Pacific LAPD offers this helpful brochure on how to lock your bike, find the serial number and what to do if it is stolen: Bike Registraton Tri Fold.pdf Here are some of the helpful details on locking your bike: Bike Registraton Tri Fold
- Find something sturdy to lock the bike to. Make sure thieves can’t simply lift the bike over it.
- Watch out for scaffolding and “sucker poles”—shake them first to ensure they’re solidly in the ground. As Kryptonite product manager Don War-ren puts it, “The bike is only as secure as what you’re locking it to.”
- Wheel theft is on the rise. If you can’t lock one of yours, take it with you. But don’t park the bike that way long—thieves will start to strip it.
- Don’t use a U-lock around your bike’s top tube, says Michael McGettigan, owner of Trophy Bikes in Philadelphia. A thief could use the frame as a lever to pop it open. Use the lock to secure a wheel to your down tube.
- Locks are about buying time. A burly chain at least 12mm thick will delay thieves the longest.
- Remove the front wheel, then lock both wheels together with the frame, bike mechanic and lock expert Hal Ruzal suggests.