Cycle Passports – Are They A Good Idea?

Police have launched a new operation to tackle the growing problem of bicycle theft in the county of Lincolnshire.

To combat a recent spate of thefts of bicycles, Lincolnshire Police will be holding a series of bicycle marking days across the area.

There has been an increasing number of bike thefts across the county, with 1,832 bicycles stolen between April and November 2011, a rise of 14 per cent.

The new scheme will introduce bike passports and encourage bike marking, along with the use of microchips that will help officers return bicycles to their owners when they are recovered.

Bikes are being stolen from a variety of locations, including sheds and garages, as well as being taken from outside shops and houses.

Over recent months the police have made a number of arrests and hundreds of bikes have been recovered but officers have been unable to return many of them to their owners due the lack of detail on the bikes given to the police at the time of reporting the crime.

During the week of action, local police officers and PCSOs will be out in the community delivering leaflets on crime prevention and handing out ‘bicycle passports’.

These passports record the details of the bike, including its make, model and frame number, with space for a photograph to be attached which is then put in a safe place. Then, should the cycle be stolen and later recovered, the ‘passport’ will help officers to return it to its rightful owner.

Bicycle passports will also be available from local police stations and many local retailers.

Secure a bike with a good quality bike storage unit.

Statistics found via the internet.

Garden shed theft – some stats from Manchester

More Garden Crime Statistics – from Manchester

The Altrincham Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) has issued a warning to local residents following a spate of shed break-ins in the area.

There have been 14 shed or garage break-ins in Altrincham over the last month, several of which occurred in the Timperley area.

Bikes, tools, and lawn mowers were the most common items targeted by thieves, many of whom broke in after finding an unsecured door or cutting the locks.

The NPT have upped their patrols in areas considered most at risk, and are providing free shed alarms to residents there. Bail checks and visits to the homes of known offenders are also being carried out.

Officers are advising shed and garage owners to use locks that flips over and does not offer access to screws. They also suggest locking away tools after working in the garden, as burglars could use these to their advantage.

Other tips include using security lighting, adding gravel to paths as it creates a noise and acts as a deterrent and using prickly plants in the garden.

Inspector Clark Bowers of the NPT, said: “While we are keeping a close eye on known offenders, it is important that people who might be at risk of shed burglary help us to minimise that risk.

“They can do this by following our simple advice, being vigilant and reporting any suspicious activity in their area.

high-quality-garden-storage from asgard

“This is about making sure people with sheds are aware that the valuable property they keep inside them is desirable to thieves.

Secure your garden with a good quality garden store.



“Power tools, lawnmowers and gardening equipment can be easily sold on by unscrupulous individuals.

“By working together, we can ensure fewer people suffer the distress and inconvenience of becoming a victim of burglary.”

To report crime call police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. For more information visit www.gmp.police.uk.

To beat garden theft get a secure garden store

More information on click manchester.com

Welsh Cycle Crime – Police Task Force Aims To Stamp Out Cycle Crime

 

Breaking The Cycle Of Crime In North Wales

A MAJOR Bike Watch scheme is clamping down on bike theft when it launches today across the whole of North Wales.

The scheme, which will use BikeRegister bike marking kits to mark and register cycles belonging to the people of North Wales, is being launched at the Police HQ in Colwyn Bay by Flintshire Community Safety Officer PC Hazel Goss MBE.

PC Goss said: “We have had a particular problem with bike theft, especially the theft of expensive bikes worth more than £2,000 each. The bikes have been taken from all the usual places including sheds, garages and bike racks across all six counties of North Wales.”

She continued: “After the launch, we plan to split Bike Watch into three seperate regions so that it is easier to manage. I will oversee the Flintshire and Wrexham area; my colleague Ivan will manage the Denbighshire and Conway region; and Gwynedd and Anglesey will be looked after by another colleague, Norman.

“Between us we will hold marking events in our areas involving the local community, cycling enthusiasts, schools and any other bike owners who would like to get involved.”

PC Goss said she chose BikeRegister because she had heard of its success in reducing bike crime and assisting with owner recovery in other areas of the UK.

She added: “We are very much looking forward to introducing Bike Watch and putting the brakes on bike theft in this area. We are confident this new scheme is going to be great for us and great for North Wales.”

For further press information and images contact: Angela Singleton, Press Officer for Selectamark. Mobile: +44 (0)7905 623 819. Email: angela.singleton@selectamark.co.uk

Secure your bike with a good quality bike storage unit.

Statistics found via the internet.

 

The Police Help To Combat Cycle Crime In Oxford

POLICE helped commuters avoid bike thefts by etching security codes on to frames outside Oxford’s railway station.

Officers from British Transport Police’s team based at the station marked bikes and promoted bike security measures on Thursday. Cycles were etched with a unique number to help police return them to their owners if they are stolen.

Pc Roddy Brown, pictured right, with cyclist Andy Bramwell, said bike thefts at the station had fallen dramatically since BTP reopened their Oxford base in February last year.

He said: “When we first came here we probably had one bike stolen every six days, but that has fallen to one every six or seven weeks.

“But we wanted to make sure people knew that it does still occur and that they need to take precautions.

“We find a lot of people who have £1,000 bikes buy a £10 lock. We are advising them that if you are going to spend that kind of money on a bike, it’s best to buy a better lock.”

The officers hold etching events every few months but Pc Brown said members of the public were always welcome to contact BTP officers at the station to get their bike tagged.

He added: “It only takes five minutes, so if people come and see us we will do it.”

From http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9715839.Cutting_out_cycle_crime/

Asgard the best for Bike Security

Fake Asgard Bike Storage – Looks like Asgard, same price as an Asgard – Is it as good as Asgard?

We recently told you about the latest copycat product (see that blog here) – Our reviewer didn’t have many good things to say about it – Well it seems he was not the only one.  Here is a review sent in by a keen eyed customers.  See the full bike shed product comparison on www.asgardsss.co.uk or here

The review by wb

Safeguard Bike Storage RRP £598

What follows is a review of the service and bike storage unit as supplied by *****.

Order process:The website was nice and easy to use, everything I needed was there.  Ordering the unit was simple and straight forward.  After placing the order a conformation was emailed straight through to me.

I had to wait 12 weeks for the delivery of my ***** my bike storage, during this mammoth wait there was virtually no contact at all. I had to constantly chase “littlestor” who is supposedly the automatic customer service response computer.  To be told “the units are similar to washing machines, often bits can break” and that there were many problems with production – I have no idea what that means.  The website states I would receive a phone call prior to delivery, I never got a call or an email.  I had to phone several times to get some idea of delivery.

Delivery:

I did eventually pin them down to a delivery date – The delivery guys turned up on time (actually a little early) they were very polite and really nice guys.  The unit was delivered in a 7 year old plain white transit van.  I had originally opted for installation as it was free at the time of order, though the weather (even over the extended 12 weeks) prevented us from getting a concrete base down.  So I opted for a drop off only.

At the time of delivery each panel was individually wrapped and there was a separate jiffy bag of components (screws etc).  No assembly instructions were provided or available to download from the ironstor website.

Some elements of the bike storage shed were semi assembled, the back panels and front panels were already bolted together which was quite handy in principle, though did make handling a little awkward.

Unwrapping/1st Impressions:

After unwrapping all the panel components I was less than impressed to note the following;

The base was buckled and badly scratched with a number of footprints inside.  There was a large dent near the locking point.

The roof and back panels were badly scratched so much so they were down to the metal.

The gas struts had a nut missing on one side causing one of the struts to come off.  These were loose and rolling around inside the packaging.

No assembly instructions.

Assembly:

Oddly, there were no instructions included with the ironstor bike shed, so there was a lot of guess work involved in assembling the unit.

With the (buckled) base on the floor we proceeded to put the back panels and one side together.  One of the screws on the side panel failed to line up with the corresponding hole on the back panel.  Another just spun wildly as there was no thread on the back panel.  As there are only 5 screw points in this area, this does mean this side is quite unsecured.

The second side went on with similar issues, 4 of the screws lined up with the holes, the fifth did not.  Again, I think this may effect the security of the unit in the event of an attempted break in.

Both sides and back also screw into the bike shed base.  All of the screws and holes lined up well at this point.

Now the basic bike shed frame was up, I was alarmed how thin and wobbly the shed seemed to be, the doors in particular were all over the place.  It was after the shed was fully built that I found 2 brackets that held the front to the sides and straightened up the unit.  This stopped the front from wobbling, though the doors were still very wobbly.

Fitting the back, floor and sides took 20 mins.

Roof:

The next item to fit was the roof.  This was very difficult to fit.  The steel used in the roof is very thin twisting and bending as you handle it.  The roof is massively oversized for the unit so it is really difficult to correctly situate it.  The hinges are situated on the OUTSIDE of the unit, which is really disappointing, not sure how secure this will be under attack from thieves.  The hinge plates and fixings are on top of the roof and easily accessible for any wood be thief. The hinges are secured in place with nothing more than standard nuts, again, this is really poor on bike storage unit with an rrp of £600.  I would have expected better.

The hinges were pre assembled (attached) to the back panels, so the massive roof had to be dropped onto the unit and screwed from the underside.  So you have to be inside the unit to screw the roof on, in total darkness, whilst your help supports the weight of the roof and tries in vain to line up the hinges with the holes in the roof.  One of the hinges was at least 5mm out, so the roof is actually twisted when on.

Gas Lift roof mechanism:

Now the roof is screwed on (sort of)it was time to fit the gas lifts – As mentioned earlier, one gas lift had fallen off, the other was attached.  The nuts were missing to secure the gas lift in position, luckily we had some that fit.  The gas struts are painfully thin and underpowered, they don’t actually support the roof, it keeps falling down.

Fitting just the roof took 3/4 hour in total.

Access Doors:

The doors are paper thin, they wobble all over the place.  The hinges that hold the doors in place are on the outside secured only by standard nuts on the inside of the door.  The hinges look like they are plastic with a single exposed pin on the outside, again I am less than convinced that these will last long or be much of a deterrent for would be bike thieves.

Securing the unit to the ground:

I have no idea how this should be done, I was supplied raw/wall plugs for use in plaster board and no corresponding screws.  So, at the moment  the unit is not fixed to the ground in anyway.

Roof on: Unit in operation.

Once the roof was on, I was less than impressed to find the locking points at the front don’t actually line up (they should slot into some guides) so the padlocks will not fit.  I say won’t fit, the “free” padlocks were missing from the unit.  I have phoned twice to find out where they are with no response at the time of writing.

Next was the fitting of the hooks, I wanted the hooks so I could hang my bags and accessories in my unit, I got 3 hooks in the bag – alas they don’t fit anywhere in the unit – there are no hook fixing points.  I also got some odd bits of metal with holes in them.  I have no idea what they are for.

I can’t actually close the roof without sitting on it, as it is so badly twisted, so I can’t actually use the unit properly.

I have a bag of screws left over, I have no idea what they are for.

Conclusion:

This is a dreadful bike store – 12 week delivery, no communications, the unit was damaged, bits were missing, it won’t go together and it leaks. The company claims to be Secured By Design (Police approved) I have checked, they are not registered. I am very unhappy with *****, this is a poorly thought out bike storage unit, made from cheap materials with little thought put into real world use.

Update:

I am still waiting for a response from ****** about my missing padlocks and the quality of the unit.  I have left 2 messages with no response. I have used my own locks and have been using the bike storage shed for a week.  It rained over the weekend.  My ****** Safeguard bike store is 3 inches deep in water inside.  The rain has poured into the unit from virtually every point, my backpacks, shoes and helmets are soaked.

Dimensions:

Roof – plan view – 2130 x 1270

Side – 1370 h at back, 1165 high at the front

Aperture – 1340 x 110

Weight -  19.13 stone

Score: 0/5

For the best in tough hardwearing and reliable cycle security visit www.asgardsss.co.uk

Bike Security Marking Helps Tackle Cycle Crime

THE owner of a stolen Brompton bike, which was security marked and registered on Bikeregister.com by the Cycle Task Force, has been reunited with it this week.

The six gear Brompton cycle was stolen when the victim left it locked in Islington Green on 20 January this year.

However, The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Cycle Task Force, part of the Transport for London funded Safer Transport Command, marked the bike on 18 October 2011 after the owner visited one of their marking events they held at East Finchley Underground Station. The details of the bike were registered on Bikeregister.com, the preferred cycle register for the MPS.

Officers from the Cycle Task Force then searched an address in Newham on 18 May and found the stolen six-gear Brompton, along with another Brompton that was also reported stolen.

The six-gear Brompton had a chemical etching applied by the Cycle Task Force, which was checked on the Bikeregister.com database, providing details of the bike’s owner and allowing the Cycle Task Force to reunite them with the recovered bike.

The second Brompton was reported stolen from Aldwych on 20 March 2012.

A 43-year old woman was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and bailed to return to police in June.

Cycle Task Force Inspector Peter Salter, said: “The Cycle Task Force carry out regular bike security marking events across London and we are delighted that as a result, we are able to return a stolen bike to their rightful owner.

“This highlights how reporting crime to police and keeping information about items registered on property databases, up-to-date, assists police in restoring property to their rightful owners.

“We advise any cyclist to follow ‘the three R’s’ – record the details of their bike, register them onto the MPS preferred property database www.bikeregister.com and report any theft to the police. These are simple steps that all cyclists should take so that if their bike is stolen they stand a good chance of being reunited with it.

“Bike thieves should be aware that we will use the full powers of the law and range of tactics to track them down and bring them before the courts.”

Siwan Hayward, Deputy Director of Community Safety, Enforcement and Policing at Transport for London, said: “This is yet another positive result from the Cycle Task Force, who on a daily basis work extremely hard to minimise bike theft in the Capital, and demonstrates the importance of cyclists registering their bike details.

“With the Mayor’s cycling revolution leading to an increase in ridership in recent years, we will continue to work with the Metropolitan Police to ensure that London remains a safe and secure place for cyclists to enjoy.”

Andrew Knights MD of Bikeregister said: “This recovery shows the importance of applying a permanent visible mark to a valuable bike and then registering that code along with the serial number and bike details on a secure Home Office-approved database such as BikeRegister that is regularly referred to and searched by the Police. A particular problem the Police have, which BikeRegister solves, is tracing a genuine owner when suspect stolen bikes are identified or recovered.”

He concluded: “We are very pleased that yet another bike has been returned to its rightful owner thanks to the successful partnership of the MPS Cycle Task Force working together with BikeRegister.”

Secure your bike with a good quality bike storage unit.

Statistics found via the internet.

National Shed Week……. Coming Soon!

Asgard do like sheds!  After all that’s what we do!  For the last couple of years we have kept an eye on all that is sheds – so we have been fans on National Shed Week for some time.

To celebrate National Shed Week, Asgard are having extra prize give away through out June, so get your Asgard customer pictures in, and join some of Asgards previous shed picture winners - go on to their website and win some Asgard goodies!

So check out their website and see just what you can do in your shed!

National Shed Week starts on 2nd July when shed enthusiasts are encouraged to keep an eye on the ShedBlog to discover the Nation’s Shed of the Year.

This annual event sponsored by Cuprinol is now in its 6th year and it continues to go from strength to strength!

I must admit that initially I could not see why we should celebrate sheds! Afterall it is just somewhere to store your garden tools – right? However, I soon realised that many of our nation’s sheds have played a part in our history and we must make an effort to preserve them.

Shed enthusiasts have taken pride in building and caring for their sheds. Those contending to be Shed of the Year range from hut sheds, eco-sheds, pub sheds, summerhouses and even a category called a tardis shed! This year there will even be a special category for International Shed of the Year.

This got me thinking … a shed is more than just a DIY shed. You just need to check out the previous Shed Week winners and see – there are some real works of art on show. It reminded me of walking around garden centres when I was younger, gazing at all the sheds that I thought would be perfect for my very own house in the back garden. To me a shed was a mystical place and Shed Week is perfect for showing the many dimensions to something we all take for granted”.

Asgard the home of sheds

Details about National Shed Week Here

Asgard cycle storage customer reviews

Asgard Bike Storage Feedback continues to pour in – We still seem to be getting it right!


really good bike storage from asgard
“I am really happy with my bike shed – takes up a fraction of the space of my old wooden shed & gets more bikes in! What I also love is the peace of mind that my beloved road bike is safely locked up – takes away the nagging doubt of it being in a shed.  The install team did a great, quick and efficient job – I would have been struggling on my own all day cursing!” Matt
asgard make really great-bikestorage-products from metal

“Thanks for your e-mail. we are really delighted with our bike shed. It is really spacious and it seems really secure. The guys who delivered and put it up were really efficient and conscientious. I was initially a bit reluctant to spend the money on this but it was really worth it”. M

good-looking-bike-security-solutions from asgard storage

“The Asgard unit I purchased has done exactly what I wanted it today (keep my fishing tackle safe). It seems very robust and I wouldn’t fancy my chances of getting into it without the key! It was easy to construct with clear instructions…”


Cheap Bike Storage – Asgard v’s the Copy Cats – Which is the best bike storage on the market?

Asgard V’s the Competition. from www.asgardsss.co.uk

Asgard have been the leading designers, manufacturers and suppliers of metal storage, cycle security and motorbike storage for years.  With over 40 years manufacturing experience we are pretty confident we have got it right.  The success of Asgard has spawned many copy cats – The internet is littered with products that look similar at first glance, many even cost the same.  But when the customer gets their new bike store or garden shed, they get a bit of a shock – all is not what it seems.

So another year and another Asgard copy.  We have got hold of the latest copycat product – As not to be unfair we bought one on behalf of our pervious reviewer Mr  SZ (remember he reviewed one of our 1st ever sheds a few years ago) and gave him one of our own Asgard bike storage units and we let him do his thing!  Below are his thoughts (we have renamed the other bike shed as “copycat”.

Delivery:

Copy Cat:  Each panel was wrapped individually in plastic which is a great start. On unwrapping a number of the panels were rather badly scratched.

Asgard: None of the panels were wrapped, Instead all were delivered wrapped in blankets – Asgard tell me this is an environmentally friendly choice.  I think it saves them money.

Copy Cat: 1st impressions:

Looks impressively big, too big actually.  On checking the website dimensions I was correct.  The unit was several inches bigger than indicated on their website.  This did mean that my concrete base was not the right size for the unit, so overhung at one side.  The colour is great, nice and discreet, a slightly lighter shade than the Asgard brown that I have seen.  I am somewhat questioning the panel effect on the unit though.  The website shows what looks like separate panels, however in reality they are not.  It looks like the unit was made then someone has scratched lines with the end of a nail down the unit.  It looks cheap and nasty and doesn’t add anything to the asthetics.

Asgard:  1st impressions:

To reiterate my comments from a few years ago, the finish on the Asgard is excellent, a speckly green/textured effect.  The unit was exactly the size as per their website.  So it will fit on the base.

In use:

Copycat: 1st thing to note is it looks nothing like the image on the internet.  The website shows a 3d rendering and not a picture.  2nd the roof won’t stay up.  The gas arms are painfully thin, no where near strong enough to hold up the huge lid/over sized lid.  The lid itself is really thin and wobbly, it actually bends as you raise and lower it.  When the lid is fully down, it won’t line up with the locking points, I have to thump the bike store shut each time.

The hinges at the back are mounted on the outside of the unit, with what looks like oversized drawing pins with nuts on the inside.  They look pretty flimsy to me. The hinge pins are exposed and there is a 1cm gap at the back of the unit, easy for a screwdriver to go into and prise off.  As a reasonably serious rider with a few thousand pounds of equipment, there is no way I would put anything in here of any value.

Asgard:  The roof stays up well, the gas struts are much thicker and actually seem to lift the roof for you.  The hinges are hidden from view and have blanking plates over them.  Inside it looks like a 2nd plate covers the hinges again.  The locking points are perfectly positioned and line up well.  Oh and it looks like the image on their website, which is a bonus.

Ironstor-bikestorage-is-faulty in every way - it will not go together

On the copy cat bike storage the roof will not close

The doors:

Copycat:  Oh dear, the doors feel like they are made from tin foil, they wobble as you open or close them. Inside there is a lift up locking bar, but it is half way down the door and really awkward to get at.  The bar lines up well with the location hole at the bottom, so once closed, the doors feel a bit stronger and the wobble is reduced.  At the top of the doors there is a real problem, if you push hard enough the doors bend inwards, a good kick and they actually open.  So, instantly I rate the product as useless.

Continuing my look at the doors, the hinges are not great either.

A: They are mounted on the outside of the doors?

B: They are secured with basic spanner fit nuts

C: The hinge pin is on the outside.

D: The hinges seem to be plastic.

As the unit is not mine to damage I have not tried to force the hinges, though I suspect they would easily be compromised with a screwdriver. 

Ironstore-bikestorage-is-poor quality

On the copy cat bike storage the hinges seem cheap and light weight

 

Asgard: Reinforced doors and roof does make a difference, wow what a difference.  There is no way I’m forcing these doors open.

The hinges are hidden from view and look to be welded into position as well as screwed with multiple screws.

The downside is the unit must be dead level for the doors to close correctly, my base was a bit of a rush job so not very level.  Luckily Asgard do provide spacers to push under the unit if your base is not level.

ironstor bike storage has cheap hinges and poor quality hardwear

Copycat unit has external hinges, fixed only by a couple of screws

Locking:

Copycat:   Not really that good, the supplied padlock just fit the hasp, but they hang down under the shroud at the front of the unit. A “would be” thief just has to cut the lock off.  This is a really odd design.  The shroud is nowhere near the correct size for hiding the locks.  I wanted to bolt the unit down to the ground for extra security.  However the unit came with no ground bolts just 6 plastic raw plugs – the sort you use in a partition wall at home.  As I said earlier, the locking is irrelevant as a kick in the middle of the doors and the unit opens in seconds.

Asgard:  As per the roof, everything is spot on.  The padlock fits well and is hidden from view by a thick steel plate.  Your concrete base needs to be dead level though, if it’s not there is not a great deal of tolerance for the padlock hasp.  Spacers are supplied to help to level your unit if your concrete base is a bit out.

ironstor-bikestorage-has crap-locks - I could get in with a screw driver

Poor quality locking mechanism on the copycat product

Bolting to the ground was quite easy.  The fixing bolts are huge, so you need a decent drill to fit them, also I think the concrete base needs to be a decent thickness.  The Asgard base is pre drilled for the bolts (one in each corner).

Ironstor bike storage has exposed-screws and fixtures making it vulnerable to attack

Copycat bike storage has exposed-screws and fixtures making it vulnerable to attack

In use:

Copycat:   This unit is a little larger than the Asgard, so there is much more room to manoeuvre bikes around in, which is excellent.  It still has that annoying bong that the Asgard has as you move things in and out. That said I could still only get the 4 bikes in, just a little easier.  The floor seems to have about 30 holes drilled into it.  I have no idea why.  Just as a side note, there was some light showers the following day and the unit filled with around a centimetre of water.

Ironstor metal storage leaks

Copy cat bike storage leaks

 

Asgard: As I said, a little smaller than the copy cat unit.  Still accommodates 4 bikes though, still have that annoying boom sound as you move things around inside.  The floor is solid and reinforced, there was no leaking during the brief rain showers.

Summary:

It is obvious that the copycat unit has been made to look as much like an Asgard unit as possible, which it does.  Though it looks the same there is a massive difference in build quality and the level of security.  The material it’s made from is really thin, the unit doesn’t go together correctly; it is badly made and is totally unsecure.  It also leaks horrendously.  Yet it is the same price as the Asgard unit.

unhappy-bike-storage-customers

www.asgardsss.co.uk

Asgard Bike Shed Competition Winner

Congratulations to Dr K who has won the Asgard customer feedback prize.  Dr K has won one of our Asgard bike chain monster locks - for the ultimate in bike lock security.  If you want a chance of winning one of our exclusive Asgard prizes, email us Asgard comments and pictures of your Asgard product. at www.asgardsss.co.uk

tough hardwearing sheds from asgard secure steel storage

“I have had my Asgard bike guard now for 2 months. I feel it is well built and sturdy. The door was faulty on initial delivery but your company came back and replaced it. The second chap who came was excellent and fixed the problem with the unit lining up and in addition screwed it to my concrete base. I trust the unit with 4 of my most precious bikes so I feel it is of value. I only wish I had bought it before I was broken into! I have even considered buying another unit to go in my garden. The brown colour is unobtrusive and fits in well to my garden. I have attached a photo for you”.

Beat bike theft with Asgard Secure Steel Storage Bike Sheds Here.

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