friction

So here's the scenario: its been sitting there for a week/2 weeks/2 months/whatever, chained to (fill in the blank), leaves and dust are gathering around flat tires, the thing is obviously abandoned or forgotten, and your just know someone/you could use some part of it or maybe the whole damn bike. It's nothing too special, or maybe it is, or maybe you just need the stem or the shimano 600 caliper off of it, or maybe you just can't stand to see it get thrashed by the elements and wasted...

How do you weigh the various ethical/legal/logistical issues inherent in basically stealing a bike, even when you're sure you're just stealing it from the landfill? And how the hell do you casually bust out the bolt cutters on a busy street and do your liberating business? Um... I assume I'm not the only one who has contemplated this. Stories, encouragement, or moralistic reprimands are all welcome.

crushkilldstroy

I don't touch it. If I really want to touch it for some reason, I'll leave a note. Leaving the note generally requires touching it.

zelah

its really, REALLY simple. Is it yours?
1. yes? then take it home

2. no? don't touch it, it is not yours

dolomite592

The only way it is ethically permissible is if the bike is not locked.

zelah

i can't imagine how taking something that is not yours can be seen as anything but theft. this should not be a complicated issue.

crushkilldstroy

Buh? How would the bike being unlocked automatically make it fair game? All that means is that it's easier to steal.

JellyMeetsJam

That's how I feel about things inside people's houses too

andre nickatina

as far as i'm concerned, if it's rusting to the bike rack from 3 months of being locked up, it's ABANDONED.

either way, after moving to a college town, i suddenly have no sympathy for people that don't know how to lock bikes up. sorry guys, but it's called simple common sense not to lock only the handlebars up with your sweet walmart cable lock you got on sale for 4.99.

metaljim

if it's not yours, don't take it. didn't your mother teach you that?

andre nickatina

likewise, i have never stolen a bike or anything off a bike before. this includes lights, computers and top tube pads. i'm just saying, i have no sympathy for the idiot that puts as much thought into locking their bike as they do taking a dump.

doofo

i say if it doesnt move for two days its fair game

anyone leaving a bike for two days is either dead or in jail

either way they wont be needing the bike

jussik

I do think that bikes that are obviously left abandoned somewhere for a long time, are free game for the takers but the problem is how long before they are 'abandoned'.

Other problem is with bikes that are obviously stolen, then left somewhere unlocked, with flat tires etc. I see these really often around my neighborhood. I've rescued some bikes like these, and usually somebody else has already scavenged some parts off them. The last one I took was an old utility-style bike that was left in the bushes on our building's yard (I live in a tenement-type building) for many weeks. I know this is not 'right' thing to do but what are the options, leave the bike there, or what?

wroomwroomoops

Finnish comrade! What I see around here is, actually, bikes not even locked and left alone for the longest time.

Once I saw this Crescent woman's bike (excellent condition) NOT locked, just leaning to a tree near the Kehä-1 bikepath (near Otaniemi) a bit inside the forest, but very clearly visible - in plain sight in fact. It was there for two weeks, and nobody as much as moved it an inch. And during the night it would have been very easy to steal unnoticed.

red house

I'd say you should trash it so that a real/career bike thief can't steal and resell it.

LóFarkas

I'd leave it there.

If I happened to know that the police/owner of the property are about to remove it and auction or destroy it, I'd perhaps nick it before they get there... but as long as there's a chance of the owner turning up to collect it, no way.

cosmo starr

if there is a bike dying a slow rusty death, say more than a semester or several months, rescue it, fix it up and give it to someone you know who could use a bike....karma restored.

joshuastar

on campus, i think the personal rule is, if you're there in spring, and the bike hasn't moved when you come back in the fall, it's fair game. the kid probably graduated or dropped out.


i guess the best way to go about it legally is to organize and talk to the campus maintenance/police about "purging" bikes. it would be a long process (involving sending out flyers to dorms, waiting a long time, and then waiting for the campus people to actually get around to doing the deed.



i was actually thinking about this the other day. i care nothing about all the next bikes locked up for months (except for the fact that they're eyesores), but even seeing those bike boom bikes rusting makes me sad.

perfectly good bike not being used.

Half-Impressive

I've liberated one and almost liberated another but was glad I didn't. The first one had been there for over a year, clearly really screwed up and ended up not being worth the effort or the risk. The second was a nice looking bike that had been left alone for at least 3 months. I attempted to free it one day and clean it up for my girlfriend, but was thwarted by the u-lock. I made her another bike and saw the "abandoned" bike 6 months later, in front of another building. I'm glad i didn't take it and have my girlfriend get yelled at for stealing a bike.

I don't think its immoral to steal something that's unwanted, especially if it will go to somebody to use. But the risks are pretty high. If there was zero risk, then free it, so it can fulfill its pedalcycle destiny.

joshuastar

it's true. there are some people that ride their bikes once every six months.

there's really no way to tell the difference. even if you leave a note, the person probably won't see it until they go to ride it...six months later.

teiaperigosa

+1

if you're gonna leave your bike locked in a public place for a long time...you either don't care about it that much, or you should holler at it with some oil every once in a while

rusted out chain is the indicator to go by....honestly...it takes a while for a lubed chain to rust out (even in pretty bad conditions)...it takes two seconds (okay, maybe like 15-25) to oil a chain

bust out your...hacksaw, bolt cutters, tire jack, angle grinder...and put the bike in working order

Half-Impressive

We actually called the campus police around here and they let us go in post-harvest and take a bunch of the bikes for the local co-op. That was a better way to do it. But you still have to go through the sorrow of watching unwanted bikes suffer.

raster

So this article in the national old people newspaper, the NYTIMES, sorta dealt with this issue. One girl at NYU started a program to "rescue" abandoned bikes and give them to people, sorta like a social service. It elaborates a bit on the legal issues involved, and perhaps it can give some guidance on the moral issues as well. Here's the link-up.

However, I do have to say, that just because you want to do something doesn't make it morally correct. This may seem obvious, but it shows up more in my moral reasoning than I'd like to admit. For this example, just because you want to use the parts/bike and no one else is, it doesn't mean it's right for you to take it.

wroomwroomoops

The thing is, the correct way to do this sort of thing would be to have a disinterested party (usually the police) collect the bike(s) and auction them off. Just because you happened to walk there and see the bike, shouldn't entitle you to take it. This is not directed personally at anyone.

werdna

last winter i locked up my beater at a bus station to bus to school. well i ended up not comming home that night, and then the snow came, and the freezing rain and i actually forgot about the bike for 3 weeks. i noticed it was gone and thought someone stole it but then realized it was still at the bus station and yes i was soooooo happy to have it back, though it was covered in ice.

that being said, at the same bus station, there is a cool old school cruiser with two flat tires, a rusty chain beyond repair, rusty spokes etc. that has been lying on the ground for about 3 months or more, locked to the bike rack.

mtaras263

i left a bike at school over summer. it was a bike i got for free, and i didn't take good care of it. the univ. took the liberty to liberate my bike, and i was t.o.'d. if you want your life to be smooth and simple, don't steal, and don't leave things somewhere for a long enough time for someone to think they are abandoned. there is no such thing as a free lunch.