Bike theft around Dublin has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic with more and more Dubliners getting on two wheels.
Where you park your bike plays a massive part in whether you come back to it safe and secure or not.
So we thought we'd give our best locations to lock up your bike as well as other tips to keep it secure.
A general rule of thumb when locking your bike is the more footfall past your bike, the less likely it will be stolen. Also, how you lock your bike and the type of lock you use is very important.
1. Drury Street
The best and safest location to lock your bike is the Drury Street car park. In 2018, DCC expanded the bike parking in the car park to have spaces for over 330 bikes.
Better lighting and CCTV cameras have been added to give you extra peace of mind. The car park is free to use 24 hours a day 7 days per week.
2. The GPO
Just to the side of the GPO, beside Penneys, there are about 30 spots to park your bike. There are regular Garda patrols as well as a tonne of footfall from Penneys.
3. Pearse Street Garda Station
It should hardly be a surprise that directly outside a Garda station would be a safe spot to lock your bike. Plenty of public lighting and security cameras make it far too risky for bike thieves.
4. Trinity College
Just across the road from Pearse Street if there's no room there.
Locking Your Bike
How you lock your bike and the quality of the lock you use is just as important as the location.
Far too often, I walk past bikes that use either cheap u-locks or just lock the middle frame without thinking about the wheels.
The best chance to keep your bike secure is to spend around 30% of the price of the bike on your lock. Also, purchase a Kryptonite cable that you can use to secure your front wheel.
Use the U-lock to secure the frame and the back wheel to the Sheffield stand. Then wrap the cable around the front wheel and work it back to the u-lock.
Most bike thieves won't go through the hassle of breaking through 2 different security features.
But remember - no bike lock is 100% secure.
Never use a wheel rack to lock your bike to. Always find a Sheffield stand that allows you to lock both the wheels and main body to the stand.
Make sure you take a photo of your bikes serial number as this will help you to reclaim it if stolen and recovered by the Gardai.
