General Cycling Discussion - Steps to prevent your bike from getting stolen.

1st off, no matter what you, there will always be somescum that will or try to lift your bike. These tips will make it much more harder for a person to steal your bike(s). Remember, the longer a thief has to hack to get to a bike, there is a good chance they will get caught or there will be witnesses.

1st step-sacrifice the easyness of quick release levers, and get a pair of bolt ons. A thief doesn't carry a allenwrench, it takes too much time.

2nd step-When locking your bike on a post, make sure the post is thick, and it is directly mounted into the ground, no separate parts that can be unbolted.

3rd-When leaving your bike locked, outside for more than a few minutes, take of anything that is removeable. A thief won't want just a frame, they go after the full ten yards.

4th-If the place you're going to has a front window, with one of these posts, lock it to that post, and at various times, keep an eye on your bike.

5th If you go to a friend's place, ask them if you can bring your bike inside, if not ask them if you can put it inside their garage or shed, and have the garage door closed. If a thief breaks in, they will be stupid, because, they would get nailed for a much more serious offense, breaking and entering.

6-If you ever have to go to a shady section, or a section you're not familiar with, have a friend or family member drive you there. It's not worth the chance in this case to have your bike potentially stolen.

7-When locking your bike, use more than 1 bike lock. a chain/cable to lock onto pole or bike rack, and a U lock to lock the wheels and frame together, no movement is your friend in this case.

8-Register your bike, with town, state, and with a national database, in the case if it is stolen, there is a better chance to recover bike.(Hopefully the previous steps will have prevented this.)

9-Inside the handle bars or seat tube, put a laminated piece of paper with your, name, bike's serial number, date bike was purchased, where it was purchased. In the case if the person who was found with it gets questioned and denies that he/she stole it/bought it from the person who stole it. Tell the cops in the case if it was stolen in your report where this piece of paper is, if they find a person with this bike that matches your description, they can check that area, and if that piece of paper is there, you have your theif, or you have a lead.(Hopefully this won't happen either.)

Hope these measures will, help.

Just tips, or have you been vicimized lately?

L8R

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
Just tips, or have you been vicimized lately?

L8R

Just tips.

Ummm..........I just never let sight of my bike on 99.9% of my bike outings.
If I know I'll be locking my bike for any reason, I'll take a bike that does not have much value to me so I don't have to even think about it. I will never put a lock around one of my good bikes for any reason. Hope this makes sense...

George!

1st step-sacrifice the easyness of quick release levers, and get a pair of bolt ons. A thief doesn't carry a allenwrench, it takes too much time.


I've been looking for these. Does anyone have a link to a good set of bolts? The ones I've seen look cheesy.

You wouldn't believe all the idiots I've seen this summer with a really expensive bike just laying out in the open with no lock. I saw a top-of the line Bianchi road bike with Campy Record and the works just leaning against the wall of a small town cafe while the owner was eating lunch, not by a window or anything, just waiting to be thrown in the back of a pickup and taken away. Also was riding down the street in a bad part of town and seen a Jeep on the side of the road with two $5000+ Downhill bikes just leaning against it, no owners to be seen for miles, almost too much of a temptation.

#10 Chain an attack dog to the bike!

Nashbar has bolt-ons that look OK, IMHO.

I've had a pair of Ti-shafters on my two bikes for ten years that look nicer, but i don't recall the brand name. Also from Nashbar, they were cheap then. They don't carry them now.

As regards locking bikes up, i also recommend putting the bike in a high foot traffic area - thieves don't like witnesses. And yes, stick to a bike you won't mind losing.

Actually it's mainly high-end machines that are in most danger of being lifted. Bike thievery is done to order in the big burgs, but in other places thre's little motivation to make any great effort to steal an average bike.

Vandalism is a greater menace than theft in many places, & again parking in a conspicuous, busy place will help reduce that danger as well.

1. If you want to keep your bike from getting stolen, park it next to an unlocked bike.
2. Use a fixed gear for your gettin' around bike. They are less desireable, what with their lack of brakes, bolt on wheels, and required skill to stop without running into stuff.

I started lubing my locks once a week,after one of them wouldn't open. Kinda embarassing,lol!

JC, good thing you weren't arrested trying to cut your cable. You might'a had some 'splainin' to do.:->

"But officer, it's MY bike!" "Sure kid, they all say that. Now assume the position."

Although I'm absolutely in favor of taking as many precautions as possible, and using a good lock, if your bikes are too nice or too precious to lock 'n' leave, 'cause the lock might scratch them, or they may be too attractive to thieves, than you're probably more into the status value of your bike than into actual cycling....

Originally posted by randya
......if your bikes are too nice or too precious to lock 'n' leave, 'cause the lock might scratch them, or they may be too attractive to thieves, than you're probably more into the status value of your bike than into actual cycling.... WRONG! A good majority of cyclists with high end bikes ride for pleasure or train in groups or solo. I doubt they are ridden to go run errands or even commute on a regular basis. These bikes are seldom if ever kept under lock.

George!

I've had pretty good luck so far with a Pacific toy store bike that's living on the streets of New York City for the past 4 months. Junk toy store bikes are good for not getting stolen. Seriously.

There are two theories of thought regarding locking your wheels.

The first theory susgests that you should put it in plain view of everyone so that crooks won't brake it. This is fine if the majority of people passing the bikes are adults. It there are plenty of young people or kids walking by your bike, you're better off hiding it.

My toy store bike is parked in one of the most crowded blocks in Manhattan where thousands of people pass by each day. Furthermore, police and cameras are all over that block.

When I ride to the mall, I take a totally different approach. Since there are plenty of kids walking by, I would be crazy to lock one of my junkers to a bike rack. All it takes a one swift kick to disable your ride. The kids like to steal bikes and you see them tampering cycles all the time. This is why when I go to the mall, I hide my bike far away from the bus stop and door entrance.