Electric bike security: what actually works

Electric bikes are stolen more than ordinary bikes because they are worth more and sell faster. Most of what is sold as bike security does not work. This is what does.

Understand what you are defending against

There are two thieves. The opportunist carries bolt croppers and takes thirty seconds. The equipped thief carries a cordless angle grinder, takes under a minute, and no lock stops them. Everything below is about defeating the first and making yourself a worse target than the bike next to you for the second.

The lock

• Buy on the Sold Secure rating, not the price. Diamond is the top tier and the one insurers ask for. Gold is a reasonable minimum for an e-bike.
• Two locks of different types beat one expensive lock, because they need two sets of tools and twice the time.
• Fill the shackle. A D-lock with room to spare inside can be levered. Choose one that fits snugly around the frame and the stand.
• Lock the frame, always. A wheel-only lock buys the thief a free frame. Get the rear triangle and the stand at minimum.
• Lock high, off the ground. A lock lying on concrete can be smashed against it; one at hip height cannot be braced.

Where you leave it matters more than what you lock it with

Busy, overlooked, covered by a camera, and near an entrance people use. Thieves work where nobody is watching. A cheaper lock in a busy place beats a Diamond lock in a quiet alley.

Two things that actually recover bikes

1. Register the frame number. BikeRegister is free, the police use it, and it is the single most effective thing you can do in five minutes. Photograph the bike and the number now, while you have it.
2. Fit a tracker. Modern e-bikes increasingly have one built in; if yours does not, a hidden GPS tracker in the seat tube or a bottle cage is cheap. Do not attempt a recovery yourself — give the location to the police.

E-bike specifics

• Take the battery with you if it is removable. It is a large part of the value, and a bike without one is far less attractive to take.
• Use the electronic lock if your system has one. Several Specialized and Bosch systems can disable assistance and alarm the bike from a phone. It does not stop the theft; it makes the bike much harder to sell on.
• Do not advertise it. A cover on a bike in a front garden is worth more than another lock.

Insurance, plainly

Check the single-item limit on your home contents policy before assuming a £5,000 bike is covered, and check whether cover extends away from the home at all — often it does not, or only with an added clause. Specialist cycle policies cost a few pounds a month. Whichever you use, they will require a lock of a stated Sold Secure rating and photographic evidence of it being used. Read that clause before you need it.