per subject line, i've a pickup sans a cap.
how to secure/lock/protect from thievery?
i own a u-lock.
thanks.
lt

I picked up some chain from the hardware store. It runs through a hole in my cargo tie downs (some trucks have hooks) and I pad lock it around my bike. If you don't have tie downs that work you could run the chain (or buy a coated version) over the tail gate and run it through the backup chain hole in the reciever hitch or the hole the facory hitch threads onto. You may be able to use your u lock depending on what size chain you can use on your truck. It works if I have to stop in town for any amount of time while transporting my bike but I wouldn't be comfortable leaving it at a trail head overnight.

Edited by gvolpe on 06/22/2012 22:11:41 MDT.

screw a couple lockable fork mounts to a 2x4 the width of your bed. Through bolt the 2x4 to the bed. I've seen this done a bunch, super clean & easy. NOT overnight at the trail head safe, but pretty neat for everyday stuff.

A Rottweiler sleeping next to the bike works great :)

+1 on a chain or cable through the stake holes. If your seat has a quick adjust, leave it in the cab. If your wheels have quick releases, cable through.

If they want it and have time, they will get it. Do the best you can. If you can slow them down, the inclination is to go elsewhere.

Leave the bike at home if it worth more than $800.00 that's the safest way. If your staying in a motel bring the bike in the room.

If criminal wants something bad enough they will take it locks only keep honest people honest. I watched a very expensive carbon fiber bicycle at the Palomar college bus terminal that was well lighted and was locked to bench with a Kryptonite "U" lock. It was slowly striped of every component over a two week period and all their was left was the frame locked to a bench.

You could imagine what would happen to bicycle locked in the pickup truck bed at a trailhead overnight.You would be better off taking a rental car and breaking the bike down and locking it in the trunk of the car.
Terry

Edited by socal-nomad on 06/23/2012 11:04:14 MDT.

Man, who leaves their carbon fiber bike locked up for two weeks at a bus terminal?!

That said, bike thieves are among the lowest of the low.

My approach for my bikes is big locks, indoors, not unattended, etc. And having a lousy-loooking, sticker-covered bike in the stable is also good for those times when it has to be left somewhere.

I would get a cap if leaving a bike in a truck bed.

There's a great article on bike theft at http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/Who-Pinched-My-Ride.html?page=all

The bottom line is bleak!

wow, I can't believe a carbon frame would get left at the bus stop... kick the frame hard enough and the whole thing is gone in seconds

I use the cable lock in combination with locked fork mounts in my buddy's truck. The mounts keep his beast from punching holes in my carbon hardtail as we get jostled around in cali traffic... my bmx punched a hole in the wall of a friend's truck bed (was just thrown in on it's side) when dude had a brake check in traffic.

i appreciate the responses.
my circumstance is a temporary measure-- as in while stopping for a few groceries en route home after a day of single track. anyone can snag it, as in it's not worth much at all, but me likes it :)
lt

We often transport our bikes in the back of our open-bed truck, using fork mounts. Our fork mounts predate the locking type, but when I need to lock down the rigs, I just pass a cable through the rear triangles/wheel and lock it to the tie down loops on either side of the bed. That's enough to keep the bike from "running away" while we're in a restaurant or etc... and if I feel it appropriate, I just move the front wheels back along the bikes to be "in the loop" as well.

The fork mounts are stable and steady on the freeway and while four-wheeling.

coolness.
leads me to another dilemma...
u-lock or cable lock?
i'm finding a u-lock entirely inhibiting in the # of places that i can (or can't i should say) appropriately lock it. it's alarming how many places ('round here at least) don't have a bike rack.
i've had to get extremely creative with finding places to lock my bike,
and more often than not, i'm 125% squeemish i'll return to find it gone!
are u-locks for the dinosaurs?
lt

Hey, unless it's a junker MTB, you shouldn't be leaving it locked to something outdoors for long and a cable lock is lighter and more versatile than a u-lock. U-locks are great for swinging at pedestrians when you're a messenger...

Cable locks are convenient enough that you can lock the wheels up on the bike even when it's at home...a minor inconvenience that pays off big when the bad guys arrive.

take off the front tire and lock it up in the cab.

One each of cable and U-lock.

icky u locks

I have fork mounts in my truck, and if I'm running into the store, I keep a cable locked to a tie down, and run the other end around my rear wheel/frame.