Stolen bike - mine!

roger_merriman

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

From that interview:

How would you prevent your own bike becoming stolen? What are your top tips?

Never use a chain, they’re too easy to snip. Use a small D-lock on front and back wheels. If your lock can be moved about that means the thief’s bolt cutters can get around them, at the right angle they won’t. Stiff D-locks are hard to snip because you need the right angle on the cutters to get the force to close them.

I only use one D-lock and a cable lock for the rear but think about it, you can cut any cable lock in less than 10 seconds with a tool bought in any hardware store. Nothing can stop a determined thief but you can at least try.

Yes, but unfortunately laser-accurate hindsight isn't searching for my bike...

I know Greg, I have checked Cambridge gumtree and ads haven't seen anything.

Cheers. I have been scanning gumtree, ebay and that site linked to in the second post. Zilch. It's so specialised/esoteric that I wouldn't be surprised if whoever nicked it has passed it on into a chain that will see it end up somewhere in continental Europe. I am having trouble clinging to the hope that it will turn up, I'm afraid to say.

It’s quite possible that they aren’t aware of a) it’s value or b) it’s esoteric nature. As to is this a good thing?

asprilla

Wankers.

The only time I've left mine outside i secured it with a 19mm motorbike chain and lock. It weighed more than the bike (which was Ti rather than carbon). I took it to the bike rack by car and retrived it the same way. According to the blurb bolt croppers just dont open wide enough to cut 19mm.

Reminds me, i must get a ground anchor so i can use the chain in the garage

mtb-idle

KingstonGraham wrote:

mamil314 wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

It just has to be harder to take than the one next to it.

That is so messed up.

But true.

It's the same with houses and alarms. Yours just needs to look a bit more maintained (the alarm box) and harder to break into (the house) than your neighbour who doesn't have an alarm because 'it's safe around here, when we were kids we used to leave our back doors open, never been burgled, jumpers for goalposts, blah, blah, blah'

mtb-idle

dizzydane wrote:

Gutted!!! I will keep an eye out for yours too while I search for my stolen bike online. <snip>

Oh and 'Hi' Dizzy Dane, I thought I recognised that handle. It was your whatsapp I checked for that bikeshd site up there that you recommended when Ogi's (mutual friend) bike got stolen

rick_chasey

Total f*ckers.

Will keep an eye out.

greg66_tri_v2.0

So by way of light relief from the revenge fantasies that have been playing on the big screen in my head, I've been thinking about locking up bikes.

The double D-Lock method gets a lot of love. But generally speaking, when I look at D locks in the shops, the larger ones tend to have higher ratings. So what advantage does two locks give if they are (relatively) weak? Surely one strong lock is better than two weak ones.

Years ago when I used to lock my bikes up outside all the time, I would take the front wheel off and lock that to the rear, the frame and a cemented anchor with a medium D Lock. Reasonably tight fit. But are there any better solutions still (other than heavier and heavier locks?

Take my method of removing the front wheel. How about taking the front QR skewer with you? The thief opens the lock but then can't secure the font wheel in the forks. Ok, if he has a van nearby and is slinging stuff into a van, you're still fucked, but if he is using the "two men on a moped" method it's him who's fucked.

Next after that one: take the pedals off and take them with you. Obvs much more of a faff. But if they are well greased and removed/put back on regularly, they shouldn't be too tight. I have a pedal spanner that is about six inches long and is light. Ideal. Pop them in a Ziploc sandwich bag and see how far the thief gets with your newly liberated bike (ok, the van still presents a problem).

Or take the front wheel with you. The van is still not completely out manoeuvred, but is a thief really that interested in a bike with no front wheel? It immediately means he is looking at a bag of parts and not a bike.OTOH a 700c wheel is not the most convenient thing to carry round with you.

What about taking off the stem faceplate? You can mark the position of the bars relative to the stem easily with duck tape (I do this every time the tri bike gets taken racing).

Any other simple "distributor cap" type ideas?

mtb-idle

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

Any other simple "distributor cap" type ideas?

Don't leave it outside?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Security skewers?

greg66_tri_v2.0

MTB-Idle wrote:

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

Any other simple "distributor cap" type ideas?

Don't leave it outside?

Unfortunately, bikes gets stolen from garages as well as when they left outside.

fenix

They cant steal it until they see it though.

slowbike

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

So by way of light relief from the revenge fantasies that have been playing on the big screen in my head, I've been thinking about locking up bikes.

Yours or anyone elses that you come across in the street?

Coach H

ABUS D-Locks lock both sides of the U so any thief would have to cut both sides. Still doable but more of a faff if there are easier targets

dizzydane

MTB-Idle wrote:

dizzydane wrote:

Gutted!!! I will keep an eye out for yours too while I search for my stolen bike online. <snip>

Oh and 'Hi' Dizzy Dane, I thought I recognised that handle. It was your whatsapp I checked for that bikeshd site up there that you recommended when Ogi's (mutual friend) bike got stolen

@ MTB-Idle - Dude, I miss that bike!!
@ Greg66 Tri v2.0 - I was stuuupid enough to also use a cable lock while I ran into Decathlon for a whole 6mins. Lost a MTB SS, matt black with yellow space invaders on the frame

It's Friday afternoon in the office and I'm trawling bikeshd!!! On page 21 for today... Lets discuss revenge fantasies! :twisted:

slowbike

Reading that report of the ex-theif
just about anything that is going to delay the "break to take" will deter them - unless they think they have time. But - it needs to be obvious - removing the skewer for the front wheel that isn't obvious will probably mean they'll abandon the bike - unlocked - so it'll just get picked up by a scrote with a van ... but if the front wheel is removed as well - but left locked to the rear then it may put them off to start with.
Anything too much of a faff isn't worth it as you'll spend more time locking and unlocking your bike than you do riding it - and you can bet that it'll be pissing it down when it all goes wrong one day - leaving you with a part assembled bike....

That said - how about quick release on the seat post? Take that with you? Let the air out of the tyres - might cost a bit in CO2 unless you carry a track pump ...
Whatever you do, it can't be mainstream - as if everyone did it then the thieves would just tool up accordingly - it's easy to carry a spare skewer - or CO2 or even a seatpost ...

fenix

Brompton - take the bike with you. Or just have a cheap bike for the city. If there's better pickings they will take that.

greg66_tri_v2.0

dizzydane wrote:

MTB-Idle wrote:

dizzydane wrote:

Gutted!!! I will keep an eye out for yours too while I search for my stolen bike online. <snip>

Oh and 'Hi' Dizzy Dane, I thought I recognised that handle. It was your whatsapp I checked for that bikeshd site up there that you recommended when Ogi's (mutual friend) bike got stolen

@ MTB-Idle - Dude, I miss that bike!!
@ Greg66 Tri v2.0 - I was stuuupid enough to also use a cable lock while I ran into Decathlon for a whole 6mins. Lost a MTB SS, matt black with yellow space invaders on the frame

It's Friday afternoon in the office and I'm trawling bikeshd!!! On page 21 for today... Lets discuss revenge fantasies! :twisted:

I realised mine were getting out of hand when I found myself imagining I was in Brick Lane on Sunday morning. I took out the first bloke, in charge of the stall where my bike was, with three tins of tuna which were is carrier bag, but which I swung like Thor's hammer, mjolnir (I was carrying tuna in a bag at the time. The cat needs some for supper).

The two sidekicks were also taken out with tuna-mjolnir, then a gang of supporters ran up, and I seemed to find myself armed with a 9mm Glock so I shot two (non fatally) and one of the original three who was moaning on the ground (just for show, really).

I didn't even get to the point of setting hands on my bike before I snapped out of it and realised perhaps it was time to move on with my life...

Sorry for your loss. Part of me wonders whether the use of social media and scraping sites makes thieves less likely to use gumtree and more likely to off load somewhere like Brick Lane.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Slowbike wrote:

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

So by way of light relief from the revenge fantasies that have been playing on the big screen in my head, I've been thinking about locking up bikes.

Yours or anyone elses that you come across in the street?

Everyone's. I'm going to be the people's vigilante.

Coach H wrote:

ABUS D-Locks lock both sides of the U so any thief would have to cut both sides. Still doable but more of a faff if there are easier targets

Ah! I've just realised the little D lock on that ship's chain I bought yesterday locks on both sides. Smart!

Fenix wrote:

Brompton - take the bike with you. Or just have a cheap bike for the city. If there's better pickings they will take that.

This all makes good sense, but fuck me the idea of having to modify what I want to own and use because of some thieving shit rankles massively. So alas I can't see myself doing either of those things.

rjsterry

Sorry to hear about this, Greg.

Did you always lock the bike up in the same place?

We had a theft from our office a few weeks back. When we got hold of the CCTV, it was clear from the way they got in, grabbed what they were after and left, that the pair had been keeping an eye on the place for a while. I'm sure that people who are after bikes know the best times and places and if something nice turns up and leaves at the same time every week then they'll know how long they've got.

I think removing the front wheel and locking to the back is probably a reasonable deterrent as it means one more step after breaking the lock.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Final - I think - update. I went to Brick Lane this morning to see whether it had turned up there. Complete waste of time, as the nicest bike there was a Halfords road bike that probably retailed new for £300. If mines turns up on Gumtree I’ll be quite surprised - my guess is that it’s been moved to Europe somewhere.

Into bat with the insurance company tomorrow and commencement of Project Replace and Rebuild will run in parallel. I’ve heard good things about our insurer, but I’m very doubtful they will pay in full, so if there’s going to be a shortfall I can’t see much point in waiting until a cheque arrives before I starting buying replacement bits.

asprilla

Especially as we are in 2017 frame sale season.

If you want like for like (except heavier and stiffer) then Sigma have R3 in 56cm at a good price and Slane Cycles have them in 54cm..

Swift cycles say they have one, but they don't.

itboffin

R5 Greg you know it makes sense

greg66_tri_v2.0

The 2018 model year R3 and R5s have proper geometry and not stomach turning paint schemes. But the R5 is eye wateringly expensive - basically it would mean blowing 3/4 of budget on the frame, which doesn’t really work when I also want a Chorus gruppo, Boras and a power meter.

So really it comes down to a 2018 R3 or a 2008 R3SL (exactly what was taken) from a shop in NY.

Oh, and 2018 means BBright and press fit bottom brackets and tapered steerers. And, well, change. And we know know what change is, don’t we?

That’s right.

Change is bad.

asprilla

I'd double check that. Afaik 2018 R5s have a stack 7mm lower than the 2018 R3, which is geometrically unchanged from 2017 (obviously it's lighter, stiffer and has greater tyre clearance than the 2017).

Edit; 2018 R3 geometry is unchanged from 2017. R5 is 7mm lower and 2mm longer.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Hmm. On my phone so posting links isn’t easy, but compare the geo of the 18 R3 on Cervelo.com (159mm headtube) with that posted on sigma for the 17 R3 (173Mum headtube).

So on paper lower. But look at the two photos carefully and it looks to me like there imay more fork in 18 between the calliper insertion point and the base of the head tube than in 17. So overall despite the paper the front end stays high.

In which case it comes down to R5 vs R3SL which gets decided on cost grounds very quickly indeed.

timothyw

The measurements on sigma are meaningless without axle to crown size of the fork - stack and reach are the best measurements to compare, as they give the position of the top of the head tube relative to the bottom bracket.

There's geometry from the 2016 r3 on bike24 here, and you can see that despite different head tube length etc stack and reach are identical to the current model.
https://www.bike24.com/p2128052.html

As an aside on theft, two people in my Facebook circle have just had their phones snatched by moped teams, sounds even easier than snipping a lock and riding off with a bike...

greg66_tri_v2.0

Ah yes. Compared to what I had (here: https://recikli.files.wordpress.com/201 ... 4636-0.pdf) the stack is greater on both the current 56cm R3 and R5.

rick_chasey

TimothyW wrote:

As an aside on theft, two people in my Facebook circle have just had their phones snatched by moped teams, sounds even easier than snipping a lock and riding off with a bike...

Yes this is very common. Have had 3 friends become victims of this.

mamil314

Rick Chasey wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

As an aside on theft, two people in my Facebook circle have just had their phones snatched by moped teams, sounds even easier than snipping a lock and riding off with a bike...

Yes this is very common. Have had 3 friends become victims of this.

How does this work?

fenix

People walking down the street on their phone or holding them out - moped comes past and up onto the pavement if needs be and the pillion passenger grabs it. Then they're off.

It might help cut down on phone zombies stepping off the kerb i suppose ?

greg66_tri_v2.0

Easily and quickly. A mate of mine described it to me last week. He was waiting to cross the road (by Mount Pleasant, heading up Rosebury Ave, on the south (fire station) side of the road). He was standing next to a woman who was talking to someone on her phone.

A couple of guys on a moped came up Farringdon Road, passing in front of them, turned left at the lights, popped onto the pavement outside the fire station, circled and drove towards the woman's left side. He was still wondering what the hell was going on as the pillion rider reached out for her phone as he passed her.

More by bad judgement than anything else, the pillion guy missed her and the two of them carried on and disappeared up the road. Having then seen the whole thing unfold my mate then suddenly pieced together what had transpired, but as I say, it all unfolded so quickly that he didn't have time to work out what was happening until after the event.