Ever witnessed someone crying into a helmet near a banged-up bicycle rack? If you live and ride in bike-theft hotbeds like Oakland, Portland, New York City, or Chicago, you probably have—or have experienced it personally. Indignation, violation, and anger aside, burgled cyclists’ tears mean that until the cyclist tracks down the stripped-down carcass of their beloved ride or saves up for a new bike, they’re back to carbon-based transportation to get to work. According to the thief deterrents behind the Skunk Lock, which douses bike thieves in noxious chemicals, one out of five robbed cyclists never get back on their bikes—that's some 330,000 US cyclists a year.
Having been relieved of five bikes in the past decade, I’ve learned a few things: Renters’ insurance is an apartment-dwelling cyclist’s best friend. It never hurts to lock your ride next to the fanciest bike on the block. And it’s impossible to prevent theft completely. Mosquitoes of the human ecosystem that they are, bike thieves have been known to dismantle or even make off with entire bike racks.
But you can slow down the pilfering process, prompting thieves to move on to an easier target, like lions on the Serengeti seeking out the weakest impala.
We checked in with veteran cyclists and bike-industry pros for the most effective ways to thwart thieves and keep you biking to work all year long. | 
