Fighting bike theft?

**Dshack89** · 09-21-2016, 09:00 PM

Every day I hear about bikes being stolen and it just pisses me off. It seems like bike theft is going to only increase as bikes become more valuable and more common.

Has anyone seen any innovative designs for bike locks? It seems like there is a huge opportunity for a "smarter" bike lock...being "stronger" or "tougher" is a losing battle when up against a thief. Maybe a motion sensing device you could put in the lower seat tube that could sound an alarm if the bike moves when in "lock" mode?

Thoughts?

**evdog** · 09-21-2016, 11:45 PM

Bike locks only slow thieves down. If they know it is there, they can get it if they have the time and opportunity. The only way a bike is safe is if no one knows it is there.

IMO the best hope to combat theft is a device that can attach to the frame that tracks off satellites, that could either be hidden so thieves couldn't tell it is there or would not be able to remove it. The white tile trackers seem a bit useless because they require being in proximity to a bluetooth device with app that's active in order to work. A tracker won't stop them from stealing a bike but hopefully would allow you to recover it and maybe catch the thief.

**cmcrawfo** · 09-21-2016, 11:55 PM

Every single stolen bike that I hear about was unsecured in some way... the only times i have heard of a locked bike getting jacked is when it's very poorly locked ,as in the lock can just be slid off the sign post.

A moderate quality lock, applied with common sense actually works. plenty of 5-10k bikes just sitting in front porches, left unsecured on bike racks or truck boxes, or left leaning up against the news stand.

Tracking widgets are great, but good luck getting police support. Property crime is such a low priority... besides, high end bikes get stripped for parts almost immediately.

**Vt-Freeheel** · 09-22-2016, 04:24 AM

I strive to never leave my bike unattended. Usually goes in the back seat of my quad cab Ram or if in the back with other bikes we are always within sight of them. I am amazed how many trucks I see with 20k+ - worth of bikes draped over the tailgate at swimming holes and the taco stand out of sight of the riders.
Need something like LoJack for bikes.

**milestogo** · 09-22-2016, 06:49 AM

Spent a month this summer with 4 bikes attached to car. Basically, you have to be smart and you HAVE to use a chain lock, preferably a big one. Cable locks can be cut with $10 handheld clippers. I used 4 ABUS chain locks that you would need a grinder to go through. Even with those on the bikes, I always brought them in at night or made sure they were out in the open with lots of people around. It takes more time and costs more money for good locks, but the alternative sucks. I realize that people in cities, etc, may not have many options, though.

**billyk** · 09-22-2016, 07:31 AM

Had a bike stolen in college. It was locked to a hand rail using a thick cable outside the library in a very high traffic area. There were several witnesses who watched the guy steal the bike. Took him about 10 minutes with a pair of wire cutters to work his way through the cable.

The police actually caught the guy about a month later and I got my bike back, although it was pretty trashed out by then, and I had bought another bike in the meantime. I was never able to find out his name, because he was a juvenile. The cops told me he was dirt poor and no point in trying to sue him.

Thinking back on this now, I have no idea what happened to either of those bikes. I don't recall selling them or giving them away, and yet they are not in my garage. I do recall getting married, so that might explain the mystery :-).

**nickwm21** · 09-22-2016, 08:57 AM

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**BrokeSomeRibs** · 09-22-2016, 10:17 AM

In college, I had my downhill bike stolen on campus in broad daylight at 3PM. IT had TWO heavy steel chain locks. I suspect some shitbag on campus security is actually the one who stole it. Only security could walk around with bolt cutters big enough to chop those chains and not arouse suspicion.

**mcski** · 09-22-2016, 10:30 AM

Not necessarily. Thieves in SF are pretty brash and will defeat any lock, mid day in the heart of downtown and rarely get called on obviously trying to break or cut a lock.

Anyone using Tile or some type of stealth gps tracker hidden on the bike frame?

**jamal** · 09-22-2016, 11:13 AM

I don't think there's anything really lacking in lock technology. It's more that something like this will go through any heavy duty lock or chain in seconds:

https://www.amazon.com/Ryobi-P421-Vo.../dp/B001NJA2HI

I think the bigger issue is that bikes are easy to steal and no one really seems to give a shit about it. Like if a $5000 car gets stolen there will probably be some sort of a police investigation, but a $5000 bike gets stolen and it's like, "oh, yeah, this happens all the time. you probably won't ever see it again."

Personally, I keep my bike inside or in sight pretty much at all times. Still worry someone is going to grab a mtb sometime when we're having pizza after a ride even though they are leaned against the window.

**Peruvian** · 09-22-2016, 11:15 AM

If you're leaving an expensive bike outside, you're doing it wrong. Would you leave a pricey watch, computer, etc. out for folks to see, even if it was locked up?

Keep a beater for around town and bring that blinger inside!

**HankScorpio** · 09-22-2016, 11:20 AM

I see bike locks as a deterrent for the random asshole who strolls by and wants to snatch your bike. A bike thief will get your bike, locked or not.

**El Chupacabra** · 09-22-2016, 11:26 AM

I just bought a 6' chain lock for those times when I need to leave bikes locked on the hitch rack. Still wouldn't do it in SF or any big cities, but at a trailhead or campground, should be more than adequate.

FWIW, the one I got was from Cycle Gear, sold as a motorcycle lock, comes with a large padlock. $35 - much cheaper than the chains sold as bicycle locks. 6 foot length should be enough to loop around 2-3 bikes, and will run a cable lock through the wheels too.

https://www.cyclegear.com/accessorie...chain-and-lock

**rip** · 09-22-2016, 12:38 PM

I've always thought someone should invent some sort of 'paint bomb' that you use in place of a lock and if a thief takes off with it engaged the canister blows super bright and hard to clean off paint over the bike and the thief.

It wouldn't work for hard core thieves or be good for your pricey ride but after word got out I think it would stop all the drunks jacking bikes at nite or lazy college students

**SchralphMacchio** · 09-22-2016, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by cmcrawfo

Every single stolen bike that I hear about was unsecured in some way... the only times i have heard of a locked bike getting jacked is when it's very poorly locked ,as in the lock can just be slid off the sign post.

A lot of you guys live in less populated areas, but near metro areas (especially those with drug use?) theft of reasonably secured bikes is a real issue. I'm talking about thieves who will break into residential garages and use power tools to disable bike security. Seattle, SF, probably Denver ... lots of pro bike theft going on.

I live in Oakland, CA and my apartment building's secured bike room has been hit 3 times in the last year alone, all times in the middle of the night by pro thieves with crowbars, drills, angle grinders, etc. The building had to spend $2K upgrading the door and frame, and then it was hit again last week, but unsuccessfully (thanks to the door upgrade!).

I've had friends with people breaking into their resi garages and targeting bikes.

One guy on my local cycling list serve got jumped by attackers in a minivan who stole his fancy road bike at gunpoint on a popularly ridden, but somewhat remote road.

It's a really big problem because resale of stolen bikes is just too damn easy.

Now I have the following:
* bikes registered with bikeindex.com, with lots of photos
* my primary expensive MTB is no longer in the shared bike room and lives in a hidden storage closet somewhere else in the building
* Unfortunately I still have a fancy Ibis locked by a fat ABUS lock with 3/8" hardened chain running through the rear triangle & both wheels in the main bike room. We have a small apartment and my fiancee knows the bikes are a target but it's really not practical to keep them inside our living room/kitchen. Even if we had a house, they wouldn't be safe in the garage unless we went nuts with multiple security measures (like a different, and very heavy chain for the front and rear triangle, plus a motion sensing alarm).

I wish I could put a locking kill switch in the bottom bracket that could only be activated by my cell phone - at least it would prevent a thief from riding away, or it might prevent a quick sale, but it certainly wouldn't stop a pro thief from putting the bike in a van and stripping it for parts later.

**SchralphMacchio** · 09-22-2016, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

I just bought a 6' chain lock for those times when I need to leave bikes locked on the hitch rack. Still wouldn't do it in SF or any big cities, but at a trailhead or campground, should be more than adequate.

FWIW, the one I got was from Cycle Gear, sold as a motorcycle lock, comes with a large padlock. $35 - much cheaper than the chains sold as bicycle locks. 6 foot length should be enough to loop around 2-3 bikes, and will run a cable lock through the wheels too.

https://www.cyclegear.com/accessorie...chain-and-lock

shit that's a really low price. worth buying 2 at that price, one for front triangle & wheel, and one for rear triangle & wheel. that ought to be pretty demotivating.

**jackstraw** · 09-22-2016, 02:21 PM

I just here to say thieves fucking suck and should be shot in the nuts

**El Chupacabra** · 09-22-2016, 02:35 PM

In ye olden days of living in the East Bay and locking my bike on campus, I remember the police + bike shops suggesting use of two different types of locks, with the rationale being that a thief would have to carry two types of tools to break both. They suggested a U-lock for frame + rear wheel, plus separate cable & lock for frame + front wheel.

This all pre-dates cordless grinders, which will go through any lock. Just noisy and obvious in comparison to wire cutters or a piece of pipe to snap off a U-lock.

**Jong Lafitte** · 09-22-2016, 02:47 PM

This has worked in a few places. Step 1: Become a local. Step 2: "collect" community yellow bike to which you are now entitled; Step 3: brush paint it blue or black, making sure to leave plenty of yellow showing through in spots; Step 4: lock that fucker up Pee-Wee Herman style cuz you own it. Who's gonna steal that? The 'community' gonna come take it back? I dare them.

Oh! here's another idea: we could just ban bicycles! I mean, the wave of thefts and the seedy underbelly of crime that these stolen bikes are funding is really creating a situation that is getting dangerous in lots of places. Your city is probably NEXT!!!!

My buddy's bike was locked to a street sign, which could be pulled straight up out of the concrete. He did not know this. The thieves did. I had a bike stolen from inside a bike cage in a parking garage when it was locked to the rack inside the cage. My buddy's mom had a Merlin stolen and then saw a bike messenger riding around with it later (it had been repainted but she spotted it cuz it was too small a frame for the dude. She confronted him on the street and got it back on the spot.

Oh I seen fire and I seen rain
I seen dumbass 'bros' ghost ride yellow bikes into dumpsters....

**DeathVan** · 09-22-2016, 05:46 PM

This sticker kept my bmx bikes safe for years.

It's all about the 'tude, man

**XXX-er** · 09-22-2016, 06:59 PM

a 4" battery powered angle grinder will defeat any lock or cable

**mmmm...pow!** · 09-22-2016, 08:54 PM

Locks are deterrents that can be defeated, though it would be awesome to have an electrified lock that would shock a motherfucker. I think the best bet beyond a lock is a bike registry, but there needs to be one single registry that everyone uses, and get the word out to buyers to check it. Kinda like how carfax is used for cars.

**gravitylover** · 09-23-2016, 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by XXX-er

a 4" battery powered angle grinder will defeat any lock or cable

That is the biggest problem and one that can only be overcome if people that hear and see them being used do something. Unfortunately that won't happen.