likely it is that he’ll look somewhere else.

photo credits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6