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Back in high school, I had a friend who'd never wear his seat belt. His reasoning was ridiculous. “If you drive off a cliff, a seat belt isn't going to help you,” he'd say. What he failed to grasp was that no one expects a seat belt to protect them from cliffs or asteroid strikes. It's there to to keep you from having the airbag embedded in your face when a distracted driver plows into your rear bumper.
Like safety, security isn't all-or-nothing. Yet many cyclists invoke the same kind of reasoning when it comes to securing their bikes. “Any thief can get your bike if they want it bad enough,” they'll say. True, but master bicycle thieves aren't hiding around every corner. Most thieves are opportunistic and in a hurry. You don't need to make your bike impenetrable; you just need to make it a less attractive target.
What Thieves Want
When I began using my Propella 7S (8/10, WIRED Recommends) as a subway replacement to run errands during the pandemic, I was afraid to leave it locked up for five minutes to pop into a café for a coffee. So I began looking into solutions.
My $120 Loading Dock rack screams “steal me.” Parts with brand names on them are especially vulnerable, since there's a used marketplace for stolen goods. The Brooks Saddle, a premium, English-made seat in production since 1898, is also a favorite target of thieves. It draws a lot of attention and takes just 20 seconds and an Allen wrench to pop off the two screws that attach it to the seat post.
You may not even think your bike is a target, but what looks nice to you does tend to look nice to a thief. Top targets for theft are the wheels, saddle, and seat tube. The top cap and stem faceplate are also high-value, because popping those off means the thief gets everything attached to the handlebars, including your shifter, brake levers, and LCD screen (if you've got one). Secondary targets for theft include the pedals, crank arm and crankset, handlebar grips, shifter, derailleur, and brake calipers. None of these components on the Propella are particularly pricey.
The greediest thieves go for the whole bike, and their tactics might trick you. They'll remove a crucial part, like a pair of pedals, that disables the bike and is easy for them to carry around and reattach later. If their plan works, the owner will leave the bike overnight, and the thief will return in the dark to cut off the lock, pop the pedals back on, and ride it away.
Old-School Security
Bike enthusiasts have long jury-rigged solutions to keep thieves from going full vulture on their rides. Remember Buckyballs? Cyclists would place these tiny, magnetic spheres into the heads of Allen bolts, blocking the ability to unscrew them. It's unlikely a thief would have a magnet handy to remove them, yet the owner could remove it easily with a spare magnet. Unfortunately, many of the smaller sizes useful for inserting into bike bolts were banned for sale in the US because kids were swallowing them. Neodymium magnets also have a nasty habit of rusting into place.
Another trick that old-time cyclists showed me was to superglue a nonmagnetic ball bearing into the bolt head. Removing these is a pain, though. You need to use acetone or non-acetone nail polish remover to dissolve the glue whenever you want to remove the part.
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Some folks just fill the bolt heads with putty, such as JB Weld. That solution isn't for me.
Security Bolts and Inserts
There are some more modern solutions to securing your bike's parts together. These are three companies I like and use:
Hexlox: Hexlox insert into the heads of your bike's existing Allen bolts. As long as the bolts are steel (most are), these magnetic inserts drop right in and prevent an Allen wrench from fitting into the bolt head. With your order, you receive an individualized key in the form of a tiny bit on a key ring. You press it into the Hexlox you want to remove and pull it straight out of the bolt head. Very quick and easy. I used these to secure my saddle, brake calipers, pannier rack supports, and handlebar grips.Pitlocks: Pitlocks look like misshapen nuts, surrounded by a dish that prevents somebody from attempting to wrestle it off with an adjustable wrench. Like the Hexlox, your order comes with an individualized key that's needed to remove it. I used these to secure my seat post, top tube, and front axle.Pinheads: Pinheads look like domes of metal, dimpled as if they'd survived a scale-model asteroid strike. An individualized key slips over the dome, gets traction on the dimples, and unscrews or tightens it. I've used them in the past, but I chose to outfit my bike with Hexlox and Pitlocks.Most PopularGearPS5 vs PS5 Slim: What’s the Difference, and Which One Should You Get?By Eric RavenscraftGear13 Great Couches You Can Order OnlineBy Louryn StrampeGearThe Best Radios to Catch Your Favorite AirwavesBy Nena Farrell GearThe Best Robot Vacuums to Keep Your Home CleanBy Adrienne So
After 10 minutes leisurely installing a few Pitlocks and Hexlox, I felt a such a sense of freedom that I did something I'd never done before—I locked up my bike for a couple of hours, out of sight and out of mind, while a friend and I checked out a brewery.
These pieces alone drastically increased my peace of mind. I also secure my back wheel with a bike lock by attaching it with my bike lock using the Triangle Method (made famous by the late Sheldon Brown). That attaches the bike frame and the rear wheel to the lock-up point, and it's easy to do with any type of lock. Check out my guide to the Best Bike Locks for a recommendation or two.
About These Bolts
WIRED: The nuts and bits can be reused on future bikes and don't wear out. One day, I'll retire my Propella. But because the vast majority of bikes use standardized bolt sizes—M5, M6, M8, M10—I'll be able to pop the Pitlocks and Hexlox into the new bike's bolts.
Hexlox's customer service is slow to respond, but the company was easy to deal with when I needed to exchange bolts. Orders ship from Germany, and my three orders each took about a week and a half to reach New York and pass through customs. UrbanBikeTech is the only US distributor of Pitlocks, but they shipped quickly out of New Jersey, and despite being a small operation, customer service was responsive.
TIRED: All these bolts and inserts are expensive, at $15 to $20 per piece, and they only come in sizes down to M5 bolts, which use a 4-mm hex key. Many bike components use M4 bolts, such as handlebar grips and LCD screens used on ebikes, so I had to use superglue to secure those small parts.
A single Hexlox is also close to the cost of a replacement pedal on my Propella, making me wonder whether I should bother securing these. But I determined it wasn't worth the hassle of dealing with the theft. I bought Hexlox for the pedals, crank arm and crankset, pannier rack, and brake calipers.
Annoying Those Thieves
You can't make a bike thief-proof. If they want it badly enough, they can defeat any security bolt or method. But that's only if you have a Mission Impossible-style team of all-star bike thieves targeting your ride.
The good news is that very few thieves roaming the streets want your bike so badly they'd risk their freedom by trying to steal it using power tools in broad daylight. Even fewer walk around with a lockpick set, acetone, and specialty tools to remove security bolts, bike locks, and glued-in bolts.
When it comes to bike security, don't worry about driving off the cliff. Concern yourself with day-to-day risks by securing the most common bolts and using a good lock. Then enjoy your bike the way it's meant to be enjoyed. You'll be just fine.
