Should you lock your rear wheel?

There is a widely held belief among bike riders in Chicago, that rear wheels are more difficult to steal than front wheels. Consequently, many riders throw a u-lock through the frame and the front wheel, and leave the back wheel unsecured. The truth is that the rear wheel as easy to steal as the front:

As a bicycle shop, we find that we replace as many, if not more rear wheels than front wheels due to theft. The rear wheel on most bicycles is substantially more expensive to replace, because you will not only have to replace the wheel, tire, tube and rim strip, but also the gear cassette attached to the rear hub. Replacing the cassette sometimes may require additional labor charges for adjusting the gears and in some cases, may require replacing the chain, because a worn chain may not work with a new cassette. Depending on the quality of the parts, you may spend $50-$200 more replacing the rear wheel that you would replacing the front wheel.

The solution? Lock the frame, and secure BOTH wheels when you leave the bike unattended. Click here for details.

Comments

[Fritz]

Wow, I never heard of that (that rear wheels are harder to steal) -- everybody I've seen locks their rear wheel. Like you write, that rear wheel is *much* more expensive.

[Justyna]

Many, many, many riders are not aware how easy it is to steal the back wheel. Quite a few riders also feel that a bolt-on wheel is theft-proof. It is not. The bottom line is, that if someone wants to steal your bike, or some part of it, they will find a way to do it. Your job is to make it as hard for them as you possibly can, and thus to deter them.