It has come to my attention, and I’m sure your own that over twitter and facebook there’s been a lot of recent cycle thefts and just as many police reminders about keeping your bike safe and marking it up.

Sadly as cycling becomes more popular and the bikes and bits more expensive, the unscrupulous amongst society see your pride and joy as their next trip down to the pub or the cash converter shop.

When your bike is at home, have it secure, if in a wooden shed remember they are vulnerable to attack so you need to make it as hard as possible for any would-be thieves, get a good quality lock or a ground anchor, if that’s not possible get good locks on the shed and tamper proof door hinges. At the very least you could tie your bike to items such as lawnmowers or deck chairs making any moving of said equipment tricky and noisy. Also consider fitting a shed alarm.

Write down your frame numbers, take a photo and get the bike logged on immobilise.com

When you are out and about, at cafe stops don’t always assume safety in numbers, carrying a lock to most is a cumbersome task and quite simply not practical, if you can if you’re nipping into a shop try and have someone hang back to keep watch, or in a cafe try and keep your eyes on the bikes.

It’s an awful post to have to write but I’ve noticed a lot of stolen bike posts of late, lets make it harder for these idiots who want to spoil it for us and stop us doing what we love doing.

Edit: 11/9 Thanks to Dave from Cycle Repair Shed for pointing out this video on ‘cafe stop’ security:

http://youtu.be/7ZUqESyVUxc