Inventive ways of preventing theft?

I just did some reading, but found nothing interesting. To prevent
saddle theft, some apply a ball bearing and superglue to the hex socket
of a bolt. That would take too much time when removing the seat for
maintenance/modification purposes. Might be okay if and after the bike
is unlikely to be worked on.

My seat has a momentary clamp. I will drill a small diameter hole
through the stem and insert an unusual headed bolt. The bolt will be
removed during maintenance periods.

For my Kryptonite U-Lock, I added a difficult to remove cover that
allows the insertion of a shortened key but prevents easily using a lock
picker.

Any other inventive ways of dealing with bicycle theft?

Of using a plastic coated cable with factory loops...a loop will fit around one saddle rail, possibly thru the front wheel then onto the bike rack ? I doahn no if this is true of all saddle/rail positions.

BTW, saddles are more comfy with a plastic grocery bag over the saddle tied to post. Poor man's watchmacallit.

On Fri, 16 Jan 2015 20:04:07 +0000 (UTC), John Doe
wrote:

Any other inventive ways of dealing with bicycle theft?

Exploding bicycle lock:
http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/10/10/leave-thee-a-stain-on-thy-bike-thief/

Haul the bike up a flagpole and see who salutes:
http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/bike-tree-keeps-bikes-off-ground-away-from-sticky-fingers.html

GPS activated exploding handlebars:
http://vengecycle.com

You could also make various bicycle parts self-destruct when it is
moved or stolen. Or, just blow up the entire bicycle:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=bicycle+bomb

Personally, I use folding pedals. The design is sufficiently
disgusting that only a determined and experienced bicycle thief could
deploy the pedals quickly for the get away. It's possible to ride the
bicycle with the pedals in the "up" position, but it's not easy. I
have the shin scrapes to prove it. Removable pedals might be better,
but folding is a tolerable 2nd best.

Another trick is that I leave the bicycle in the highest gear ratio
when parking. If the thief tries to ride off, he won't be going very
fast until he decodes my gear shifting derrangement. What bicycles
really need is a neutral gear. Locked into neutral, it's not going
anywhere. I was thinking of grinding off the smallest rear sprocket
to allow it to spin, but haven't had time to tinker.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

John Doe wrote:

Any other inventive ways of dealing with bicycle theft?

GPS activated

If you want to get fancy, you can connect an alarm to the Internet and
have it instantly message you. Also possible is using a wireless
transmitter with a range limited by obstructions.

On Friday, January 16, 2015 at 7:09:44 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Fri, 16 Jan 2015 20:04:07 +0000 (UTC), John Doe
wrote:

Any other inventive ways of dealing with bicycle theft?

Exploding bicycle lock:
http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/10/10/leave-thee-a-stain-on-thy-bike-thief/

Haul the bike up a flagpole and see who salutes:
http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/bike-tree-keeps-bikes-off-ground-away-from-sticky-fingers.html

Many years ago in Toronto, Ontario, Canada the police used to set up bicycle sting operations wherein the bicycle was rigged so that the chain would fall off after a couple of revolutions.

Cheers
GPS activated exploding handlebars:
http://vengecycle.com

You could also make various bicycle parts self-destruct when it is
moved or stolen. Or, just blow up the entire bicycle:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=bicycle+bomb

Personally, I use folding pedals. The design is sufficiently
disgusting that only a determined and experienced bicycle thief could
deploy the pedals quickly for the get away. It's possible to ride the
bicycle with the pedals in the "up" position, but it's not easy. I
have the shin scrapes to prove it. Removable pedals might be better,
but folding is a tolerable 2nd best.

Another trick is that I leave the bicycle in the highest gear ratio
when parking. If the thief tries to ride off, he won't be going very
fast until he decodes my gear shifting derrangement. What bicycles
really need is a neutral gear. Locked into neutral, it's not going
anywhere. I was thinking of grinding off the smallest rear sprocket
to allow it to spin, but haven't had time to tinker.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 01:05:03 +0000 (UTC), John Doe
wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

John Doe wrote:

Any other inventive ways of dealing with bicycle theft?

GPS activated

If you want to get fancy, you can connect an alarm to the Internet and
have it instantly message you. Also possible is using a wireless
transmitter with a range limited by obstructions.

That would do a great job of informing you that your bicycle and radio
alarm, are now gone forever. Tracking the bicycle would be more
informative:
http://www.gpstrackthis.com/GPSTrack/

Could you be a bit more specific as to what you're trying to
accomplish? Are you trying to secure the bicycle in place, prevent
the theft, prevent someone from stripping the bicycle, make the
bicycle more difficult to steal, alert you after it's gone, or
vaporize the thief? The applicable technologies are quite different.

My biggest bicycle theft headache is some thief walking away with the
bolt on accessories. I've had everything from the water bottle to a
bolt on headlight stolen. Removing all that junk every time I park
the bicycle and dragging it with me is not my idea of fun.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Fri, 16 Jan 2015 17:51:47 -0800 (PST), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

Many years ago in Toronto, Ontario, Canada the police used to set
up bicycle sting operations wherein the bicycle was rigged so that
the chain would fall off after a couple of revolutions.

Cheers

Nice. I wonder how they did that. Aluminum pins in the bicycle
chain? Chain ring held on with glue instead of bolts? Missing gear
teeth would be obvious and not very reliable.

Let me guess... the sting operation stopped after the thief sued for
entrapment and police brutality after they extracted what's left of
his face from the handlebars?

My office is next to a pedestrian bridge that eventually leads to the
local homeless shelter. Over the years, I've noticed that many bums
are riding shiny new machines. That's odd because the bums usually
look like they were recently dredged from the bottom of the river. I
doubt that they would put much effort into keeping their bicycles
clean, lubed, adjusted, etc. Therefore, my guess(tm) is that when the
bicycle gets dirty, or needs work, they just steal another almost new
bicycle.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

The police violate the privacy of bums more easily than they violate the
privacy of those who can afford lawyers. Unless there's something very
unusual about that homeless shelter, your observation of "bike stealing
bums" is probably more to do with the common misconception that rich =
good and poor = evil.


Jeff Liebermann wrote in :

On Fri, 16 Jan 2015 17:51:47 -0800 (PST), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

Many years ago in Toronto, Ontario, Canada the police used to set
up bicycle sting operations wherein the bicycle was rigged so that
the chain would fall off after a couple of revolutions.

Cheers

Nice. I wonder how they did that. Aluminum pins in the bicycle
chain? Chain ring held on with glue instead of bolts? Missing gear
teeth would be obvious and not very reliable.

Let me guess... the sting operation stopped after the thief sued for
entrapment and police brutality after they extracted what's left of
his face from the handlebars?

My office is next to a pedestrian bridge that eventually leads to the
local homeless shelter. Over the years, I've noticed that many bums
are riding shiny new machines. That's odd because the bums usually
look like they were recently dredged from the bottom of the river. I
doubt that they would put much effort into keeping their bicycles
clean, lubed, adjusted, etc. Therefore, my guess(tm) is that when the
bicycle gets dirty, or needs work, they just steal another almost new
bicycle.

On Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:09:41 -0800, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jan 2015 20:04:07 +0000 (UTC), John Doe
wrote:

Any other inventive ways of dealing with bicycle theft?

Exploding bicycle lock:
http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/10/10/leave-thee-a-stain-on-thy-bike-thief/

Haul the bike up a flagpole and see who salutes:
http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/bike-tree-keeps-bikes-off-ground-away-from-sticky-fingers.html

GPS activated exploding handlebars:
http://vengecycle.com

You could also make various bicycle parts self-destruct when it is
moved or stolen. Or, just blow up the entire bicycle:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=bicycle+bomb

Personally, I use folding pedals. The design is sufficiently
disgusting that only a determined and experienced bicycle thief could
deploy the pedals quickly for the get away. It's possible to ride the
bicycle with the pedals in the "up" position, but it's not easy. I
have the shin scrapes to prove it. Removable pedals might be better,
but folding is a tolerable 2nd best.

Another trick is that I leave the bicycle in the highest gear ratio
when parking. If the thief tries to ride off, he won't be going very
fast until he decodes my gear shifting derrangement. What bicycles
really need is a neutral gear. Locked into neutral, it's not going
anywhere. I was thinking of grinding off the smallest rear sprocket
to allow it to spin, but haven't had time to tinker.

Probably easier to just buy a folding bicycle and carry it with you
:-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

On 1/16/2015 3:04 PM, John Doe wrote:


Any other inventive ways of dealing with bicycle theft?

I'm lucky to live in a little suburb with very little bike theft. But I
have biked in lots of more dangerous places.

Around here, my standard lock - if you can call it that - is something
wedged in the front brake lever, to lock that brake on. It delays, if
not prevents, jump-on-and-ride theft. It's kept my bike safe for
thousands of cumulative hours in front of the library, grocery,
pharmacy, bank, village hall, etc.

My next level of security is a homemade cable, 1/4" diameter with the
plastic coating, plus a tiny padlock. It could obviously be cut with
very common tools; so when using that, I normally park the bike in a
carefully chosen spot. For example, at the local mall, it gets hidden
in a utility area that few people know exists, cabled to a gas meter.

On overseas vacations where the bike is my transportation, I take a much
stouter commercial cable lock. But then, too, I think very carefully
about where the bike will be parked and how visible it is.
In unfamiliar areas, I've frequently done things like parked the bike
inside the entrance to a store, in a vestibule, etc. So far nobody has
complained.

And of course, if the bike will be parked for many hours, I'm even more
choosy about its location.

So really, I think choice of parking spot is the important factor.

--
- Frank Krygowski