Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - ny stolen vehicles...

why do new york city cyclists have to spend 1/5 (I am being very generous) of the price of their vehicle to protect it? if there was an "epidemic" in new york where it was guaranteed that if you bought a car that costs $500 or more it would get stolen (or at least parts stolen off of it) if it is parked on the street, do you think the police would be so lax about stopping such epidemic?

it's friggin' ridiculous. I would love to ride to work everyday... I could right now, but I would spend those 8 hours working worrying if my bike was going to be downstairs when I got off.

why don't we invent a "LoJack" for bikes?
http://www.lojack.com/
it would be super small and I would actually be willing to pay 1/5 of the price of my bike for it... as I am sure you would too.

i thought i heard about police in NY doing this once.

I thought I was safe the the Kryptonite chain lock. Then the thieves hacksawed through my frame in order to steal it. It was an old Bianchi road frame with the braze-ons already sawed off. Cheap components, too. Those ****ers did all that work just to ruin the frame and walk away with a decent rear wheel and crappy seat.

If I ever catch a thief trying to steal a bike, god have mercy. The pain I will inflict on his body will make Tarantino cringe.

That lojack idea is brilliant.

If I ever have the cash and connections to the underworld, I'm going to hire a gang of thugs to go around beating the crap out of bike thieves.

But yeah....a bike LoJack would be sweet.

couldn't we just use the same type of GPS system that cell phones use?

c'mon, there has to be at least one rocket scientist or brain surgeon on this board.

there was a german company called bergwerk that offered GPS chips in their frames.


"Not to mention that all of the Bergwerk bikes come with a bike finder chip. This is a GPS chip that is installed in the frame of the bicycle, so if your bike were stolen, you would be able to track it down."

http://www.dirtragmag.com/articles/article.php?ID=498&category=stuff_reviews

A GPS chip would almost be cool...unless it was me trying to make a getaway.

yeah I get hella worried about theifs... even if they don't get the frame they can still chop out the hubs or jack the seat or swoop up my stem and bars or brake... Bikes are vulnerable. Best bet is to lock it inside in a place that is safe and secure. Even if someone doesn't steal your bike, they could just kick the back wheel and you're out of $200!

If you live in NYC and your bike gets stolen the chances of ever getting it back are almost 0%.

The police will take a report just to appease you but they won't bother doing a thing about it.

That's why you have to spend the $80-90 for a Kryptonite NY Chain & Lock plus whatever other measures you can think of (short of never locking up your bike).

As someone that has never even considered locking a bike outside in NYC up until now, how prevalent *is* theft anyway? I've had two bikes stolen in my life (both out of garages), but I keep hearing horror stories of bikes getting evaporated even when locked up with enough steel to rebuild the terminator.

I'm looking at building a steel fix just to avoid parking my nice roadie on the street (plus, it's carbon, so it's bound to get smashed if locked..) Am I insane to even consider an even slightly nice frame? Should I be looking at a smashed beater to avoid the grip of the theftman?

-s

Here's an idea:
There are small circuitboards that are about 3" square. Connect this to a small gps device and hook it up somehow to a motion sensor. When the bike is moved a large amount, the gps unit is activated.. it could pick up a wifi signal and email you.

I'm not kidding. It is possible.

a folding bike could be an option- just fold it up and take it with you! I have a Dahon Impulse and when I go to work on it I just keep it locked in my office in a locked file cupboard. Anyone wants to take it they have to get past me first.

Here's an idea:
There are small circuitboards that are about 3" square. Connect this to a small gps device and hook it up somehow to a motion sensor. When the bike is moved a large amount, the gps unit is activated.. it could pick up a wifi signal and email you.

I'm not kidding. It is possible.


NOW you're talking... that is totally possible.
I'm on it.

As someone that has never even considered locking a bike outside in NYC up until now, how prevalent *is* theft anyway? I've had two bikes stolen in my life (both out of garages), but I keep hearing horror stories of bikes getting evaporated even when locked up with enough steel to rebuild the terminator.

I'm looking at building a steel fix just to avoid parking my nice roadie on the street (plus, it's carbon, so it's bound to get smashed if locked..) Am I insane to even consider an even slightly nice frame? Should I be looking at a smashed beater to avoid the grip of the theftman?

-s

DO NOT LOCK YOUR BIKE UP OUTSIDE IN NEW YORK CITY!!!
it's as simple as that. that is the only way to ensure that someone won't steal it... off the street, that is.

As someone that has never even considered locking a bike outside in NYC up until now, how prevalent *is* theft anyway? I've had two bikes stolen in my life (both out of garages), but I keep hearing horror stories of bikes getting evaporated even when locked up with enough steel to rebuild the terminator.

I'm looking at building a steel fix just to avoid parking my nice roadie on the street (plus, it's carbon, so it's bound to get smashed if locked..) Am I insane to even consider an even slightly nice frame? Should I be looking at a smashed beater to avoid the grip of the theftman?

-s

I've had a bike and my gfriends bike parked in the street for ovedr 8 yrs. 1 stolen seat, 1 stoled rear wheel (totally my fault), 2 attempts to cut through kryp[toflex cables, but no luck on their part. if you have an ugly bike, chain the seat and tape it, square chain and american lock (better than the kryptos in my opinion (or multilock even better, but 80 for the lock itself), around rear wheel and frame, cable around front wheel, rebuild your headset, super glue the hex bolt on stem. no problem. on the other side of the coin, just 2 months ago a crazy neighbor destroyed both bikes b/c he didn't like the m parked in fron tof his building. he then cut em loose with a grinder, which i saw. this 1 super bad event in 8 yrs aint so bad, but im still pissed, on the positive side, someone left a worksman foldingg bike out with the garbage several weeks later. several weeks after that I fouind ajnother big wald basket. done. karma. i mean he destroyed EVERY part of theose other bikes. still looking to replace my g-friends too.

i would go for it, also rattlecan the whole thing, even tires. this makes it lot less liikely to get stolen and perhaops yuo will see the part riding by one day like my friend did. most bike theives, unless they are nice bikes, seem to be neighborhood kids needing a part

It's sad that people have to be like that... ah well. I'm not planning on storing it on the street overnight, just when going out and about for drinks/dinner etc, so I think I'm slightly less at risk, but we'll see.

If I come back and post here pissed in a few weeks, we'll know how THAT worked out ;)

-s

when I say New York, I am mainly referring to Manhattan.
Brooklyn (as well as the other boroughs) is ok for the quick lock-up (dinner, drinks, etc.).

it's quite true that (especially in nyc), if someone has their mind set on stealing your bike, they can do it, no matter what lock you use. i've seen busted krypto chains, including the "nyc fuggehtaboutit" model.

it's said that since you need dramatically different tools to bust chains and ulocks, it's not really likely for thieves to carry both, so if you use both a chain and ulock, your bike will be passed up for another.

i've got a length of bike chain securing my seat to my frame on my fix. not really a huge deterrent, i know, but it'll stop some idiot whos just out stealing parts for the hell of it. my stem can still be removed quickly with just one hex wrench, but i haven't really thought up an attractive solution for that one yet.

anyway, if i'm just running down the street to the deli to pick up a sandwich, i'll use the ulock. i can pretty much see the bike the whole time.

if i'm out shopping or whatever in the daytime and need to leave my bike outside on a populated street for up to an hour or so, i'll lock it with the krypto nyc chain. i can get the chain through both wheels and the frame, and around a small post.

if it's night time, or i'm locking the bike any longer (read: trips to the bar), i'll use the krypto chain as described above and the krypto u-lock through the rear wheel, frame, and whatever i'm locking to.

never ever leave your bike locked in a public area overnight. no matter how crappy, everything will get stolen.

also, the less "empty room" you leave in the locked area, the less leverage thieves have when they're jacking it open with a crowbar or whatever. thus, if you're just locking with a ulock, don't just loop it around the top tube and a signpost, loop it around a frame tube, wheel, and whatever else you can to hold the bike as tightly to the signpost as possible.

this sounds extreme, but it's effective - lock your bike up high.

for instance, if there's a 10 foot tall railing/fence in front of a building, scaffolding, or some other kind of secure structure (lots of buildings have these large fences in front of them), hang your bike up high (hook the bars over the top of the fence), then climb up and krypto chain it.

this works because thieves need someplace to stand for a period of time to saw a lock, and they need to be standing on the ground to effectively gain leverage to pry open a ulock. you only need to be able to climb up there for a minute to lock and unlock it.

why do new york city cyclists have to spend 1/5 (I am being very generous) of the price of their vehicle to protect it? if there was an "epidemic" in new york where it was guaranteed that if you bought a car that costs $500 or more it would get stolen (or at least parts stolen off of it) if it is parked on the street, do you think the police would be so lax about stopping such epidemic?

it's friggin' ridiculous. I would love to ride to work everyday... I could right now, but I would spend those 8 hours working worrying if my bike was going to be downstairs when I got off.

why don't we invent a "LoJack" for bikes?
http://www.lojack.com/
it would be super small and I would actually be willing to pay 1/5 of the price of my bike for it... as I am sure you would too.

Yeah but will this work if only one part is stolen ? Not the whole thing?

Heres a loophole and a huge disadvantage.

"With this Recovery Warranty, if your vehicle is stolen and not recovered within 24 hours, LoJack will refund the purchase price of your LoJack system up to the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP)."

The success rate is 90% but still there is that 10% they won't find it.

If they can't they only refund you the purchase price of the system.

Huge loophole.

Everyone likes to talk security after a crime but how many bother to register their bikes and record the serial numbers?

I go to police auctions and buy 10 bikes at a time of all makes and models for as little as $1 each. I ask the officers why the owners never claimed their bike and they respond that many bike owners do not record the serial number so there is no way to prove which bike belongs to them.

Recently a friend had a bike stolen. She had etched a phone number on the side of the down tube. That was enough of an identifiable mark to get her bike back.
Enjoy

Funny that the GPS LoJack idea should come up again, as this and another anti-theft alternative was recently being discussed in this thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=81746) as well.
Someone should really do this.

I'm still worried about locking up in the city. Used to not do it at all, but I keep ending up in situations where I've got to. So I threw down the 80+ bucks for the Krypto chain and lock, and occasionally use it along with a Krypto cable. And I'm still ascairt that someone's gonna steal the bike! I don't know how to get over this paranoia.

rent-a-thug

there was an article a few years ago that I read in a british motorcycling magazine, about these guys you could hire for a few nights in a row and leave your nice new shiny sport bike in some sketchy parking lot while they hid in a van parked near by and monitored it. If a theif came by and got as far as breaking the lock on the bike and tried to wheel it away the guys in the van would jump out drag him back in, beating the crap out of him while another guy drove the van to the other side of town where they would dump the would be theif.

I thought it was an awsome idea, but costly and pointless other than teaching theives in high crime areas to be more aware when trying to steal a bike..

Everyone likes to talk security after a crime but how many bother to register their bikes and record the serial numbers?

I go to police auctions and buy 10 bikes at a time of all makes and models for as little as $1 each. I ask the officers why the owners never claimed their bike and they respond that many bike owners do not record the serial number so there is no way to prove which bike belongs to them.

Recently a friend had a bike stolen. She had etched a phone number on the side of the down tube. That was enough of an identifiable mark to get her bike back.
Enjoy

an old trick i learned from my dad...slide a playing card with your name/number on it inside the seat tube. if someone ever sees it- like a mechanic- maybe they'll call. if not, at least you have a way to positively id your bike should you ever find it. oh, and i agree...never lock your bike outside. a friend of mine went into a bodega to grab a drink, and during that short time someone walked up with a 2x4 and cracked his u-lock open. how did he know? one of the ten people outside the store who stood there and watched the whole thing told him...

http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/textfiles/Int%200155-2004.htm?CFID=303717&CFTOKEN=13217703

http://www.transalt.org/press/askta/041019.html

anyone know if this has been passed yet? i think this could be the answer we've all been waiting for...

i've considered commuting to work (when i used to have a job) and parking my bike in a garage (and paying the monthly fee), but in reality it would be easier for the criminal to get away by stashing my bike in the trunk of an suv.

i've got my bikes insured, registered with the nypd, and appraised by my lbs. they can be replaced, but it took me over 6 months to build each one...i'm not going through that again. lojack for a bike would be rad.

You could always just buy a telemetry tracking system:

http://www.sirtrack.com/

There aren't prices on that site, but I'm guessing it would only cost $2000 - $5000

who are these thieves? i've never seen one, but obviously they are everywhere, and how much money can they possibly make for their effort? where do they unload their cargo?

http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/textfiles/Int%200155-2004.htm?CFID=303717&CFTOKEN=13217703

http://www.transalt.org/press/askta/041019.html

anyone know if this has been passed yet? i think this could be the answer we've all been waiting for...

i've considered commuting to work (when i used to have a job) and parking my bike in a garage (and paying the monthly fee), but in reality it would be easier for the criminal to get away by stashing my bike in the trunk of an suv.

i've got my bikes insured, registered with the nypd, and appraised by my lbs. they can be replaced, but it took me over 6 months to build each one...i'm not going through that again. lojack for a bike would be rad.

could you tell me how you registered your bikes with the popo?

a few bike shops round here have flyers from the PD regarding that info.
If not, I'm sure you can walk into a precinct haus or call 311..

rent-a-thug

there was an article a few years ago that I read in a british motorcycling magazine, about these guys you could hire for a few nights in a row and leave your nice new shiny sport bike in some sketchy parking lot while they hid in a van parked near by and monitored it. If a theif came by and got as far as breaking the lock on the bike and tried to wheel it away the guys in the van would jump out drag him back in, beating the crap out of him while another guy drove the van to the other side of town where they would dump the would be theif.

I thought it was an awsome idea, but costly and pointless other than teaching theives in high crime areas to be more aware when trying to steal a bike..

Yeah---I was wondering about this myself. Has anyone here ever laid bait and played vigilante on their own bike? After having 2 bikes stolen in the past couple of years, I've been tempted to do that.

Yeah---I was wondering about this myself. Has anyone here ever laid bait and played vigilante on their own bike? After having 2 bikes stolen in the past couple of years, I've been tempted to do that.

I think about it from time to time, but I'm not that big (strong) of a person (6'1" 150lbs...skinny). But if one had some friends who were big, and have been in fights more than once.

It's probably a time thing, you'd never know when a theif would cruise by, might take hours or weeks.... and you'd want to watch the bike the entire time somehow...

Everyone likes to talk security after a crime but how many bother to register their bikes and record the serial numbers?

After losing two bikes from "secure" locations, I've got the serials on all of mine...Oooh, except the Bridgestone and the Columbia. I should get on that.


Yeah---I was wondering about this myself. Has anyone here ever laid bait and played vigilante on their own bike? After having 2 bikes stolen in the past couple of years, I've been tempted to do that.

http://list.massbike.org/archive/200403/0074.html
http://list.massbike.org/archive/200403/0109.html

call your local precinct...

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/phone.html

Yeah---I was wondering about this myself. Has anyone here ever laid bait and played vigilante on their own bike? After having 2 bikes stolen in the past couple of years, I've been tempted to do that.


All you people who are considering 'vigalante' justice in response to stonle bikes and bike theives, her is a little story, which is true, BTW. I was a cloase friend with this guy.

My friend had a couple of bikes stolen, cheap POS bikes, bot a big deal. He got into BMX riding, and his bike was stolen. Obviously he was pissed off. His plan was, to leave a bait bike at a signpost in his nieghborhood, and steak it out. This neighborhood was a little bit of a crime area.
While he waited with a U-Lock and a 3' section of chain, a would be thief started to take the bike. He brust out of the bushes, and attacked the guy with this 3' section of chain and U-lock. The thief ended up really messed up, broken jaw, concussion, missing teeth.
He was arrested, and convicted on assaut and battery charges with a deadly weapon and intent to kill. He went away for 18mos, due to being on probation for tresspassing charges brought on upon but skating boarding in an area where skateboarding wasn't allowed. (signs which said 'no skateboarding')
The thief got off on a petty theft charge, no jail time, small fine. He also won a large settlement from my friend's family.
Who got taught a lesson here?
If you catch a thief red handed will the cops really care? I don't think so.

His problem was he stuck around for the cops to show up.

His problem was he stuck around for the cops to show up.
Uhh, no. The guy (thief) i'd him. Plus there were witnesses. A savage beating with a chain doesn't go unoticed. (or quietly)

my stem can still be removed quickly with just one hex wrench, but i haven't really thought up an attractive solution for that one yet.

I've read on this board that people put glue in the bolt so a hex wrench won't go in. The theory is that it takes a little while to pick the glue our with a knife, so it will slow down thieves. I don't know how well it works.

Making friends with doormen is never a bad idea; I lock my bike in front of the same doorman building every day, and it hasn't been touched. I'm sure a lot of bike security in NYC does seem fate-based, but I feel like having a consistent parking space is safer and smarter-- it gives me peace of mind while I'm at work all day.

Uhh, no. The guy (thief) i'd him. Plus there were witnesses. A savage beating with a chain doesn't go unoticed. (or quietly)

roughing someone up (bouncer style) or a savage beating with weapons are two different things...
I'd say your friend really flew off the handle by going after a guy with a board and a chain.

if one has the energy/anger to go to all the trouble of placing bait, doing a steak-out and beating some random dude up, it seems to me there is a better option:

set up the bait, do the steak-out, take pictures of the guy breaking the lock, stalk the thief (carefully) to wherever he goes, then call the cops with the street address. i know a lot of us hate the fuzz, but -- as BostonFixed pointed out -- legitimate revenge can be a lot more effective than angry punches to the face.

call your local precinct...

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/phone.html

word.

My suggestion for parts being stolen while the bike is chained up is...........Red locktight on every bolt possible. If this is done correctly (completely clean and dry threads on both the bolt and what you are threading it to) the only way to take them off is with heat (blow torch) and a wrench with a very large handle for leverage. When I worked as a motorcycle mechanic we used red locktight on every bolt and nut on Harley Davidsons without anything falling off, and if you know anything about H-D that is an IMPRESSIVE feat.

My suggestion for parts being stolen while the bike is chained up is...........Red locktight on every bolt possible. If this is done correctly (completely clean and dry threads on both the bolt and what you are threading it to) the only way to take them off is with heat (blow torch) and a wrench with a very large handle for leverage. When I worked as a motorcycle mechanic we used red locktight on every bolt and nut on Harley Davidsons without anything falling off, and if you know anything about H-D that is an IMPRESSIVE feat.

I bet some people still got their Harley Davidsons and parts stolen off it though huh ?

It wasn't best way to keep it safe. To me you can keep a bike a lot safer than any car or motocycle if you do it the way I said. Its impossible for the theif to steal the bike.

Harleys are definately a hot item with theives nowadays with all of the media exposure of choppers and idiots on tv using large hammers to make everything fit on their "Custom" choppers.

But, I don't know if anyone really understands the stregth of red locktight or green locktight distributed by Honda motor corp for that matter. That tip is to be used if you MUST have the bike locked outside. It doesnt matter what you do to try and ensure that your bike is not stolen, if the thief really wants to take it, he/she will. You just have to make it as difficult as possible.

hey. as a newcomer to ny, I have a newcomer question. There are a bunch of different kinds of bike chains for sale on ebay & elsewhere. Is there a big difference between these, holding constant how they are deployed or whatever? So, like, the difference between a chain w/ hex links versus, uh, trapezoidal links ..? or "heat -treated" versus "triple heat-treated boron manganese steel" ? or is that mostly marketing fluff or for real? and what about this lock question--mini U lock from kryptonite or others (as long as that crazy ball point stuff doesnt work) .. or what kind of regular lock ..?

any thoughts on these matters? much thanks & sorry if this has already been covered

Most NYers seem to like case-ahrdened chain of one brand or another (most brands being reportedly comparable) with a big American Lock padlock. I myself really like my Onguard Ultimate Mini U-lock, but I also carry a long heavy-duty cable to loop through my front wheel. If my front wheel was worth more, I'd carry another U-lock to lock to to the frame.

My bike by rights should have been stolen by now, I only use a cable lock (specialized hard lock wrapper slim), but it's an old road bike with all the empty cable stops on it, the cheap-ass hubs don't match, and I rattle canned it white. The best part of the bike is probably the selle italia seat (not quick release). I usually have it locked up outside my school where there's almost always someone outside smoking nearby. Then it is Boston too. Bike theft seems like less of a worry here, there are still kypto locks all over the place that can easily be bic'd. It's always comforting to lock your bike next to a really nice bike that only has a bicable lock keeping it there. I wouldn't leave my bike at the Landmark center at night, I always see broken/cut locks over by the T stop behind there.
so to sum it up:
ugly bike - coasting -brakes + vigilant smokers = still have my bike

Boston is in the top ten for bike thefts. It's true that there's still a lot of old Kryptos floating around though. I expect that's true most places, though.

i left my bike outside when i slept at my buddy's house and the next morning it was gone... :eek: we looked around and it was only 100 feet away behind a tree. it scared the sh1t out of me