Bike Theft Paranoia

jonnyboy77

I read this article on Bikehugger

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06 ... h_rss_cars

It reminded me of my bike theft experience, and also what has turned into something of a paranoid issue for me.

I bought a new bike in May 2007, I was living in Chicago and wanted something to ride around on, I bought a Gary Fisher Cronus and enjoyed the experience - leisure and commuting.



This came to a grinding halt the day before my birthday in the July of 2007 when I arrived at the office bike rack to find my Kryptonite NY in 2 pieces along with bits of the cable I used to secure the front wheel.



Reported the bike stolen, recovered about 75% of the cost via insurance, and sulked ... a lot. Friends and family will tell you that I was a very unhappy person in the wake of the theft. Yes much worse things happen, I know, they have happened to me too - but the point of this post (I'm sure you were wondering) is the continued effect that theft had, as alluded to the in Bikehugger article.

It took a few weeks but I found a second hand bike (Trek 7500) in the local classified ads, I went to great lengths to ensure I wasn't buying a stolen bike, and then proceeded to become that much happier, I was riding again, didn't worry as much about the bike being stolen (it was and is a good bike, but looks old/unattractive).



Great, but ...

The effects continue ... I bought a new bike (Kona Cindercone) this year, 3 years on from the Cronus, and yet I still get moments of dread that the new bike will be stolen, and as a result I still ride the Trek more than the Kona.



The statistics about stolen bikes make for ugly reading, so it makes sense that a lot of people reading this will most likely have been through a similar experience ... I'm curious to know if the end result was:

- replaced the bike like for like, or upgraded
- bought a second hand beater
- put off buying a new bike
- went back to driving a car (a lot less likely to be stolen these days)
- spent more money on locks
- became paranoid
- any combination of the above/or other effect

I'm also keen to know if there's anything that I can get involved in to help stem the tide of bike theft? This might seem like a stupid question, but can I help with my experience? Is there a group of people lobbying bike manufacturers/retailers, local government, police etc to take measures to prevent and detect theft of bikes?

Car manufacturers were derided publicly for their security failings, and responded (mostly) by making some major improvements to their cars - how many people rely on aftermarket security for cars today as compared to 10 years ago? Can the same be done with the bike industry?

This turned into a bit of a rant, but I hope it provokes some discussion.

- Jon

jonny_trousers

Can't help you as I have never had a bike nicked, but a story with pictures! Well done sir!

As for taking steps against bicycle theft: I think Charles Bronson may have had the right idea in Death Wish when he first filled his sock with dollar coins.

lost_in_thought

Well, I had my first fixie stolen from my back garden at my place in Ealing, over a 7' wall.

I claimed on insurance (well, my mum did) and bought a new fixie within a week. I also bought a big new lock.

Don't let the b@stards grind you down! I keep the bike indoors now.

jonnyboy77

lost_in_thought wrote:

Well, I had my first fixie stolen from my back garden at my place in Ealing, over a 7' wall.

I claimed on insurance (well, my mum did) and bought a new fixie within a week. I also bought a big new lock.

Don't let the b@stards grind you down! I keep the bike indoors now.

I think that's part of the point I was making, its good to dust yourself down and and get on it with it.

But it shouldn't be that easy for valuable property to be stolen, as you can see from the pictures I thought a Kryptonite NY lock was 'a big lock' - there's CCTV footage showing exactly how long it took for the thief to slice through it and ride off ... that was 10am on a weekday in the middle of a city in front of an office building! It took about 30 secs with a portable cutting disc tool.

I agree that being smart about what you secure the bike with, where you secure it and how long you leave it there are key points - but this is all part of the 'fear of theft' I'm annoyed about.

- Jon

lost_in_thought

The way I look at it is that if they're determined and well-armed enough, there's no lock that will stop them.

I decided (with no proof or research) that a big chain lock type thing looks tougher than a d-lock, so got one of those to deter the opportunists. So far so good!

davmaggs

I have one of the Kryponite New York chains. They are huge and I'm fairly sure that the vermin move on when they see it deployed.

However if you are riding an uber light bike to be super fast then I recommend leaving it in place as its thick enough to tow trucks with.

milan_ns

Had my bike stolen from the back yard, replaced it with similar model (insurance paid for it).

My current bike lives in the living room

rich_e

jonnyboy77 wrote:

But it shouldn't be that easy for valuable property to be stolen, as you can see from the pictures I thought a Kryptonite NY lock was 'a big lock' - there's CCTV footage showing exactly how long it took for the thief to slice through it and ride off ... that was 10am on a weekday in the middle of a city in front of an office building! It took about 30 secs with a portable cutting disc tool.

It happens though.

Quite often outside of the office I worked at in Soho, there would be people trying to steal bikes. It was a fairly busy street, so they were quite brazen using tools to cut them free and then making off with them.

The problem is, when you have somebody near a bunch of bikes, it's impossible to know whether they are a thief or not when just passing by.

On the other hand, when they are clearly a thief using tools to break one, it's then a case of the fact that most members of the public won't intervene.

I know at my Office, the Receptionists always phoned the Police, but by they time they got there, the thieves were long gone. I myself saw somebody stealing one once and by the time I'd gotten through our security door, they were gone.

I even once saw some yoofs stealing a mountain bike that was chained to a fence in Kings Cross. They could see me coming along the road on my bike towards them, managed to get the lock off, chucked it over the fence and were off. I phoned the Police, but again, not a lot that can be done.

Jay dubbleU

Had my much loved Voodoo Bokur stolen from the railway station complete with OMM rack even though it was parked in the bike park on the platform. They nicked the lock as well which makes me think whoever had a key. Bought the GT 29'r with the insurance and its a brilliant bike but I'm very careful where I leave it

nich

I often wonder where my old stolen bike is (got nicked about 2 years ago). Is it sitting in a shed? someones garden? has been treated well? did it get split and sold in bits? I guess all I can hope is that some innocent person brought it and gets some joy over it. It was a cracker!

itsbruce

I did have a bike stolen, ten years ago, and the seat and stem stolen from it's replacement. These days, I carry heavy duty chains and locks with me always, unless I'm absolutely sure I'll not be leaving the bike alone outside for more than a few minutes. Thankfully, my new workplace has secure indoor bike parking.

At home, I don't keep my bikes inside the house, but I have an entranceway with a security door and the bikes are hanging from the wall in there, with a heavy duty wall anchor and chains. Wouldn't feel safe leaving them in there, even with the barred security door, without the wall anchor; I kept the Mixer inside till I installed it.

Slightly cramped getting in the front door, but it lets me sleep more easy

ride_whenever

bikes live indoors since my dozy bint of a housemate drove into the garage door and it no longer shuts securely.

As for security:



anything big is a good plan. I want an almax immobiliser IV as well and i've bought a motorbike disc alarm to pop round the chainring as well.

This is for my hack bike because thb i cannot be bothered replacing it if it were to get knicked. The other bikes never get left anywhere that is outside my house.

anton1r

I had my MTB nicked from my works car park where specific bike rails had been installed.
Since the bike racks were out of view and there was a security light i thought it was a great place to leave it all locked up. WRONG.

Anyway, I was bike less for 2 months or so until i was given my current commuter hack which is actually more suited to the job than my MTB and I'm trying to leave it as tatty looking as possible while still running smooth so its not attractive to thieves.

jonnyboy77

nich wrote:

I often wonder where my old stolen bike is (got nicked about 2 years ago). Is it sitting in a shed? someones garden? has been treated well? did it get split and sold in bits? I guess all I can hope is that some innocent person brought it and gets some joy over it. It was a cracker!

That's an interesting questions - where do all the stolen bikes go? There must be a demand for them, are people unwittingly buying stolen bikes (ebay, gumtree, boot sales etc) or is there a market for people knowingly buying stolen bikes/parts? Is there a way to cut the demand and reduce the need to supply stolen bikes?

I looked for months to see if my Cronus went up for sale on eBay or Craigslist, never did see any sign of it, and it was a rare bike to see around.

Does anyone use any of the ID services that are available for bike tagging, they seem to range from stickers to RFID tags, of course they don't stop the bike from being physically stolen, or indeed from being stripped for parts, but I wonder how much of a deterrent they are to the opportunist and maybe they only impact the 'complete bike' theft issue.


http://www.bikerevolution.org/


http://www.immobitag.com/uk/

If there was as much negative stigma attached to buying a stolen bike as there is a car, I would expect to see a decline in bike theft, but as seen in this thread we've all got so used to it that we shrug, claim on insurance, buy a new bike and carry on ... its a vicious cycle (pun intended!).

Myself and a friend talked at length about how we could GPS tag a bike, such that were the bike stolen we would receive a notification once it moved more than 1 meter from its secured location, and then once moving could be tracked using something like Google maps. We also talked about countermeasures, so of which bordered on the insane/illegal (spike fired through seat tube into seat anyone ...?)

Seems we were not alone in this thinking either!


http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To- ... e-Project/

Ok well I just had my morning coffee so I apologise for the lengthy post ...

Thanks

Jon

rich_e

Yeah, there is a big market for stolen bikes, otherwise thefts wouldn't be so rife.

I know a guy who had his own bike stolen, didn't have any insurance and so bought one off Gumtree and it was pretty obvious it was stolen.

Trouble is, it's easy for people to sell the bikes on eBay/Craigslist/Gumtree and while it's possible to spot it may be stolen, it doesn't stop people wanting a good deal.

I've got my bikes with transponder chips in them. However, it's only good if its ever found by the Police when arresting somebody, or if they do random stop and searches somewhere (think I did read they have done that before), where they would pick it up and then remove it form whoever had the bike.

I also walked past some kids on Holloway Road once who on the main street in broad daylight, one was riding about on a pretty shiny looking bike. A mate asked him how much for it, and he offered it for £30. It was clearly freshly stolen and there was no way you would be selling a bike like that for £30 unless it was hot.

I also remember going past some similar kids/early teens on my commute home on my Road Bike once. Had to push along a kerb due to roadworks, and as I went past them they looked at my bike and said:

"Where ya keep dat at night...?"