You want me to PROVE no bike has ever been stolen using a bike pen? Proving that an imaginary event did not occur is, of course, impossible. How can anyone conclusively prove that THESE persistent rumors are false?

- Condoleeza Rice is a space alien, seeking to make Earth a colony of her native planet

- Adolf Hitler is still alive, living in a small village in Chile

- Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson are the same person


The various BIC pen threads in this forum have been viewed over half a million times. Every major newspaper in the USA gave coverage to the BIC pen nonsense. Most major college and university newspapers (at least the ones that are indexed on Google News) interviewed their campus police chief regarding the BIC pen issue. And, the net effect on bike thefts from all that publicity?


- Not one person has ever provided even ONE police report where a thorough police investigation concluded that a bike had been stolen using a BIC pen. Half a million views. Not one police report.

- Not a single report from any reliable eyewitness that they saw a bike being stolen using a BIC pen. Half a million views. Not one credible eyewitness to a successful BIC pen attack on a bike lock.

- Not a single report that bike thefts in the USA increased during the August 2004 to December 2004 period were the BIC publicity was at a peak. In fact, the campus police officers interviewed by the media all said more or less the same thing: bike thefts were DOWN or level in 2004, compared with prior years.

According to campus police departents, the bikes typically stolen on campus are those using a cable lock, cheap chain locks, or no locks at all. Campus police departments recommend (and some supply) Kryptonite U-locks to their students. Why? Because in REAL life, the bikes with a properly positioned Kryptonite U-lock are the LEAST likely bikes to be targeted by crooks.

My job involves counseling teenagers who are locked up for a variety of reasons. Including stealing bikes. What do the guys who steal bikes tell me? Their preferred target is the bike with NO lock. Folks walk into Starbucks and leave a $2,000 bike on the patio with NO lock. When a bike thief in Houston is "shopping" (looking for a particular model and size of bike) they go over to Rice University or the University of Houston. They can chose from hundreds of bikes locked up with just a cable lock, or with a Wal-Mart U-lock. Ten seconds to open with tools that fit in a backpack. Tools that work fast, every single time.

I've asked experienced "crooks" if they have ever heard of a crook using a "pick" to steal a bike. They say "Why would anybody waste time picking a lock when you can instantly "pop it" with tool X ?"

The BIC nonsense was spread by folks with lack the slightest conception of the difference in difficulty between picking a lock resting on the kitchen table versus picking a lock positioned eighteen inches off the concrete, corrected attached to the rear wheel and bike rack, while looking over a shoulder nervously, watching for the bike's owner.

When the BIC story was at its peak, Houston bike messengers took it up as a game. The messengers would take turns trying to open locks that were correctly attached to bikes and racks. According to my neighbor, who has been a messenger downtown the past two years, the number of times a Kryptonite that was properly attached to a bike and rack was successfully opened with a BIC pen: zero.

All the yapping about BIC pens caused folks to ignore the REAL causes of most bike thefts. The owner is not using a REAL lock (such as a Kryptonite New York 3000, an OnGuard Brute, or an Abus Granit). The owner does not know how to select a safe location for locking a bike. And, he does not know how to correctly attach the rear wheel to a steel pole set in concrete.

Kryptonite invested decades into building a reputation for being the premier bike security company in the USA. The BIC rumors created a preception that their locks were defective. Kryptonite knew their locks were highly effective. How else could Kryptonite afford to offer hundreds of dollars in insurance with a $40 lock? . But, in the retail business, perception is always a hundred times more important than reality. So, millions of dollars were invested in an exchange program to deal with perceptions based on rumor and myth.

Net result of all those dollars invested in "flat key" technology? I ride through the college campus in my neighborhood. I see lots of bikes with "flat key" locks. Attached ONLY the front wheel. Which has a quick release. Or, the lock is attached to the frame and to a "No Parking" sign that is embedded about a foot deep into soft sod.

When the owner comes back from class and finds his bike gone, he will say "Darn it...what happened? I thought a "flat key" made stealing a bike impossible?"

The whole BIC myth is nonsense. Don't want your bike stolen? Buy a good lock. Learn how to use CORRECTLY use it.