Bicycle Light Theft & Bicycle Parking Infrastructure

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 --

That's nice, Joy. But here is my experience. The 1st time I rode my bike to grade school I came out at 3pm I found my new 1st bike lock had been dismantled and the pieces laid out on the asphalt in a perfect array, as if to be photographed and use as an exploded-view parts diagram or something. The bike appeared to be untouched.

This one. Except mine was blue:
https://www.google.com/search?q=mast...EgoY6zdceUoEM:

On Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 3:36:51 PM UTC-8, sms wrote:
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/

As I commented to Gene about that article, it is hard to take it seriously beyond the words “The loss of a bicycle could mean a choice between being able to pay rent, buy a new bike.�

.... given that a closet in San Francisco rents for $850:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SFBayHousin...san_francisco/

On Thu, 9 Mar 2017 11:10:03 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

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.

I think it also depends. probably to a large extent, what the bicycle
in question looks like. Traveling around Bangkok I see a large number
of bicycles parked at bus stops, MRT stations, etc. Some I have been
seeing for months and some aren't even locked. Universally they are
NOT the latest Carbon Fiber $3,000 model. :-)

(and Horrors, some don't even have lights :-)

--
Cheers,

John B.

On 3/9/2017 8:34 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 9 Mar 2017 11:10:03 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

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.

I think it also depends. probably to a large extent, what the bicycle
in question looks like. Traveling around Bangkok I see a large number
of bicycles parked at bus stops, MRT stations, etc. Some I have been
seeing for months and some aren't even locked. Universally they are
NOT the latest Carbon Fiber $3,000 model. :-)

I have thought about that. There are four bikes I use for at least
occasional utility work. None of them look the least bit fashionable.

Although I remember one time my car needed new tires. As usual in such
cases, I threw my bike in the back, dropped the car off, and rode away
on the bike. I hate sitting in those waiting rooms.

When I returned, one young guy came out to look over the bike and remark
how cool it was. This is the one with the huge blue handlebar bag, hub
dyno & headlight, rear rack, fenders, and old steel frame. No
accounting for some people's taste!

And as long as I'm on the subject, the three speed I built out of a good
Reynolds frame plus my junk box parts once got the same attention. I
was in the post office after hours when someone came in and asked if
that was my bike outside. When I said yes, he plied me with questions
and gushed over the bike for at least five minutes. Turns out that, for
whatever reason, he just loves three speeds!

I don't think either of those guys would steal my bike, though.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Thursday, March 9, 2017 at 10:35:16 PM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
Snipped

I have thought about that. There are four bikes I use for at least
occasional utility work. None of them look the least bit fashionable.

Although I remember one time my car needed new tires. As usual in such
cases, I threw my bike in the back, dropped the car off, and rode away
on the bike. I hate sitting in those waiting rooms.

When I returned, one young guy came out to look over the bike and remark
how cool it was. This is the one with the huge blue handlebar bag, hub
dyno & headlight, rear rack, fenders, and old steel frame. No
accounting for some people's taste!

And as long as I'm on the subject, the three speed I built out of a good
Reynolds frame plus my junk box parts once got the same attention. I
was in the post office after hours when someone came in and asked if
that was my bike outside. When I said yes, he plied me with questions
and gushed over the bike for at least five minutes. Turns out that, for
whatever reason, he just loves three speeds!

I don't think either of those guys would steal my bike, though.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Around here what garners a lot of attention and request to sell it to them is a decent cro-moly frame old school MTB convertted to drop bars. Seems that there are a LOT of peoople who want a decent quality non-suspension steel frame mtb for conversion to single speed. I've been asked many times if I'd be willing to sell the bike I'm riding and I've had a number of people give me a card with their phone # on it so that if i changed my mind I could tell them.

As far as theft of parts. I've only had one thing stolen since moving to this town 26 years ago and that was the entire bike (sans lock and helmet) that was stolen in broad daylight outside of a church where many people watched the person cut the lock and abscond with the bicycle. I've never had a part stolen off a bicycle.

In Toronto Canada when I was working as a security guard I was told about a bicycle theft group that stole bicycles by cutting off the locks with a disc cutter. One guy acted as if he was a lock smith and told the "customer" that he should be more careful with the keys. the "customer" would then give the "lock smith" the fee for cutting the lock. People went buy thinking it was a legitimate thing.

Locking a bicycle out of sight of others does give would be bicycle thief opportunity and time to work on removing parts or the lock unhindered by passerbys. If they know your bike is there that is. Don't kit yourselvers though. Some thieves will spot a bike they want and then wait weeks for it to return to that spot wheret hey are reay to steal it within minutes of it being left.

Cheers

On 3/9/2017 9:35 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/9/2017 8:34 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 9 Mar 2017 11:10:03 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

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.

I think it also depends. probably to a large extent, what
the bicycle
in question looks like. Traveling around Bangkok I see a
large number
of bicycles parked at bus stops, MRT stations, etc. Some I
have been
seeing for months and some aren't even locked. Universally
they are
NOT the latest Carbon Fiber $3,000 model. :-)

I have thought about that. There are four bikes I use for at
least occasional utility work. None of them look the least
bit fashionable.

Although I remember one time my car needed new tires. As
usual in such cases, I threw my bike in the back, dropped
the car off, and rode away on the bike. I hate sitting in
those waiting rooms.

When I returned, one young guy came out to look over the
bike and remark how cool it was. This is the one with the
huge blue handlebar bag, hub dyno & headlight, rear rack,
fenders, and old steel frame. No accounting for some
people's taste!

And as long as I'm on the subject, the three speed I built
out of a good Reynolds frame plus my junk box parts once got
the same attention. I was in the post office after hours
when someone came in and asked if that was my bike outside.
When I said yes, he plied me with questions and gushed over
the bike for at least five minutes. Turns out that, for
whatever reason, he just loves three speeds!

I don't think either of those guys would steal my bike, though.

"he just loves three speeds"

a man of rare refinement and discernment.

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

On Thu, 9 Mar 2017 10:21:33 -0800 (PST), Doug Landau
wrote:

This one. Except mine was blue:
https://www.google.com/search?q=mast...EgoY6zdceUoEM:

Master bicycle locks are particularly easy to pick, decode, bypass, or
cut. Lots of videos on YouTube showing how this is done:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=master+bicycle+lock

One prolific and skilled lock picking expert has many videos on how
badly Master locks are designed and built:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=master+lock+bosnianbill
There are various videos showing how to open Master padlocks using
common items (bamboo skewer, cat food can lid, zip tie, hammer, etc).
For example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU9MB5XPsp4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_wNgp_L1Uw
For the curious, I practice opening locks in my spare time.


--
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 3/10/2017 12:20 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 9 Mar 2017 10:21:33 -0800 (PST), Doug Landau
wrote:

This one. Except mine was blue:
https://www.google.com/search?q=mast...EgoY6zdceUoEM:

Master bicycle locks are particularly easy to pick, decode, bypass, or
cut. Lots of videos on YouTube showing how this is done:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=master+bicycle+lock

One prolific and skilled lock picking expert has many videos on how
badly Master locks are designed and built:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=master+lock+bosnianbill
There are various videos showing how to open Master padlocks using
common items (bamboo skewer, cat food can lid, zip tie, hammer, etc).
For example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU9MB5XPsp4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_wNgp_L1Uw
For the curious, I practice opening locks in my spare time.

I recall reading an autobiography of Richard Feynman. He had the same
hobby, and used it to demonstrate how insecure was the storage of some
confidential or classified government information.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 3/10/2017 9:54 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

snip

I recall reading an autobiography of Richard Feynman. He had the same
hobby, and used it to demonstrate how insecure was the storage of some
confidential or classified government information.

That was in Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman. But he never actually
picked a lock. He guessed at combinations, he found combinations of file
cabinets that were left open where it was easy to read the combination.

Here is the book:
http://buffman.net/ebooks/Richard_P_Feynman-Surely_Youre_Joking_Mr_Feynman_v5.pdf.
Page 86, "Safecracker Meets Safecracker."

But my favorite essay from that book is the one where he is serving on
the body that chooses textbooks for California public schools (page 189).