How to lock a bike properly: the anchor, the angle and the gap

We see bikes locked badly every day on South Broad. Most of it is fixable in thirty seconds, and it matters more than the price of the lock.

Choose the anchor first

Before the lock comes out, look at what you are locking to.

• Purpose-built bike racks are the best option — anchored, and designed for it.
• Check it is fixed. Sign posts that lift out of their sleeve, scaffolding poles and unbolted racks are common in a city with constant construction.
• Check nothing can be lifted over. A pole with nothing on top means the bike is lifted off, lock intact.
• Avoid trees and railings that can be cut or that you may be ticketed for.
• Busy and lit beats quiet and dark, every time. An attack takes time and thieves dislike an audience.

What to capture

The frame must be locked to the anchor. That is not negotiable — a lock through a wheel alone leaves you a wheel.

The ideal capture with a U-lock: rear triangle, rear wheel and the anchor, all in one shackle. The rear wheel sits inside the frame triangle at that point, so one lock secures both.

The front wheel is the leftover problem. Either a quick second lock, or a cable through the front wheel back to the U-lock, or take the wheel out and lock it alongside the rear.

Fill the space

The empty space inside a U-lock is where a tool gets leverage. Fill it — with frame, wheel and anchor — so there is no room for a jack or a pry bar. This is why a smaller U-lock is more secure than a larger one, provided it still reaches.

Keyhole position

Face the keyhole down, or towards the bike. It makes picking and drilling awkward, and it stops rain and grit getting into the cylinder, which is what causes locks to seize in a Philadelphia winter.

Height off the ground

Lock the bike so the lock is not resting on the pavement. A lock on the ground can be attacked with the ground as an anvil — a hammer blow against concrete is far more effective than one against air. Keep it at frame height.

Quick-release everything

Quick-release levers were designed for racing and are a gift to thieves. Replace the front wheel and seatpost QRs with security skewers or ordinary bolts. It costs little and removes two of the three easiest things to take.

The rest of the bike

• Take the battery. On an e-bike it is the single most valuable removable part and it should not sit in the weather anyway.
• Take lights, computer and pump. Seconds to remove, seconds to steal.
• Consider the saddle. A cheap cable loop through the rails to the frame ends that problem.

Vary the routine

Bikes are stolen from where they are always parked, by someone who has watched. If you park in the same place every day, vary the spot and, if you can, the lock. It is a small thing that changes the calculation for an opportunist.

Photograph and record

Take a photograph of the bike and write down the frame number, which is usually stamped under the bottom bracket. Register it with a national database. Recovery rates are low, and almost all recoveries depend on being able to prove the bike is yours.

Ask at the counter

Bring the bike in and we will show you the capture on your own frame — the geometry differs between bikes, and the right lock size depends on the triangle you actually have.

Locking two bikes together

Two bikes locked to each other and to a rack is genuinely more secure than two locked separately, because both locks must be defeated to remove either bike. Pass the shackle through both frames and the anchor where the geometry allows.

It also means neither of you can leave first, which is a practical rather than a security consideration.

Wheels and the second lock

The front wheel is the part most often taken. Three workable approaches: a second small U-lock, a cable from the front wheel back to the main lock, or removing the front wheel and locking it alongside the rear inside the main shackle.

The third is the most secure and the most inconvenient. Which you choose depends on how long the bike is left and where.

Locking a bike at home

Most bikes are stolen from where they live rather than from where they visit. A bike in a shed, a garage or a basement should still be locked to something fixed — a ground anchor into concrete is the standard answer and is inexpensive.

Do not leave the lock hanging on the bike unlocked as a matter of routine at home. Habits transfer, and it is the same movement that protects the bike on the street.

Photographing the setup

Once you have a good locking arrangement worked out for your regular spot, photograph it. It sounds excessive; it means anyone else using the bike locks it the same way, and it settles the question of what you did on the day something happens.