I just had my saddle/seatpost stolen for the second time in 4 months. I'm a little baffled because my bike is a 10 year old commuter bike and neither saddle was worth a lot of money (this one was $30 including seatpost and clamp, the previous one was stock) and I didn't have a quick release on either. One was stolen from in front of a hospital on a busy street in broad daylight and one was stolen a block from a police station near where I live.
First, just out of curiosity, what happens to all these stolen seats? I don't see many on Craigslist and Ebay would seem too obvious as it would be easy to spot your missing seat. It's also not like I have an expensive road bike with a $200+ saddle on it. Just trying to figure out what kind of person goes to the trouble to unbolt a $30 seat in when they could just pry $500 side view mirrors off of cars? Where is this market for stolen seats that seat theft is so common?
Secondly, what can I do to reduce the chances my seat gets stolen again? Would getting a really ugly saddle in like yellow or magenta deter thieves or encourage them? Would it be unwise to have the seatpost tack welded to the frame (I can have this done for free)? Are there affordable anti theft seat clamps and do they work?
Note - I live in NYC, so unfortunately the obvious solution of parking my bike inside on a daily basis isn't really a practical option.
First, just out of curiosity, what happens to all these stolen seats? I don't see many on Craigslist and Ebay would seem too obvious as it would be easy to spot your missing seat. It's also not like I have an expensive road bike with a $200+ saddle on it. Just trying to figure out what kind of person goes to the trouble to unbolt a $30 seat in when they could just pry $500 side view mirrors off of cars? Where is this market for stolen seats that seat theft is so common?
Secondly, what can I do to reduce the chances my seat gets stolen again? Would getting a really ugly saddle in like yellow or magenta deter thieves or encourage them? Would it be unwise to have the seatpost tack welded to the frame (I can have this done for free)? Are there affordable anti theft seat clamps and do they work?
Note - I live in NYC, so unfortunately the obvious solution of parking my bike inside on a daily basis isn't really a practical option.