things you require to know to lock your bike safely and prevent theft

Hopefully, you have already read about how to choose your right bike, but it’s important for you to pay a little extra time and money to protect your bike. As one of your belongings, your bike is of some positive economic value.It was reported that bicycle theft is more and more rampant in American cities and there is always a chance your bike will get stolen. Some people find that even if they lock the bike, it still gets stolen, and it is because they don’t lock the bike in the right way.

From my own bitter experience, it’s important for us to know how to lock our bikes properly and how to prevent bike theft.
Now I will share you some tips on bike locking and bike theft prevention that you should keep in mind and follow to your own security needs.things you need to require to know to lock your bike
Using decent locks
Tip 1: choose the right lock
your first line of defense against bike thieves is a right bike lock, so it’s necessary for you to invest in good locks. The level of security you need depends on where you are leaving your bike and for how long. Cheap locks can easily be cut open and thieves know the difference between expensive locks and cheap locks. To protect your bike, you’d better buy locks at a bike shop or a general sporting goods store.
Tip 2: use two or more different locks
The most secure way to lock your bike is to use two locks.Some thieves only carry one type of lock breaking tools to deal with the lock, so using at least two good quality locks of different types will be more than twice as safe as you would be with one type alone. Besides, you should lock according to value- frame first, then back wheel, and finally front wheel.
Tip3: select a small, hardened steel U-lock
A small, hardened steel u-lock is the best choice if you must carry one on the bike. The smaller the U-lock the better. Not only is it lighter to carry around, it will be more difficult for the thieves for the smaller size gives the thieves less room to use their tools. Besides, you can consider chains to protect your bike better. Never ever rely solely on a cable lock to secure your bike because it can be snapped very easily.
Locking the bike securely
Tip1: always lock your bike to an immovable object
You should always choose a fixed, solid and immovable object that’s cemented or anchored into the ground. Usually, these objects are not easily broken. Avoid a pole, small trees, wooden posts, or other objects that are easy to slide your bike and lock off of. Be aware of locking to items that can be easy to be cut, broken or otherwise removed.
Tip2: lock your bike in a well-lit area with high foot traffic
You should select a location where there are other bikes and you’d better choose a busy location with a lot of people walking past. There is an old saying, if you are camping in the woods with a friend and see a bear, you don't have to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun your friend. So lock your bike between other bikes when possible, because thieves will usually take the less secure or unlocked bikes. Besides, if possible, try not to leave your bike in areas with high incidents of bike theft.
Tip3: keep your lock off the ground
Thieves can use a hammer to smash the lock against the hard floor if the lock is on the ground, so try not to let your lock rest against the ground. Besides, you need to avoid the top tube, because the thief can use the frame itself to break the lock by listing and twisting the whole bike. You should also lock your bike with the keyhole facing down. This makes it harder for thieves to access your locks or tamper with the locking mechanism.
Tip4: fill the inside of a U-lock
If you’re using a U-lock, for better security, the space inside the U-lock should be as small as possible., because it’s hard for thieves to use their tools. So you should try to fill as much of the space within the U with the bike and the thing that it’s attached to as possible. Some thieves break the U-locks with a bottle jack which is inserted into space within the U. the result of locking your wheel solely
Tip5: always lock your frame
Remember to lock your frame to the immovable object. There may be an instance that you cannot able to capture the whole value parts in your lock-up because of the size of your bike or the size of your lock, in this case, the frame should be the priority of the lock-up. Don’t just lock your bike through the wheel because some thieves will remove your wheels and take away the rest of the bikes. Besides, you should remove any accessories before leaving your bikes, such as bags, baskets, bells and anything else that can be removed. If possible, remove your front wheel, and then lock both wheels together with the frame, bike mechanic and lock expert Hal Ruzal suggests.

Deterring thieves
make your bike less appealling
Tip1: Make your bike less appealing
here I mean you should disguise your fancy new bike to make it less appealing. For example, you can replace your fancy, expensive bike seat with a secondhand seat when you are using your bike for commuting. Besides, you can put a piece of tape on your bike seat and deter criminals from ever taking it.

Tip2: mark your bike
“A thief’s big concern is,‘Can I sell this bike in 30 minutes?’” McGettigan says. “Thieves don’t want one that’s identifiable.”So it’s harder for thieves to sell an identified bike. Thus you can use a marker to write your name or initials twice on each tire and onto the top of the frame. , you should protect it with several layers of clear tapes which require the thieves some effort to remove when you are writing your name on your bike. This helps the thieves move on to search for an easier target.
Tip3: keep proof of ownership
There is an easy and simple way to accomplish it. Take a photo of yourself at home next to your bike holding a piece of paper with the bike’s serial number written on it. Besides, you should also take shots of identifying details and store them in your phone. In this way, there is no theft without proof of ownership.

Wrapping up
However, there is no absolute protection against theft, what we can do is to take precaution measures to reduce the possibility of the stolen of our bikes. To prevent your bike from being stolen, you need to buy a good lock and most importantly, you need to know how to lock your bike. No matter where you are, you should lock it with a proper method properly. Luckily enough, we are well into the 21st century when technology is making leaps and bounds in the forms of bike security. Some great GPS tracking devices are the good recommendation. Hope what I have mentioned above will help you hold onto that prized ride of yours.