Bike theft is a common crime - no happy ending in most cases

On Feb 25, 7:18 pm, Phil W Lee phil(at)lee-family(dot)me(dot)uk
wrote:
landotter considered Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:45:11
-0800 (PST) the perfect time to write:



On Feb 24, 7:57 pm, (Tom Keats) wrote:
In article ,
writes:

On Feb 24, 11:23 am, Nil wrote:
On 23 Feb 2009, wrote in rec.bicycles.misc:

absolute bull****- no matter WHAT you use, it can get stolen-
WHERE you put it is far more important

Where do you suggest?
take it inside your home and your workplace. An office tower will have
a number of utility closets etc. so even if building security won't
let you take it up with you you might be able to get a security
supervisor or something to help you out- get a bit chummy with the guy
first, find out what booze he likes come in with a bottle and say hey
this is yours if you can find me a good spot for my bike.
when I go on the road and need to grab some refills at a convience
store I go right in with my bike- don't even ask- just go in, and if
it's a problem take your business elsewhere.
obviously, that is not even the tip of the iceberg, but my point is
the u locks don't mean squat and just leaving it out locked or not
means it is suseptable to theft

I wholeheartedly agree with you, that the best security
is to keep your bike with you. Next best is to park it
where you can keep an eye on it.

That's why a real ute bike is incomplete w/o a kickstand. Leaning
your bike precariously up against store displays is tacky.

Surely anything sufficiently robust to provide a safe anchor for
locking the bike will also be suitable to lean it against.

Why do you lock your bike when you've got it with you and in view?
With a kickstand on a city bike, you have a freestanding object that
you can put in a place that's both curteous and in your view. I'm
talking about running into a small shop of course.

On Feb 25, 7:37*pm, landotter wrote:
On Feb 25, 7:18 pm, Phil W Lee phil(at)lee-family(dot)me(dot)uk
wrote:



landotter considered Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:45:11
-0800 (PST) the perfect time to write:

On Feb 24, 7:57 pm, (Tom Keats) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * writes:

On Feb 24, 11:23 am, Nil wrote:
On 23 Feb 2009, wrote in rec.bicycles.misc:

absolute bull****- no matter WHAT you use, it can get stolen-
WHERE you put it is far more important

Where do you suggest?
take it inside your home and your workplace. An office tower will have
a number of utility closets etc. so even if building security won't
let you take it up with you you might be able to get a security
supervisor or something to help you out- get a bit chummy with the guy
first, find out what booze he likes come in with a bottle and say hey
this is yours if you can find me a good spot for my bike.
*when I go on the road and need to grab some refills at a convience
store I go right in with my bike- don't even ask- just go in, and if
it's a problem take your business elsewhere.
obviously, that is not even the tip of the iceberg, but my point is
the u locks don't mean squat and just leaving it out locked or not
means it is suseptable to theft

I wholeheartedly agree with you, that the best security
is to keep your bike with you. *Next best is to park it
where you can keep an eye on it.

That's why *a real ute bike is incomplete w/o a kickstand. Leaning
your bike precariously up against store displays is tacky.

Surely anything sufficiently robust to provide a safe anchor for
locking the bike will also be suitable to lean it against.

Why do you lock your bike when you've got it with you and in view?
With a kickstand on a city bike, you have a freestanding object that
you can put in a place that's both curteous and in your view. I'm
talking about running into a small shop of course.

The people I personally know who have had their bikes stolen recently
were the ones who always kept them "in view" and therefore saw no need
for a lock. In the most recent case the bikes were still "in view" as
the thieves ran off with them down the street but disappeared around a
corner shortly afterwards. In the other recent case the bike rapidly
vanished from view through the shop window as it was taken and wasn't
seen again.
OTOH, I always lock up my bike and use it almost daily for typical
errands - many of which require that the courteous place to store it
is not in my constant view. Haven't had one stolen in over 30 years
(and before that was back when I believed in the 'always keep it in
view' theory).

Chalo Colina wrote:
Tom Keats wrote:
writes:
[...] my point is
the u locks don't mean squat and just leaving it out locked or not
means it is suseptable to theft
I wholeheartedly agree with you, that the best security
is to keep your bike with you. Next best is to park it
where you can keep an eye on it.

Sometimes neither approach is possible. But there are
plenty of on-line, Google-able suggestions as to how
best to secure a parked bike.

My suggestion is to ride a bike so tall that it makes a thief's
testicles retract when he considers riding away on it. Works for me,
anyway.[...]

Yabut, you are 2 meters tall.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
LOCAL CACTUS EATS CYCLIST - datakoll

Peter Rathmann wrote:
On Feb 25, 7:37 pm, landotter wrote:
[...]
Why do you lock your bike when you've got it with you and in view?
With a kickstand on a city bike, you have a freestanding object that
you can put in a place that's both curteous and in your view. I'm
talking about running into a small shop of course.

The people I personally know who have had their bikes stolen recently
were the ones who always kept them "in view" and therefore saw no need
for a lock. In the most recent case the bikes were still "in view" as
the thieves ran off with them down the street but disappeared around a
corner shortly afterwards. In the other recent case the bike rapidly
vanished from view through the shop window as it was taken and wasn't
seen again.
OTOH, I always lock up my bike and use it almost daily for typical
errands - many of which require that the courteous place to store it
is not in my constant view. Haven't had one stolen in over 30 years
(and before that was back when I believed in the 'always keep it in
view' theory).

But if you can keep the bicycle in view, a dinky combination cable lock
is sufficient.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
LOCAL CACTUS EATS CYCLIST - datakoll

I wholeheartedly agree with you, that the best security
is to keep your bike with you. *Next best is to park it
where you can keep an eye on it.



When a business/office won't allow me to take my bike with me (post
offices and hospitals are the most problematic) I lock it outside with
a regular cable, take the front wheel off, and take the wheel with me.
No business has ever objected to that.

Obviously, this is only when I am away for a few min. When I am at
work, my bike is with me in my office, and no one ever convinces me
leave it outside, or even in a common bike storage room. Many faculty
at Berkeley who ride bikes to work do the same thing.

For Lance's team to leave their bikes on top of their cars outside was
obviously dumb. The thieves clearly did not realize how important of a
bike they were stealing.