Hi all!

After a bit of advice...off to south america in a few months. In terms of security for the bikes we're taking a decent lock and chain, and a cheap bike cover each.

Is it worth fitting a cheap alarm to stop people fiddling with the bikes? panniers and gps (etc) are removable - we thought it might be a good idea to have something to alert us to people trying to tamper with the bikes?

Any advice appreciated!

Cheers

Matt

Hi matte, for peace of mind i would fit a cheap alarm, nothing to sophisticated as it may go wrong and you may need to rip it out and trash it like i did once on my travels.

Failing that a low tech alternative is a personal alarm. I bought three in B&Q last year i think they were about a tenner each. There about the size of a packet of ciggys (box of ten) powered by alkaline batteries (AAA or PP3 i can't remember) they are operated by a push button key pad on the front (cant remember if it was 3 or 4 digits) on which you set your own number code. There is a lanyard which you can pull out to trigger the alarm for personal protection, or you can set it as a motion sensor alarm by the flick of a switch. The sensitivity on the motion dector can be adjusted as well. I purchased three and i used them to put them loosly in the panniers or hide them somewhere on my bike when it was left unnatended. I used to put one in my tent amongst my luggage when i left it unnocupied as well. If you stay in any dodgy hotels anywhere you can hang one on the doorhandle of your room by the lanyard whilst your sleeping. The only disadvantage of them is that i used to forget they were in my tent, and when i used to enter my tent at night after a few s i would forget the alarm was there and set it off, much to the amusement/dismay to the other campers.

The advanteges are, that they are independant of your bikes electics (one less thing to go wrong)so they do not drain your bikes battery. I cant remember the loudness of the alarm in decibals but they are very loud. I was up in a fourth floor hotel room in St P'burg in Russia when someboy was tampering with my bike and i heard it no problem.

Josef

Josef

Excellent advice - thanks! The personal alarms does sound like a good idea...apart from leaving them in the tent...!

Thanks again!

Matt

In addition to the alarms, I think the best security device is a simple lightweight black bike cover to keep from attracting the opportunistic thief. Out of sight, out of mind.

Something like this:
http://tinyurl.com/a96bt