The ins and outs of locking your bike safely

Your bike is your way of getting around the city, it takes you to work and back safely each day, it’s your way to escape the noise on the weekends, or maybe it’s the activity that brings your family together. Whatever you use your bike for, there’s one thing that we all have in common - how to keep our bikes safe when we’re not riding them. Understanding where to lock your bike, how to lock your bike and what lock to use is an excellent place to start.

Bike Rack or parking:

London, along with other towns and cities across the country, is investing heavily in bicycle infrastructure. London has close to 150,000 on-street cycle parking spaces, many of the stations have dedicated bicycle parking, and the city has 24/7 off-street cycle parking in five car parks. Parking your bike in a dedicated bicycle parking spot should be your first choice if you have to leave your bike outside. These parking spaces are typically safer, have the appropriate locking objects and may even have surveillance cameras or security guards.

Immovable Object

This is a crucial thing to remember when locking your bike. Make sure that whatever you lock your bike to can’t be moved. Locking your bike to something that can be moved, like a park bench, means that a potential thief can simply move the object and get away with your bike.

Visible area/CCTV cameras:

Locking your bike in a visible place makes the chances of your bike being stolen less likely. If something unfortunate happens to your bike, you may be able to get CCTV footage of the incident, which can prove helpful when placing an insurance claim.

Approved Lock:

Ensuring you’re using a high-quality, approved lock when securing your bike is another way to keep your bike more protected when you’re not riding it. Sundays uses the Sold Secure rating to determine the locks’ quality and effectiveness in keeping your bike secure. Which lock you should be using will differ depending on the insured value of your bicycle. Bikes worth less than £1,000 must be locked with a Sold Secure, Silver-rated lock. Bikes worth £1,000 or more must be secured with a Sold Secure, Gold-rated lock.

Locking your bike correctly

When leaving your bicycle unattended, it is important that you securely lock your bicycle through its frame and all quick-release wheels to an immovable object by using an approved lock.

Sundays insurance

Having bicycle insurance doesn’t make your bicycle less likely to be stolen however, it does mean that you’re covered in the unfortunate event of something happening to your bike.  Sundays provides bike insurance for your bicycle(s) that covers you against theft from and away from home, accidental and malicious damage, travel and much more. With Sundays, you can even choose to add your cycling gear to your policy to protect that, too.  

You can get a quick, easy quote for insurance for your bike here.

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