adamtki

I recently bought a seca 700 LED light and it's worth almost the cost of a bike by itself. I always leave the light and battery on my bike cause I bike in generally safe areas. However, I'm wondering if any of you ever had a nice light stolen. Are lights items people generally don't steal? Would you recognize a nice light on a bike if you see one?

carbondale

It's just an average Planet Bike red flasher, but I left it on my bike on the university campus where I work, and it was flashing.... when I went to lunch and passed by, it was still there and flashing, "Steal Me!". But no one did. Good students.

bmt074

Personally I always take my light with me so no I haven't had one stolen yet (having an entire bike stolen is another matter completely). I would take it with you if I were you as well assuming your light can fit into your pocket.

It just takes one opportunistic thief (or bored kid) to walk by and grab it.

carbondale

Yikes! I just looked up that light and it retails for $550. And held on with a rubber strap like a watch band. And you leave it on the bike? Generally safes area don't always contain 100% safe people. Disconnect and carry.

judasofjericho

I Live in San Francisco and did have both of my lights stolen about 2 months ago, then about a month later I was eating in a restaurant and saw someone outside unscrewing my rear light. I ran out and chased them off...needless to say that i now take mine off when parked outside in the city

2dois2b

Anything you leave on your bike will get stolen eventually. You could leave it there everyday for two or three years and then one day it would be gone. Or it might be two weeks if it's a nice light.

I've had people steal crappy seats. Someone once unscrewed the little plastic compass from a bike bell. This has all happened in nice neighborhoods where you wouldn't think people would be like that.

I take my flashers with me.

adamtki

What's worth more, the light or the battery? The battery by itself looks very unnoticeable but it's probaby worth more.

The light was expensive, but now I'm riding in the night feeling much safer at the higher speeds. I also like the blink feature. It's so bright, it'll be even harder to miss me coming!

adamtki

The rubber strap is actually so you can quickly take it off and on... which I obviously don't take advantage of.

genec

I had a cheap bike stolen from a very public area near a security office.

Some people will steal anything that isn't tied down.

corkscrew

I usually take my easily removable ones with me, where ever I might be. Anymore I have a homebrew system where all the lights are bolted to the bike. I don't bother to remove those, not to mention not many people would'nt know how to take advantage of 12V DC bike lights.

I started removing my blinkies after someone walked off with my room mates brand new blackburn headlight. We were sitting not 15 feet from the bikes, and yet the light was gone when we rode home from that coffee shop.

ultramagnetic

Yes, I have. The bike was parked inside at work in a very lightly used/traffic area. It was only a $30 light but I was still bothered by the fact is was taken where I assumed it would be safe, probably by some f**k that I worked with.

I would certainly recognize a high-end light such as yours. I'd be even more upset by the thought that it was stolen as a crime of opportunity by someone who had no idea of the value of what they were stealing.

A $500+ Seca 700 would only be on my bike when I was riding it or the bike was in my house/garage.

mikeybikes

Leave 'em on the bike all the time at a college campus of ~40,000 students. Never had any stolen.

sggoodri

If you prefer to leave them on, consider replacing the hex hardware with Torx head screws or another even more esoteric head design, making them harder to steal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torx

zpl

My policy is to lock up or take with me any accessories on the bike worth more than about $50. That means I usually leave my SuperFlash on the bike, as well as my pump. But I always take my $120 Dinotte headlight and Garmin Edge 305 with me. So far no one has taken the rear blinky or pump.

My philosophy is if I can get away with that for a year or more, the convenience factor will likely be worth it even if someone eventually does steal my SuperFlash or pump.

Scott

prathmann

Once had my dynamo stolen - but they left the headlamp.

AndrewP

I have never had the white and red blinkies that are bolted onto my bike stolen. I also have a red blinkie on the back of my trunk bag, and I carry 2 small LED flashlights in my trunk bag for an unplanned ride home in the dark - non of these lights are left on the bike.

ottothecow

I have two crappy lights on my bike that have not been stolen. they are some little planet bike leds (I think they are PB) and they are mounted in quick release brackets.

On both lights, I put a zip tie around the QR lever which keeps it from being taken off without a tool of some sort. Additionally, my front light is screwed into the cantilever hanger (filed it down to a simple hole when I switched to v brakes) instead of being on the tube clamp thing.

Lord Chaos

I used to have the screw-on flashers on the valve stems of my beater bike. Yep. They've been stolen. If I have to park a bike, that's the one I use. Neither of the good bikes, both of which have lights, gets left out of my sight for very long.

nelson249

I avoid leaving expensive stuff on my machine. I use a cheap LED light on the handlebar but my main illumination is a helmet light and I carry the battery in a fanny pack around my waist.

HardyWeinberg

My son has had 2 $20 headlights stolen at his gradeschool. Tail light's never been touched though.

aadhils

Never; but that's cause I never leave em on the bike If I park it at a rack.

ambrisdelighted

I would take them with you, my friend had her cheap-o Bell headlight stolen off her bike on the school campus.
It's better to be safe than sorry

Amani576

That's not a bad idea for EVERY bolt on your bike. Especially your seatpost/saddle-clamp and top cap on threadless stems.
-Gene-

vaticdart

I've had a front blinkie stolen off my bike, but at the time my CygoLite Dualcross was there too, and they didn't steal that. Weird.

Mostly it's a judgement call. When I'm in downtown Seattle or one of the neighborhoods with more crime I put accessories, including blinkies and big "see stuff" lights in my bag. Around sleepy Ballard, Fremont and the like, I have no qualms about leaving my bike locked up for an hour or two with all my expensive accessories right there.

neil

I'm experimenting with leaving my lights on in an unsecure (but still underground/only used by people in my building) parking lot, and we'll see. They're only worth maybe $50 combined, so it's not the end of the world if they go missing.

But I always take them off outside. I used to leave my pump attached to my bike when I parked it next to my apartment building. It was about 3 years old and retailed for $9.95. It went missing one day, so I imagine that lights would be targeted by someone who has no idea if it's worth $500 or $5, and it almost certainly would be picked off by someone who does know the difference.