How long does a bike have to sit in the same spot before it should be considered abandoned?

Many people in my neighborhood ride bikes to the commuter train station and lock up while they are doing their thing. Some other people steal bikes then leave them at the station.
How long can a bike sit at the station un-touched/moved before someone can think it's OK find a better place for the parts then rotting/rusting or being sold for crack?

Just wondering.

Did you find another Schiwnn?
I found a Raleigh Super Grand Prix last week it had no wheels so I deemed it was abandoned. Stripped it down. Just waiting for some spare cash to start building it up.

Is the bike ridable? Is it locked? If it's unridable (e.i. it needs wheels, handle bars or anythig else major I would say it's good to go. If there's no lock on it's also good to go. Let's face it the real owner would never leave his/her bike unlocked a thief on the other hand... This is where things get a little tricky, if you have and unridable bike that is locked up then I would say you have to wait at least 10 days. Give the owner some time to get some replacement parts or at least time to carry his/her bike home.

Leave a note tucked somewhere on the bike. If the note is still there after a few days I say it's salvage time. If they left it there but are planning on coming back to get it they will probably check on it every few days. At least you would hope.

I am in the same predicament. There has been Diamondback MTB locked to a post in front of my house for about 6 weeks. It has thrown it's chain. I hate the see the bike rot. It has a Kryptonite U-lock.

at this time of year, it could belong to an out-of-town student. at least wait until summer's over.

good point.
But would an out of town student in a suburban enviroment really be dumb enough to leave a diamondback MTB, at the Metra station for a month. frankly I'm surprised no-one has already taken the quick release wheels, and bag from the rack. Seat is gone though,

yeah, an OUT-OF-TOWN student could be dumb enough to leave it locked at the metro station. They're probably also more likely to be flim-flammed than folks that have been ghetto-hardened through birth. especially at the train station, I would give the owner the benefit of the doubt. I've left a bicycle at a train station for 2 weeks before, with every intention of collecting it, and I did collect it.

The bike I speak of has begun shedding parts. Namely the seat.

that's tough. i've definitely taken unlocked bikes out of alleys before without a second thought, and been chastised on these boards for doing so. once the bikes were at the trash cans, so i knocked on the door to be sure they were fair game and got permission. another time it was a commercial area and cold and rainy.

locked bikes though, i don't know. i once left a bike locked up outside a co-op for two months while i went to el salvador. it was winter, too. i definitely understand the temptation, but there's always that chance.

and then when the bikes start losing parts, it's like, "oh, man, i need to get to it before the thieves do," but i always end up asking myself what the difference is (between me and the thieves) and leaving the bike alone.

Point taken.

I the year I have lived in the neighborhood, i've seen 3 bikes get picked apart or just plain vandalized before the city comes by and removes them. By this time the bikes are un-usable.

It would make a nice single-speed urban assault ride.

I'll put a note on the bike, and wait a while.

I'd bet I'm in a minority among scavengers here, but if it's in the trash, a dumpster,
leaning against some cans, or in a can then it’s fair game. Anything that's locked up or
not obviously discarded in the trash is still someone else’s property and it’s hands off for
me.

Of course there are grey areas like what you guys are talking about, and I most likely wouldn't blame you for going ahead and taking the bike, but for me personally it would still be hands off if it's locked up, even if it's getting picked apart by thieves.

I'd say that until the bike starts losing some serious parts, you really don't know it's abandoned, since I assume you're not watching it 24/7.

I live a irregular schedule, and this bike is always in the exact same place, with the "Master lock Cobra" lock in exactly the same position.

well...I've often wanted to try and collect the stripped frames. no one ever takes the frame since it is locked up. It would be interesting to try to brke the u lock to see what thieves have to go through, sort of like destructive testing. I also want to try to cut through and old wheel to test sheldon brown's theory of just locking the back wheel through the rear triangle, sinc eI often do just that.

But I don't want to touch anything tht has a lock on it in public even if there is nothing left on the frame. If it was my bike and I came back I would be happier to find just the frame than nothing at all.

I was recently somewhat shocked when a close friend revealed that when he was in college he used to strip bikes that hadn't moved for a while. So I would go with leave it alone.

I have also found a few bieks in the neighborhood. One ws right outside my house at 2am. It was a SS road conversion with a dura ace high flange rear hub, an open pro front, and a nice and light reynolds frameset as well as some other pretty nice looking parts. I called the police and the LBS and posted to craigslist. later I brought it to the LBS and someone there recognized it. turns out the owner is an avid cyclist and just bought the house six doors down from me. so I got a case of beer out of it and a new friend.

Wednesday night I went out into my backyard and found a stripped redline bmx frame. I just leaned it up against the fence.

So I guess even abndoned bikes aren't always forgotten, that SS unlocked my neighbors backyrd probably looked like junk to the thief, but was definitely missed by the owner.

There are lot fo ways to try to contct owners of bikes you find abandoned, but I think the only way to ensure ethicality is to just forget they exist. since the only thing you do know for sure is that they are not yours.

breaking a U-lock is not very difficult at all, even without a bic pen, unless it's a tiny u-lock. I once came upon a guy who was in the process of stealing my bike. i waited until he was done and walking it down the alley and ran up, grabbed it from him, and gave him a verbal assault the likes of which might have warranted an NC-17 rating. the unfortunate part was that he was drunk, and probably homeless, one of many native americans in similar straits in that part of town. i'm glad he didn't get my bike, and i'd scream at him again given the chance, but the whole thing makes me feel kind of lousy when i think about it.

oh, right, i forgot to mention how he did it, which i didn't discover until the next morning due to the poor light: he'd used a huge steel pole, a la a street sign, and put it inside the U-lock and wrenched on the other end for leverage. given his state, it couldn't have required much effort.

not sure why i shared that, since i agree that if it's locked up, it should probably be off-limits. i understand the frustration there, since that means keeping legitimately abandoned (i.e. available) bikes off limits as well, but, like i said, i was in el salvador for two months. what if some dirtbag like me had taken my bike while i was gone? sure, it was my dumb idea to leave it outside (i think i had actually asked a room-mate to move it for me...), but i was sure glad to get it when i got back, since it was my sole transportation.

So how come they are the locks of choice?
Practicly everyone I see on the street uses one.

I suggest this book. It is greatness. Tragically beautiful.

They really aren't THAT easy. I don't know about the comments above on what kind of U-Lock was used, but I can be fairly sure it wasn't a Krypto. If by chance it was Kryptonite will replace the bike (for up to 3 Years)

As far as the bic pen, that's an old story and does not work on Kryptos anymore either (unless people were silly enough NOT to trade their old Krypto Locks for FREE replacements).

U-locks are the lock of choice for a couple of reasons. They are the second best lock (the best being the tempered Steel Chain Locks) out there. They are affordable.

The tempered steel Chain locks are awesome, and very tough to go through, but they are heavy and can be cumbersome (and expensive).

If a thief REALLY wants a bike that's locked up, and they have the tools, the CAN get it. Having a good U-lock or Chain lock is a deterant. A thief sees it and typically moves on to the next bike that is locked with a cheap combo cable lock. But like I said, if they REALLY want it, they can get it.

I rarely ever leave my bike locked up where I can't see it for very long and never leave it locked up anywhere overnight.

abandoned bikes

Quite entertaining thanks for posting that link.
I counted 8 locked front tires with no frames attached. When are people going to learn?
I really like the one were the bike thief actually took the time to take the basket off.

that's really a neat site, (Sight) I like the poster with all the bike on one fence on one block.

what if the wheels are tacoed? obviously the bike is unrideable, it's taking up space and the frame and some components are in good condition?

I think if an unrideable bike sits for a full calander month it should be ok to "Salvage". But the trick is getting it without trying to explain yourself to the "Man".

The general feeling is that you shouldn't think your cleaning up the neighbor hood if all you do is pull parts. Gotta pull the whole ride and dispose of properly. Rusty frames without trimmings are even uglier then with them.

The bike I have my peepers on has been sitting since early July, and I think if it's still un touched in September I will sleep at night if I can figure out away to get it away from the train station. It's got one of those silly sliding cable locks.

i second that!

That only works with low-end low-quality U-locks. The better Onguard, Krypto and Abus U-locks secure both ends of the shackle by the lock mechanism, and are practically impossible to tear apart like that. See "Leverage attacks" here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...verage+attacks