But p.... cat is a term of affection, for crying out loud!

Why is there still a discussion about this?
Even the guy who triggered this with the "Root of every problem" quip wasn't taking a dig at women. It was a dig at men!

Francis needs to take a few deep breaths.

Back to bike Sabotage... So ho hum I'm riding my commute and off comes my brake lever.. Sabotage I say!

Probably not but it sounds better then I didn't notice the pivot bolt unthreading slowly and eventually falling out. Did make an interesting commute this morning though

There's always phosphorescent powder. Take a portable black light around and see who has it on their fingers.

We've been in Europe too long.....maybe a trip back to NA is in order to ferment some more false outrage and offense......

Just the Internet. In real life I'm a big coward who lacks the integrity to stand behind what he says.

So now that we've both demonstrated who we are, should we let this get back to bike-tampering, or do you want to continue trouncing me with your keen logic?

Wow, you're full of insults today. I hope this is just an internet personalty of yours, because if it isn't you're really a nasty and arrogant person.

Maybe some time when you're not enraged, you can read the thread over again.

I still think a tiny bit of diluted capsaicin on the valve stem. If nobody's really doing anything to your bike, nothing bad will happen to anyone, and if they are, they'll get a surprise when they touch their nose or eyes.

Yeah, it is. it's not the cost, it's the respect issue. They wouldn't flat someone's car tire, why would they think it was OK or funny to do it to another sort of vehicle? I say kick their ass.

I had someone break the valve stems off of my tires, so I started bringing my bike inside to my cube. When the facilities manager told me I had to keep the bike outside, I told him about the vandalism and asked if his department would reimburse me for any costs. He had some nice bike lockers installed outside instead.

In the US, in can be insulting in certain contexts. And this was definitely one of them.

Awesome!

I only had to make one statement to get the idea across that no one should mess w/ my bike. I walked out of the locker room to overhear one co-worker telling another it really wouldn't be a funny joke to move my bike from the hallway (where I keep it while changing) and hide it. I thanked that guy, and asked the other one "If I took your keys and moved your car around the far corner of the parking lot while you were at lunch, would that be funny?"

Someone at the office turned my light on and drained the battery. I park near the back door, so there's a lot of traffic, no security camera. I thought I was being careless, then it happened again. Now I take it off. I metioned it to my supervisor, it seems totally malicious, since that person is telling me to "Go ahead and ride home at 11pm with no lights. Hope you don't get hit!"

I don't know if this has been said by why don't you carry a pump?

In the state of Maryland, it's against the law for anyone to tamper with another's bicycle:

Sort of reminded me of going to the bike thread and having a hockey game break out.

I have to wonder though...is this what she meant by one/two guys acting like "jacktards"?

And then get arrested, go to trial, and go to prison for assault. And then, when your family doesn't have you around any more, and you've got a criminal record that will basically prevent you from ever having a decent job or life again, you can just say that it was worth it because of the "respect issue".

Are you guys related to each other or something? This sexism versus clueless discussion reminds me of some teen-year sibling arguments I've witnessed over the years...

I suppose I should have said it a bit differently...See, I'm the "eye for an eye" kinda guy. Once on my way home, a student who has a very identifiable hair cut leaned out of his buddy's car and tried to knock me off my bike. He ended up just brushing my butt and grabbing my arm. So, the next day, armed with the car's license number and a knowledge of who the student was, I went to the vice principal and had the driver's driving privileges taken away for two weeks, and in front of class, I mentioned how someone (never used the name) grabbed my butt the night before. I said that being gay is cool, but if you're going to come out of the closet, that probably wasn't the safest time to do it. He turned red, apologized after class, and I haven't had a problem since.

Another time, someone flatted my tire (just using the stem) in my classroom while I was in a meeting. I learned who did it through one of their friends, then brought my core tool to school the next day and pulled all of the cores out of their car tires.

Actually, those are the only two problems I've had while commuting to a high school. If you're proactive, the situation resolves itself.

I once had a friend of mine lower my saddle height by a whole cm. It really through me off, the whole bike just felt wierd, but I had no idea why. Took me a few miles to figure it out, and
I didn't even have an allen wrench on hadn to fix it.

I got him back though by putting his quick release skewers on the drive side of his bike.

OP here,

Didn't think I would come back to a 3 page thread! I appreciate all the input. I really do have to wonder if it was a leaky valve stem. I made sure to check the stem area multiple times when I did my water testing. In any case, recent circumstances which would require a long story lead me to think it not entirely unplausible that the 'suspect' would do this. He seems to be an immature and jealous type, even though by all appearances he finally succeeded in woo'ing this certain person - who I've long since stopped talking to beyond exchanging smiles and hellos.

I work at a fairly small company and we don't have a security department to report to. In the past 6 months we had security cameras installed looking over the parking lot, but I don't think they can see the bike rack [it's slightly around a corner]. The two highest supervisors would be the ones to review the footage, but as they have a ton of other 'real' duties [chaotic textbook distribution warehouse], I doubt they will do it. In any case, I sent them a brief email about the incident and requested that they look at the camera footage. It would be easy to spot someone at least walking towards the bike rack [if it's not in view] and then walking back shortly thereafter.

It's not totally out of the question to bring my bike inside the warehouse and keep it near my work area, but I will eventually be hassled about it. We'll see. As much as I want to just straight up ask the guy if he did it, I think that would make the situation between me and him worse no matter if he did or not, and moreover, I think it's pretty dumb that he has some grudge against me anyways. I think I will be extra nice to him instead.

Check where the valve core screws into the valve stem. I've found slow leaks there on presta valves many times. The spit test works well for this.

You could find out what motor vehicle he drives and let the air out of all of his tires. Better yet, cut off the valves so he has to replace them. You can cut the valves off with damaging the tire itself. That will teach him not to f**k with your bike.

Now that's entertainment. After posting a tongue-in-cheek comment I return two days later to find this extended thread. It's like throwing a block of clay into a room full of people and returning to find a replica of the 'Thinking Man'.

Whoops! Maybe I should have phrased that 'Thinking Person'.

I suppose I could go on ad nauseum explaining the defense of my text, however those who saw it for what it is have already done so. I can't, however, resist pointing out how someone's misogynistic interpretation never fails to expose their own misandristic thinking. I'm amused, but not necessarily surprised, that in this instance said interpretation derives from a woman who's adopted an abbreviated form of "kitten" as their forum identity. That just seems to punctuate this perfectly.

Yeah man anybody that doesn't respect me I just beat the everloving tar out of them and now I'm the most respected man in America. One of my friends spilled a drink on my carpet and I like the guy but he just had to be beaten - when he gets out of the hospital maybe he'll have learned a lesson.

Some people these days... where's the respect for me and my precious precious property?

Perhaps you didn't see my previous post clarifying my position genius. I was taught by my drill instructor in high school that some people get walked on, others succeed at life. No, you don't go around giving people broken noses, but you make sure that they don't do it again. If you want to resort to violence, so be it. As for me, I haven't thrown a punch since I was 15. Nobody anymore has respect for anyone anymore, and it drives me insane. What happened to opening doors for people, saying excuse me, not swearing at people during rush hour, allowing people to go before you, etc? It's all gone, and it's inexcusable. Sorry, but to me, respecting someone and their property is more important than walking away and looking like a weak fool.