Why you need a good lock

secretsam

Picture the scene: A busy London street

A bike locked to one of the bike parking things

Someone walks up at lunchtime armed with a hacksaw and a selection of tools, proceeds to fiddle with said bike for 15 minutes, in which time 20+ people walk past

Not one person challenged him

The person? Me. The bike? Mine. The reason? Trimming 'guard stays and putting a new bolt on the guards as well.

I could have been a thief dressed in a stripey top with a 'swag' bag and no-one would have said a thing.

Get a good lock.

pedro_d

I probably wouldn't say anything to someone armed with a hacksaw, but that's just me

homercles

It's amazing isn't it, but then when you think about how many random acts of violence over nothing you read about these days I'm not really surprised. People will rarely go the aid of another person apparently in trouble, let alone some stranger's bike, if they feel there might be a threat to their own safety.

I hereby pledge to quiz anyone looking suspicious next to a bike on the basis that it might be supercriminal SecretSam.

secretsam

homercles wrote:

I hereby pledge to quiz anyone looking suspicious next to a bike on the basis that it might be supercriminal SecretSam.

I'm not that super a criminal if I'm trying to nick my old jalopy when there's a really nice Sirrus Sport in my size badly secured opposite...

Totalnewbie

If it helps, I saw a bike thief being caught on Goodge street recently, it appeared he had been caught in the act and the handcuffs were going on. Am not normally one to rubberneck but by God I rubbernecked at that, such a rare and happy occurrence!

I know it probably won't help me, but when I've been at the hospital I've been locking the bike right where the people (patients!) come out to smoke. They've got nothing else to look at, I do wonder if they would just stand and watch if someone came along with a jack and a hacksaw. Probably! There are always lots of other bikes there so I wonder if others have the same idea.

secretsam

Totalnewbie wrote:

If it helps, I saw a bike thief being caught on Goodge street recently, it appeared he had been caught in the act and the handcuffs were going on. Am not normally one to rubberneck but by God I rubbernecked at that, such a rare and happy occurrence!

I know it probably won't help me, but when I've been at the hospital I've been locking the bike right where the people (patients!) come out to smoke. They've got nothing else to look at, I do wonder if they would just stand and watch if someone came along with a jack and a hacksaw. Probably! There are always lots of other bikes there so I wonder if others have the same idea.

which hospital?

Totalnewbie

St Mary's in Paddington.

e999sam

Recently at work my bike lock seized so I rang my wife and asked her to bring a hacksaw and my tool box. Right under a security camera I nicked my own bike without any security personnel trying to stop me.

homercles

e999sam wrote:

Recently at work my bike lock seized so I rang my wife and asked her to bring a hacksaw and my tool box. Right under a security camera I nicked my own bike without any security personnel trying to stop me.

This post should be under the "Why you need a good wife" thread

danseur

When my bike was pinched from outside the hospital I worked at, I was offered the CCTV tape by the security guards to show the police.

Shame that they didn't bother to do anything about the man with a large set of boltcutters who spent some time getting through the two locks at the time.

richardjallen

If your bikes right under the camera it wont see a thing. Mine was stolen from outside a shop when it was under a camera.

I went to Malmo in Sweden last year and noticed almost no one locked their bikes and there were plenty of bikes about. People would just ride up, get off and walk away, then come back, get on, ride away. I think some people must have had rear wheel immobiliser's like these:

http://tinyurl.com/39gz7c

As most bikes seemed to have hub gears this seems like a good deterrent. But almost no one had any other kind of lock.

Mikey Mouse

I had a famous incident when I left my bike on the railings at Bow Road Tube Station after not being able to fix a puncture on the way to work.

When I got back to the bike nine hours later I realised I hadn't locked it.

secretsam

Totalnewbie wrote:

St Mary's in Paddington.

Ah-Mary's, bit of a collection of ramshackle buildings so probably a bike thief's paradise, lots of nooks and crannies

Totalnewbie

Yes, my Nan's ward is in one of the ramshackle buildings about 2 minutes walk from the busy smokers bit where I leave my bike when I visit. My mum asked why I didn't park it right outside (there are sheffield stands) but it's far too quiet, quite dark and there are rarely other bikes there.