dim

one of my clients was telling me that he and his friend entered a charity road race in London a few weeks ago. They arrived at the start point, and offloaded their expensive bikes from their car and proceeded to the registration area

They had to leave their bikes outside a building while they registered and have their helmets tagged.there were hundreds of bikes .... When they came out, his friend's bike was 'gone'. Insurance refuses to pay as he never locked the bike (you don't take a d-lock with you when you race)

one of the guys should have stayed behind to watch the 2 bikes while the other registered for the race ...

and we have received a cautionary about a new wave of bike theft in the UK .... theives are cutting bike racks with power tools and gaffer taping them at night. You struggle to find a bike rack the next morning .... lock you bike on one of these and the thieves remove the gaffer tape and take your bike with the d-lock

Cyclists in Cambridge warned to look out for 'compromised' bike racks | Cambridge News

DoctorTattoo

For me, like others have said it all depends on body language. I tend to look at other people's bikes as well especially if it has an IGH. Even if someone rides by and I spot an IGH I always do a rear check to see if it is a Rohloff. One time I did that while I was driving and my wife was in the car and the rider was female, my wife thought I was checking out her "rear" so I got a dirty look from her!

Shawn

BlazingPedals

How does the insurance company know if they locked them or not?

CliffordK

I haven't done a lot of "races", but I did the Eugene DRT race a couple of years ago.

The start was in a park. So, they put up orange plastic fence around the registration area. Guests were allowed in, but they were checking people and bikes going in and out.

I suppose someone could have grabbed a cargo bike and tossed it over the fence, but I'm sure it would have caused quite some commotion (especially for mine that is HEAVY).

Phil_gretz

I'm generally a gawker, if there's an especially interesting vintage bike. Modern stuff...meh.

I agree with the "hands clasped behind back" gawking posture. No touching...

Wileyrat

And at enough distance to not make the owner anxious.

hankaye

Howdy All;

Previous life, was spent around a lot of Harleys and not the Doctor, Lawyer types that now like to "Pretend"
general rule was hands behind back or in pockets, and keep back far enough to not allow drool to drip on the bike
being gawked at. Much rougher crowd ...

hank

Repack Rider

I ride some really classic bikes. I would be insulted if people DIDN'T check them out.

09box

I've never had any issues with people checking out my bike. Granted the ones who do are few and far between due to the non showroom condition of my bike.

travelinhobo

I tour a lot, so any lookers I've had would be about all the gear on the bike, not really the bike itself. I've actually never seen anyone looking at my bike (tour or not), but I do inspect the non-standard looking bikes all the time. Even take pics of them on the occasion. I find that, with anything in life, if you don't trust people it's because you can't be trusted. If you trust people, it's because you can be. Most cyclists are happy to talk shop, so it's not a problem for me.

topslop1

No one checks out my bike, I keep her ugly on purpose, just like my wife. Hands off the merch buddy.

No really, if someone is checking out the bike I like to let out a nice fart around 'em, let 'em know the business.

Maelochs

"What do you do if you see someone closely checking out your bike?" offer to sell it to them at three times its market value?

dim

small print .... they want proof that it was locked and want the broken gold rated lock (or whats left of it) .... there were no bike racks, and bikes must be locked on a bike rack or street lamp post etc

I'm looking at insuring my surly LHT and and am carefully reading all the fine print on various different companies .... lots of loopholes to avoid paying out for theft, but they do cover you if a car crashes into you, and it covers medical expenses etc especially if you have proof on a Fly 6 or Go Pro camcorder or similar

In the area where I live, with the high bike theft, I dont think that I will ever leave my surly bike locked up in a public place ... i have a few bikes, and if I have to leave it locked, I ride one of the cheaper ones and park where there is CCTV

jade408

People seem to check out my bike to see if it is vintage. It is not but I went for a 40s French mixte look and my bike is pretty cute.

Usually I think they are just admiring. I had one guy quiz me because he was thinking of getting a similar bike for his wife.

Ty0604

+1 - Very true! People tend to trust based on their own actions. i.e. A thief wont trust many people because, since they steal, they think everyone around them steals. There's a big correlation between the two.

I-Like-To-Bike

Outside of having proof of medical expenses (paper/electronic bills and receipts, medical records, etc.), what kind of "proof" does the prospective insurance company that covers you need/want that is bolstered by video recordings?

Lt Stonez

I was in a store shopping some dinner for the evening, and when went out there was one man all over my bike. I walkt to him and ask If I could help him! He just haddent seen a specialized flatbar before. Ending up talking bikes for 10 minutts its only 2 of my bike her in Norway so its pretty rare here

cheers

Fastfingaz

Tell you what I did, I noticed three teenagers eyeing up my bike while I was in a little restaurant in the French quarter in New Orleans, they past once then came back , all of a sudden one went for it and took off I ran out and was able to catch one before he rode off, had choke hold, when the one who was on my bike saw I had his friend he jumped off my bike and started running left it in the middle of the street ,so I let the guy go and went to retrieve my bike ,the guy sped off ,I got my bike back ,,,, no harm done , which is a good thing for me,, No it wasn't locked,,figured I could keep an eye on it ,,,