One naked bike...

[eddiec]

Was wandering down the Paris end of Collins St the other day (on that lovely rainy day which apparently only flyingdutch had the grapes to ride in ), when I saw a pitiful sight: A quite nice Marin MTB frame u-locked to a bike rack, with nothing but its cranks left... everything else gone! Wheels, bars, forks, cables, derailleurs, seatpost, brakes, pedals... all gone!

It was quite tragic, but also quite impressive to think that
someone had the skills (and tools!) to strip a bike in a very busy
street in Melbourne in what must have been a very short period of
time I'm guessing.

Also made me wonder how common it is to lose 'bits' off your otherwise
locked bike... I haven't (so far!) despite leaving my bike in such
dangerous places as uni's and laneways. Anyone else ever lost 'bits' off
their pride and joy??



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[Marty Wallace]

"eddiec" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Was wandering down the Paris end of Collins St the other day (on that
lovely rainy day which apparently only flyingdutch had the grapes to ride in
), when I saw a pitiful sight: A quite nice Marin MTB frame u-locked to a
bike rack, with nothing but its cranks left... everything else gone! Wheels,
bars, forks, cables, derailleurs, seatpost, brakes, pedals... all gone!
>
> It was quite tragic, but also quite impressive to think that
> someone had the skills (and tools!) to strip a bike in a very busy
> street in Melbourne in what must have been a very short period of
> time I'm guessing.
>
> Also made me wonder how common it is to lose 'bits' off your otherwise
> locked bike... I haven't (so far!) despite leaving my bike in such
> dangerous places as uni's and laneways. Anyone else ever lost 'bits' off
> their pride and joy??
>
>

The quick way is to hacksaw through the frame.

Marty

 

[Ray Peace]

Greetings,
Yes, but not recently. A long time ago in an underground
car park at uni someone nicked my saddle and cut the gear cables, which
made it almost impossible to ride. Nothing similar has happened in more
recent times. When parking in the city or local shopping centres, I tend
to remove the bike computer, as this qualifies as ENG (Easily Nicked
Gear), so far no-one has attempted to make off with the water bottles
or the pannier I customarily use for day trips. When parking in the city
I sometimes also place the lock through the helmet straps to discourage
anyone from nicking that.
Regards,
Ray.

eddiec wrote:

>Was wandering down the Paris end of Collins St the other day (on that lovely rainy day which apparently only flyingdutch had the grapes to ride in ), when I saw a pitiful sight: A quite nice Marin MTB frame u-locked to a bike rack, with nothing but its cranks left... everything else gone! Wheels, bars, forks, cables, derailleurs, seatpost, brakes, pedals... all gone!
>
>It was quite tragic, but also quite impressive to think that
>someone had the skills (and tools!) to strip a bike in a very busy
>street in Melbourne in what must have been a very short period of
>time I'm guessing.
>
>Also made me wonder how common it is to lose 'bits' off your otherwise
>locked bike... I haven't (so far!) despite leaving my bike in such
>dangerous places as uni's and laneways. Anyone else ever lost 'bits' off
>their pride and joy??
>
>
>
>--
>
>

 

[flyingdutch]

eddiec wrote:
> Was wandering down the Paris end of Collins St the other day (on that
> lovely rainy day which apparently only flyingdutch had the grapes to
> ride in ), when I saw a pitiful sight: A quite nice Marin MTB frame
> u-locked to a bike rack, with nothing but its cranks left... everything
> else gone! Wheels, bars, forks, cables, derailleurs, seatpost, brakes,
> pedals... all gone!
> It was quite tragic, but also quite impressive to think that
> someone had the skills (and tools!) to strip a bike in a very busy
> street in Melbourne in what must have been a very short period of
> time I'm guessing.
> Also made me wonder how common it is to lose 'bits' off your otherwise
> locked bike... I haven't (so far!) despite leaving my bike in such
> dangerous places as uni's and laneways. Anyone else ever lost 'bits' off
> their pride and joy??



I reckon I could strip most modern bikes with 2 allen keys (not that I'd
have the grapes, mind )



--

 

[Mike]

eddiec wrote:
> Marin MTB frame u-locked to a bike rack, with nothing but its cranks left... everything else gone!

Do you know if it had been there long?
I wonder if it happened over time. e.g. Somebody stole the wheels,
the owner abandoned it, and then seeing it abandoned, the vultures
descended.

> Also made me wonder how common it is to lose 'bits' off your otherwise
> locked bike... I haven't (so far!)

I know of wheels and seats being stolen. A light cable used with the
U-lock can discourage that. Never heard of a speedo/computer being
nicked. Is that common?
I suppose it depends where you live. I'd guess in some places (not
mentioning any NSW capitals) even your water bottle wouldn't be safe.

 

[eddiec]

Mike wrote:
> Do you know if it had been there long? I wonder if it happened over
> time. e.g. Somebody stole the wheels, the owner abandoned it, and then
> seeing it abandoned, the vultures descended.



I wondered about that too, but I hadn't noticed it there before... Of
course, it happens to be outside 101 Collins (a traditional courier
hangout), so there's always the chance this was a prank or payback for
some unscrupulous courier!



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