LesterOfPuppets

I used to drop my chain onto the BB shell all the time when I lived in Portland.

Luckily my local grocery store staff is accustomed to me wandering the aisles with bike in hand, so shopping for small quantities there is no problem.

7-11 like in thread title, too tight to bring bike in, nothing to lock too out front, just gotta be a fast and aware shopper, shift to high gear or drop chain and go for it.

Gym like in story in OP, I would only do it with a decent lock that would take at least a couple minutes to defeat, only use a machine that was in the window with a clear view of my bike and I'd wait 'til I got home to hit the showers.

KonAaron Snake 

I also think this thread is horrendous and this will be my last post to it.

Once again...theft is why they make insurance. If someone wants your bike, they can knock you down and take it. While you're riding your weekend bike that you'd never dream of locking, you're still potentially vulnerable to theft. Once again...is the answer to live in fear and own nothing of value in case someone steals it? HOME OWNERS INSURANCE!

This could simply be a regional difference, but I see newer and high end bikes parked all of the time. Again...I've locked my higher end bikes for YEARS and never had a problem. My neighbors did the same. They had their bikes stolen from a break in.

I've seen videos of ubolts being cut before. Typically they aren't the top end ones and the simple truth is that I strongly doubt the average bike thief has access to those tools. As said previously, in my area the thieves are typically crack heads or opportunists. There aren't many sophisticated thieves patrolling the streets with power tools. When you show me video of it happening in the street, instead of under demonstration purposes, I'll take note. Yes...hypothetically there are tools that can do it.

twobadfish

Just because he can afford a $10k bike doesn't mean money isn't an issue. Money is an issue for everyone. That $10k to him might be like the $1k to you.

Either way, my money is on that bike not costing $10k. And maybe he even orchestrated this thing and never intended on the bike coming back to him.

In any case he was an idiot for taking a $10k racing bike on any sort of commuting trip for any reason. STUPID. Unless of course it was part of the plan. Then selling it in the same city was the mistake.

splytz1

This is almost as bad as the rivendell thread.

3alarmer 

twobadfish

That should be this

prathmann

Seems like you're counting on quite a conspiracy here. Not only must the original owner be lying about the value, but he got the local bike shop employee (who reported the bike to the police) to go along with that estimate. And I suppose he somehow got the Craigslist buyer to bring it to the right bikeshop so he could arrange for the employee there to back him up? Furthermore based on what's visible in the picture it doesn't seem like the estimate is that unreasonable for a new retail price.

Still don't see what's so unfathomable about people wanting to spend their money on nice things and then actually wanting to use them instead of leaving them locked in a vault. Yes, there's chance it'll get stolen - but most of the stolen bikes that I know of personally were either stolen from inside the owner's home or happened when the owner was standing nearby - but not quite close enough.

3alarmer 

KonAaron:

Again, this is a philosophical issue which
will not be answered by debate or argument.

However, philosophy should be grounded in
reality (somewhat). In other words, i think
possibly your view of what's currently available
in the world of metalworking tools may be
outdated. Don't feel badly, the study of
the history and current technology for bike
theft and deterrence is one of my hobbies.
I'm quite fascinated by it, particularly in light
of its long history as a social phenomenon.
The tools are neither hypothetical nor expensive.
Again, sorry, but that's the reality.



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KonAaron Snake 

I lied...I'm posting again...

You aren't showing me anything I don't know. I cut through my ubolt on the street and no one stopped me either. Police walked by.

Once again...thieves in this area don't have power tools. I have never once seen someone cutting through a lock. You almost never see cut up ubolts. The locks in that video were NOT premium ubolts. You are far more likely to lose your bike in a breakin than have a properly locked bike stolen.

Once again...just because you don't lock up a bike doesn't mean no one is stealing it. You can be knocked down and have the bike stolen.

Chombi

Bottle jacks, Freezing and smashing, angle grinders, even Bic ballpen caps have easily destroyed/opened many locks with no problems. Just leave the honey for the bees and they will come eventually to sting you. I keep seeing in posts here saying "that's why we have insurance!"......but why go through the hassle, cause yourself headaches and grief and why let it happen and cause everyone else's insurance rates to go up. Be proactive and avoid the problem all together! It's not such a big deal to do so.

Chombi

surreal

+10000000000000000000000000000

this "blame the victim" nonsense has got to stop. It may be foolish to leave a very valuable bike unattended, but why own a bike if you're afraid to ride it/lock it somwhere? I, for one, have to leave my bike(s) locked and unattended while at work, the ub, or any of my othger sundry misadventures. Thankfully, none are worth multiple-thousands of dollars, but what if they were? Would i stop commuting?

-rob

twobadfish

Hey one thing about me is I love me a good conspiracy. I really do find it difficult to fathom someone commuting on a $10k racing bike. It's like off-roading with a Ferrari. That's the only thing that bred my theory.

From what I understood though the story doesn't indicate that the LBS owner corroborated the bike's value. I thought that was just something the owner of the bike stated. AND for my theory to work the LBS owner wouldn't have known about the plan - it would have been an unforseen kink. Either way, for a clever criminal, it's not _that_ far fetched.

On the other hand, if the bike owner did orchestrate this you would think he would have sold it in another city - counting on some locals recognizing it. But maybe he's only half-clever.

LesterOfPuppets

I could totally see many a nerd wanting to ride his fancy bike to the gym after work (at some tech giant) to show off, maybe get some play from the ladies on the stairmasters.

snarkypup

Hmm... I love it when you guys start bickering in a circular way.

I have two bikes, both of which cost me about the same amount, when all is said and done. One I could replace quickly and easily, and one I've never seen anywhere else in the same condition. Guess which one I'm cool with leaving locked in a public place?

It wouldn't be hard to spend that much on a bike. I'm just puzzled, given the type of bike that obviously is, why one would ride it somewhere in order to work out OFF of it? It seems like the type of bike folks buy precisely because they can ride it super fast and hard. Seems like it would make a painful commuter, really. My guess is that the guy bought it precisely because it was expensive and fast and he could show it off, then discovered that he'd really rather pump iron than ride the darn thing as intended. I imagine getting the most out of that bike is a learned skill, and most folks wouldn't really want to put in the time/effort to use it properly once they bought it. So he rode it to the gym, and all the hotties working out there saw him on his very expensive, fast bike, and then he locked it up so he could go drop the weights with a clatter and huff a lot at cute chicks in lycra. I haven't heard that scenario offered up yet!

No really, I think, as a woman, that commen sense is in order here. Yes, I should be able to go jogging in the park at night if I want to, and be safe. But do I do it? Uh, no. Yes, the guy should be able to take his very expensive bike and lock it anywhere he wants, for as long as he wants, and have it be safe. But should one lock up a bike worth that much outside the gym as one works out? Probably not.

Finally, as to insurance... my home owners insurance is expensive, so I keep a high deductable: $1000. I'd have to have a pretty dang lot of money lying around before paying that out wouldn't sting. I'm sure this guy would have had to pay out at least $500 before getting anything from his insurance company, and that would be quite painful, and punishment enough, had the bike not been recovered.

snarkypup

Dangit, LesterofPuppets, you beat me to it!

3alarmer 

Why would we offer that when it's so obvious
to us as weight droppin' huffers? Yeah baby,
check out the cut on the guns.

bikingshearer 

It isn't about blaming the victim, at least it isn't for me and for most of the posts here. It's about acknowledging reality and practicing personal risk management.

Look, if I go walking around in the Bad Part of Town at 2:00 am with hundred dollar bills hanging out of my pocket, what happens to me is a crime and the perp deserves to go down hard -- but I'm a fool to put myself in that situation. That analogy is not perfect, and it certainly overstates the point for the situation here, but it conveys the essence of what Chombi and others are saying.

It ultimately comes down to risk-benefit analysis, and people's conclusions will always differ in doing that analysis. KonAaron, you obviously have the savvy and local knowledge to keep your bike safe in Philly, so you decide that the risk of theft is low enough to be worth the ability to commute and then lock up your ride. In your situation, I might disagree. That doesn't make either one of us wrong in any absolute sense. It does mean that we weigh the risks and benefits differently. (And you're absolutely correct that one can get ripped off whlie riding - I knew a guy who got blindsided with a two-by-four and came to just in time to see his bike disappear around a corner.)

What it boils down to is many of us - me included - come down on the side of not leaving our Good Bikes (whatever your definition of that is) locked up for an hour at a time in public. But since it all depends on how risk averse you are, YMMV.

snarkypup

CLANK! goes the 50lb weight.

<eye roll>

Glad to be back, baby! And I'm only mostly back, anyway, but still confined to the couch.

sciencemonster

You have GOT to be kidding. I've never made a claim on my home owners insurance - but every time I was tempted to make a claim on my car insurance my agent assured me my rates would go up and it would be cheaper to just pay out of pocket and forget it. I can't believe home owners insurance is any different. I know mine isn't any differnet, cause it's cheap.

And speaking to your other strawman argument - I don't let my 'fear' of losing things dictate my behavior any more than I let my common sense tell me it's not foolish to lock up a $10,000 bike outside a strip mall gym.


I think you are talking thru your hat, now. You should just give it up and walk away.



I trust my wife out with her old highschool boyfriends. My kids walked to school by themselves starting in third grade. I let my cats go outside, sometimes even without a collar.

But I'm not foolish enough to park a $10,000 bike outside a gym in a strip mall. That's just asking for trouble.

rat fink

I said Zeros because they were the ones, to my knowledge, that have red spokes:

https://www.fulcrumwheels.com/jspfulc...&ruotecx=false

As to the rest, it doesn't look to me like Di2, just 7900. The levers derailleurs are completely different. I think this is a perfect example of how bike can cost 10k, but not be worth that much. Those wheels are probably one of the least impressive ~$1500 wheels I know of. Also, I don't necessarily think that their best frame is a ~$3000 caliber frame, but that's okay, because the Madone 6.9 is about $1500-$2000 overpriced too. Shops sometimes charge insane prices for parts. I agree, if the guy didn't shop around, the price could easily be double what it would cost for someone did even minimal shopping around.

cehowardGS

I ride all my bikes to the gym, motorcycle and bicycle. The motorcycle gets parked up on the walking pavement front of the gym's big front window. I can watch it while I am working out. The bicycles ALL come inside. I see other peeps locking thier bikes up outside, not me.. Other park their motorcycles on the parking lot.. Not me on either one. In fact, the only bicycle I lock up with a U lock is my $50 Prelude.. Everything else comes with me. Call me parinoid, but I haven't lost a bike yet...

snarkypup

Yes, but not everyone has the... chutzpah to go in and ask to leave the bike inside. You, CE Howard, are dripping with chutzpah, which is why we love you. I can see some folks being too nervous to ask.

FWIW, I've never had a business say "no," and I have asked several times when I've forgotten my lock and need to run into a store and grab something. Most folks are too scared of confrontation to turn you down if you ask nicely. Also, I'm a girl.

And CE Howard is a very powerful gentleman, who probably never needs to drop his weights on the mat and huff to get attention from the ladies. Am I right?

sciencemonster

I don't think it takes chutzpah. It's no big deal, and if it is, someone will say no. It's not like I'm walking around the store with a bike or leaving it right in the aisle. Just tuck it away out of the way...no big deal. It's clean, it look presentable. If the store is crowded or the bike is wet, I'd never even consider taking it in.

cehowardGS

Wow!!

Don't know about all that, but my young wife puts a big curb on that stuff!!

Back to the bikes, I just like my toys, and I know people will steal, and I don't want them to steal mine!! And I sure ain't going to make it easy for them..

Sheesh, if I had that $10,000 bike, and I was riding it, I would have my pistol with me..

snarkypup

I rest my case.