General Cycling Discussion - Locking technique

For everybody's information, seen in Portland Craigslist today:

Bike Thief (http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/222464450.html)

Hello

My bike (all black track bike) was victim to an attempted theft this morning in front of the business building on Portland State University between 8-10am. It was locked with a kryptonite mini U lock. It looks like the theif was attempting to use my bike as leverage to break the lock but instead he just bent and destroyed my frame, fork, and front wheel. So my lock did the job but he destroyed my bike anyways. This took place in an very busy area. so if you saw anything please let me know. i saw on here that there was another bike theft on PSU today so if you are on campus a lot keep your eye open for someone scouting the bike racks.

Any info would be appreciated
Thanks
Jared

Sheldon Brown's Lock Strategy (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html)

sounds like a good reason to spend extra on a nice chain lock. that really blows.

sounds like a good reason to spend extra on a nice chain lock. that really blows.Sheldon's lock strategy is designed to prevent thieves from using your frame as leverage to break the lock. Take a look at the link.

Al frame?

Locking the bike at two points would also inhibit using the frame as leverage. In fact, two decent locks probably would inhibit them bothering to try, unless they're exceptionally desparate or stupid :D (or unless they're just out to vandalize what they can't steal). one way to do that (http://www.mechbgon.com/lock/dual_locks.jpg) Another method would be to use one lock down low and the other up high, if you can only lock to one post.

Sorry to hear about the damage to your bike. There are a lot of rotten people in the world.

Place your lock around your rear wheel, directly behind the seat tube and lock to a thick, beefy steel post set in concrete. NEVER (repeat...NEVER) put a u-lock around the seat tube or any other part of your frame. A dumb crook will attempt to use the frame of your bike as a lever to snap the u-lock. That "lift and twist" method works when a flimsy Wal-Mart lock is on a 40 pound Wal-Mart bike. But, when a Kryptonite or OnGuard u-lock is on a high quality frame, the frame will twist and bend.

NEVER (repeat...NEVER) put a u-lock around the seat tube or any other part of your frame. A dumb crook will attempt to use the frame of your bike as a lever to snap the u-lock.And a smart crook can use the lock to break your rear rim, then nip through your tire with a small diagonal cutter, if that's all that the lock's holding. Sorry, but homie is gonna keep locking his frame. In two places. :)

http://www.mechbgon.com/lock/dual_locks.jpg
Lift & twist this.

For everybody's information, seen in Portland Craigslist today:

Bike Thief (http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/222464450.html)

Hello

My bike (all black track bike) was victim to an attempted theft this morning in front of the business building on Portland State University between 8-10am.

I stopped reading at this point.

I would never have put the bicycle in front of a business (A university to boot!) in full view. You must take the time to hide the bicycle in a place where no one is looking or would be difficult to find. The only time my bicycles have been attacked was when I left them in full view or attached to bike racks.

And a smart crook can use the lock to break your rear rim, then nip through your tire with a small diagonal cutter, if that's all that the lock's holding. Sorry, but homie is gonna keep locking his frame. In two places. :)

http://www.mechbgon.com/lock/dual_locks.jpg
Lift & twist this.

There has NEVER been a proven, documented case of a bike being stolen where a "gold" rated u-lock was correctly fastened around the rear wheel and a beefy steel pole set in concrete. And, the reason is simple: doing so, with the tools that "street" crooks carry and use, takes far more time and effort than any crook is willing to invest...especially given that 95% of the bikes on the street are incorrectly locked, or use cable locks, Master lock "pretend" u-locks, or a locked to flimsy racks that come apart with a few seconds of effort.

Try this: correctly lock a bike using the Sheldon Brown method to a parking meter in your city. Then, try to steal that bike using portable, non-power tools. You are in for a long, sweaty afternoon of hard work. When you are done, you will have ruined the rear wheel. You will have to walk down the street, carrying your loot. And, no pawn shop in town would buy such a bike. Sweaty work, CARRY the bike down the street, and then not find a pawn shop to buy it? Three reasons the Sheldon Brown method has never failed out on the streets.

Yup, there are power tools that can rapidly cut parking meters, "$100 locks, and a rear wheel. But (thank goodness) those are not the sort of tools street crooks carry and use.

The problem is that in a lot of places, bike racks are the only place to park. On UT campus here, a bike that isn't parked in a bike rack (for example locked to a rail or a tree) gets swooped on, lock cut off, and impounded by their PD in minutes, so there isn't much choice in the matter -- the bike rack or walking.

Another problem with the single lock method is the fact that without locking skewers and a bike parked in a very theft-prone area (Austin where I live used to be on Kryptonite's top 10 list for a number of years), a thief will look at a bike that has a rear wheel locked... pop the QR on the front wheel and be off with that as a consolation prize. A similar thing happens with seatposts. With locking skewers, one Sold Secure gold-rated U-lock is good, but without, two locks are a must, in order to come back to a bike that has both wheels still present.

In areas where bike theft isn't such an industry, a single lock is adequate, perhaps with a cable to go through the wheel and seatpost.

Locking the bike at two points would also inhibit using the frame as leverage. In fact, two decent locks probably would inhibit them bothering to try, unless they're exceptionally desparate or stupid :D (or unless they're just out to vandalize what they can't steal). one way to do that (http://www.mechbgon.com/lock/dual_locks.jpg) Another method would be to use one lock down low and the other up high, if you can only lock to one post.

:beer:

Another good one! One lock low and one lock high, if you can't find two posts! Then you can't twist the bike around one lock. Most excellent. I'm going to do that tomorrow.

You are now officially nominated for the first annual "Golden Corgi" award. :)

There has NEVER been a proven, documented case of a bike being stolen where a "gold" rated u-lock was correctly fastened around the rear wheel and a beefy steel pole set in concrete.You have studied the records of every bike theft in the world, then? An impressive feat.

Oh, and if you want to break an aluminum wheel rim in seconds, shoot, let me count the ways... here's one easy one:

(edit: image removed to keep from helping thieves with a no-brainer method)

What do all of the folks who brag about how easy it is to steal a bike that uses the "Sheldon Brown" method have in common? None of them have actually attempted the "feat" that they claim is so easy.

Over the past month or so, five or six different guys have bragged that they think they can defeat the Sheldon Brown method in just a few seconds. None of them have actually documented that they have ever done so.

Okay, braggers. Let's see your results. Lock up a bike CORRECTLY using the Sheldon Brown method, with a "gold" rated u-lock around the rear wheel and around a beefy steel pole set in concrete, such as a parking meter.

Then, attack that bike using the portable tools that real-world crooks use. And, in the real world, crooks use portable tools that can be concealed under a jacket, or in a messenger bag, not tools that weigh fifty pounds, or that are five feet long, or that require access to 1000 watts of electricity.

Put your results on video and post the video. What we are gonna see is eight, ten or twelve minutes of sweaty effort. And a ruined rear wheel. And, a bike that can no longer be ridden, nor will any pawn shop be interested in buying it.

Ten minutes of sweaty effort. A ruined rear wheel. A bike that is unrideable and that can not be easily resold or pawned. Four reasons that the "Sheldon Brown" method works in the real world, as opposed to the imaginary world where people brag about stuff they THINK they can do.

What do all of the folks who brag about how easy it is to steal a bike that uses the "Sheldon Brown" method have in common? None of them have actually attempted the "feat" that they claim is so easy.

Over the past month or so, five or six different guys have bragged that they think they can defeat the Sheldon Brown method in just a few seconds. None of them have actually documented that they have ever done so.

Okay, braggers. Let's see your results. Lock up a bike CORRECTLY using the Sheldon Brown method, with a "gold" rated u-lock around the rear wheel and around a beefy steel pole set in concrete, such as a parking meter.

Then, attack that bike using the portable tools that real-world crooks use. And, in the real world, crooks use portable tools that can be concealed under a jacket, or in a messenger bag, not tools that weigh fifty pounds, or that are five feet long, or that require access to 1000 watts of electricity.

Put your results on video and post the video. What we are gonna see is eight, ten or twelve minutes of sweaty effort. And a ruined rear wheel. And, a bike that can no longer be ridden, nor will any pawn shop be interested in buying it.

Ten minutes of sweaty effort. A ruined rear wheel. A bike that is unrideable and that can not be easily resold or pawned. Four reasons that the "Sheldon Brown" method works in the real world, as opposed to the imaginary world where people brag about stuff they THINK they can do.

What a horrible thing for cyclists all over the world.

That's making a training video for a crook. That's the same reason I don't want to share with you what I know about defeating locks. It does not help cyclists to show how to defeat any kind of locking method in public. And you asking someone to take up the "challenge" is a horrible thing to do for cyclists, some one may call you on it and do it. Then some one who wants to steal a bike but does not know how may decide to give it a try when they see it done. I have all the spare parts and tools to do it with. But I'm not going to display how to steal a bike in the forums just because you don't know how. Sheldon Brown comes in the thread to clarify that he is making it difficult but not impossible and you still don't understand.

For the record, I'm in that group of guys that knows how to defeat that.

For the record, I am not so stupid that I am going to display how to do it to the world just because you don't understand. I don't care if you go to your grave thinking I am wrong.

I am not going to prove you wrong by making an idiot out of myself and increasing the level of stolen bikes all over the world. Do you understand that this forum is searchable by google? Who knows how many people will see this?

Anyone who has worked in the metal working trade of any kind, a machine shop, or is a welder, is loosing respect for you. And anyone who has built a wheel. Or a bike shop employee that cuts wheels apart for the trash, or to save a good rim, or a good hub, from a damaged wheel.

Don't you live in the city of Houston? Just go to a tool room, a machine shop, a metal fabrication place, a welding shop, or the fire dept. and talk to them about it if you really care. These kinds of places are all over the place. It's almost as easy to do that as it is to read the lock tests in Cycling Plus magazine.

Get an old wheel from a bike shop and some tools and do it for yourself, but don't tell everyone about it. Don't post it for the world.

Think about what's good for all cyclists. Think of how many people are looking at this.

Go learn more in person about cutting metal and tools. But don't post it on the internet, and for cyclists everywhere stop asking someone to make a movie about stealing a bike.

Please stop challenging everyone to make a video on how to steal a bike. :(

We all make mistakes, I make plenty. I would consider it the act of a wise, responsible, humble, person if you went back and deleted your own post about this challenge. If you do, I will always support you if someone gives you a hard time about deleting your own post or changing your mind. It's the right thing to do.

Complete this sentence: a chain is only as strong as __ _____ ___.

As a bicycle mechanic who routinely breaks up wheels and cuts tires before throwing them out (which doesn't take ten minutes of "sweaty effort," btw), I'm not satisfied with packing along two good locks and then making an aluminum wheel rim and a tire the weak point in my locking strategy. I think that two locks securing the frame and wheels at two points has higher deterrence factor to prevent an attempt in the first place (which is what we really want, right?), and is more likely to prevent the attempt from succeeding if they do attempt a theft. That's what I'm going to keep doing when I have to leave my bike in public.

And with thieves stealing quick-release skewers, blinkies, bags, lights and computers, I don't buy the line about how the bike is worth nothing to them with a ruined rear wheel. Ask some of BikeForums' NYC commuters about the lengths they have to go to.

If you want to take different risks using a different technique than I do, I really have no issue with that. :) It's your bike, do whatever you like. I do think you need to be more objective about other locking techniques, however, instead of trying to tell us all that there's just one correct way to lock a bike, namely yours.


Food for thought... oh noes, how will I get through the Velox rim tape and the folding tire without a scissors?! :eek:

(the kicker: this rim broke by itself, the user was riding it at the time)

Food for thought... oh noes, how will I get through the Velox rim tape and the folding tire without a scissors?! :eek:

(the kicker: this rim broke by itself, the user was riding it at the time)

velox is food? I'll break it for you! WOOF.

mechbegon, dutret & others continually focus on the material deficiency of the wheel itself. Sure it can be broken, easily & quickly, I pointed that out in my first post in the last thread about this. The method has great deterrent value in the fact that it disables the bike to defeat the lock. That's something most opportunist thieves & capital gain thieves will find a serious detractor when they've got the tools on hand to take a complete bike.

Now I'll argue with you pointlessly over how easy it would be to cut a rim with boltcutters if you'd like...nevermind that there is an easier way that I've already pointed out. What we really want to know is how many times you'll repeat it.

After all, if the first concession anyone who "knows" about such things is willing to make goes something like this;

"Any lock can be defeated w/ the right tools"

Shouldn't they follow that line of reasoning along to locate some other deterrent? For instance, a method that "steals" back what they're trying to steal from you, all the while making their action more apparant after the fact?

Make all the videos you want, thieves won't like the Sheldon method even if they know allllll about it.

After all, if the first concession anyone who "knows" about such things is willing to make goes something like this;

"Any lock can be defeated w/ the right tools"

Shouldn't they follow that line of reasoning along to locate some other deterrent? For instance, a method that "steals" back what they're trying to steal from you, all the while making their action more apparant after the fact?

If you refer to the first post in the thread, you can see that the risk of ruining a whole bike did not stop thieves from attempting to steal the bike. They were evidently willing to trash it pretty badly in hopes of carrying off what was left. People over in Commuting are sometimes discussing filling in their hex-key fittings with epoxy to deter the theft of their derailleurs and whatnot, so a whole bike with a dead rear wheel (but everything else intact) might have more value to the thieves than you think.


Make all the videos you want, thieves won't like the Sheldon method even if they know allllll about it.I don't think they'll like the mechBgon method either ;) I can't speak for any bike thieves, but I'd expect dual-point locking of the frame and both wheels to solidly-anchored objects to have a strong deterrence factor on sight. And it appears to me that it would also inhibit lift-&-twist attacks, since the bike (or *cough* the rear wheel) can no longer be pivoted on one lock. Given that I take two locks along anyway, as Alan himself advocates quite frequently, that's how I'm going to use them. If your method is secure, then I think mine is moreso.


velox is food? I'll break it for you! WOOF.
:D

Put your results on video and post the video. What we are gonna see is eight, ten or twelve minutes of sweaty effort. And a ruined rear wheel. And, a bike that can no longer be ridden, nor will any pawn shop be interested in buying it.

Ten minutes of sweaty effort. A ruined rear wheel. A bike that is unrideable and that can not be easily resold or pawned. Four reasons that the "Sheldon Brown" method works in the real world, as opposed to the imaginary world where people brag about stuff they THINK they can do.


You asked for it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZbklkFuFk-4

It's very simple folks. Two boys are running away from a bear and one says, theres no way we can run faster than that bear, and the other says, well, I only have to run faster than you actually.

I figure as long as my locking strategy is better than the next guys, my bike will be the number 2 choice all things being equal. With all the bikes hardly locked at all out there I don't worry too much but then again I don't lockup anywhere near a campus either.

You asked for it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZbklkFuFk-4As he said, thieves don't carry power tools. They carry bolt cutters to cut cable locks.

As he said, thieves don't carry power tools. They carry bolt cutters to cut cable locks.

Hmm, so he has done a statistical study and determined that a thief has never carried a power tool? Well these guys in the video did and nobody even looked twice at them.

Hmm, so he has done a statistical study and determined that a thief has never carried a power tool? Well these guys in the video did and nobody even looked twice at them.

Good point, didn't one guy offer advice too? If you very very obvious people are not very suspicious.
Plus non cyclists don't think about bikes much, nothing like we do.

It's very simple folks. Two boys are running away from a bear and one says, theres no way we can run faster than that bear, and the other says, well, I only have to run faster than you actually.

I figure as long as my locking strategy is better than the next guys, my bike will be the number 2 choice all things being equal. With all the bikes hardly locked at all out there I don't worry too much but then again I don't lockup anywhere near a campus either.

And this is the point. You cannot make a bike thief-proof. You can make it so time-consuming and labor intensive to steal that it deters the thief from stealing your bike and encourages him to find a more vulnerable bike.

+1 no matter what, if a thief wants your ride-he'll get it-or at least some of it. Locks are designed to keep the honest man(woman) honest-end of story. Best way to keep your bike yours is to keep it where you can watch it-as in- with you.

Hmm, so he has done a statistical study and determined that a thief has never carried a power tool? Well these guys in the video did and nobody even looked twice at them.Do your own analysis. I have. The vast, vast majority of stolen bikes here in Portland have one thing in common-- they were locked with a cable lock, which was cut with bolt cutters. The remainder of stolen bikes include bikes that were left unlocked, or were locked improperly (u-lock securing front wheel only). I have yet to see ONE report of a stolen bike where it was properly locked with a u-lock and the thief used power tools to cut the u-lock. Yes, theoretically it's possible, but in the real world, thieves use bolt cutters to cut cable locks. Over and over and over and over.....

As for the two guys in the video, it only proves two things: 1) Passersby won't interfere with guys they assume are the owners, and 2) that two guys who own a bike aren't going to be paranoid about cutting the lock off their own bike. A thief making all that racket wouldn't be as cocky, because there's always the chance that he could get whacked in the back of the head by the real owner as he's busy trying to cut a u-lock in broad daylight. Yes, theoretically it's possible to go out with power tools and cut away for 10 or 15 minutes, but that theoretical possibility doesn't take into account the paranoia the thief will be battling as he's wasting all that time in a very noisy, high-profile endeavour. I don't think it happens as easily as these guys portrayed in their video.

I only lock my bikes when they are on the bike rack on my car; then it's two cable locks that go through both bikes, each other, and the rack, plus two u-locks. It would be far easier to simply steal the vehicle. Otherwise, my bikes are indoors. If I lived in NYC, my street bike would be either a beater or disguised as one and I'd use multiple locks, cables, chains, grenades, rottweilers, whatever it took.

Where I live, though, people leave bikes out in the front yard, driveway, porch, etc. unlocked forever. Down at the local pool, some old man left his commuter bike there for a week and a half. I felt sorry for it. He came and got it and still rides around the neighborhood.

Consider this was done in New York City. Walk around this small little Southern town with bolt cutters and see what happens. Just possessing them would be considered a weapons charge. (Bluduging weapon)

I've toyed with the idea of getting a chain to complement my U-lock but I'm not sure I can see myself hauling around another 9 pounds of chain consistently. It would add that right sided pannier permanently to my commute and I'm not sure I'm all that fond of that thought. In the meantime I'll trust my luck to the Pitlocks and the Fahgeddaboudit U-lock.

If you are locking your bike at the same place often, and the people either don't mind, don't care, or are too lazy to cut it off, you might consider just leaving the chain wrapped up on the rack, so you don't have to carry it. Of course, carry the U-lock everywhere so you can lock up at other places, but the added security of the chain will help at your bicycle's main haunts.

The video is "faked", or the lock in question is a very poor quality lock. The editors of "Cycling Plus" and the locksmiths at "Soldsecure" have tested the best bike locks on the market against the tools known to be used by REAL crooks out on the streets of cities such as New York, Toronto, and London. The results are consistent: a "gold" rated lock such as the Kryptonite New York u-lock can NOT be opened during a ten minute test using portable tools.

In fact, not only did the "gold" rated u-locks survive a ten minute assault using portable tools, most of them showed little or no damage when assaulted by the tools crooks actually use in the real world.

So, any video that shows a lock be opened easily has been faked, or the lock is NOT a "gold" rated lock. I've talked with the bike messengers working in downtown Houston, the bike police who work in downtown Houston, the campus police at Houston colleges and universities (the only police forces who actually take bike theft seriously, and do detailed reports and investigations of bike thefts). None of them have seen a documented, proven case of a bike being stolen that was verified to have been CORRECTLY locked using a "gold" rated u-lock.

In one of the most crime ridden cities in the world, the reports are consistent: real world crooks target the bikes that can be stolen less than one or two minutes using portable, silent tools that can be concealed in a pocket, or in a messenger bag. They target cable locks, and chain locks and u-locks made by "fake" lock companies such as Master lock. They do NOT target a bike that is correctly locked up with a "gold" rated u-lock. In the ten, twenty, or thirty minutes it would take to break a "gold" rated lock, they could steal five, ten, or fifteen bikes locked with cable locks, and cheapo u-locks and cheapo chain locks.

www.soldsecure.com/Leisure.htm

In one of the most crime ridden cities in the world, the reports are consistent: real world crooks target the bikes that can be stolen less than one or two minutes using portable, silent tools that can be concealed in a pocket, or in a messenger bag. They target cable locks, and chain locks and u-locks made by "fake" lock companies such as Master lock. They do NOT target a bike that is correctly locked up with a "gold" rated u-lock. In the ten, twenty, or thirty minutes it would take to break a "gold" rated lock, they could steal five, ten, or fifteen bikes locked with cable locks, and cheapo u-locks and cheapo chain locks.Following is an eyewitness account of an attempted bike theft by two "pros" working as a team; this is what real world bike thieves do, day in and day out. Simple and fast. Nothing fancy. And their technique is verified by the vast majority of stolen bike reports.



Bike Nearly Stolen (http://www.bikeportland.org/forum/showthread.php?t=556)

A friend and I were sitting outside at Vincente's at 20th and Hawthorne about an hour ago -- it was still light out. We had our two bikes locked to a standard blue bike rack about twenty feet away. I saw someone walk up to the rack and squat down in front of my bike. I ran up to him, yelling, and saw that he had a pair of eighteen inch bolt cutters on my lock (it was one of the stout, inch-thick cable locks, but who knows if it would have held up). He jumped up and cocked the bolt cutters back to swing at me... we yelled at each other for a minute, and he hopped on his beater bike and rode off.

Another guy was standing around, and he started telling me he had just met this guy, and had no idea he was a thief. Someone sitting at a table (ten feet away from the bikes!) pulled me aside and said that these two had been hanging out together and seemed to know each other well. Further, this second guy had been riding back and forth, scouting out these bikes for several minutes. He hopped on his bike and rode away while the witness was telling me all this.

These people called the police on their cell, and they showed up about ten minutes later. To their credit, they immediately got physical descriptions of both these guys (the second was bald, with the word "Cathy" tattooed on his neck, so he stood out a bit!) and radioed them out to their network right away.

No word yet on whether they found either of them... I think I'll be shopping for one o' them $70 Kryptonite locks, in the meantime. Kind of an eye-opening experience!

...

Both men were late thirties to early forties, pretty scroungy-looking. Both would probably be easily identifiable as homeless or at least very "street" (weathered-looking). The actual thief was about 5'8" or 5'9", with shortish dark hair, and the other guy was bald, with a very noticable tattoo on his neck reading "Cathy." Both were on beat-up mountain bikes (one a Mongoose, the other some stripped raw aluminum thing). Although I'm sure those were stolen, and probably get swapped out pretty quickly.

And there you have it. No power tools grinding away for ten, twenty, thirty minutes as passersby go about their business. Just a couple of street bums with a bolt cutter riding stolen bikes, looking for their next opportunity.

Maybe it wasn't a thief but somebody who didn't like the bike owner.

Maybe it wasn't a thief but somebody who didn't like the bike owner.

It happened in Portland, OR. It was a bike thief. Happens at an amazing rate, considering how low other crime rates are around here.

Dedicated bike thief rings can sometimes move into otherwise low-crime areas, just to steal from a medium to large sized college campuses, and most likely either part the bike out or just sell it out of state for a good profit. Unfortunately, I don't have the web links pointing to this info atm. :/

The video is "faked", or the lock in question is a very poor quality lock. The editors of "Cycling Plus" and the locksmiths at "Soldsecure" have tested the best bike locks on the market against the tools known to be used by REAL crooks out on the streets of cities such as New York, Toronto, and London. The results are consistent: a "gold" rated lock such as the Kryptonite New York u-lock can NOT be opened during a ten minute test using portable tools.

In fact, not only did the "gold" rated u-locks survive a ten minute assault using portable tools, most of them showed little or no damage when assaulted by the tools crooks actually use in the real world.

So, any video that shows a lock be opened easily has been faked, or the lock is NOT a "gold" rated lock. I've talked with the bike messengers working in downtown Houston, the bike police who work in downtown Houston, the campus police at Houston colleges and universities (the only police forces who actually take bike theft seriously, and do detailed reports and investigations of bike thefts). None of them have seen a documented, proven case of a bike being stolen that was verified to have been CORRECTLY locked using a "gold" rated u-lock.

In one of the most crime ridden cities in the world, the reports are consistent: real world crooks target the bikes that can be stolen less than one or two minutes using portable, silent tools that can be concealed in a pocket, or in a messenger bag. They target cable locks, and chain locks and u-locks made by "fake" lock companies such as Master lock. They do NOT target a bike that is correctly locked up with a "gold" rated u-lock. In the ten, twenty, or thirty minutes it would take to break a "gold" rated lock, they could steal five, ten, or fifteen bikes locked with cable locks, and cheapo u-locks and cheapo chain locks.

www.soldsecure.com/Leisure.htm


The video was more a sociologly experiment rather then a demonstration on how to steal a bike. Hundreds of people walked by, especially when he was using a hacksaw, and didn't say anything. The only thing the cops did was stop them from taping! The one person who did stop helped him!

The video was more a sociologly experiment rather then a demonstration on how to steal a bike. Hundreds of people walked by, especially when he was using a hacksaw, and didn't say anything. The only thing the cops did was stop them from taping! The one person who did stop helped him!If you are going to be a bike thief in this country it probably helps a lot to look like a middle class white guy.

My bike locking:

If it isn't under my fat ass it is secured by a U-Lock and/or a Kryptonite chain. Even inside my house.

Keeps my stuff mine.

I dipped the last three links of the chain in liquid rubber after I dinged the paint on my bike when she was brand spankin' new.

If you refer to the first post in the thread, you can see that the risk of ruining a whole bike did not stop thieves from attempting to steal the bike. They were evidently willing to trash it pretty badly in hopes of carrying off what was left. People over in Commuting are sometimes discussing filling in their hex-key fittings with epoxy to deter the theft of their derailleurs and whatnot, so a whole bike with a dead rear wheel (but everything else intact) might have more value to the thieves than you think.

I don't think they'll like the mechBgon method either ;) I can't speak for any bike thieves, but I'd expect dual-point locking of the frame and both wheels to solidly-anchored objects to have a strong deterrence factor on sight. And it appears to me that it would also inhibit lift-&-twist attacks, since the bike (or *cough* the rear wheel) can no longer be pivoted on one lock. Given that I take two locks along anyway, as Alan himself advocates quite frequently, that's how I'm going to use them. If your method is secure, then I think mine is moreso.


:D

The first post sounds like the victim of a drunken or mischievious college student. Bike thieves by and large steal to resell or trade, destroying the entire bike? where was the gain, and what sort of regular bike thief thinks they can lever a Krypto mini with just the frame & have something left to steal? On campus you say? In Portland? I doubt it was a bike thief.

Many riders don't want to carry 2-3 locks everywhere they go, and most riders in the US don't need to, do they? Except in the large cities a bike is probably secure all day using the Sheldon method, in some places overnight. In the big cities it works fine for short hops, just not a long stay and no system at all works overnight as we all know.

Strange no one will acknowledge the difference in Sheldons method even if they don't agree it's worthwhile, the need to tout their own method as superior is too much to bear.

For alanbikehouston, with love. :) Have fun with it if you can.

The first post sounds like the victim of a drunken or mischievious college student. Bike thieves by and large steal to resell or trade, destroying the entire bike? where was the gain, and what sort of regular bike thief thinks they can lever a Krypto mini with just the frame & have something left to steal? On campus you say? In Portland? I doubt it was a bike thief.



I agree, in that I think the OP's bike was trashed on purpose with no attempt to steal it. Where I went to school a "few" years ago, bike theft wasn't a huge problem, but there were a lot of bikes that got trashed. If it happened during the day, I always assumed it was something personal. At night it was usually drunken vandalism. There was a badly bent bike up in a tree for at least ten years in town, near campus. I believe they eventually cut the tree down.