As the pollution levels continue to reach critical numbers all around the UK and especially in its main cities, the humble bicycle is a great solution that more people than ever before are beginning to look at.
Once you add other conveniences such as being able to avoid traffic, reducing the maintenance and fuel costs on your car per month, and the fact that it gives the rider an instant workout each time they get on their bicycle, the option begins to look more and more practical.
Unfortunately, even bikes are not immune to the dangers of theft, so it’s important to keep your bicycle protected against thieves intelligently. Here’s how.
Get Bicycle Insurance
This should be the first and the most obvious step of course because it doesn’t matter how good your locks are, given enough time thieves can break through all of them.
Go through the bicycle insurance comparison available through Quotezone, because you stand a better chance of finding a good deal if you compare quotes from a range of different providers.
Pay for a Good Chain Lock
The only protection between a thief literally riding away with your bicycle when you are not looking, and not being able to do so, is a good lock.
Therefore, avoid those flimsy cable locks, and choose chain locks instead. If you are going to use a U-lock, you will need two of them to secure both the back and the front.
Use Your Two Locks Cleverly
While using two U-locks is good protection, you need to keep the following points in mind to further secure your bicycle against theft:
- The two locks should come from two different manufacturers, or preferably, based on different locking mechanisms
- The smaller the U-locks are, the harder it would be for the thief to work it
For more tips on how to lock your bike securely, click here.
Insist on Parking Your Bike Indoors
Most people know how vulnerable bikes are to theft, so when you insist on keeping it indoors, you have valid grounds to do so. Then again, it may not always be possible, especially if you use your bicycle to make deliveries.
In such situations, park your bike in a well-lit area, and if there’s a doorman around, request them to keep an eye on it while you make your delivery.
On the flip side, if you are delivering in a shady neighbourhood, hide your bike away from attention as best as possible. Crowds are generally a good idea, but you should be able to judge the difference between a crowded street, and a small crowd of people on the sidewalk.
The key is to always remember that no lock or security measure is 100% safe, all the time. Do your best to protect your eco-friendly, convenient ride as best as possible, but bicycle insurance is just about the only way to at least make sure that the money invested in the bike remains protected.
Featured Image | Christin Hume on Unsplash
*This is a collaborative post.
