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Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 8th 17, 07:00 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
SMS
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Posts: 9,477
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

Yesterday morning I was up in San Francisco for an ABAG (Association of
Bay Area Governments) meeting as part of my city council duties. The
main topics, as always, were housing and transportation. There is this
dream by many that if only we build high-density housing very close to
major employers, that the employees will choose to live there and ride a
bicycle to work, solving the traffic problems without building any
transit or roads. LOL.

One representative brought up the issue of safe bicycle parking and said
that in many place if you leave your lights, or other accessories, on
your bicycle, parked outside, if the whole bicycle isn't stolen your
lights are certain to be gone.

I think that security is one issue people won't even bicycle to a local
store. I know that when my daughter went to UC Santa Cruz and parked her
bicycle in town, she'd come out and pieces were gone. Odd pieces like
half of a mirror. Someone walking around with an Allen wrench stealing
halves of Mirrycles?!

Personally I always remove my headlight when going into a building, but
the tail light would be difficult to remove every time unless it's
attached to a piece of rear luggage.

I took Caltrain up to San Francisco (the "Baby Bullet" ha-ha). Since the
trains are now extremely crowded, and bicycle space is limited, I took a
Brompton on the train, which fits neatly into a space in the bike cars,
and rode to the meeting which was only about a mile from the train
station. A Brompton is not well suited for San Francisco's awful
streets. But with the Brompton, I just folded it up and took it into the
meeting room. The return ride on Caltrain was in the middle of the day
on an agonizingly slow train that makes every single stop.
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  #2  
Old March 8th 17, 08:51 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
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Posts: 10,538
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

On 3/8/2017 1:00 PM, sms wrote:
Yesterday morning I was up in San Francisco for an ABAG (Association of
Bay Area Governments) meeting as part of my city council duties. The
main topics, as always, were housing and transportation. There is this
dream by many that if only we build high-density housing very close to
major employers, that the employees will choose to live there and ride a
bicycle to work, solving the traffic problems without building any
transit or roads. LOL.

One representative brought up the issue of safe bicycle parking and said
that in many place if you leave your lights, or other accessories, on
your bicycle, parked outside, if the whole bicycle isn't stolen your
lights are certain to be gone.


I think we can guess which representative brought up the worries about
lights being stolen! He posts here pretty frequently!


I think that security is one issue people won't even bicycle to a local
store. I know that when my daughter went to UC Santa Cruz and parked her
bicycle in town, she'd come out and pieces were gone. Odd pieces like
half of a mirror. Someone walking around with an Allen wrench stealing
halves of Mirrycles?!

Personally I always remove my headlight when going into a building, but
the tail light would be difficult to remove every time unless it's
attached to a piece of rear luggage.


Personally I've never removed by headlights when going into a building.
But then, mine are bolted on, just like my saddle, derailleur, brakes,
etc. etc.

I understand that some locations involve higher risks. For long term
parking at work, I took my bike into the building, and in general I try
to find relatively safe places to leave my bike. For example, when
parking it at the mall, it's in a place where it's out of sight and
cable locked to secure pipes. All I've ever had stolen were two
cyclometers. (That's in 45 years of avid adult riding and utility
biking, in something like 12 countries and 47 U.S. states.)

But if accessory theft is a problem, there are secure fasteners or other
tricks to dissuade thieves with allen wrenches.

--
- Frank Krygowski
  #3  
Old March 9th 17, 12:34 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
SMS
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Posts: 9,477
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

On 3/8/2017 11:51 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

snip

I think we can guess which representative brought up the worries about
lights being stolen! He posts here pretty frequently!


And you would be wrong. It was not me.

Personally I've never removed by headlights when going into a building.
But then, mine are bolted on, just like my saddle, derailleur, brakes,
etc. etc.


Unfortunately, in California, many thieves have mastered the operation
of Allen wrenches and adjustable wrenches. There's a big market in
stolen bike parts.

http://www.sfweekly.com/news/putting-a-stop-to-chop-shops/
  #4  
Old March 9th 17, 04:55 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Joy Beeson
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Posts: 1,638
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

On Wed, 8 Mar 2017 14:51:14 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

when
parking it at the mall, it's in a place where it's out of sight and
cable locked to secure pipes.


I, on the other hand, look for a place where dozens of people have a
clear view of anyone who might feel like messing with my bike.

I've never had a bike part stolen. Well, not that I remember -- I was
born with chronic amnesia -- but once I came out of Aldi to find that
someone had affixed a five-dollar bill to my handlebars. Since this
was shortly before I gave up trying to find a replacement for my
worn-out Avocet WII and bought the only women's saddle at the
Trailhouse, I suspected that the donor thought that I needed the
money, so I passed it on to someone who did.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
  #5  
Old March 9th 17, 08:41 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
John B.[_3_]
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Posts: 5,697
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:55:23 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Wed, 8 Mar 2017 14:51:14 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

when
parking it at the mall, it's in a place where it's out of sight and
cable locked to secure pipes.


I, on the other hand, look for a place where dozens of people have a
clear view of anyone who might feel like messing with my bike.

I've never had a bike part stolen. Well, not that I remember -- I was
born with chronic amnesia -- but once I came out of Aldi to find that
someone had affixed a five-dollar bill to my handlebars. Since this
was shortly before I gave up trying to find a replacement for my
worn-out Avocet WII and bought the only women's saddle at the
Trailhouse, I suspected that the donor thought that I needed the
money, so I passed it on to someone who did.



I locked my keys in the pickup one day. Parked on a fairly busy street
and was sort of peering in the window trying to figure out if breaking
the window was the only option. A guy walking down the sidewalk says,
"Locked your keys in the car, huh?" I said yes and he popped into a
hardware shop (apparently knew the shop owner) came back with an 18"
steel ruler and popped the lock. I thanked him profusely and got in
and drove away wondering, "could I get a new pickup that way?"

I'm not sure whether being in a crowd is really any protection for a
bicycle :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

  #6  
Old March 9th 17, 03:29 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
AMuzi
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Posts: 13,447
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

On 3/9/2017 1:41 AM, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:55:23 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Wed, 8 Mar 2017 14:51:14 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

when
parking it at the mall, it's in a place where it's out of sight and
cable locked to secure pipes.


I, on the other hand, look for a place where dozens of people have a
clear view of anyone who might feel like messing with my bike.

I've never had a bike part stolen. Well, not that I remember -- I was
born with chronic amnesia -- but once I came out of Aldi to find that
someone had affixed a five-dollar bill to my handlebars. Since this
was shortly before I gave up trying to find a replacement for my
worn-out Avocet WII and bought the only women's saddle at the
Trailhouse, I suspected that the donor thought that I needed the
money, so I passed it on to someone who did.



I locked my keys in the pickup one day. Parked on a fairly busy street
and was sort of peering in the window trying to figure out if breaking
the window was the only option. A guy walking down the sidewalk says,
"Locked your keys in the car, huh?" I said yes and he popped into a
hardware shop (apparently knew the shop owner) came back with an 18"
steel ruler and popped the lock. I thanked him profusely and got in
and drove away wondering, "could I get a new pickup that way?"

I'm not sure whether being in a crowd is really any protection for a
bicycle :-)



Last night in Chicago a Dodge Challenger was stolen,
recovered, then stolen again from the police station lot.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/03/...n-parking-lot/


--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971


  #7  
Old March 9th 17, 03:45 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Radey Shouman
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Posts: 1,747
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

John B. writes:

On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:55:23 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Wed, 8 Mar 2017 14:51:14 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

when
parking it at the mall, it's in a place where it's out of sight and
cable locked to secure pipes.


I, on the other hand, look for a place where dozens of people have a
clear view of anyone who might feel like messing with my bike.

I've never had a bike part stolen. Well, not that I remember -- I was
born with chronic amnesia -- but once I came out of Aldi to find that
someone had affixed a five-dollar bill to my handlebars. Since this
was shortly before I gave up trying to find a replacement for my
worn-out Avocet WII and bought the only women's saddle at the
Trailhouse, I suspected that the donor thought that I needed the
money, so I passed it on to someone who did.



I locked my keys in the pickup one day. Parked on a fairly busy street
and was sort of peering in the window trying to figure out if breaking
the window was the only option. A guy walking down the sidewalk says,
"Locked your keys in the car, huh?" I said yes and he popped into a
hardware shop (apparently knew the shop owner) came back with an 18"
steel ruler and popped the lock. I thanked him profusely and got in
and drove away wondering, "could I get a new pickup that way?"

I'm not sure whether being in a crowd is really any protection for a
bicycle :-)


Sometimes it is. Years ago, when I was a gradual student, I was walking
across campus with my girlfriend. She told me to go back the way we had
come -- she had seen someone stealing a bicycle. At first I did not
believe her, because I had noticed nothing. It was the middle of the
day, and there were many people around. She said she had seen him
trying to cut the cable with a pair of dikes, so we turned around, just
in time to see a small and bedraggled looking guy being frogmarched
authority-ward by two burly students.

I assume justice was served.

While one can't rely on bystanders protecting your bicycle, it's a
better bet than imagining that some secluded spot is unpatrolled by
thieves.

--
  #8  
Old March 9th 17, 05:10 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,538
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

On 3/9/2017 9:45 AM, Radey Shouman wrote:
John B. writes:

On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:55:23 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Wed, 8 Mar 2017 14:51:14 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

when
parking it at the mall, it's in a place where it's out of sight and
cable locked to secure pipes.

I, on the other hand, look for a place where dozens of people have a
clear view of anyone who might feel like messing with my bike.

I've never had a bike part stolen. Well, not that I remember -- I was
born with chronic amnesia -- but once I came out of Aldi to find that
someone had affixed a five-dollar bill to my handlebars. Since this
was shortly before I gave up trying to find a replacement for my
worn-out Avocet WII and bought the only women's saddle at the
Trailhouse, I suspected that the donor thought that I needed the
money, so I passed it on to someone who did.



I locked my keys in the pickup one day. Parked on a fairly busy street
and was sort of peering in the window trying to figure out if breaking
the window was the only option. A guy walking down the sidewalk says,
"Locked your keys in the car, huh?" I said yes and he popped into a
hardware shop (apparently knew the shop owner) came back with an 18"
steel ruler and popped the lock. I thanked him profusely and got in
and drove away wondering, "could I get a new pickup that way?"

I'm not sure whether being in a crowd is really any protection for a
bicycle :-)


Sometimes it is. Years ago, when I was a gradual student, I was walking
across campus with my girlfriend. She told me to go back the way we had
come -- she had seen someone stealing a bicycle. At first I did not
believe her, because I had noticed nothing. It was the middle of the
day, and there were many people around. She said she had seen him
trying to cut the cable with a pair of dikes, so we turned around, just
in time to see a small and bedraggled looking guy being frogmarched
authority-ward by two burly students.

I assume justice was served.

While one can't rely on bystanders protecting your bicycle, it's a
better bet than imagining that some secluded spot is unpatrolled by
thieves.


Depends on the spot. My parking place at the mall is not even
recognized as a "place" by most people. It's completely inconspicuous.
And if a thief decided to start checking it - what? daily? hourly? - for
parked bicycles, he'd starve before he found one parked there. AFAIK
I'm the only one who ever uses that spot, and I don't go to the mall
very often.

About protection by passers-by: One bike shop employee once told me
about having to "steal" his own bike. He'd locked it in place behind
the library using a thick cable or chain lock (I forget which), but
somehow lost the key. He walked to the bike shop, returned with tools,
and hacked away for quite a while before getting it cut.

He mentioned that several people passed by saying nothing. One young
kid told his mom "He's trying to steal that bike!" The mother said
"SSSHHH!" and kept on walking.

But as I say, I've had no problems. My most frequent longish-term
parking places are the library and the grocery store. I don't even
bother with a cable lock there. I jam a little wedge into the front
brake lever to lock that brake on. In some other places, I use a thin,
homemade cable lock. It all depends on the environment.

--
- Frank Krygowski
  #9  
Old March 9th 17, 05:46 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
JBeattie
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Posts: 5,870
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

On Thursday, March 9, 2017 at 6:29:09 AM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote:
On 3/9/2017 1:41 AM, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:55:23 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Wed, 8 Mar 2017 14:51:14 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

when
parking it at the mall, it's in a place where it's out of sight and
cable locked to secure pipes.

I, on the other hand, look for a place where dozens of people have a
clear view of anyone who might feel like messing with my bike.

I've never had a bike part stolen. Well, not that I remember -- I was
born with chronic amnesia -- but once I came out of Aldi to find that
someone had affixed a five-dollar bill to my handlebars. Since this
was shortly before I gave up trying to find a replacement for my
worn-out Avocet WII and bought the only women's saddle at the
Trailhouse, I suspected that the donor thought that I needed the
money, so I passed it on to someone who did.



I locked my keys in the pickup one day. Parked on a fairly busy street
and was sort of peering in the window trying to figure out if breaking
the window was the only option. A guy walking down the sidewalk says,
"Locked your keys in the car, huh?" I said yes and he popped into a
hardware shop (apparently knew the shop owner) came back with an 18"
steel ruler and popped the lock. I thanked him profusely and got in
and drove away wondering, "could I get a new pickup that way?"

I'm not sure whether being in a crowd is really any protection for a
bicycle :-)



Last night in Chicago a Dodge Challenger was stolen,
recovered, then stolen again from the police station lot.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/03/...n-parking-lot/


That's the Chicago car-share program.

-- Jay Beattie.
  #10  
Old March 9th 17, 07:21 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Radey Shouman
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Posts: 1,747
Default Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

Frank Krygowski writes:

On 3/9/2017 9:45 AM, Radey Shouman wrote:
John B. writes:

On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:55:23 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Wed, 8 Mar 2017 14:51:14 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

when
parking it at the mall, it's in a place where it's out of sight and
cable locked to secure pipes.

I, on the other hand, look for a place where dozens of people have a
clear view of anyone who might feel like messing with my bike.

I've never had a bike part stolen. Well, not that I remember -- I was
born with chronic amnesia -- but once I came out of Aldi to find that
someone had affixed a five-dollar bill to my handlebars. Since this
was shortly before I gave up trying to find a replacement for my
worn-out Avocet WII and bought the only women's saddle at the
Trailhouse, I suspected that the donor thought that I needed the
money, so I passed it on to someone who did.


I locked my keys in the pickup one day. Parked on a fairly busy street
and was sort of peering in the window trying to figure out if breaking
the window was the only option. A guy walking down the sidewalk says,
"Locked your keys in the car, huh?" I said yes and he popped into a
hardware shop (apparently knew the shop owner) came back with an 18"
steel ruler and popped the lock. I thanked him profusely and got in
and drove away wondering, "could I get a new pickup that way?"

I'm not sure whether being in a crowd is really any protection for a
bicycle :-)


Sometimes it is. Years ago, when I was a gradual student, I was walking
across campus with my girlfriend. She told me to go back the way we had
come -- she had seen someone stealing a bicycle. At first I did not
believe her, because I had noticed nothing. It was the middle of the
day, and there were many people around. She said she had seen him
trying to cut the cable with a pair of dikes, so we turned around, just
in time to see a small and bedraggled looking guy being frogmarched
authority-ward by two burly students.

I assume justice was served.

While one can't rely on bystanders protecting your bicycle, it's a
better bet than imagining that some secluded spot is unpatrolled by
thieves.


Depends on the spot. My parking place at the mall is not even
recognized as a "place" by most people. It's completely
inconspicuous. And if a thief decided to start checking it - what?
daily? hourly? - for parked bicycles, he'd starve before he found one
parked there. AFAIK I'm the only one who ever uses that spot, and I
don't go to the mall very often.


More likely than a purposeful bike thief is someone who knows your spot
as a likely place to shoot some drugs or hide while skipping school ...
He encounters a "free" bike.

About protection by passers-by: One bike shop employee once told me
about having to "steal" his own bike. He'd locked it in place behind
the library using a thick cable or chain lock (I forget which), but
somehow lost the key. He walked to the bike shop, returned with
tools, and hacked away for quite a while before getting it cut.

He mentioned that several people passed by saying nothing. One young
kid told his mom "He's trying to steal that bike!" The mother said
"SSSHHH!" and kept on walking.


I suspect that passers by are much less likely to intervene than thieves
fear they are. But it can, and does, happen.

But as I say, I've had no problems. My most frequent longish-term
parking places are the library and the grocery store. I don't even
bother with a cable lock there. I jam a little wedge into the front
brake lever to lock that brake on. In some other places, I use a
thin, homemade cable lock. It all depends on the environment.


--
 




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