General Cycling Discussion - Just saw a guys bike get stolen..

I was just walking out of a restaurant with a couple friends this afternoon, on 100th and Broadway in Manhattan. A guy dressed in biking gear was coming running down the street, screaming, and then we saw another guy riding really fast down the street and round the corner. He was really screaming hysterically and running after the theif but it was obviously a lost cause. The theif had this big **** eating grin on his face as he sped round the corner and disappeared. I guess the owner had come out of a store or something just as the theif was finishing breaking his lock or somethnig, and _almost_ caught him.

I was really upset as i came home, even though it wasn't my bike and i didn't even know the guy... The smug look on the theif's face as he pedalled away with he bike owner running after him was so sickening.

Those people we have capital pushiment for... they need to be erased from the gene pool.

It sucks to get a bike stolen, it is like a car, leaves you stranded and wondering what to do...

Yeah I was shopping on Bleecker Street last night when I noticed another 'theft opportuntiy.' Some guy just left his bike in the middle of the sidewalk, propped up by a kickstand, as he went into a store. No lock. Nothing. Maybe he presumed he was faster than any bike thief? Maybe he thought nobody in the world would ever want his bike?

Too bad somebody closer by didn't intervene - truly easy to bring down someone on a bike and, in that circumstance, truly satisfying. :D

Too bad somebody closer by didn't intervene - truly easy to bring down someone on a bike and, in that circumstance, truly satisfying. :D

Man I would've decked him. I wonder if the owner had the bike locked up or if he just left it on the sidewalk.

there must be something in the air in NYC lately. i just saw a guy pay for a pizza with a $20 - the cashier said he'd have to go get change for him first. when the cashier turned his back the guy just snuck out of the resturant. the cashier should have taken the $20 first - but it's just sick that you can't even trust someone to do the most basic thing. not as bad a stealing a bike, but the same behavior nonetheless. it mad me made for the rest of the day.

"mad me made". lol. You may be right about something in the air up there - dyslexic am I air maybe.

"mad me made". lol. You may be right about something in the air up there - dyslexic am I air maybe.

damn, right you're! i'm too tired at the day of the end. :)

Too bad somebody closer by didn't intervene - truly easy to bring down someone on a bike and, in that circumstance, truly satisfying. :D


I wish, but the whole thing happened so fast, by the time it was clear what was happening the guy on the bike was past us, and then gone. the whole incident probably took about 5 seconds.

It's funny, because i had been thinking about buying some steel pipe to build my bike repair stand with, and the hardware store is a few blocks away. I was wondering if i'd had the pipe, could i have jammed it into the spokes or something, but in truth there's no way it would have happened. It was just too fast. The thief was really booking it too. Actually, i was fantasizing on my subway ride home about having the pipe, throwing it like a spear into the front wheel, and seeing the theif endo at high speed and sail over a couple taxis to land under the wheel of a speeding M104 bus. :p I guess i'm going to hell now.

damn, right you're! i'm too tired at the day of the end. :)

Well said. Don't want to turn this thread around but, as many daily headaches as you guys have up there, and all of the jerks you have to deal with, I still love NYC and miss it. While I've never lived there, I've been there plenty (was born on the Jersey shore, grew up going there almost weekly, still go whenever I can, etc.). So, punch a wall, kick a cab, take deep breath, look around you, and realize that even amongst all of the ***** you have to deal with how fortunate you are.

"mad me made". lol. You may be right about something in the air up there - dyslexic am I air maybe.

Strong in this one the force is.

it mad me made for the rest of the day.

I understand how much you want to see the new star wars movie but your impression of yoda is sketchy at best...

Wow that sucks. I acutally prevented a robbery last night. I just happend to be coming home into the dorm garage for the bikes and i noticed 3 guys around one friend's road bike. Well anyway, they noticed me as i passed by and they left not long after leave. I forgot i had to fix a leak in my front tire so i just left the garage and brought my bike into my dorm room to get fix it. I also called my friend telling him that he should pull his bike into his room just in case the theives deiced to come back later in the night to finish the job. So when he got to his bike he told me that his locks have been tampered with and couldn't thank me enough for "stopping" the theieves. All that i really did was forget that i had a leak in my front time show up at the right place at the right time. :rolleyes:

"mad me made". lol. You may be right about something in the air up there - dyslexic am I air maybe.

Nothing wrong with dyslexica... Its helping pay for my college :)

NOOOoooooo.... AHHHH!

The force is strong with this one... Luke trust your feelings... Luke is something wrong, you turned off your targeting computer, everything is fine... Advanced Tie 2 goes down, (Han Solo) You are clear kid lets blow this one and go home.... AND THE DEATHSTAR BLOWS UP it 100000 pieces...

Hmmmm very good very good, in my best Yoda impression...

[End thread Jacking star wars impression]

I had a guy steal a old MTB in front of a bike shop once... just got on and he was gone.

This reminds me of the trick "steal me" MTB.

Suspension fork was designed to blast all it's air out suddenly if it was stressed even the least beyond normal pedaling.

One of my old neighbors ownedit and used it to have some sick fun at the expense of bike thieves....he'd use a cheap cable lock, and watch as they steal this "nice name brand bike", and then faceplant about 40 feet away as teh fork drops 3" suddenly while they are mashing out of teh saddle.

I forgot how he made it work like that, I do know he had to rebuild the fork each time though.

That's teh funny!!

This reminds me of the trick "steal me" MTB.

Suspension fork was designed to blast all it's air out suddenly if it was stressed even the least beyond normal pedaling.

One of my old neighbors ownedit and used it to have some sick fun at the expense of bike thieves....he'd use a cheap cable lock, and watch as they steal this "nice name brand bike", and then faceplant about 40 feet away as teh fork drops 3" suddenly while they are mashing out of teh saddle.

I forgot how he made it work like that, I do know he had to rebuild the fork each time though.

That's hilarious! Unfortunately, you can be prosecuted and sued for doing that... but it's still funny.

That's hilarious! Unfortunately, you can be prosecuted and sued for doing that... but it's still funny.

Why? You just tell the cops that you knew it was busted, and had intended to fix it that weekend. The bike thief didn't know that, and when they stole the bike, the fork finally gave out. Who are they going to believe, the thief or the innocent bike owner? The only catch is that you can only let this happen once.

Another thing you can do is readjust the brake calipers so that they're pressing on the rims all the time, making pedalling the bike impossible. The thief would need an alan key of the correct size to release the cables.

You can be prosecuted in many states for creating a booby trap which those forks were. That doesn't mean the police would arrest the owner or even suspect, but it IS against the law in many states (not mine).

As for stopping the thief, first you must make out which is the thief and which is the owner. I once stole a bike back from thieves after I tracked them in the snow. I'd not have appreciated a citizen attacking me with an iron pipe during my recovery. Also the pipe may be construed as deadly force which will land you in jail fast.

I think that anybody stopping a thief can use deadly force and if the bike thief dies, good, but that's not the way the law reads (bad).

Nice angle on that slide. Never thought that it'd be a guy restealing a bike. But honestly how often does that happen :D

I used to teach a class in self defense so I have these things in my mind as class examples. Here is another one.

The judge asked the witness to a fight, "Why didn't you come to the aid of the defendant?". The witness answered, "Because at the time, I didn't know which one was the defendant."

Nice angle on that slide. Never thought that it'd be a guy restealing a bike. But honestly how often does that happen :D
I've had to stand in the middle of traffic in front of a bus and demand that they let me get on board and talk to whoever put the bike on the front, cause it was mine...

I was just walking out of a restaurant with a couple friends this afternoon, on 100th and Broadway in Manhattan. A guy dressed in biking gear was coming running down the street, screaming, and then we saw another guy riding really fast down the street and round the corner. He was really screaming hysterically and running after the theif but it was obviously a lost cause. The theif had this big **** eating grin on his face as he sped round the corner and disappeared. I guess the owner had come out of a store or something just as the theif was finishing breaking his lock or somethnig, and _almost_ caught him.

I was really upset as i came home, even though it wasn't my bike and i didn't even know the guy... The smug look on the theif's face as he pedalled away with he bike owner running after him was so sickening.


Couldn't you've helped the owner come up with the description of the thief to give to the police?

Couldn't you've helped the owner come up with the description of the thief to give to the police?

Why? The police will laugh at the guy alone enough. They don't need two folks to laugh at.

There's a serious problem if the police would laugh at the victim of a theft.

I've heard a lot of discussion of setting fixed gears up to be stolen. The idea is the thief sprints to get away from the crime scene, then tries to coast, only to have the still spinning pedals toss him over the handlebars really hard. There's no way you could convict someone of setting that up as a booby trap.

I've heard a lot of discussion of setting fixed gears up to be stolen. The idea is the thief sprints to get away from the crime scene, then tries to coast, only to have the still spinning pedals toss him over the handlebars really hard. There's no way you could convict someone of setting that up as a booby trap.

Heck, I'd saw a fork in half and glue it back together, if I thought it would seriously injure thieves... :mad:

Why? The police will laugh at the guy alone enough. They don't need two folks to laugh at.


Exactly. IME, Police in general don't take bicycle theft seriously, and in New York City... heh, they wouldn't even laugh at you, they'd be like '**** off and stop wasting our time' :p

Grrr. My bike was stolen last night. '73 Raleigh Super Course that I've had about 2 months. I left it outside to dry for a couple hours on the side of my house. I foolishly didn't lock it up since "it wasn't visable from the street" and it was gone when I came back out to get it.

The only thing more disturbing than having it stolen, is that it means that someone was walking around my apartment looking for stuff to steal. People suck. Maybe I shouldnt liberate that abandoned bike around the block - but is there a such thing as pre-karma?

I think he was aware of the legality of it. The thing was the theif would have to prove that he rigged it, and there was no visible marks of it being such.

I really wish it was impossible for criminals to sue about things that happened as a result of their criminal act. Such as being u-locked to a wrought iron fence by the neck.

You can sue for the civil part of criminal activity. Why do you think you can't? That is, if a guy steals your bike and destroys it, you can sue him for the value of the bike, court costs, etc. The problem is getting the cops attention to find the thief. Around here, I have no idea what cops do all day. They seem to be visible only making roadblocks for drunk drivers or going after some poor soul doing 5mph over the speed limit. If you get your house robbed of everything, you need to beg them to take a report - and then you need to go to the police station to do it. AFAIK, they've never recovered any stolen property.

As I said, I have no idea what they do all day.