Not the usual bike carrier question - Security?

[TheAngryKoala]

The answer to this question would appear to be "no", so I'd suggest not buying one.

Know of any XLWB T6 Shuttles around then? Or failing that a Crafter Shuttle?

 

[TallPaul_S]

It is naive to think there are only 2 types of bike thief - the opportunistic chav who nicks a bike for a laugh and probably ends up dumping it, or the tooled up hardcore crims who drive round wielding angle grinders and boltcutters and threatening anyone who tries to stop them.

There ARE people who drive around in vans looking for bikes to steal on an industrial scale. They ARE opportunistic. They know that the simplest/quickest way to nick bikes is not to make themselves a focus of attention by using tools, and they WILL look for unsecured bikes REGARDLESS of the reason they are unsecured. These are organised criminals who specifically target motorway services, laybys, picnic areas, bike parks, etc for this very purpose.

Hopefully your expensive bikes do not fall foul of such people. Thanks for your input and for raising the issue of the DL3 which I will avoid based on your advice.

I never said there was only 2 types, I said there's multiple levels of bike thief. And the rack will only deter the most basic, passer by. But that's enough for a quick piss stop.

Anyone with a set of basic bolt cutters will get through most locks in seconds and don't arouse much attention. No rack lock will withstand basic tools. And if they're driving around in a van looking for bikes they'll most certainly have a set of bolt cutters in the back.

 

[TallPaul_S]

The answer to this question would appear to be "no", so I'd suggest not buying one.

Ultimately I think this is the end answer. Other racks may be slightly better with the locks but if the bikes are on the back of your van, they're vulnerable and very visible.

It's part of the reason I went from this:

To this:


I was tired of trying to find hotels or AirBnB's with secure bike storage.

 

[Shaun Witts]

It is naive to think there are only 2 types of bike thief - the opportunistic chav who nicks a bike for a laugh and probably ends up dumping it, or the tooled up hardcore crims who drive round wielding angle grinders and boltcutters and threatening anyone who tries to stop them.

There ARE people who drive around in vans looking for bikes to steal on an industrial scale. They ARE opportunistic. They know that the simplest/quickest way to nick bikes is not to make themselves a focus of attention by using tools, and they WILL look for unsecured bikes REGARDLESS of the reason they are unsecured. These are organised criminals who specifically target motorway services, laybys, picnic areas, bike parks, etc for this very purpose.

Hopefully your expensive bikes do not fall foul of such people. Thanks for your input and for raising the issue of the DL3 which I will avoid based on your advice.

Totally get what you are saying. I have the DL3, and yes the loop is secured by two quick release bolts, so undo those, and the ratchet type wheel clamps and someone could then walk away with all bikes from the carrier still locked together via the frame clamps & arms attached to the loop.
I always lock my bikes to the carrier frame and to the underneath of the van using a combination of cable locks and a big motorbike U lock when I leave them. I don’t like to leave all that on while driving due to concerns of wear & tear of all those bits jiggling around.
I have heard of campers getting up in the morning to find their bikes taken from the rack at the back of their van, so it does happen and I always lock my bikes up overnight. Of course, if someone targets your gear, you are unlikely to be able to prevent it. You can only make it increasingly difficult.

 

[JOG]

So your "secure" bike rack shouldn't even allow you to stop at a motorway services to go to the toilets, for example? Really?

Motorway services are the worst place for such thefts - whole trailers go awol there! Some insurance companies state that an unattended caravan/trailer is not covered in that scenario!

 

[Ayjay]

You can never really stop the thieving b'stards completely - if they really want your bikes, they will get them so the only thing that you can do is make it too difficult and/or time consuming so that they just go and nick the ones attached to the rack on the car in the next pitch. For myself, I'm content that the D Lock holding the bikes together, the D Lock attaching the inner one to the rack frame and the cable and padlock around the whole lot on the outside of the cover are enough to put of the casual or opportunist toerags.

Vans usually have a longer wheelbase as well as a lower towbar. You may be at risk of having the bike rack hit the ground when you're going down hills or across bumps.

I can personally vouch for that - we went over a speed bump in a campsite on I'le d'Oleron a few years ago very slowly but when we stopped so my Mrs could get out type in the code on the exit gate, she saw that the passenger side light cluster on our Thule Easy Fold XT2 was hanging off. It's been gaffer taped on ever since and is probably stronger than it was in the first place.
I should also add that my tailgate can open over the rack but I haver modified it to so do - you can't open the tailgate out of the box but modding is simple if you don't mind taking a hacksaw to a couple of bits of plastic. Mine's the two bike version and the XT3 looks to be the same design.

 

[Bav]

When on the van, we use 2x Abus Granit D-locks - 1 to fasten the bikes to each other and 1 to fasten 1 of the bikes to the frame of the rack. At this point, I believe the weakest point of attack becomes the tow-ball mount or the mechanism for detaching the tow-bar from the van.

When on site, we store the bikes and the rack in our awning. This not only removes them from view, it also means we can use the 2 D-locks to fasten everything together into a configuration whereby thieves...
(a) could only remove them by virtually destroying the awning (easy to achieve, but difficult to do so discreetly)
(b) would find them very unwieldy to manhandle and
(c) would probably find them too wide or too long to fit in the back a standard Transit (which, as we all know, is the getaway vehicle of choice for a wrong'un ).

The above is in no way foolproof, but I think it would scupper all but the most determined and well-planned theft attempts.

 

[z1ts]

This thread is precisely why I use this method:-

Totally understand that it is not for everyone as that space is rarely able to be devoted entirely to bikes in lots of peoples' vans!!