Protecting Bike and Gear From Theft While Bikepacking (More Than Just Locks)

It’s a bikepacker’s worst nightmare: You pop into a roadside shop for a cold drink, and when you return your beloved steed is nowhere to be found!

It’s rare, but bike theft does occasionally happen to tourers and bikepackers, and many of us worry about it. Some of the most common questions I get from new bikepackers are:

• What’s the best bike lock for bikepacking?
• Will my gear be safe while I pop into a store?
• How do I secure my bike at night while camping?

These questions have no absolute answer, and reasonable people make different decisions. The best approach depends on where and how you’ll be riding; touring through major cities is a totally different situation than bikepacking through wilderness and occasional small towns.

One thing we all have in common: we don’t want to carry extra weight if we don’t have to. This is why experienced bike travelers often use a lightweight lock paired with a bunch of clever techniques to discourage theft in easy ways.

I’ll explain these tricks below, along with recommendations for good lightweight bike locks perfect for bikepacking and touring. My advice is based on over 20,000 miles of touring and bikepacking in 16 countries, over half of that solo, so my experience is fairly broad but I haven’t been everywhere.

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Trust the Universe?

When someone asks about locks for bikepacking in an online forum, there’s always one person who insists we shouldn’t worry about it. “I’ve been touring for 20 years and never lock my bike and nothing has ever been stolen,” they’ll say. “Most people are honest. Don’t be so paranoid.”

I get it. Traveling by bike is an intentional act of trust. We need to believe in the goodness of humanity or we’ll never fall asleep in our tent at night. If we expect people to be honest, perhaps they’ll rise to the occasion. (Most of the time, this actually works!)

If you find value in trusting, more power to you. The following advice is for those who know most people are honest but still feel more relaxed when we take a few simple precautions to protect our bike and gear.

Know Your Location

Situational awareness might be the most important tool for preventing bike theft while out on tour. This kind of intuition takes practice and experience and is easy to get wrong, but here’s how I usually think about it.

In a small rural village it feels rude to lock my bike under the welcoming gaze of friendly locals. Generally I won’t. I’ll park it somewhere visible, be friendly to whoever’s standing nearby, and trust in the accountability of community. If I’m a wee bit concerned, I’ll subtly use one of the sneaky tricks coming up below.

In a medium-sized town, the kind where people don’t all know each other, I’m a bit more careful. I’ll lock my bike outside the gas station while I shop for food, ideally next to a window, but I won’t worry much about it.

Big cities are another situation entirely, at least in many places around the world. Here in the US there are urban areas (San Francisco, New York, and others) where your bike lock can be cut, in plain view and broad daylight, faster than you can buy a Gatorade. This isn’t petty theft, it’s organized criminal groups. In these areas I would do everything I could to avoid leaving my bike unattended at all.

Cultural factors are important too, but they can be hard to read especially when traveling in unfamiliar countries. Being in a poor area, contrary to what some people assume, isn’t always a risk factor. I felt my bike was far safer in most of Sudan, for example, than many places in the US.

Think Like A Thief

To prevent theft it helps to put yourself in the shoes of a would-be bike thief. The organized and determined ones can’t be stopped, but most potential thieves are just desperate individuals considering a crime of opportunity.

They don’t want to be caught, don’t want their reputation tarnished in their community, and don’t want a physical confrontation. They might not be totally confident in their ability to pull off the job, nor their desire to do so.

With this in mind, make your bike hard to ride away quickly and you’ll discourage most attempts. You don’t necessarily need an impenetrable lock; you just need the following clever tricks.

Easy Theft Prevention Tricks

Though you may still want to carry a basic lightweight lock — more on that next — there are plenty of other ways to discourage opportunistic theft while you pop into the convenience store.

Use one or more of these tricks instead of (in low risk areas) or in addition to (in higher risk areas) a bike lock when parking for short periods during the day.

Park somewhere visible. Rather than hiding your bike behind the store, park it out front where people are constantly coming and going, or near windows where it’s visible from inside. Bonus points if there’s a security camera.

Make your bike unappealing. The more beat up and unique a bike looks, the harder it is to sell on the black market. Some people decorate their bikes with stickers or paint while others just embrace the grungy look.

Booby trap the bike to prevent a quick getaway. If a thief tries to ride the bike away and the wheels won’t turn, they’re likely to give up rather than make a scene. Ideas include:

• Clip a bungee from your bags around the wheel.
• Lock a brake lever in the squeezed position with a strap.
• Buckle your helmet around the tire and through the spokes.
• Remove the chain from the chainring or shift into the hardest gear
• Connect a personal alarm or vibration alarm such that movement of the bike will trigger a loud noise.

Just don’t forget to undo the trap before you try to ride away…

Carry essential parts indoors. You may look a little funny walking through the supermarket, but a bike without a seat post or front wheel is much harder to ride away.

Take turns watching. If you’re getting bad vibes and don’t want to leave the bikes at all, take turns having one of your riding companions watch the bikes while others go into the store.

Ask for help. If you’re riding solo or can’t take turns, consider asking a stranger to help. The details depend on where you are. For example:

• In the US you might stop by a bike shop and ask for permission to park your bike inside for a little while.
• In some parts of the world you might approach a shopkeeper and offer a tip for keeping a close eye on your bike.

Locks for Bikepacking and Touring

There are definitely times when it makes sense to use a bike lock in addition to the tricks above. If I’m bikepacking in the middle of nowhere and don’t expect to pass through civilization, I may not bring a lock at all. Otherwise, I always have a lightweight lock on my bikepacking gear list.

An ideal lock for bikepacking and touring is lightweight, relatively small, and versatile in position and size. A long cable lock — 6 feet instead of 4 feet — works best for wrapping around odd-sized objects like trees and benches, especially with bulky bike bags. I prefer a combination lock so there’s absolutely no chance of losing the key.

I use an inexpensive 6-foot combo cable lock similar to this one. Locks like this “keep honest people honest,” meaning they won’t stop a determined professional but they’ll prevent opportunistic theft.

If you’re into innovative solutions and open to spending more, here are a few clever locks recommended by bike travelers for their lightweight and/or compact design:

• Z Lok Security Tie: Essentially a fancy zip tie, this affordable and lightweight option is a basic deterrent for low-risk areas. Weighs 68 grams.
• Ottolock Cinch Lock: More versatile than Z Lok due to its longer length. 18″ length weighs 145 grams.
• TiGr Mini Ulock: More expensive and less versatile but more secure than the previous two, this rigid lock weighs 409 grams.
• Abus BORDO Folding Lock: Claims to offer a higher level of security with a compact folding design, available in a number of different models.

The more secure the lock generally the heavier it is. Locks can all be cut, eventually. This burly chain might keep a bike safe in New York City (if you’re lucky) but it would be overkill in the small towns of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Look for an appropriate balance of reliability and weight based on where you’ll be riding.

Protecting Gear and Bags

Even if your bike is secure, aren’t your panniers or bikepacking bags vulnerable to rummaging? How do you make sure your gear isn’t stolen off your bike while you’re in the grocery store or away from your campsite?

In practice this rarely happens during daylight hours, for the same reasons bike theft doesn’t either: no one wants to be caught stealing your stuff. Also, remember the first time you tried to mount and unmount your bike bags? Most people probably can’t figure out how to open or remove your bags anyway.

To discourage theft of gear and small items while your bike is unattended, try these ideas:

• Always carry important items like your wallet, passport, and phone with you when leaving your bike.
• Park in an obvious place within view of people.
• Remove obvious electronics from handlebars and tuck them away.
• Tuck away small shiny objects that might be attractive, especially to local kids who don’t know better: sunglasses, water bottles, etc.
• Zip, roll, and otherwise close up bags to discourage curiosity.
• If using a cable lock for your bike, run it through the handles of your panniers.
• A safety pin can be used to “lock” a zipper or sneakily secure a strap. Zip ties can keep panniers and bags attached to the bike.
• Dirty laundry in the tops of panniers. One whiff of your smelly socks will send potential thieves running!

If you’re really concerned, there are cable locks and cargo nets that can be used to secure panniers and bags. Personally I don’t think this is worth the weight and cost in most cases, but I don’t spend a lot of time riding in urban areas.

Camping and Overnight

Minimalist locks and clever tricks work well during daylight hours, but the night can be a different story.

Again, situational awareness is key. I handle this very differently when wild camping in the middle of nowhere versus staying at a developed campground. Here’s what I recommend.

When staying in a motel, bring your bike inside overnight. Very rarely am I turned down when I ask to do this, but if I am, I’ll find another place to stay. The bike comes into my room, or occasionally gets locked in a secure garage, closet, or hotel lobby.

When camping, consider the location.

• When wild camping in remote places with no people around, I don’t lock my bike at all.
• In an established campground I think the risk is low but I’ll still take basic precautions (see below).
• Though not as common in the US, there are many parts of the world where seemingly empty places are actually full of people! You may think you’re camped in the middle of nowhere but don’t be surprised when a nomadic goat herder or gaggle of kids shows up outside your tent. In these places I take some of the below precautions overnight.

Closing Thoughts

Just like everything else about bikepacking and touring, preventing theft is a balancing act. The goal is to lower the risk as much as possible without adding too much weight, effort, cost, or stress to the trip. We hope to mostly make the right decisions and to be lucky when we don’t.

It makes sense to take easy precautions, stay aware of our surroundings, and be more cautious when appropriate. It also makes sense to relax and trust people a bit more than we might be accustomed to. After all, isn’t the desire to experience human goodness part of why we travel by bike in the first place?

Did I miss your favorite technique or bike lock? Please share in the comments below!

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