Bike Alarms

"Rita" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment
chained to an iron rail. I use two different types of good
locks but wonder if a bike alarm would be a good thing to add.
I am close enough indoors to the bike to hear the alarm.

Anyone who would steal one of those would be doing you a favor.

Kurd said:

"Rita" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment
chained to an iron rail. I use two different types of good
locks but wonder if a bike alarm would be a good thing to add.
I am close enough indoors to the bike to hear the alarm.

Anyone who would steal one of those would be doing you a favor.

Very helpful advice, Kurd🙂 I am age 78 and ride an adult trike
because I do not own a car and the big basket in the rear allows
me to carry home my groceries, etc. with ease.

Before I bought an adult trike a couple of years ago, I got some
friendly tips in this group and thought perhaps I could get some
again. If I could safely ride a regular bike, I would own one as
well. It seemed to me since I cannot, the trike would allow me to
get exercise and solve the problem of lugging stuff around and it
has proved to be all I hoped for.

And I did expect to encounter some ridicule. But I live in a bike
friendly neighborhood and no one here has made fun of me for riding
one, quite the opposite. Every day people in my bike friendly
neighborhood smile at me and say "way to go." However, I guess
there is always that first person.

Quoted message said:

My sister-in-law got me a birthday gag gift one year; combo speedometer,
bike alarm, siren, and other features. I never used the alarm function, but
there's no way I could have heard it from any distance. If you get one,
make sure it's loud!

--ag

--
-------------------------------
80 miles per pound of kamut
www.graffitirider.blogspot.com
nyc.mybikelane.com
"Rita" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment
chained to an iron rail. I use two different types of good
locks but wonder if a bike alarm would be a good thing to add.
I am close enough indoors to the bike to hear the alarm.

Good for you, I plan to ride as long as possible too and can see when
a trike would keep me going. Keep at it!

Rita said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment
chained to an iron rail. I use two different types of good
locks but wonder if a bike alarm would be a good thing to add.
I am close enough indoors to the bike to hear the alarm.

I haven't ever used a bike alarm, but also haven't ever heard that they
do any good. They do nothing to stop a thief, and the police in most
locales are little-to-no help in recovering stolen bikes, it's just not
a priority.

Using multiple locks (and DIFFERENT TYPES of locks) is a good bet--such
as a Kryptonite New York Lock and a U-lock.

Keeping it inside your apartment is the best bet of all.
~

Rita said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment
chained to an iron rail. I use two different types of good
locks but wonder if a bike alarm would be a good thing to add.
I am close enough indoors to the bike to hear the alarm.

The Ducharme bike alarm has some fairly positive reviews on
CrazyGuyOnaBike.com. See: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/reviews/board/message/?message_id=47276

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:30:45 -0500, DougC <[email hidden]>
wrote:

[---]

Quoted message said:

Using multiple locks (and DIFFERENT TYPES of locks) is a good bet--such
as a Kryptonite New York Lock and a U-lock.

I thought the Kryptonite New York lock *was* a U-lock.

"Rita" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment
chained to an iron rail. I use two different types of good
locks but wonder if a bike alarm would be a good thing to add.
I am close enough indoors to the bike to hear the alarm.

I don't think an alarm is going to help much. I would focus on making your
locking system as strong as possible. In your case, I think you are trying
to defeat some juvenile delinquent, or drug addict, who is using a common
(hardware store) bolt cutter.

There are plenty of solutions for you. They vary, of course, by price. My
personal favorite for padlocks is Medeco
http://www.medeco.com/solutions/downloads/padlockLL1_05.pdf .

The most secure is the hockey puck design. This is because a bolt cutter
cannot possibly defeat such a lock. You will see 'hockey puck' design locks
on vans owned by tradesmen, who have valuable stuff locked in their van,
left on a city street overnight.

If you need more detail, please let us know how much you have budgeted for
this security system.

- Jay

Jay said:

"Rita" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment chained
to an iron rail. I use two different types of good locks but wonder if
a bike alarm would be a good thing to add. I am close enough indoors to
the bike to hear the alarm.

I don't think an alarm is going to help much.

Right.

And we do not know the dimensions of the trike, or of the apartment, or
where the building is situated, but could this vehicle not be stored
inside? I have seen weirder things in people's living rooms. Or bedrooms
even... Or does the apartment building have a service room (storage,
heating, whatever) that one could get a key of? Some pleading and begging
could do the trick 🙂

If more people in the building have bikes/trikes that they want to park
safely, and if perhaps one or two parking spaces for cars could be
sacrificed, would something like this be possible?

<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:2006_fietsenstalling_Delft.JPG>

It that looks too futuristic or hightech perhaps a sturdy wooden shed
would do, and it could be made by any carpenter...

nmp said:

Jay said:

"Rita" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment chained
to an iron rail. I use two different types of good locks but wonder if
a bike alarm would be a good thing to add. I am close enough indoors to
the bike to hear the alarm.

I don't think an alarm is going to help much.

Right.

And we do not know the dimensions of the trike, or of the apartment, or
where the building is situated, but could this vehicle not be stored
inside? I have seen weirder things in people's living rooms. Or bedrooms
even... Or does the apartment building have a service room (storage,
heating, whatever) that one could get a key of? Some pleading and begging
could do the trick 🙂

If more people in the building have bikes/trikes that they want to park
safely, and if perhaps one or two parking spaces for cars could be
sacrificed, would something like this be possible?

<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:2006_fietsenstalling_Delft.JPG>

It that looks too futuristic or hightech perhaps a sturdy wooden shed
would do, and it could be made by any carpenter...

I measured my door and the bike and the two rear wheels would go
through the door. I have to experiment and see how difficult it is
for me to get it up the two front steps and then another rise into
the house. I can probably manage it and would do so if I went out
of town. I thought of getting some kind of ramp made so that would
be easier to do. Someone suggested covering the ramp with something
that made it non-slippery. There are no garages I could share --
parking spaces and garages are at a premium because there are many
apartments surrounding me.. I also thought of some kind of small metal
shed I could buy. There is space in front of my apartment where I
could place one. I live only a block from the ocean and rust forms
on bikes quickly from the salt air. I do NOT want to hurt myself
lugging the trike into the house.

I looked at the Medeco padlocks. Where would use one on a bike and
what to padlock it to? I have my two locks -- a u shaped lock
and a good cable combination lock attached to the iron railing
that runs up the side of my front steps. I don't know that the
Medeco padlocks are large enough for that.

Yes, the bike would take up considerable space in my small apartment
but I have tile floors and would not mind having it indoors overnight.
I'll try bringing it in and see how I do. My son could no doubt cut
some plywood with his power saw for a ramp that could be stored next
to the house outside.

I also have a cover for the trike that fits closely over it. That
gives a thief just one more thing to do -- remove it -- before getting
to the locks.

I have seen somewhere a folding trike, maybe then could take inside,
google it. Outside I would always worry

nmp ??? said:

...
If more people in the building have bikes/trikes that they want to park
safely, and if perhaps one or two parking spaces for cars could be
sacrificed, would something like this be possible?

<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:2006_fietsenstalling_Delft.JPG>

It that looks too futuristic or hightech perhaps a sturdy wooden shed
would do, and it could be made by any carpenter...

Looks like a device for cooking "long pig". 😉

In the US, small pre-fabricated sheds can be purchased at many hardware
and "home improvement" stores. These have the advantage of NOT
displaying the contents to potential thieves.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
Beer - It's not just for breakfast anymore!

"Rita" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment
chained to an iron rail. I use two different types of good
locks but wonder if a bike alarm would be a good thing to add.
I am close enough indoors to the bike to hear the alarm.

Walmart has one for $15 110 decibells. 5 ft. cable, blinking red light.
cheers

Rita said:

I'd like to hear from any who have used a bike alarm.

I ride an adult trike and have to leave it outside my apartment
chained to an iron rail. I use two different types of good
locks but wonder if a bike alarm would be a good thing to add.
I am close enough indoors to the bike to hear the alarm.

How often have you heard car alarms going off, with no one doing
anything about them? I don't think a bike alarm would be any better,
and anything loud enough to attract any attention would be too heavy to
deal with, and would mostly attract people who want to shut the damn
thing up, rather than deal with whatever set it off.

Also consider what you would have to do about a false alarm, and how
your neighbors would feel about said false alarms.

Get a good lock, and you should be OK.

--

David L. Johnson

If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
conclusion.
-- George Bernard Shaw

I hope your U lock is bic proof
I would buy a Kryptonite noose chain with mini u lock or other similar brand
model. hardened steel through and through. Keep it at home cause they are
heavy and used to lock up motorcycles too.
Xena is a really good alarm if you have disc brakes.

"smn" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:QB5Ri.73581$th2.33730@pd7urf3no...

Quoted message said:

I hope your U lock is bic proof
I would buy a Kryptonite noose chain with mini u lock or other similar
brand model. hardened steel through and through. Keep it at home cause
they are heavy and used to lock up motorcycles too.
Xena is a really good alarm if you have disc brakes.

Here is a reminder of the bic security problem on cylindrical keys.
http://www.ducharmealarmsystems.com/openulock.html

=v= The Bic thing was 3 years ago! Kryptonite
doesn't use that kind of key any more. Really.
<_Jym_>

"Jym Dyer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

=v= The Bic thing was 3 years ago! Kryptonite
doesn't use that kind of key any more. Really.
<_Jym_>

Yeah, I guess if you are buying a new lock no problem.
but being a new cyclist maybe she did not know