CompleteStreets

By properly locked, I mean this:

1. Locked with a quality u-lock (generally $50-$100+) or heavy-duty Kryptonite or similar brand chain.
2. Locked the frame of the bike and/or locked through the rear triangle.
3. Locked to a quality bike rack that was securely fastened to the ground.

How many bikes have you had stolen that meet the above three criteria? Any idea how the thief snagged your bike?

OK, I know this is bike forums, so I'm fully prepared to hear your unrelated sob stories about how your cable lock was cut or your garage was broken into, yadda, yadda. But seriously, can we stick to the OP's question for once? Please?

ironwood

I've had two bikes stolen many years ago. They were locked, but not with expensive locks. Since then I do not leave a "good" bike locked in a place where it could be stolen. I have some stealth bikes that no one would steal because they look ugly, and if I have to lock a bike up, I use one of them. Since they were free from the dump, it's a lot cheaper than the best lock.

There is an old adage: "Locks only keep honest people honest.".

Somewhere on a bike forum, someone posted a video of actors using a cutting disc, cutting the locks off locked bikes in downtown manhatten ,with sparks flying all around.. Hundreds of passerbys went by without so much as raising an eyebrow.

Dave Horne

I've had two bikes stolen though they were only locked with a rear wheel lock, a ring lock. Had I used an additional lock to secure the frame to a pole I rather doubt those bikes would have been stolen.

jaxgtr

Happily, I can say zero bikes stolen.

Retro Grouch 

I'm waiting to see more responses. My theory is that the first lock that you put on a bike, no matter how cheesy, is about 90% effective.

fietsbob

After moving to a different town and owning some very good Locks and using them every time 0.

In Cities and College Campuses , and not securely locking it Up to Something Solid, this was Not True.

Even when securely Locked parts Can vanish from stripping..

Jed19

Personally, never had a bike stolen. My son had two bikes stolen when he was in middle school and high school. Both bikes were unlocked and one was stolen in front of a game arcade, and the other by a pick-up driving thief who just chucked his bike in the back of the truck while he was playing with friends at a park.

Wanderer

None. Never had one stolen, even with cheap locks! The act of locking it securely dissuades most thieves. A friend had an unlocked bike stolen, right out of his garage in broad daylight, While they were on the other side of the screen door eating supper.......

79pmooney

Zero. Then again I have never paid more than ~$35 for a Kryptonite so properly I shouldn't even be answering the OP's thread. I used a mid '70s cable lock for decades because it went around my waist twice, making it easy to carry. A motorcycle lock in the '70s for one year that I left at work. I now have three Kryptonites, two on bikes and one that floats and usually goes on a backpack.

Had two bikes stolen. Both unlocked. One on campus, one leaned against a store window.

Ben

CliffordK

I've only had one bike stolen, but I lost my keys that day too, so I probably dropped them next to the bike.

I've locked my current bike many times over many years. One thing, I never leave it tied to a rack overnight. Even when I was studying late at college, I would bring it into the building with me after hours.

dynaryder

One,my old Ti cross bike. Was parked in the lower garage level,secured with a Krypto Fuget U lock and a On Guard chain,and there were security cameras. Someone used power tools to cut both locks. Police took a report,building management were useless.

zonatandem

None . . . so far in . . . over 300,000 miles of cycling since the early 1970s.

ahsposo 

Happy Birthday! You old coot! Get another 300,000, OK?

kingston 

I had a bike stolen in the early 90's and the U-lock was still locked to the tree I locked it to. The only thing I can think of is that they cut the frame to get the bike, which is odd since I only paid $35 for the entire bike. It puzzles me to this day.

t x

One bike locked with a decent sized Abus chain around the seat tube and rear wheel to a steel gate in the parking garage under my apartment. Woke up to find just a cut chain. I have a strong suspicion it was an "inside job" by one of the other people in the apartment complex...

CliffordK

I suppose half of locking a bike is not giving a thief an opportunity to steal the bike. So, now my bike is probably only locked for an hour or so at a time. I'm still waiting for someone to strip off the seat wedge, and all the lights, but so far people seem to be leaving it alone.

A year and a half ago, a friend's adult son needed a bike. He was a bit flaky, so I had a steel MTB that had been given to me that I lubed and tuned for him. Apparently the seat came loose, so rather than tightening the seat, he put it in the free area of the local homeless shelter... And, well, it didn't last long. Then a few days later, he asks for a SECOND BIKE. I was pretty put off with the fate of the first bike, but I went ahead and tuned up another steel MTB. At some point he left it locked up at the local gym overnight and has the seat stolen. The seatpost was a real funky size, but I scrounged up a few parts and put it back together, this time with a bolt rather than a QR in the seat.

So, he decides he is moving out of town and leaves it locked in front of the library. I got a message later that I can go pick it up after he left. There was a bit of a miscommunication with the combination so I don't get it picked up immediately. Anyway, the next time I get back, the bike and lock are gone. But, I walked around the block, and found it sitting at the bus stop, unlocked 1/2 block away. So, I pick it up and drag it back home. Apparently one can unlock a Master Combo lock with a soda can. A few weeks later, he returns to town and needs the bike again, so I give it back.

The next thing one hears, he has left the bike at a former apartment, and left the country. I suppose I could have tracked it down, but by that time I had put too much effort into the bike. I didn't really want it, and he didn't seem concerned enough to get it back to me.

Now he is back again, and I haven't asked what he's riding.

Saving Hawaii

Maybe they wanted a cool stool?

CompleteStreets

Just as I suspected, the vast majority of the bike theft stories have nothing to do with the OP's question. More proof that people on bikeforums just like to hear themselves talk. *shrugs*

Doohickie

No.

CompleteStreets

I will never understand the logic of refusing to leave a bike locked up as a reaction to having a cheap lock defeated by a bike thief. Quality U-locks make it much, much less likely that a bike will be stolen. I'm talking on the order of 100x less likely, compared to a cable lock.

Saying that expensive locks are not worth the investment because locks only keep honest people honest is akin to saying, "My house got broken into. We only used a flimsy chain lock on the front door, but I don't want to have to deal with having my house broke into again. Therefore my family has moved to another town having a lower crime rate. Yes, a deadbolt lock is better than a flimsy chain, but door locks only keep honest people honest."

Just because no lock is fool proof doesn't mean that u-locks are a waste of money. Come on people.

Doohickie

I'm using the same cable lock and Master combination lock I bought during the 1970s.

ironwood

I'm not saying that people shouldn't lock their bikes with a good lock, I'm suggesting another strategy and that is: Don't leave a nice expensive bicycle in a place where it might be stolen. Instead, ride a cheap ugly bike that doesn't look as if it is worth a thief's time to steal, and lock it up with a cable lock. I have a couple of bikes I pulled from the dump which I sometime ride to the T. They are mechanically sound and safe to ride and cost me nothing. If the bike is stolen my biggest loss would be the cost of the lock, and perhaps a taxi ride home.

Doohickie

I'm not quite that frugal but basically, yeah. No bike I lock up is going to ruin me if it gets stolen. And I have 5 bikes so if I go down one, it's not an end to riding.

Wanderer

On every forum I have ever been on, strings always evolve.............. Telling people what you demand, just never works.........

ironwood

The subject of bike locks has been discussed ad nauseum on these forums over the years. If you use the search function, you can find twenty pages listing the threads discussing bike locks.The best information is probably on the commuter forum.

This thread is proof that people keep asking the same questions over and over.