Should I worry about empty tow bar bike rack being stolen from my car? And if so, what's the best way to deter thieves?

[jimster99]

Hi all,

The TLDR version: Does anyone have any idea of how to lock a Thule bike rack to a car tow bar? The official Thule lock (model 957) is, although cheap, made of plastic cheese and seems completely pointless. I don't need ultra-high-security, just something that would not fall off if momentarily glanced at by a miscreant. And is this actually something to worry about i.e. do people actually nick bike racks off cars?

The non-TLDR version:

I have a Thule Rideon 9503 tow bar rack from Thule (without any locks) - this one https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/bags- ... ack__13827 which attaches to the hitch of my car with a single bolt and could be stolen in a few seconds by someone with the correct size spanner. I'm leaving it on the car 24/7 and debating if theft is a real risk and if so whether I need to do something to deter this. Note I'm not asking about bikes being stolen off the rack, rather about the rack itself being pinched when it's empty. Where I live in London (along with most of the UK, sadly) is somewhat of a hotspot for bike thievery but the local thieves seem to focus on electric bikes & bikes with disc brakes, meaning my rim braked non-electric bikes are left untouched even though parked on the street (whereas the only disc bike I ever had constantly had bits pinched from it).

Has anyone heard of bike racks actually being taken from cars in London? It's not like stealing a bike where the thief rides to glorious freedom with the owner on foot and left in the dust, instead a thief either has to chuck it in their car boot (with identifiable numberplates, or I guess fake numberplates - probably not worth the risk for a bike rack, I'm assuming!) or alternatively run off down the street hulking a 15kg hunk of inconveniently pointy metal over their shoulder risking allowing the owner to catch up with nothing more than a gentle strolling speed.

It also wouldn't be the end of the world if it did vanish so I'm not looking for impenetrable security.

Thule sell a cheap plastic lock which would not survive more than a few seconds of screwdriver attacks (this one: https://www.halfords.com/motoring/trail ... 46344.html) which is almost worse than nothing. I also have a caravan tow bar lock but it doesn't fit on the thule rack (due to the attaching head running left-right rather than north-south like most caravans. I wonder if a u-lock would fit somehow? Or a chain? But a chain would worry me due to the risk of it getting jammed somewhere it shouldn't and causing problems.

Thanks!!

[PH]

They do get stolen, even when left in a car park during the day, I know of two examples.
There ought to be a way to chain it to the car, either the tow bar structure, or a towing eye if you can fit one. You can wrap the chain in enough material so as not to cause damage. Or have a look at caravan accessories, there are ways to lock a trailer in a way it can't be lifted off the tow ball, I don't know if any of these would work with a bike rack.
It also depends how busy and secure you consider where you park is, apart fro those who might see a profit in stealing it, you also have to account for this who might have a go for a laugh. There's a possibility you'd lose more to them in damage to rack and/or car than to theft and no amount of security will deter them. I used to have a van with a roof cage and a ladder on the back, not for long, it was such an own goal...

[PT1029]

While cable locks are not the most secure, a cable looped round/through the rack and then the other end/lock put inside the car (the cable squidging through the boot/hatch rubber seal might work.
Years ago you could buy a long cable with 2 big plastic balls (small football size) on the ends. You could loop the cable through bikes/rack (roof or boot rack) and then shut the door/boot hatch with the balls inside the car. The cable I would say needs to be as fat as you can get away with that squidges through the door/boot rubber seal.

[Cyclothesist]

TL;DR: Yes. Take it off!!!

Why would you leave it on 24/7? As you said it's matter of seconds to remove it with the correct spanner.
If you leave it on unattended long enough some plonker will try to steal it. They may succeed in that or just in damaging the rack and the car. Or another plonker will reverse into it. The plonker will be in a white van and won't care (or even notice!).
So just take it off when you don't need it, for peace of mind if nothing else.

[jimster99]

Why would you leave it on 24/7?

Good points, but the rack is kept at our modest London flat with no garage so I don't want to store it inside - even if it gets pinched as a result. No risk of a prang however - the car lives in a bay so white man van would have to mount a pavement to get to it!

[Cyclothesist]

... so white man van would have to mount a pavement to get to it!

No obstacle!

[fastpedaller]

If you really don't intend to remove it long-term, there is the option of a couple or weld tacks on the end of the bolt so the thief (or you) will need to angle grind before removing the bolt!

[jimster99]

If you really don't intend to remove it long-term, there is the option of a couple or weld tacks on the end of the bolt so the thief (or you) will need to angle grind before removing the bolt!

This is much too permanent; I will need to take it off from time to time