Pannier Security on Tour

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Heltor Chasca
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Pannier Security on Tour

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Up till now I've only done long weekends of cycle touring/camping and I've generally been within visual of my bike and it's panniers. I've just left the luggage on the bike and so far I've been lucky. But you know what they say about jinxing things.

I keep all my valuables in my bar bag and take that with me when going into a pub, café or museum and leave the panniers on the bike. I reckon my time's up and need to make a better plan when doing longer tours. The Netherlands in the summer for example.

What do all of you do? Cable lock? Take all the panniers with you? Secure the panniers with those metal, net rucksack doobrees?

Thanks in advance...hc

(I'm perhaps a bit paranoid having grown up in a crime-ridden part of Afrika. A farmer I work for occasionally in Somerset told me I offend him because I lock my pickup truck up on his land)
Vorpal
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by Vorpal »

I always take my panniers with me, or if I want to be a tourist for a day, I leave them with a hotel, or in a station locker or something.
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simonhill
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by simonhill »

The only single rule is common sense. What is right in one circumstance may be very wrong in another.

Ideally leave luggage at hotel, maybe bike as well in some places. In a small country town, probably safe to leave while shopping etc as long as bike is locked. I wouldn't leave it anywhere for too long unless under someone's supervision, eg security guard, car park attendant, food stall, shop owner, etc.

Most thieves don't understand panniers and would be reluctant to start fiddling in a public place.

I have never locked my panniers on, the only things I could use, straps, handles, etc could be easily cut. Not sure about those pacsafe cages, might make your stuff look more valuable.

Its one of the joys of cycle touring I am afraid.
yakdiver
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by yakdiver »

I have a small pad lock on my panniers and fits the the rack it stops someone just taking them off.
Vorpal
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by Vorpal »

Carrying panniers around is easier with a shoulder strap or something. When shopping, they can be stuck in a trolley.

I have left them a couple of times, when the bike was locked and I was just going to be gone for a few minutes, but I always worry about them.

People do use alarms, locking nets, locking mounts and various other things. I'd rather just take my stuff with me.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
fluffybunnyuk
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by fluffybunnyuk »

I try to avoid leaving my bike on tour. I lock it up for quick trip into shop for drink/water.
Going to a supermarket. i carry the panniers round in a trolley.
Other than that mini padlocks to keep the paniers attached work well for a 5 minute stop.
If people want to rummage through my used underwear for valuables i'm not fussed. :lol: They go with me in my barbag.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by al_yrpal »

My Arran panniers have handles. There is usually something on top of the rack too overhanging the tops of the panniers. I loop the bungies holding the top stuff through the handles with the hooks out of sight underneath the top stuff. I always leave my bike loaded in full public view securely locked. If I really wanted to make things difficult for a thief I could add in a cheap Decathlon digital cable lock through those handles securing them to the rack too.

No thief is going to want the hassle of trying to remove a pannier that is complicatedly secured like this. The thief wont know if there is anything worthwhile pinching anyway. The biggest risk might be someone with a sharp knife slashing the bungees and pinching your tent.

My bar bag, containing all valuables is easy to unhook with the Klickfix, it goes with me everywhere. I have a shoulder strap for it.

Al
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Cunobelin
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by Cunobelin »

There is an item called a "PacSafe"

Image


Designed for securing rucksacks, but the 120 l version will encase the back end of a bicycle including panniers, then simply cinch at the bottom bracket and the rack fixings.

Not 100%, but would deter the basic opportunistic theft
bohrsatom
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by bohrsatom »

I've padlocked panniers to my bike before but that won't stop anyone rifling through the bag. On tour I quite often have washing hanging from my panniers (buckle the bag through the leg of cycling shorts for instance) and I figure that acts as a slight deterrent :). Otherwise all valuables are in the bar bag which gets taken everywhere I go (except my tablet computer that's too big so is stuffed at the bottom of the cloths pannier... don't tell anyone!).

But still I'm not happy leaving it unattended like that for long. Once we asked the ticket office of a tourist place whether we can store our panniers with them and they said yes. Otherwise maybe you can find left luggage at a station? Or the Dutch fietsenstalling often have lockers and in the past we have kept our panniers there whilst sightseeing. Not sure carrying your bags with you is an option unless you pack very light!

The pacsafe looks good but I've always wondered whether you're drawing attention to the fact you've got something valuable in there.
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foxyrider
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by foxyrider »

If I stop 'en route' fully loaded its often not practical or possible to put the bags somewhere safe or carry them. The Bar bag goes where I go, it has all the valuables and is never left unattended. the other bags I lock up to the bike. Of course pump, bottles, tool kit etc are removed and 'hidden' inside a bag. Yes its not exactly high security and anyone could get into the bags however there is nothing in them that couldn't be replaced, an inconvenience yes but its a chance you take after all a locked car is only as secure as the location of a nearby brick! Much like leaving your tent on a campsite, there isn't much point in locking it, that may well attract attention, thieves want shiny stuff they can sell on quickly and easily not a grubby sleeping bag and dirty stove - even if they did cost £400!

I think you are making something of a statement by leaving the bags under 'light' security that there's nothing worth stealing inside.

That said, I would probably be more circumspect in a big city, poorer countries etc where the very fact I'm a tourist/foreigner means I am rich and my stuff must be worth stealing.
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hamster
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by hamster »

I think part of the joy of touring is not having to worry. I don't take much valuable stuff with me beyond a smartphone and wallet. If someone really wants a used sleeping bag and 25 year old Coleman stove then they'll have it. It will be inconvenient but I'll live. I seriously doubt if the theft risk is at all high compared to being mugged.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by Heltor Chasca »

I think I might have a split personality. Half of me likes the PacSafe route. The other half thinks I'm on holiday so chill.

I've been thinking that as I use a cable lock anyway in conjunction with my main lock in urban areas, maybe I could work a plan by passing it through the panniers?

Like it has been said, it's not going to stop a determined tea-leaf but it's a possible deterrent...hc
mcallaghan
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by mcallaghan »

I take all valuables in the bar-bag with me, but it also depends on the area. When i stop for lunch, I always try to remain in view of my bike - via a window etc - if in a busy area. In a quiet area, I just lock the bike up.

For instance, my tour of Ireland...due to the weather (near constant wind and rain) I only took my valuables with me when I went inside. I locked the bike up and never felt in danger of having things stolen.

My issue with the PacSafe thing....thats a signal to a would-be-thief that you have something valuable locked up, making it more of a target. While something secured loosely, of with just a simple lock, is not nearly as enticing of a target since its not deemed as valuable due to the lower level of security. I saw a youtube video of some one breaking even the sturdiest of bike locks in a matter of seconds, in the middle of a city (i forget which) even using a power-saw in one occasion. Not one passerby tried to stop him or call the police. Padlocks etc deter crimes of opportunity, while a career thief will find a way to get what he wants.
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monxton
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by monxton »

As others have said, all valuables are in one small bar bag which gets lifted off at every stop.

At night, I've been staying in hotels / hostels etc., so taken luggage into the room. For day-time stops, I do leave the panniers on the bike. I try to leave it in view, but would choose a more secure location which is not in sight over a less secure one which is in sight - because I can't watch all the time. I have never yet had a problem. (I've only once ever had stuff taken from a tent, and that was at a music festival.) However my recent travels have been in European countries where people have similar standard of living to myself. If the wealth discrepancy is greater, then it may not be sensible to leave the bike unattended. The kind of place where a crowd gathers when you stop your bike ...

I have a feeling that a set of heavy panniers is more of a deterrent than an attraction to a bike thief. He either has to work out how to get them off, or he has to wobble off on a bike that behaves differently to what he is familiar with, and he is likely to be more noticeable. Once he has it, a touring bike may be more difficult to sell on. Why not go for something more "standard"?

Will you be travelling by yourself? If there are two or more cyclists, then you can streamline a lot of stops, like going into a shop or ticket office, by just leaving some people outside with the bikes. This is not so much for pannier security as to save the palaver of finding a suitable location, getting the lock out, trying to get the loaded bike up close enough to the fixed object to get the lock round them both, etc. etc.
nmnm
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Re: Pannier Security on Tour

Post by nmnm »

I take passport, phone, camera and wallet and leave the rest on the bike. I wouldn't risk it anywhere too urban but then the bomb squad might not want your panniers left unattended outside a main train station either.
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