Did you know that every 30 seconds a bike is stolen in the United States of America alone, which is equivalent to 2 million thefts annually?!
These numbers include all types of bikes, but if we take into account that electric bikes are the most expensive and can cost up to $ 8000, then protecting your electric bike from theft is very important.
Therefore, in this post, we will explain how to protect your electric bike from theft, and also how to protect all parts of the electric bicycle, since most parts for electric bicycles are expensive.
Which Lock is the best to Secure your EBike?
There are many types of locks in the market to secure your electric bike with, but which type of them is the most suitable for you?
In this part of the post, we will explain the advantages and disadvantages of the most popular types of locks so that you can choose the best type for you.
1- U Shape Lock.
The U-shaped lock is one of the most popular types used to protect electric bicycles from theft. The types differ in this model in terms of the thickness of the lock and the strength of the key.
The lock is usually rated between 10 to 15 so that the 15 are the highest protection and the 10 the least protection.
2- Chain.
The chain of locks that are frequently used to protect electric bicycles from theft, and the greater the thickness of the chain, the greater the strength of protection. It also comes in different lengths, starting from 80 cm to 140 cm.
This type is characterized by the fact that you can use it to lock more than one part of the bicycle frame
the downside is the heavyweight
3- The Folding Lock.
The folding lock is a combination of the advantages of the two previous types, as it has sufficient length to lock more than one part of the bicycle parts, as well as is lightweight, which is an ideal choice to protect the electric bicycle.
4- Folding Alarm Locks.
This type is the same as the previous type, but with the addition of an alarm and the idea of a coin is the presence of a sensor in the lock so that an alarm is issued when the bike is touched, and the sound of the alarm becomes louder as the bike continues to be touched.
Now that we’ve taken a quick look at the different types of locks, let’s answer the question: How Do You Prevent An ebike From Being Stolen?
How Do You Prevent An ebike From Being Stolen?
1- Get A high-quality lock.
Choosing a high-quality lock is one of the most important things that help protect your electric bike from theft. The lock with high quality takes a longer time to be broken, So, makes it difficult for the thief!
Note: Breaking a high-quality lock may take from one to three minutes, so it is preferable to put more than one lock on the electric bike.
2- Never keep your bike outside.
When you put your bike in a public place for a long period of time, the possibility of theft increases, and as this possibility increases, you put your bike at risk of theft.
Even if you are in your home, you should not put the bike in an open place where it is easy to reach the bike, because there is a possibility of someone following to wait for the right moment to steal the bike, so even at home put the bike inside a closed place.
3- Keep your ebike visible to everyone.
Contrary to the popular theory among electric bike riders, “you should hide your bike if you are going to leave it for a long time in a public place”!
The exact opposite is true. The presence of many people around the bike increases the difficulty of theft, so you should make your bike easy for everyone to see.
4- Get A high-quality alarm.
Using a high-quality alarm that can quickly sense the movement of the ebike is one of the factors that increase the protection of the electric bike against theft.
In my personal opinion, the presence of a good alarm on your electric bike is the second most important factor in protection after locking, because the last thing the thief wants is to draw attention to him during attempting to steal your ebike.
Having an alarm that senses movement quickly and has a loud sound is very important to you.
5- Use a GPS tracker.
Using a GPS tracker can help you keep track of your bike and make sure it’s still where you left it, but there are some tips you can do to make your GPS tracker useful.
1- When leaving the bike outside, set the tracker to theft mode, because in this mode, the GPS tracker will send you the coordinates of the location of the bicycle every minute or two at most, but if you leave it in the normal mode, most GPS tracker gives you an update every five Or seven minutes.
2-Do not depend on the police to bring you your ebike back to you because the police, by law, can’t rely solely on a GPS tracker.
6- Keep a copy of your ebike information.
Keeping the data of the electric bike is proof of your ownership of the bike, so it is preferable to keep both the serial number and service tag and take pictures of the bike closely and then send them to yourself by e-mail
7- Have ownership proof.
Keeping proof of ownership of the bike is one of the most important things that help you retrieve the bike in case of theft
The property guide is divided into two parts.
The first section: is the evidence that you own and no one can access it, it is often the purchase invoice or the confirmation email.
The second section is the ownership proof, which is available to everyone by registering the electric bike on one of the online registration sites such as BikeIndex.org.
Bicycle registration generally helps you in many things, whether it is to get back the ebike in case of theft or when selling the electric bike.
The buyer can verify your ownership of the bike, which will increase its price.
8- Get ebike insurance against theft.
The experience of losing your electric bike is a very painful experience, especially if your electric bike is expensive, so having insurance on your bike against theft is one of the safety factors that help compensate you In the event of theft.
If you think about it, insurance is a good thing and is not considered expensive. I know friends of mine who pay about 25$ a month for their 4000$ electric bike.
Now that we have explained the most important tips to protect your electric bike from theft, let’s get into the details of protecting each part of the electric bike.
9- Lock your ebike on an immovable object.
One of the mistakes that many make is locking the bike on an easy-to-break or movable object, which makes it easier for the thief to break or move this object.
Therefore, you must make sure that you have locked the bike on something immovable and strong enough, such as a parking meter
How to protect the electric bike battery from theft?
How to protect the electric bike’s rear wheel from theft?
In order to protect the rear wheel from theft, you can tie it to the frame of the electric bike by using a long chain, but what is wrong with this method is the heavyweight, as we mentioned earlier.
My favorite method is to use a cafe lock, which is small in size and can be attached to the bike frame and gives real protection.
How to protect the electric bike’s Front wheel from theft?
The front wheel is one of the most easily stolen parts. It is of course not very expensive, but if it were stolen, there would be no bike at all.
In order to protect the front wheel, you can use one of the bike component lockup systems such as the pin head system or hex locks.
The idea of the work of these systems lies in protecting the anchor bolts and covering them with a small lock that has a dedicated key.
How to protect the electric bike’s screen from theft?
If your electric bike screen is easy to remove, the best protection is to take it with you, but if it is screwed in, you can use the component lockup system.
How to protect the electric bike’s seatpost from theft?
If you have a Quick Release seat post, the best way to protect it is to put a Fixed Clamp for Seat posts and then put a component lockup system on it.
Conclusion.
In order to protect your bike from theft, you must use a strong lock backed by a high-quality alarm, while avoiding choosing quiet areas to park the electric bike, and also keeping the bike inside the house if you have not been riding it for a long time.
The best way to protect the battery and bike screen is to take it with you and never leave it unattended.
The best way to protect the rear wheel is to use a padlock.
The best way to protect your Seatpost is to use a Fixed Clamp supported by the Component lockup System.
The best way to protect the rest of the bike components is to use the Component lockup System.
