Cargo bike security concerns grow following theft

Late in the afternoon on Jan. 15, Robin Nobleman headed out on a chilly winter day with her toddler bundled into her Urban Arrow electric cargo bike. They made a quick 20-minute stop at a friend’s house on a main street, the bike locked with a u-lock and a cafe lock. It wasn’t enough, and when she came back outside, she saw nothing but a pair of locks on the ground where her bike was parked.

Nobleman and her partner bought the Urban Arrow electric-assist cargo bike in 2020 instead of purchasing a family car. It was an expensive purchase in the thousands of dollars and the couple took steps to secure it properly. They lock up the bike in the backyard of their east-end Toronto home under a shelter to a purpose-built metal bike rack. The gate is locked. They use a u-lock around the frame and the built-in cafe lock on the back wheel with a cable going through the lock and the seat. They had a GPS installed, but it malfunctioned too often. They also took out a separate rider on their home insurance for the replacement cost of the bike.

“We always take the computer/brain with us so the e-assist can’t be used.,” Nobleman says. “We leave the battery on the bike because it’s heavy to carry. I always lock to a city ring and post. That’s how the bike was locked at the time of the theft.”

As cargo bikes become increasingly popular, it’s important to recognize that their value and ease of resale make them an attractive target to thieves. Therefore, it is essential to take as many appropriate security steps as possible. And that starts with locks. The more the merrier.

“We were just stopping to drop off some fresh bread. We came out about 20 minutes later with our friends and immediately saw that my bike was gone and all of the locks were cut and lying on the ground,” explains Nobleman. “They were cut through cleanly. The cafe across the street has big windows and the barista saw a man with what he described as an electric saw or maybe an electric angle grinder cut the locks and ride away. He saw another man join the first and follow on a bike.”

According to Greg Heck, of ABUS, a top bicycle lock manufacturer, a minimum of 10 percent of a bicycle’s value should be spent on bike security.

“In high theft areas using more than one lock is recommended,” he says. “In these instances using locks of different styles increases the difficulty for a thief.”

Another important consideration when it comes to bike security is to make sure the wheels of your cargo bike and the frame are both secured, using a combination of locks to do so. Ideally, a lock will go through each wheel and the frame.

Also, make sure whatever you’re locking your cargo bike to is completely immobile.

Heck adds, always lock through the main frame to a secure object and avoid locking to traffic signs, trees, or fencing.

Be sure to lock the bike somewhere visible that is well-lit with lots of foot traffic, he adds.

Thieves are pretty sly and often brazen, but attempting to saw through a lock in front of a café might be a deterrent. Of course, for bike security at home do the opposite — put the bicycle out of sight, in a shed or garage, or locked up and under a tarp. Garages are great but it still needs to be locked.  Heck says ABUS recommends a WBA100 floor anchor and a high-security chain such as the GRANIT CityChain XPlus 1060 or 9809.

After Nobleman’s cargo bike was stolen, she flagged down a nearby police officer who went to circle the neighborhood in search of the bike.

“While watching two toddlers and a baby (her kids and my daughter) in a nearby building, my quick-thinking friend Noreen posted on several Toronto bike and neighborhood Facebook groups about my stolen bike,” Nobleman says. “Her husband Luke circled the neighborhood on his cargo bike looking for mine. When the police officers returned without any luck, we searched for security cameras in the area. At the same time, Noreen saw a post on a Facebook page that my bike had been found in a nearby laneway! I rode in the back of the police car (which was an experience in itself!) to the location about four blocks away and lo and behold, there was my bike, intact aside from the cut cafe lock.”

As it turned out, Nobleman believes the thieves, unable to operate the electric assist with the computer removed, gave up on it.

“My best guess is that the thief found the bike difficult to ride, especially uphill, without the e-assist and dumped it in the laneway,” she says. “Perhaps he intended to come back with a truck. A fitter bike thief might have gotten away with it.”

If they hadn’t recovered the cargo bike, Nobleman says the next steps would have been reporting the theft and searching resale sites to try to confront the thieves.

“This would be a hard bike to fence, especially without the computer.,” she says. “It is very distinctive and only Curbside (a Toronto bike shop) services these bikes as far as I know.”

Following the adventure, Nobleman says she and her husband have both been more nervous regarding bike security since the theft, especially about leaving the Urban Arrow outside when out and about.

“My husband immediately went out and bought a heavy-duty ABUS lock and I’ve been using that along with an ABUS U-lock,” she says. “Despite my nervousness, bikes are for using and a theft won’t deter me from using my bike in the way I want. This will inevitably include leaving it on the street sometimes.”

Always use high-quality locks such as those available from ABUS.