How to protect your eMTB from being stolen

An expensive eMTB asks for a fat lock! But is my bike really safe? We’ll explain why a lock alone is not enough to protect your expensive baby, and we’ll also give you a few heads-up on how to give thieves a hard time.

Why do you need a good lock?

All locks can be picked — it’s only a matter of time. That’s why it’s important to use locks with a high security standard to delay a thief’s objective as much as you can. On average, bike thieves will give up after three minutes if they can’t crack a lock. Compared to cheaper models, more expensive, high-quality locks are built with a special steel and high-quality cylinders. However, the high level of security has its drawbacks: locks with high levels of security are heavy and often weigh more than a kilogram. Therefore it’s important to find a good compromise between security and weight.

Safety tips

At home: You should always lock your ebike even if you keep it in your own garage or basement. Another helpful tip: remove the battery or the Bosch display – or alternatively put your bike in your bedroom.
Beer gardens and bars: Try to find a spot where you can easily keep an eye on your ebike.
In town: Always leave your bike in a busy place rather than in a quiet or dark alley.
At work: If you commute to work on your bike, you can ask the building management where you can store it safely and maybe even charge it. Many workplaces already provide safe bike storage solutions and even charging stations. We still recommend you lock your bike even if it’s stored safely.
Two is better than one: two locks are always safer than one. If you double-lock your bike you’ll give potential thieves twice as much work, which means it will take them twice as long to take your bike.
Solid base: Lock your bike to a solid railing or a long lampposts and always make sure these are well anchored into the ground – check if the item you’re attaching your bike to is actually suitable for this purpose. Wire fences, for example, can be cut open within seconds. It’s a good idea to lock several bikes into a cluster of bikes.
Through the frame: You should always lock the main frame to an object. A thief will quickly undo and remove the front or back wheel and run off with the rest of the bike! The remaining 10% of it won’t get you far!

Theft insurance and ebike insurance

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t happen to me — I take good care of my eMTB.” Please don’t tempt fate, and never use these words. The number of brazen professional bike thieves is rising by the hour and your bike is never 100% safe. It really sucks having to explain to your wife that you have to dip into your child’s university savings to buy yourself a new bike; instead you could choose to add your bike to your home insurance or even take out a dedicated ebike insurance policy to get some peace of mind. In case of theft insurance, companies like ENRA or Krist will pay out the purchase price of your bike in its entirety, and depending on your policy some companies will even give you a lift home if you are stuck on the road with a mechanical problem.

This is how you insure your eMTB

Home insurance (clarify insured sum)
ebike insurance companies (compare offers)
ebike insurance companies with pick-up service (carefree package)

Can you be safe even without a lock?

Sometimes you might not have a lock with you, but still need to pop into a shop to quickly buy something. In this case you have be creative and improvise to avoid your bike getting nicked in the short time you leave it unattended. With a bit of luck, the shop owner will allow you to take the bike inside the shop for a moment. However, since this won’t always be the case, here are a few extra tips to prevent thieves from taking advantage of the situation and stealing your bike in a matter of seconds.

Alternative tips to avoid theft*

Take the front wheel off: this will stop thieves from riding off with your bike.
Removing the quick release from both wheels will make it harder for a thief to ride off with your bike.
Shift the gears: if a thief tries to ride away on your bike the gears will jump.
Remove the battery: this could make the bike useless for thieves.
Connect two bikes using the chin straps of your helmet
Lock several bikes into a cluster and secure the first two bikes with a zip tie from your tool-pouch.

*E-MOUNTAINBIKE Magazine assumes no responsibility for this information 😉

Faux pas deluxe

You could spend your lifetime acquiring information about locks and all the different security categories. However, the only thing that really counts is that you lock up your bike properly, attaching it to a solid, immobile object and always leaving it in an appropriate and busy location.

Absolute no-goes

Locking your bike onto short posts
Wrongly attaching the lock onto the frame
Not turning the dials on a combination lock after closing it
Leaving the key in the lock
Skimping on locks

Conclusion

For most cyclists, theft prevention is a very delicate matter. The type of lock is only half of the story; it is crucial that you use the lock in the most effective way possible. You can splash out tons of money on bike safety but even the most expensive lock in the world won’t help you if you secure it to a wire-mesh fence while popping into the pub with your riding buddies – a thief can cut a fence open within seconds. A tall and solid lamppost is always your safest option. Keep your ebike in sight, look for a post that is firmly anchored into the ground, and store your bike in a locked room whenever you can – the more safety features you combine, the longer it will take a thief to steal your bike. Ideally, all these safety measures will discourage a thief from stealing your bike altogether. However, it’s still a good idea to take out theft insurance in case your bike gets stolen.

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