Will this increase the chances of my bike being stolen?

freehub

Hi, I've just put a Mavic Aksium front wheel on my commuter I cycle to college on, before I had an Open Pro on a Tiagra hub, the tyre split on it and I cba changing it so I put me aksium on that I've got laying around.

The thing is, the stickers saying "Mavic Aksium Race", I'm worried they might make thieves more attracted to my bicycle?


Thanks
Will.

brownleather

Take the Decals off, and the wheels will be lighter anyway.

You need some security skewers too, to stop scum nicking your wheels easily.

freehub

Well I use a D lock on my rear wheel, cable on the front wraped around the cages, the bike lock area is fenched off and apparently has CCTV looking at it.

I don't know about taking the stickers off, the wheels look better with them on, or do they? thoughts? Should I take the stickers off?

Jez mon

TBH, Will I don't think they will particularly make the bike much more nick-able, IMHO, most bike thieves outide london are just looking for mountain bikes which are pretty easy to shift once stolen.

GavH, it's a perfectly valid question, whilst the common thief may not know his dura ace from his sora, he is sure to be attracted to big shiny stickers!

FWIW Will, if you are worried, de-sticker the wheel, IMO, the stickers on askiums are a bit garish anyway! You could take the front wheel out and use the D-Lock to secure it.

djetelina

Another idea, locking type skewers for USD 3.99 a pair.
(one skewer for front, one for back wheel; includes 2 spanners)
http://www.bikeregistry.com/estore/product_info.php?products_id=56
Shipping to UK, 'bout another USD 1.5.

Le Commentateur

A thief doesn't waste time assesing the relative worth of the machine unless it's a total clunker. Generally if it looks easy to pinch they'll take it and worry about what to do with it later.

rake

Limburger

Perhaps this is the wrong forum to ask this question. A bike thieves forum would be your best bet.

If you are really worried about someone pikeing your wheel then fix the tube on the other one. Simples.

John Stevenson

Personal abuse, and responses thereto, deleted.

gavH - knock it off or a ban will follow.

MattC59

Sounds like GavH has got sand in his mangina !!! Some unnecessary abuse when you only asked a question. In my humble opinion, he's being a d*ck the abuse was unwarranted (and now I'm waiting for a load of abuse from GavH !!)

Anyway, back to your question......

When I was at Uni, all be it a few years ago, I had a few bikes nicked from outside the college buildings. These were all spangly, shiney ones. I got a my old Kona Fire Mountain, stripped it of decals and used it to commute into college for years, and guess what....... I've still got it !

In my opinion, if a bike looks shiney and expensive, (lots of Mavic stickers etc) the thieves will target that before a cheaper knackered looking bike. It's the Magpie effect, thieves are attracted to shiney stuff ! They may not have the first idea what a Mavic Aksium is, but if it looks more expensive, it becomes more attractive. How many London couriers do you see, thrashing around on battered looking bikes ? These are often reasonable bikes which have been de-stickered, had inner tubes wrapped around them, re-sprayed etc. Anything to disguise their value.

Take the stickers off and you'll reduce the magpie effect. It can't do any harm.

freehub

Hmmm, I might consider taking the stickers off, I'll plaster my PC case with them .


Thanks djetelina I might get some of those, but then again, my rear wheel is locked with a D Lock to the frame/pedals and the front uses a cable lock that I wrap all around the cages. I'd hope my SPD pedals might put thieves off, they look weird and it's difficult to cycle on them without spd shoes.

I have another D lock that I want to use with the cable lock on the front, but I've being told too many locks can actually attract thieves, so 3 locks Im unsure about.

Ollieda

You have to accept that even with locks on, if a well planned theif wants your bike then they're going to get it. My friend just had his bike nicked, D lock cut through and cable just slipped off after.

I'm not saying dont bother locking it as that would be stupid! But when you lock it up just be sensible......well light area, if not CCTV covered then CCTV covering the entrance/exits, other bikes parked there. At least this way there are external factors to discourage a thief. Whilst your bike might still get nicked, things like the CCTV or potential witnesses means you have a better chance of getting it back/police actually caring.

Secondly get your bike on immobilise (http://www.immobilise.com/) Theres been a lot of talk about weather the Police actually use it and if its worth the hassle, but just signing up is free so theres no harm! They also do a little tag that sits in your seat tube and if police recover the bike they can scan it and get your details https://www.immobilise.com/view.php?stage=product&category=1&product=2
I've got one in my MTB which I use for my short uni commute and will be getting another for a new single speed im getting off a friend (can finally ditch that crappy MTB!)

[Edit] - I forgot to mention that the police were handing out flyers for immobilise at one of there bike safety stands a few months ago near me and they said they use it here (Gloucestershire Constabulary) I guess theres no harm in giving your local police a call and asking if they use it. (obviously dont ring 999!)

There has been mention of locking skewers already, I personally think the best are these style: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zefal-Lock-Security-Wheel-Skewer/dp/B001CR6PPE unlike most which use a key or spanner these ones will only open when upside down! therefore if an opportunist thief trys to nick your wheel then they just wont be able to unless they unlock the bike. From the online reviews about the other ones theres talk about how the locking keys can break off and stuff, and its possible that a planned thief might bring a spanner for the spanner ones. Obviously, don't make a big thing out of them and don't take your wheels/saddle off too many times in public otherwise people will begin to cotton on!

Hope this helps!

Ash_

freehub wrote:

Hmmm, I might consider taking the stickers off, I'll plaster my PC case with them .

Fat chance of getting them off in one piece I'm afraid, Will.

You won't have much to stick on your PC case, just some little curled up bits of foil.

Oh, and set aside plenty of time for doing it, as it's a bit of a faff getting the remaining glue off the rims.

This comes from someone who did the same thing. Although you may be a bit more skilled at this sort of thing than me.

For what it's worth, I think Aksiums look much better de-stickered, especially if they're black ones.

Anonymous

Will, think it would be much less hassle to repair the other wheel, change the tyre from the askium to the original wheel. saves you stickers and negates the chance of a shiny wheel getting nicked.

freehub

Well yea but, the old wheels are worn, rough bearings, the actual rims are pretty concave and the rear hub is knackered, I cycled to college today and on the aksiums I notice how much smoother it is and I get quicker acceleration now, before it was like I was pulling a tank behind me, no wonder my knees where killing after a 3 mile commuter on my worn out open pros.

mikesmith80

just thought i'd chip in,
no real advise but an anecdote from personal experiance...

I ride my rockhopper into work 2-3 times a week. (just off oxford st in west london) and have done for the last 4 years or so.

I park it up in a bike rack just out side the office, with cctv coverage, outside a starbucks, so very public, and use kryptonite d lock and cable.

Anyway one lunch, I had the dumb luck of seeing someone riding my bike off into the sunset.
longstory short, no one saw him doing it, the police said the cctv coverage was not sufficent so got my crime ref number and went to give my insurance gimps a reason to bump up my preimium!

A mate suggested i check on gum tree, and low and behold a coulpe of days later there it was .. mocking me! called the police.. they couldn't be arsed... so I went to go and check it out (alll vigalanty style) . so to speed up the story, I met the guy, bike was defo mine sratches marks etc.. made my excusse i needed to go get some money from the cash point and then called the police... 2 hours later they tuned up knicked the guy, I got my bike back and they found another 10 or so bike in his house, all 1500k plus machines.

when the police asked how i found it i told them that I looked on gum tree.. to which they replied "what is gum tree?!?"

so the moral of this tale is that, no matter how much you secure your bike, with cctv, public etc.. if a scally is gonna twock it they will always find away, and secondly, from my experiance, the police treat bike theft as a uber uber trival crime and only did anything cos i did their job for them.... I bet if you tot up the cost of bikes that are stolen in London every year, it would look more than significant,

anyway, my advise, make sure you know what your serial number is and have good insurance!!

hope your wheels stay safe!

Nuggs

brownleather wrote:

Take the Decals off

As they have the word "Race" on them, the decals are worth at least an extra 10 watts.

Pross

Also, it might be worth leaving the bike in different places each day. An opportunist thief is unlikely to be bothered trying to get through locks but someone who knows what's what may see it there one day and come back the next tooled up. Make sure it's covered on yours or your parents home contents insurance too just in ase the worst does happen!

freehub

Anyone got a picture of an aksium wheel with no decals on?

Buckled_Rims

freehub wrote:

Anyone got a picture of an aksium wheel with no decals on?

What's wrong with just putting black duct tape over the decals? Do it right and thieves will even think it's a crap wheel falling apart.

freehub

Nothing wrong with that, but I'd rather take the stickers off than put black duct tape over em.

pedylan

freehub wrote:

Well yea but, the old wheels are worn, rough bearings, the actual rims are pretty concave and the rear hub is knackered, I cycled to college today and on the aksiums I notice how much smoother it is and I get quicker acceleration now, before it was like I was pulling a tank behind me, no wonder my knees where killing after a 3 mile commuter on my worn out open pros.

Throw the old wheels away. Nick a bike with decent wheels and put them on your commute bike so allowing you to keep the Aksiums for best.

You'll find lots of videos on you tube showing you how to nick bikes and there's bound to be a thread on the technical forum dealing with "which bolt croppers".

Actually (and not tongue in cheek), your bike facility sounds excellent, locked up, cctv etc. What's its actual track record like? Does it get plagued with thefts? Assuming not the you're pretty safe by comparison with many of us.

But I'd support the general view, decals are there to make wheels look good; thief sees good wheels and therefore nicks the bike. So don't carry on as your are.

freehub

There is no many thefts, it's just I get worried because I've had like 5 people on different occasions come up to me and ask things like, "how much is that bike worth", "how much you want for it", "where did you get that from", with my old bike, someone asked how much it is, and I stupidly answered, £150 :roll:, I thought after why they might be asking.... sometimes I have to walk right up to the building and take my bike in to ask them to unlock the gate, so people get a view of the bike then.

The college is full of chavs and it's based in Openshaw in Manchester.

Anonymous

How far do you have to ride to college Will ?

softlad

John Stevenson wrote:

Personal abuse, and responses thereto, deleted.

gavH - knock it off or a ban will follow.

I'd be interested to know what criteria you use for moderation on here John. I didn't see the deleted comments on this thread, but the 'first crash' thread was (and probably still is) in serious need of moderation, but you were strangely absent then...???

freehub

dmclite wrote:

How far do you have to ride to college Will ?

About 3 miles, I miss being at York college, it was 10 miles then, and 15 back.

deptfordmarmoset

softlad wrote:

John Stevenson wrote:

Personal abuse, and responses thereto, deleted.

gavH - knock it off or a ban will follow.

I'd be interested to know what criteria you use for moderation on here John. I didn't see the deleted comments on this thread, but the 'first crash' thread was (and probably still is) in serious need of moderation, but you were strangely absent then...???

Actually there was one particularly offensive post that was removed pretty sharpish from the ''serious lesions earned' thread. I think the rest of that thread, though unpleasant at times, looks like free speech.

softlad

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Actually there was one particularly offensive post that was removed pretty sharpish from the ''serious lesions earned' thread. I think the rest of that thread, though unpleasant at times, looks like free speech.

maybe you're right - but surely someone also has a right to say something if he believes someone is asking a 'dumbass' question..??

freehub

But it's not a "dumbass" question, his attitude was downright out of order for such as post, it was most hideous and anything I also said bad was provoked by his insults.

deptfordmarmoset

freehub wrote:

But it's not a "dumbass" question, his attitude was downright out of order for such as post, it was most hideous and anything I also said bad was provoked by his insults.

When I saw that post appear I really didn't know where it was coming from - it didn't seem to follow from anything that you or anyone else had said. And until you wrote that above, I assumed that it must have been a private banter thing that you had between the 2 of you. So you didn't know where it came from either!

volvicspar

Since it's a privately owned forum he doesn't have a right to say anything, nor do I. I did not see the post in question but the mods are within their rights to remove anything that doesn't contribute to the discussion, doesn't sound like that post did. 8)