How to Better Protect Your Bike

Editor's Note:

Variety of locks available to bikers in town

Just through the entrance of The Wheel Thing bike shop in downtown La Grange sits a display of the variety of bike locks available for purchase. The prices range from about $20 for a wire lock and upwards of $100 for a heavy chain or U-lock.

According to George Egner, a sales associate at The Wheel Thing, the type of lock you should buy depends on what you generally use your bike for. 

“If you’re just running into the store, a wire lock is usually good enough,” Egner said. “But if you’re going to leave it out for a long time, a U-lock is worth it.” 

Many of the higher-end locks available at The Wheel Thing also include a wire lock as well, for securing your seat or second tire, Egner pointed out. And, some brands, like Kryptonite Locks, even include a warranty policy that will replace the cost of your bike up to $2000 if it’s stolen.

“You’re probably going to need a pipe cutter to get a U-lock off,” Egner said, adding that they do it occasionally at The Wheel Thing for customers who have lost their key. “There’s a lot of sparks and it takes awhile.”

The point being, that cutting off a U-lock would draw more attention than it was worth—and there’s likely an easier steal anyways.

Survey of bikes locked at both stations show many would be easy steals

Wondering how many bikes at the train stations in La Grange would be easy to cut and run, I headed down to the stations to do an informal survey. At both stations, many bikes were poorly secured and many were locked simply with a wire lock.

Take a look at the photos I snapped of locked bikes at the stations.

At Stone Avenue station in particular, about half the bikes were poorly secured. Low foot and car traffic by the station—and that the bike racks sit right next to a crescent-shaped commuter pick-up driveway—means cutting a wire lock and loading it into a truck or van would be relatively simple and quick.

La Grange resident Mary Kay Petrella was just coming back from a meeting in the city, which she said she does about once a month, when she saw me snapping pictures of bikes at the Stone Avenue station.

“I sometimes worry about [getting her bike stolen], but I generally think there are probably a lot of people around,” Petrella said as she removed a thin, wire lock from around her bike.

Petrella said that when she bought her lock, she was looking for something cheap, simple and easy to carry. But after I told her about the number of recent bike thefts and how easy it would be for someone to cut her lock, she said she was interested in maybe getting something a little more heavy duty  

According to Egners at The Wheel Thing, Patrella is not alone—it’s something he sees often—a customer will spend $500 on a bike, but only $20 on the lock for it.

How to lock it up

So, what's the best way to lock up your bike? Well, the National Bike Registry has some tips for make sure you're as secure as can be.

• Lock you bike in a visible, well lit area. Check to make sure what you're locking up to is in proper working condition and cant be easily broken.
• If you use a wire lock, wrap it tightly around your bike. A tight wrap will make it harder for someone to slip in a bolt cutter.
• If you use a U-lock, try to lock your bike in a way that will fill as much of the U-space as possible. This is will help prevent against a bike thief who uses a car jack.
• Get an extra wire lock to secure your seat or back tire—especially if you have a quick release system on your wheels.
• Slide the U-Lock through both the front tire and the bike's frame for the best security.Don't let you lock rest on the ground, where a thief can use a rock or hammer to smash it.