Stolen Bike ?

Was your bicycle ever stolen ? Please share experience/related information. This will be a learning experience for all.

Thank You.

Vijay

 

Mine hasn't been, but I go to University of Texas at Austin and get a daily crime-report email, and during the school year, there are probably 2 bike thefts every day, sometimes a lot more. I would say that 90% of the time, the bike is worth less than $400, and 70% of the time, it is secured with a self-locking cable lock, the rest of the time a U-lock.

The moral of the story: if you have a good road or mountain bike, don't keep it locked up outside, and if you absolutely must, use a U-lock AND a cable lock at the same time.

 

I have 2 U Locks. Is this ok ? Here is some more I would add, if you must keep it locked outside, don't leave it locked outside for too long.

A related question: If one is really touring with his touring road bike and is going far, maybe even a few days trip, how can one avoid locking his bike outside ?

Thanks.

Vijay

 

I've nabbed a bike theif before.

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t394090.html

 

Besides the normal precautions, I was taught to make stickers saying "This bike is stolen. Contact the police and (my name and phone number)." Put one of these stickers on the steerer tube inside the headset. Hopefully the theif or "new owner" will not be tech savvy and take the bike to a bike shop for maintenance. Also hopefully the bike mechanic will do as the sticker asks and you get your bike back. I know that there are a lot of "Hopefully's" but every little bit helps, can't hurt!

 

Very neat suggestion indeed. Every little bit helps for sure. Here local Police give a tool to engrave bicycles with.

Vijay

 

I lost my most beloved cheap-as-chips mountain bike from a train station in 1998. It was locked up at the time and was engraved, etc. Reported it to the police, never got it back, never saw it again. Moped for months.

 

mine hasn't been stolen, i hope it never will, just got to keep it with me when I go riding, and inside when i'm not

 

I had a nice Giant mountain bike stolen last fall. It was a weekend and I had to do some late-night computing in one of the labs on campus. I locked my bike at 9:00 with a cable lock and came back at midnight to find it missing.

The worst part is that I'd had the bike less than a month when this happened. I only have a decent-quality Schwinn now, but I use a titanium U-lock that can't be picked by ballpoint pen.

 

Years ago I had a Puegot 10 speed stolen. Broke into my parents shed and the only thing gone was my baby. Seems funny I've come full circle from road bike to bmx to ,ountain to nothing for years then back to a ten speed. Well the puegot was a ten speed you know 2 up front 5 out back man hills seemed harder then.

 

This is your info, ever wondered how cycles get stolen, regardless if you use approved security products tested by Sold Secure and Thatcham?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WeE...=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_wL...=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ip5QoMFyi0


Also Search for Captain cropper on youtube!


The tools used, were a pair of cable cutters costing around $50 and a pair of Irwin Record bolt croppers!



The goods were purchased by the producer (ITV's) Alex Nott, who asked us to come down and test the approved products sold to cyclists and bikers. Our findings were rather dramatic, using just simple tools as do the testing bodies we were able to breach stuff in seconds!



The truth is, the testing bodies care not about the thefts, they are concerned about themselves and the companies they protect who make millions selling this stuff.



I would like any cyclists, to get as many links of this footage on the forums to put pressure on the testing bodies to change their testing!



The documentary will be shown on the 24th of July 7.30pm GMT on ITV (London/South East) and Sky 993. Also watch out for it on youtube.



The truth is the approved products, on the whole are not going to last anywhere near as long as claimed! The Kryptonite fahgettoudit chain lasted just 11 seconds and the Abus Granit City Black X-Plus in just over half that time.



Many thanks for your time, this is not to scaremonger but to inform end users of the poor standards of nearly all insurance approved products.

 

I had my road bike stolen by someone at UPS(just recently). I shipped it from myself to myself( I moved out of state) and it made it into the shipping hub at my final destination, but it was never to be found again. Only thing that can be concluded is that an employee took it, but UPS never wanted to look into that, after a month they finally decided it was lost and to pay up on the insurance that I had bought.

So there is more than one way to get your bike stolen, always take precautions!

 

In Minnesota, you can register your bike with the state for a nominal fee and if your bike is stolen and recovered, they know who it belongs to. Basically, they take your serial number and put it in a database and you get a lovely sticker to attach to the bike.

No, I have not ever had a bicycle stolen. Knock on wood.

 

If you have had your bike stolen you can add the information about it on http://www.stolenbikecheck.com for free. Worth a go!

 

The reality is that any bike can be stolen by a competent thief. Out of sight, out of mind such as putting it in a locked garage or shed helps, but most garages can be broken into with one swift kick or a pry bar. In my job, we carry bolt cutters that will take out most cables, chains, or padlocks in just a few seconds. High end cutters cost less than $50 from stores that sell professional tools, but even the $12 cutters from the big box stores will cut many cables, chains, and some cheaper padlocks. Almost any lock can be shimmed or picked with even simple homemade tools and a bit of practice.

In many areas, law enforcement doesn't take bicycle theft seriously. When my daughter's bike went missing from the bike rack where she worked, I reported it. I gave them a detailed description and serial number and got the usual "OK, we'll let you know if anything turns up". I checked back every couple of weeks and got the same "we'll let you know". Two months later, I was talking with an officer who told me that he had picked up an "abandoned" bike matching that description several weeks earlier and that it was in the outdoor bike rack hidden in an alcove behind the station. I went to look and it was my daughter's bike. It had been sitting less than 30 feet from the door of the station since the day it went missing. It bothered me that despite reporting the missing bike and checking back several times, nobody communicated the information to other officers or even walked out to the bike rack to see if one had been recovered. This is a small department and I could have had this bike back several weeks earlier if anyone had passed on the information. Instead, I had already replaced the bike and when I got the missing bike back it had a rusty drive train and cables and a weather cracked seat from sitting out in the elements.

I didn't expect them to form a task force or anything but geez, you'd think they could pass on a list of items reported stolen or missing and/or items recovered at morning report or on a bulletin board or something. They had the bike right there, the only bike in the rack at the time. All they had to do was call and I'd have been very happy with them. Instead, I heard about it second hand, weeks later and had to go to the station to check the rack myself. If I hadn't had a chance conversation with the officer who recovered the bike, I'd have likely never seen it again.

 

Nope, been riding off and on since 1973 or so and whenever it's out of sight I lock it. Don't trust cables at all and use a U-lock. I also have locking skewers on the wheels, a locking bolt on the headset (all keyed the same) and the seat post requires an allen wrench to remove. Could someone get it if they wanted? Sure. But most bike thieves are opportunist and only the minority are willing to work hard enough to get past a U-lock. And I don't think any of them want to work hard enough to defeat a locking skewer. At night the bike goes inside with me.
Model 5103 U-lock goes with me at all times: http://www.onguardlock.com/?page_id=329
The skewer set show does not have the headset lock but I bought mine several years ago when they were sold as Pinhead components and the set came with wheel, seat and headset lock all keyed the same.

 

I would suggest just buying 3 seperate locks for wheels and fram and locking it to a pole. Has worked for me so far!

 

Just buy a really nice expensive bike. My experience at police auctions is that only department store rejects get stolen.