surak

The other day I locked my Priority Continuum Onyx to a bike stand outside the library with a Priority U-lock. I just had a DVD on hold ready for pick-up, so it took me 2 minutes to be in and out. A large group of homeless people are always hanging around the library. When I got out, two guys were standing, one on each side of the stand, surrounding my bike and some Trek that was locked with a cable. I said "Excuse me" and they got out of the way. One of the two then asked me about my bike and started going on about how his favorite bike is a Yeti that he bought for $1400 3 years ago that was crazy light, like 4 lbs. I asked if it was a mountain bike and then said "Cool" and headed home.

As far as I could tell in the dark, they might have been scoping out the bikes, because they were just standing there without any obvious tools in their hands (cable cutter in pocket?). They'd probably have better luck taking the Trek, but perhaps they weren't sure if my bike was worth more. Maybe the Trek was (legally or not) one of theirs, because I saw a helmet on the ground next to the Yeti guy. Or maybe he just wanted to protect his noggin when riding away with a stolen bike.

SkyDog75

I'm not prone to speculation or jumping to conclusions. Maybe they were scoping out the bikes as possible targets. Maybe not. Maybe they were just admiring. Who knows?

veganbikes

I don't know what I would do if I was a thief in that situation the choice between an online bike or a Trek? Maybe see what the next rack holds.

I bet they were just looking at them. I look at bikes all the time. I could have had my hands on a Moots with some pretty sweet kit that some dude left outside in NYC unlocked in front of a restaurant I was hanging around it for a few minutes looking it over hoping the owner would come out so we could chat, it was a sweet ride and was not expecting it in NYC. Luckily though I wouldn't steal a bike unless I knew who actually owned it and was getting it back for them. As the sticker in my old shop said "we still hang bike thieves in ____" I don't remember where but we were not in that local.

JonathanGennick 

The Continuum is an unusual bike. Maybe the guys were just looking it over.

KLiNCK

When in doubt... never leave your bike out of sight.
If someone wants it enough - it's going to be taken.

Had to Google "Priority Continuum Onyx" as I'd never heard of it before.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/12...g?v=1511198561

Interesting bike!
How long have you had it?
Do do you like the belt drive?
I wouldn't never want to leave a bike like that unattended for too long...

tagaproject6

I admire your disdain for humanity. I always expect the worst in people even when they mean well and are actually just expressing curiosity or admiration for my bikes. My existence is bereft with paranoia. I really should quit cocaine. Who the hell still watches DVDs from the library???

wipekitty

Eh, they were probably harmless. I actually got to know quite a few of our local homeless guys pretty well, and many of them knew quite a bit about bikes and were interested in my bikes and just talking about bikes. Makes sense, since these guys didn't have cars. Some had decent bikes donated to them or given as gifts by now estranged family members. One kid actually had like a $2000 Trek MTB from when he was in college.

Most of the guys I knew are now in housing (which is awesome). From time to time, I still end up in bike conversations with folks outside places that our local unhoused population tends to frequent.

curbtender

Not all homeless are thieves. Many will let everything else go but the bike. I'm sure the freedom we feel on our bikes is the same for them. Still, I don't feel comfortable leaving my bike out of sight anywhere in public places.

Reynolds 

Don't know if they were after your bike or not, but that story about a 4 lb bike (or 3, or 6...) I heard a lot of times.

woodcraft

How about the hefty guy at the charity ride talking about his 26 mph average speed?

Skipjacks

The probably weren't going to steal the bike.

A common tactic is to show interest in something that you are interested in. That strikes up a conversation with you. You engage with them for a minute or two, then once your guard is down and you kind of like the guy they ask for a few bucks "for the bus".

Common tactic.

Or, the dude just legit liked your bike.

Squeeze

We do in my family, especially kids movies. I also check out a lot of audio books and music on CDs.

Same at the main library in Denver, near my office. Some of them have some pretty nice bikes, too. I don't mean nice as they are currently, as many are in need of repair, but I see some nice frames, good components on mountain bikes, etc.

Reynolds 

Kind of Murphy's Law applied to people, no? If they can do something bad, they will do it.

indyfabz

I used to and probably still would if I had an HD DVD player or Blue Ray. I travel by bike through some rural places in the U.S. and still see DVD and even VHS tapes available for rent.

ironwood

How do you know they were homeless? I had never heard of the Priority Continuum, but if I saw one , I would probably check it out since it has innovative features. Sometimes I might look like a homeless person if I happen to run an errand on my bike while wearing old clothes. I often wear old clothes while working around my house.

I often ride a beater to the library, or anyplace where I have to leave it.

Flip Flop Rider

i'm weird I guess but wouldn't go over to a bike rack and check out other peoples bikes. Maybe from afar but not right up on it

same for cars in a parking lot, houses in a neighborhood, basically other people's stuff

JonathanGennick 

I often will stop and gawk at a bike that catches my and looks interesting. Met a guy in Manhattan the other week who was airing up a pretty awesome looking Dutch-style bike. I like looking at the different styles of bike when I'm in the city.

Banzai

I often stop and look at bikes locked up on racks. I like bikes.

surak

I didn't illustrate well how the two were right up on the bike stand, standing across from each other inches from the two locked bikes on either sides. It seemed like unnatural positioning, especially since the stand is right up against the row of parked cars and one side has maybe two feet of clearance from sidewalk shrubbery. Not how I'd look to admire a bike, though I do believe they were knowledgeable enough to find mine interesting. I wonder if that positioning is some commonly used tactic for shielding what they're doing from onlookers. I don't know how often a bike theft is a result of a lone thief vs a coordinated effort.

But yeah, maybe they were just having a conversation, and the Trek was the once-upon-a-Yeti-owner's.

There are many homeless/impoverished folks hanging around my neighborhood and the library in particular. There's a park and a church with homeless services at the same corner, plus another homeless service center a block away. There's Seattle hipster disheveled, and then there's homeless disheveled, and it's fairly easy to tell the two apart. Anyway, the vast majority of the homeless keep to themselves, and I don't think they cause any significant uptick in property crime, so the bike incident is a bit out of the ordinary.

surak

I'm a big fan of the belt drive, I've had belt drive Priorities for 3 years but only started riding more often and for longer distances this year. Haven't taken the Continuum out for any long trips yet, but plan to next week when they open up a new trail connecting where I live and where I work. The best thing about the belt is being able to wear regular pants and not bother with rolling up the leg. I'm very quick when getting my holds from the library (no one asked but I'll tell you all that it was Season 1 of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, which is like a bloodier version of The Tick oddly set in Seattle despite nothing on the show looking like Seattle), so wasn't worried that it'd be stolen.

cyclist2000

I had something similar happen quite a few years back at the swimming pool. I watched for a while and it was a father and son, they were checking out the bike because it has hydraulic rim brakes and just look a bit different. Turns out that they live in my neighborhood.