Advocacy & Safety - strange theft prevention idea.

Has anyone evern thought of getting a cheap thrift store bike (like $20), and locking it in your yard or garage iwth a simple cable lock, in hopes that the thief would go after the easy target and not your nice bike, that has two u-bolts on it?

It might be lack of sleep on my part, but it sounds somewhat feasable...especially getitng a used murray or huffy for this job...just strip the rust of and give it a quick repaint to make it look theft-worthy and it might be a go.

Thiefs that go after locked bikes usually are after the bike itself not the ease of the lock. SO they will probably pass up the cheap one and either pass on the expesnsive one( if it is to much of a hassle to get) or steal it.

The only bike I had stolen was a 90 Bianchi Grizzly and they broke into my car to get it. I think if you secure your bikes in your garage or house and keep that locked you don't need to bait it with a cheap bike.

Has anyone evern thought of getting a cheap thrift store bike (like $20), and locking it in your yard or garage iwth a simple cable lock, in hopes that the thief would go after the easy target and not your nice bike, that has two u-bolts on it?
I have actually been riding a cheap thrift store bike like that. All I carry with it is a cable lock. (But if anyone steals it, I'll be truly pi**ed. :D )

The inverse technique can also be used when locking your bike up away from
home: find the most expensive bike also locked in the neighborhood, and lock
yours nearby. This way, potential thieves will see the valuable one and go for
that first.

Hard to analyze the efficacy of this method, but it's a habit of mine.

The inverse technique can also be used when locking your bike up away from
home: find the most expensive bike also locked in the neighborhood, and lock
yours nearby. This way, potential thieves will see the valuable one and go for
that first.

That's kinda why my shopping bike always gets locked in the car park. They reckon the average thief around here takes just 15 seconds to get into a locked up car. That being the case, I don't see too many of them bothering with an old bike. Of course, this does not necessarily prevent vandalism (as I discoved during schoolies' week last year).

Of course, this does not necessarily prevent vandalism (as I discoved during schoolies' week last year).

I won't lock my bike outside my local grocery store anymore because of vandalism that happened to a few bikes last summer. One gal told me they were spitting on the seats, how f**kin' rude. The store is nice enough (many of the checkers are cyclists) to let me lean it up against the wall in the front of the store.

Eww....good thing I keep a seat cover I use when parking my bike then...some people are disgusting.

My recommendation:

Get yourself a 50 foot or 100 foot of extension hose. Remove the female end and strip off the cable outer casing to the bare wire, leave about 1-2 feet of wire exposed.

When locking up your bike try to find somewhere near an electrical outlet.

Lock up your bike, take off it what you need, wrap both ends of the exposed wire around your bike frame and plug the male end into the electrical outlet.

Upon your return, unplug the cord and remove any charred remains.......

Digger

Eww....good thing I keep a seat cover I use when parking my bike then...some people are disgusting.

Wait till they catch on and spit on the cover... and under it...

My recommendation:

Get yourself a 50 foot or 100 foot of extension hose. Remove the female end and strip off the cable outer casing to the bare wire, leave about 1-2 feet of wire exposed.

When locking up your bike try to find somewhere near an electrical outlet.

Lock up your bike, take off it what you need, wrap both ends of the exposed wire around your bike frame and plug the male end into the electrical outlet.

Upon your return, unplug the cord and remove any charred remains.......

Digger

extension cord

My Dad once kept some Racoons out of our garbage cans by hooking them up to a tesla coil (back when we had metal garbage cans). Anyway, no more racoon problems. It would probably work with a bike too, hmmmm.

extension cord


DOH! Sorry....... :rolleyes:

My recommendation:

Get yourself a 50 foot or 100 foot of extension hose. Remove the female end and strip off the cable outer casing to the bare wire, leave about 1-2 feet of wire exposed.

When locking up your bike try to find somewhere near an electrical outlet.

Lock up your bike, take off it what you need, wrap both ends of the exposed wire around your bike frame and plug the male end into the electrical outlet.

Upon your return, unplug the cord and remove any charred remains.......

Digger
Digger

Only one wire to the frame the other to ground. But then that's what you ment right?

JOe

you could just tie a canary dog to the bike.

I once had a cheap deparment store bike that I locked up at school. The lock on it was a $100 dollar Kryptonite lock. When school ended, I came out to see my lock damaged but the bike was still there. Boy was I mad. At least steal the damn thing if your gonna ruin my lock!!!

I once had a cheap deparment store bike that I locked up at school. The lock on it was a $100 dollar Kryptonite lock. When school ended, I came out to see my lock damaged but the bike was still there. Boy was I mad. At least steal the damn thing if your gonna ruin my lock!!!


has anyone ever tried putting dog doo on it? in an area you won't normally touch? i've thought of it... but i don't have a dog... but i do have doo... :D

This is why there are six or seven (I can't remember which) bikes in my garage besides my expensive one. It's locked up on the wall, hopefully a theif would be kind enough to pick from on of the beaters in there instead of it.

Upon your return, unplug the cord and remove any charred remains.......
We all fantasize about this. But standard voltage can do two things: it can make you very uncomfortable for a few moments, or it can kill you. It all depends on how the electricity travels through your body and the level of resistance (like standing in a puddle.)

Please don't actually try this.

(But I would like to see someone jump out of their shoes, just once.)

Please don't actually try this.

(But I would like to see someone jump out of their shoes, just once).

*******

Only one wire to the frame the other to ground. But then that's what you ment right?

JOe



Ummmm.....I meant it only as a joke, but is what I think of people who take things of others. Plus, I know nuttin' 'bout lectricity.

Someone wouldn't actually start riding around with an extension cord now would they? :rolleyes:

Digger

It might be lack of sleep on my part, but it sounds somewhat feasable...especially getitng a used murray or huffy for this job...just strip the rust of and give it a quick repaint to make it look theft-worthy and it might be a go.

I've got enough portable valuables near my bike that the locked bike isn't gonna get messed with. Cordless drill, circular saw, toolbox... I'm pretty sure a thief will just grab those and run. I don't care as I'm insured and have no emotional attachment to those items. However, if the thief scratches my bike on the way out I'll hunt the bastard down and kill him slowly :D

I do something similar to the electric extension cord idea, but not so extreme. Most grocery stores have a gas line and an external gas meter and I just lock my commuter bike up to that. I don't need a big cable or hefty lock cause I don't think the neighborhood is that bad but not many folks are going to cut through a gas line especially when it's active.

Jay

for a real good time, get a bike, any bike really, and loosen some stuff.

like the stem/bars. not the front wheel though, it might fall off before the 'fun' starts.
then get in your car or sit across the street and watch someone try to steel it. better yet, stand just around the corner from it so when someone takes it you can run after them, causing them to pedal fast to get away.

then.... WHammO! they are on the ground because the bike fell apart. of course, when the cops show up you'll tell them that your glad it was the thief that discovered the loose bars and not you......

for a real good time, get a bike, any bike really, and loosen some stuff.

like the stem/bars. not the front wheel though, it might fall off before the 'fun' starts.
then get in your car or sit across the street and watch someone try to steel it. better yet, stand just around the corner from it so when someone takes it you can run after them, causing them to pedal fast to get away.

then.... WHammO! they are on the ground because the bike fell apart. of course, when the cops show up you'll tell them that your glad it was the thief that discovered the loose bars and not you......

sounds like a good t.v. show... "WHEN CROOKS TAKE UNSAFE MERHCANDISE"... it could be on fox.

a fun variation of that is loosening hte handlebars on a BMX..having them drop while the guy is stnading often leads to one rather painful experience.

Or you could do the lazy thing and loosen the front wheel bad enough that once he goes down a curb it just rolls off...

For some more amusement, make the seat fall off...seatpost rump is possibly one of the most painful experiences in biking....well unless the theif is crazy like that...but I think the majority will feel rather violated.

One I wished I could try out would be hacksaw the handle bars to break easily, and then put the grips on...but that would be kinda hard to explain to police.

a fun variation of that is loosening hte handlebars on a BMX..having them drop while the guy is stnading often leads to one rather painful experience.

Or you could do the lazy thing and loosen the front wheel bad enough that once he goes down a curb it just rolls off...

For some more amusement, make the seat fall off...seatpost rump is possibly one of the most painful experiences in biking....well unless the theif is crazy like that...but I think the majority will feel rather violated.

One I wished I could try out would be hacksaw the handle bars to break easily, and then put the grips on...but that would be kinda hard to explain to police.

One thing that can be done if you have to stop somewhere on your bike and don't have your lock, is to put the bike in its hardest gear, and loosen the QR on the rear wheel. When the theif starts to ride the high gear will force the rear wheel off. Shouldn't hurt the bugger but will slow 'em down a little. 'Course that won't make a difference if he throws the thing in the back of a pickup. But it's an option.....

Digger

I open up the quick release's onthe brakes, and make sure anything with a quick release is secured. Otherwise lock it up outa sight at home, or keep it in a well traveled area when out. (keeping your finger's crossed helps too!!)


I did however see some poor bike messenger who had his quick release's stolen, now thats low.

When I used quick releases, I kept an extra set in my pack, ue to nasty folks like that.

Those are the same kind of guys who won't steal your car radio just it's detatchable faceplate.

It's those people that make me wish that tar&feathering was considered a legal method of punishment.