By Jim Langley
If you live where you can leave the garage door open and front door unlocked 24/7, there’s no need to read this Tech Talk. Feel free to just hit the Next button below to turn the virtual page.
Unfortunately, in some places, you have to keep everything locked – and even when the doors are secured, valuables aren’t necessarily safe. Just as unfortunate is that bicycles are among the most commonly stolen items. Because they’re valuable, desirable and easy to sell.
Garages targeted
In my region, the Bay Area of California, the newest crime is breaking into garages to steal bicycles. It’s frequently reported on the social media neighborhood app Nextdoor and on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Note that my account here of how these crimes are pulled off is a little vague. That’s not because I couldn’t fill in the details of how they’re committed, but because I don’t want to give all the details here and run the risk of a thief reading this. But I’ll give you an overview so you know enough.
The crooks often work in pairs during weekdays when everyone’s at work. Somehow, they’re tipped off by someone that there are bikes worth stealing in the garage. They then drive by the house and when no one is home, one person jumps out of the truck. The driver circles around the neighborhood giving the first guy time to break into and enter the garage.
The Achilles Heel of many garage door openers
One easy way to break into many garages is to pull the pin that’s designed to disconnect the door from the opener in the case of an electrical outage. When the pin is pulled, you can lift the door by hand because the door is no longer connected to the motorized chain-lifting mechanism. Well, it turns out that it’s possible to reach and pull this pin from outside of the door if you know how – and these garage thieves do know how.
Some homeowners realize that thieves can open a garage door that way, so they secure the pin with a zip tie (search YouTube and you’ll find a video about this). That’s a good move. However, determined thieves have a second way to get in. Which is to break in through the side door that most garages have. These doors are normally on the side of the house and out of direct view. And even better for the thieves, they typically have windows, so getting in is as easy as breaking the window, reaching in and unlocking the door.
Everything may be at risk
Once the thief is inside the garage, they shut the garage door. In fact, if they get in through that door, they only open it a few feet, roll under it and shut it quickly. It happens so fast, even if you have attentive neighbors, they probably won’t notice.
Inside your garage, with the door now shut, the thief might have access to your house. If so, they might ransack it looking for valuables. If not, they’ll put the bicycles and anything else they want inside the garage next to the door. Then it’s simply a matter of calling their accomplice in the truck, who drives into the driveway, helps load the truck and they drive away, while you can say goodbye to your bikes and other possessions.
I haven’t been able to find out if it’s true or not – but it’s rumored that these thieves also sometimes use an electronic device that opens some garage doors just as if they had your remote control.
Locking down your garage
I’m not a paranoid person, but the frequency of garage break-ins and bike thefts around these parts worried me, so I decided to improve my garage security with four measures. I’m explaining what I did in the hopes it’ll help you safeguard your garage and protect your valuables, too.
1. I padlocked the side door to the garage. My door only had a doorknob lock – easily unlocked from outside if you break the window. So I screwed a clasp-type latch to the inside of the door so that the only way to open the door was if you have the key and can unlock its padlock.
2. I made a deadbolt lock for the garage door (photo). I have an aluminum garage door that goes up/down on tracks on either side of the garage. Looking at it, I realized that I could prevent the door moving with a deadbolt. All it took was attaching a wood block to the edge of the garage door and drilling a hole through the wood block and into the door track. With the wood block in place, I simply slide a long 3/8-inch diameter bolt through the block and into the track and the door is locked. (The piece of white PVC is for holding the bolt when it’s removed.) I also used the zip tie trick to keep anyone from pulling the pin, but that’s not really needed with the deadbolt.
3. I disconnected the opener motor. While the deadbolt keeps the door from opening, I thought I or someone else might remove and forget to put the deadbolt back in. And, I believe it’s possible thieves have an electronic door opener. So, to stop that attack, I ran an extension cord to the garage door opener motor and plugged it into a separate power strip with its own on/off switch. By simply turning off that switch on the power strip, I turn off the power to the opener, so even if the crooks have a remote that opens garage doors, mine won’t respond.
4. Last but not least, I locked up my best bikes inside the garage. That way, even if they get past my other safeguards, it’s still not going to be easy to take the stuff I care about most.
I hope these tips help you keep your bikes yours. Please share any additional suggestions or tips in the Comments.
Lock your car so that your garage door remote opener is not easy to access
Don’t post your rides on social media. At least don’t let the ride map show your house as the start/stop.
modern garage door openers use a battery when the power is out rather than the pull pin.
Seems like we’d have some product that, like rentable city bikes, is mounted on the wall and locks when you back your rear wheel into it. Somebody invent it, please!
Harden your side door by replacing the original hinge and strike plate (where the lock’s bolt enters the door frame) screws with longer screws. I use 2 1/2″ screws.
Replace the thin strike plate with a heavier one that is also much longer. This may requite a slight amount of chiseling of the wood frame to make the plate fit flush.
Also, buy an adjustable security bar to lessen the likely hood of the door being kicked in. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002YUX8I/ref=asc_df_B0002YUX8I5340826/
I keep my good bikes in the basement. We always deadbolt all of our walk-in doors on the house and garage. Our outside doors and house door in the garage are steel. I unplug the overhead door opener and use a welder’s Vice Grip pliers to lock the overhead door down when on trips. It requires no door modification. (I would insert a photo if I could figure out how. I don’t use online photo storage to link to.
I can add two more suggestions:
1) In Europe it was reported that thieves monitored Strava to see what gear (bikes) riders have. Then follow their ride maps right to the houses. Instead give your bikes a name so no one knows the brand/model. And as Russell suggested be sure to use the privacy setting so the house doesn’t show up as the start/stop location.
2) If you have clear windows in your garage, at any hardware store you can buy a plastic film that goes on with just water. Cut to size, wet and install. It comes off easily, lets light in but you can’t see what’s in the garage.
For securing your bike, or bikes, within your garage, it’s a good idea to purchase a heavy duty woven steel cable w/plastic coating to thread through the frame and wheels, and then through something immobile, secured with a discus-type padlock, as is used on vending machines at car wash facilities. I know of one company, Kabletek, based in Arizona, that makes 3/8″ x 4′ and 7′ cables, as well as 20′ long cables at least in 5/16″ size. Maybe 3/8″ also in longer lengths.
What am I missing? The deadbolt for the garage door and the extension cord to the motor are good ideas if you are going to be way for several days, but if you are worried EVERY day when you go to work, seems like the deadbolt and power cord would defeat the convenience of a garage door opener.
Yes, Phil, if you copy my safeguards, you won’t be able to use your garage door opener until you go inside the house, go into your garage and remove the dead bolt and turn back on the door opener motor. It’s a pain but if it keep bikes from getting stolen – it’s worth the extra effort in my opinion.
Regarding #3, using an extension cord and power strip. Some inside garage door opener controls have a button that turns off the ability to open from a car remote. My 20 year-old Craftsman (I believe made by Liftmaster at the time) has it. It disables the compatible Craftsman car remotes, the internal factory Homelink control on my Acura, but still allows the keypad on the side of the house to work. It should also work for the scanners thieves use. I use it only when on long vacations, but it would be easy enough to use on a daily basis.
Just one thought about the garage side door padlock: don’t forget that there are times when getting out of the house is far more important even than protecting our bikes! If your garage side door provides a possible exit should you have a fire or other urgent emergency, think hard before making it any more difficult to open the door and flee the danger. We Californians should be especially aware of the possible dangers we face. Keeping people out is certainly a reasonable goal, but be careful not to let it get in the way of your ability to leave quickly should you need to.
I’ve heard cables can be cut with side cutters, wire cutters. Takes time but might be possible.
Once they’re in the garage, they may have all the time needed.
At least with the following suggested items, it might take longer or require power tools that may be noticed by neighbors.
https://www.westechrigging.com/abus-granit-anchor-wba-100.html
https://www.westechrigging.com/chain-pewag-square-security-chain.html
https://www.kryptonitelock.com/en/products/product-information/current-key/999492.html
My house was broken in as you described, kicking in the side door. The police suggested (and I followed thru) using a hammer drill and drill a 1 inch hole in the concrete. Then slide an I-bolt with several nuts spaced on the threads along with cement into the hole. Leave only the top circle of the I-bolt above the floor. Secure your bike with a heavy hardened chain thru the bike and lock it to the I-bolt. Thieves want to get in and out quickly so the longer you can stall them the better.
#3 is just genius! Thanks for sharing!
That’s what I’ve done. My detached workshop is on our alarm system too. If anyone breaks in and trips the alarm, they can’t just grab a bike and ride away. Hopefully they would leave before deciding how to free the bikes from their lockup. And I have insurance just in case!!!
Crackheads will break into your car, find your garage door opener and find you insurance papers, then go to your residence and use the opener to get in.
Best to remove any address info from your car and have a nice quiet very large mean dog kept in the garage.
Cheers
Change keypad passcode often. Criminals dust keypads so they can see which buttons are pressed the most.
After reading tips to prevent bicycle theft from your home/garage, I need to say that college students (eg. in Providence , RI) have an unusually high theft of bicycles. Unfortunately, most bikes had to be locked outdoors. Our son had 3 good bikes stolen in about 1 yr. Thieves used a sawsall to cut thru lamposts & metal fencing instead of thru the heaviest U-bolt style locks my son used. Even an older , used bike got stolen. His girlfriend had 5 bikes stolen 3 yrs. Contacting police was a not a solution. Only tip…bring your bike inside whenever possible & lock it to a heavy item.
I have a 3/8″ eyebolt screwed into the wall of my garage to which I lock my nice commuter bike with a 3ft, plastic-coated 3/8″ stainless steel cable to with a 3/8″ padlock. The 3ft cable is just the right length to wear around my waist when I am riding the bike on commuter errands so that I can also use the cable and lock on downtown bike racks and lamp posts. Our garage doors are secured with deadbolts and our garage windows are opaque. My good bikes are kept in the house.
Don’t laugh: We keep our 6 bikes in our guest bedroom.
I never cease to be puzzled by friends who buy expensive bicycles and never even think about insuring them. Mine are covered by our homeowner’s policy for new replacement value and not depreciated value. New replacement value for each bike is spelled out in the policy. In other words, if my 2007 Cervelo R3 is stolen from our garage, I will be paid enough to buy a new Cervelo R3. That rider added very little to the cost of the policy.
Layne, thats an amazing tip, I will follow up on that.
Also Jim, maybe another topic for another time, would be insurance for bikes. also anyone figure out insurance for bikes involved in a crash?
Thanks for the tips!