Best bike locks in Amsterdam 2026

Amsterdam is the undisputed bike-theft capital of the Netherlands: police register around 15,000 reports a year, and the actual figure is estimated to be two to three times higher. Professional rings operate around the canal belt and Centraal Station with cordless drills and hydraulic bolt cutters that crack an average frame lock in under thirty seconds. Insurers such as Univé and Nationale-Nederlanden require ART-3 certification as standard for residents of postcodes 1011 through 1018 (Centrum, Jordaan, Oud-Zuid), and for e-bikes over 2500 euros they often demand two ART-3 locks. In the Jordaan and De Pijp, leaving your bike in a public staple rack is asking for trouble: where possible, choose a guarded facility such as the one beneath Beursplein or Leidseplein. Near Vondelpark and along the Amstel, expensive e-bikes and cargo bikes are the main target, while in Oost and Noord ordinary city bikes disappear. An Abus Bordo Granit XPlus 6500 or Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit is the minimum standard for bikes above 1500 euros.