General Cycling Discussion - Another stolen bike...

When I came to the rack and didn't see my bike there as usually, I quickly started trying to remember if I

parked it somewhere else, but unfortunately this time it didn't help.

The bike was gone. I parked it there for nearly a year, near the library at Cal State LA, riding it every

single day, and finally someone decided to take it.

Sad memorial day for me. Now I had to drive, or walk, or take a bus. It was my daily transportation.

What's even worse, is that I changed the whole drive train, with new bottom bracket, preparing it for the

2 months tour in Europe, to which I was going to leave in 3 weeks.

If some one will see an old, :D green Schwinn with a lot of silver reflective tape, please let me know.


P.S. They did something with the cable lock.
What's also strange is that there is now another bike parked that is absolutely unlocked that I have never seen there before. (This bike rack usually has 3-4 familiar bikes around it, not more).
There was also someone's bmx bicycle locked with a really cheap chain, that has been there for about 3-4 months abundant, it's now gone and the pieces of the chain are laying on the ground.

I reported the theft to the police. They said this hardly ever happened on this campus.

Well, now I have a formal excuse to start looking for another bike, more modern and that would fit me better. ;) :D

This is actually pretty strange.

I was so happy with my bike for more than two years, that when it finally got stolen, I still remained happy. :D

Inertia...

You locked your bike with just a cable lock? GG.

yes... it's my own fault, you could say...

but i was locking it this way for year and half...

Why do people steal older bikes? is there really a black market for old beaters?

It attracts less attention when they sell it?

but how much can they sell it for?

Enough for one rock probably... Or maybe a bottle of the cheapest liquor they can find...

I spent more than 300$ on new parts and repairs to the bike

That's how it goes sometimes.

People will steal about anything. I remember when my buick got broken into, and amongst the things stolen was a #2 pencil....who the hell steals a number 2 pencil?

I'm in "campus" law enforcement, and bike theft has always been a problem. hundreds (maybe thousands) of bikes in one handy location, frequently poorly secured or not secured at all.

Cables are absolutely useless. I have seen 12-year-old kids cut em with nothing more sophisticated than an old pair of pliers and determination. A 12" bolt cutter snips em' in one easy cut.

I'll often see things like a lock put around one fork leg. Pop quick-release, lift bike, and reassemble....

We get kids who will ride old beaters till they just won't hang together anymore, then they'll dump em' and take a newer bike. They often go for the cheap but flashy-looking Mongoose or Huffy.

Pro bike thieves will go for high-end bikes, and can defeat U-locks by various means. Why anyone would take a 2000.00 MTB to use for campus commuting is beyond me, or why they'd leave it at a bike rack for weeks on end... Got more money than me, I guess.

Last guy we arrested would would walk onto campus with a backpack, looking for all the world like a student. In the pack was a bike helmet and a pair of bolt cutters. He'd snip a cable, put on the helmet, and ride about three miles to the corner where his dealer hung out. Straight exchange; bike for rocks.
We got him with a stakeout.

yes... it's my own fault, you could say...

but i was locking it this way for year and half...

Ah you got complacent. Anyways I feel for the loss of your bike. If I ever lost my bike i'd destroy half of this country.

There may have been additional measures you might have taken to make it more difficult for someone to steal your bike. However, you are not at fault for the misbehavior of others. The thief did wrong. Not you.

Hehe- I just remembered another "war story". Young lady gets her bike stolen. Makes a report, then decides to go up to one of the LBS in the area and get some new wheels. As she's walking in, this guy standing there says..."hey, lookin' for a bike?"

He takes her over to his van, and sure enough, it's her bike. She tells the idiot to wait a second while she gets some cash from the bank across the street....He's still there when the police arrive.

Another one from years ago... Guy rolls into a local service station on his shiny new Schwinn Le Tour. (this is circa 1976 or so, that model had just come out) The guy starts to put air in the tires, and the owner of the service station comes over. "nice bike."
"Uh, yeah. I just got it."
"Schwinn Le Tour, eh? Not too many of those around; they just came out."
"Uh, I guess..."
"And that maroon color, I bet there's no more than 2 or 3 in the whole St. Louis area."
"Uh, I guess."

Station owner grabs the bike. "matter of fact, this one looks exactly like the one I had stolen yesterday!"
He flips the bike upside down, and there on the bottom bracket shell is his social security number, engraved.
The dummy who had the bike actually hung around in the area till I got there and arrested him.

Condolences. I too made the mistake of locking my beloved RM hammer with two cable locks (twice as useless, I now know) when my krypto u-lock was in the mail on exchange. It was only for two hours, and in a very public place (which, as I now know, is no protection at all). It was the only time I locked it like that, and I knew I was taking a risk. Had I had a decent U-lock I would still have my old hammer.

Previous to that I had another hammer race stolen, but this time from locking it in the same place. They didn’t beat the u-lock, but gradually undermined the fixed lock until they could rip it out of the ground. That one really bugged me, because I knew they were watching and could rely on my routine. Lesson learned. Never lock in the same place every day.

Both of these thefts happened at the University of Victoria, where I will never lock by bike again (it goes with me).

For the poster who could not understand why someone would bring a nice bike to school; the answer is simple, when you ride over 10k to school, a beater doesn’t cut it (so to speak).

I've often wanted to lock up a really nice bike somewhere and stake the spot out with a stun gun and a baseball bat. The only problem is, you would have to move after each clubbing, because the blood splattering in the area would scare off your next "victim".