My son started school at UT Austin this year and we subscribed to the local police report blog. They have an amusing style in the way they report the campus crimes. They strongly suggest locking up bikes with a two lock system (flat keyed U-lock and a cable lock). Today one came across about a stolen Trek bike that was stolen while using that 2 lock system. The owner forgot one important step in locking up the bike.

Theft: A black and red Trek mountain bicycle was reported stolen from the bike racks located on the west side of the building. The officer learned the bike had been secured with a two-lock locking system; however, the student was in a hurry and left the keys to his locks sitting on the bicycle seat. Upon his return, the student discovered his cable lock was used to secure his keys to the bike rack. Loss value: $900.00. Occurred on: 10-18-11, between 3:30 PM and 4:30 PM.

lol - nice.

Bike theft is rampant at UT and in downtown Austin in general. If I were biking down there I'd get a $100 ugly ass beater. Riding a new Trek is asking for it.

You mean, riding a new Trek and not locking it like he did is asking for it?

I find bike theft to be abhorrent in any case.

Sure the student was thoughtless and careless but the bike thief was still committing a crime. Nothing amusing here.

Spending more than $200 on a bike you'll ride on any college campus is stupid.

I wish I could ride my road bike and lock it up here, but it can't happen.

Carry around an extra seat/post that is soaked in acid or something that will easily destroy clothes and possibly skin. Attach false seat to bike, lock it up. Anyone that goes through the trouble to steal it will be in a bit of trouble of their own when they go to ride it. Bike theft stops. At least for 1 thief

lesson learned: priceless

haha

Ooh, I would hate to leave the keys there. But for a bike that nice, I'd keep it in my room (like I do with my CAAD 10) instead of riding it to class.

I go to GA Tech, so there's lots of bike theft in Atlanta. One day I was walking to class and I noticed a bum (very obviously not a student) walking up the road with two bikes, one on each side of him. They were rather nice bikes too. Anyways, a cop pulls up and starts quizzing the guy. "Are those your bikes?" The bum nods his head "Yep". The cop, unconvinced, asks why the guy has two bikes, to which the bum replies "One of these bikes is my city bike, and the other is my home bike". I don't really know what he meant by that, but the last thing I saw was the handcuffs go on.

Should have been put down on the spot. I hate bike thieves.

I agree. I like to think I am not a materialist but my first "good" road bike was stolen when I was in college, 25 years ago.

Thinking about it still pisses me off.

It's beyond materialism. If you are a roadie your bike is your identity in a way. It's your joy and your sorrow. There's a lot of emotion way beyond the "stuff" involved.

Park at, not ride on.

Rumor has it somebody in Vancouver, BC was leaving cheap beater bikes leaned up against buildings and sign posts at the top of hills after smearing Vaseline on the brake pads.

Old wives tale. I was using axel grease!

Ha!

as the thieves walked down the hill they lubricated their dry skin and chapped lips. the sun shines upon them for only a day

I very badly want this to be true. I had a thieve park his van in my drive way ( I live in a duplex complex) and try to take two of my bikes that were in the back yard. Thankfully my neighbor interrupted them and the bikes fell out of the van as he drove away. They were cheap steel bikes but I would have been mad either way. Can't imagine what I would have done if I had caught him or them. Sure would have tried my best to end there criminal career if you know what I mean.

Years ago, the boyfriend of my sister-in-law had his inexpensive mountain bike stolen on campus. He was the sort of person who had all the documentation for his crappy bike and he began carrying it with him. As luck would have it, he came upon his stolen bike locked on campus a few weeks later. He called the campus cops and they proceeded to wait for the thief to return. A short while later someone walked up and unlocked the bike, at which time the cop and Jonathon let him know that he had a bit of a problem. The "thief" claimed that it wasn't his bike, he just borrowed it from his roommate who has dozens of them. He was only too happy to let the cop into his house to check the serial numbers of the bikes. His roommate was less than pleased, however.

Bike theft? My brother went to GA Tech and got his car stolen like 3 times.

So they happened to steal the bikes on the one day the sun shines in Vancouver? What are the odds?

Doesn't surprise me. Although 3 times makes me wonder what kind of nice car he had.

you wanna know my stupid mistake?

I stuck the front tire in the rack. i looped the u-lock thru the front wheel to the downtube and ran the cable thru the rear wheel. Locked everything up and walked away. what did i forget to do? run the u-lock thru the rack. haha!

lucky i was gone for maybe 15 mins (eating lunch), and no one touched it!!

I guess if you want to ride a nice bike around campus when you don't have to park it, that's on you.

Personally, I get away from campus as quickly as possible when it's time for a nice long ride.

But you're right. It's fine to have a nice bike. Just don't ever leave it anywhere.

You could make a case that a bike is like a horse, and we all know what happens to horse thieves.



Glad you kept your bikes.

I was at the home depot a while back and noticed someone had locked their bike to one of the yellow car barriers... I felt like picking it up and taking it to customer service.