The best way to secure your bike, both at home and when you are out, will depend on a number of things. Firstly, where you are leaving the bike, the type of bike you have and even how long you are going to be away from it. Whether you have a top racing bike or the good old faithful pushbike, take a look at your bike and decide how much security you require. As much as you may love your bike, how attractive is it to thieves? If you own a top of the range bike then you will definitely need to be looking at an increased level of security. That said it would be still very annoying to come out of the shop to find your mud-covered, bike about town, has been stolen.

Common methods of securing your bike include the use of U-Locks, cables, chains and even wall anchors such as the Abus WA50 for securing it at home. It can be advisable to use two locks if possible, giving you the option to secure through both the rear and front of the frame. If your bike is of value, you may wish to use two different types of lock as a potential thief would have to carry the means to break two different locks.

If you need to lock up your bike when out on your travels then you will need something lightweight and secure which is easy to transport along with you. The Abus 1200/600 budget bicycle chain is a low cost and convenient cable with a plastic sheath for weather protection. This one comes with a pre-determined 3 digit combination rather than one you set yourself.

The Abus Granit Steel-O-Flex is a top-rated cable lock which is well known in the bicycle world. Made using high-tensile 25mm hardened steel shells, thieves know from the sight of this cable how difficult it would be to saw or cut through. Sold Secure rated to Gold with the Abus Plus mechanism, which cannot be picked, this gives you that increased level of security you may require.

The weatherproof Abus bicycle U-Lock is a very good design coming with the Abus 5-pin mechanism which gives high resistance to picking. Independently tested to Sold Secure Bronze grade. Complete with a handy universal bracket so the lock can be attached to the frame which is an ideal way to store it when not required. The shackle is also long enough to enable you to secure the bike to a gate, railing or lamp post.

If using a U-Lock then there is a couple of things to remember. When fitting it around the frame, fill as much of the lock as possible as this will reduce the risk of something being used as leverage to snap the lock. Also, try to avoid attaching the U-Lock so it is lying on the ground as a hammer can be used to break the cheaper models.