So You Think Your Bike is Safe in Your Car

[lemondvictoire]

Check out this video of a electronic hack into a Audi in Sausalito, CA : www.marinij.com//general-news/20150227/sausalito-car-thief-hacks-into-audi-steals-expensive-bicycle My bike is alway locked with a cable to the front seat bottom frame when it's in my car ......

[Dead Man]

That's super lame. But did he say a $15K bike? Most thieves would have no problem just old-schooling it and smashing the window, for a bike of that caliber. The means the thief used is interesting, but kind of irrelevant, here.. It's not like the bike was adequately secured to begin with.

[foo_fighter]

So you think your bike is safe with a cable lock? Mine had 3 when it was stolen at the Ferry building in broad daylight with hundreds of onlookers.

Check out this video of a electronic hack into a Audi in Sausalito, CA : www.marinij.com//general-news/20150227/sausalito-car-thief-hacks-into-audi-steals-expensive-bicycle My bike is alway locked with a cable to the front seat bottom frame when it's in my car ......

[Dead Man]

There's no thief-proof method. There's just better methods than others. There will always be extreme assholes that will go to extreme measures to get your nice bike. Leaving a $15K bike locked inside your car, with three cable locks AND a New York somehow bolted to the chassis.... there's still some dicks out there that would bring a battery operated angle grinder, cable cutters, and a crow bar, if they knew about it and knew they had enough time to work on it.

But odds would go WAAAY down.

[lemondvictoire]

So you think your bike is safe with a cable lock? Mine had 3 when it was stolen at the Ferry building in broad daylight with hundreds of onlookers.

Sorry about your bikes at the Ferry building.......My caar is still in my sight at Peets coffee when bike is locked in car w/cable.....Oh I get comments about bring my bike in most restrooms, but I tell those people that the bike they see is worth more $ than they make in a month...........:eek:

[Dead Man]

I tell those people that the bike they see is worth more $ than they make in a month...........:eek:

I hope you don't actually... I've been tempted to say that to people a couple of times, but I know I'd just feel like the biggest douchebag Fred on earth if the words ever did actually escape my lips. And people still wouldn't care/would want me to leave my bike outside.

I don't use washrooms when I have my bike, though.. I piss on the side of the road. Usually while still on, or at least straddling, my bike.

[Satellite]

Road my Moots Mountainbike to the grocery store once and a bum sitting close to the entrance said, "That looks like a nice bike". Crazy a bum knows how much my mountain bike cost. Lets just say I locked up the bike ran into the store and got what I was after and got back to my bike. Never had one stolen, knocking on wood right now.

That's amazing how fast he got into the Audi, almost like he had a key and knew an expensive bike was present, pretty dark windows to just see in. Insurance scam to ditch the $15,000 Cervelo?:banana:

I have taken my bike into many a bathroom. Also got in a fight with a security guard at the hospital when my oldest daughter was born. We only had one car and I rode my bike back and fourth to work. My wife had to drive to the hospital and I rode to meet her. The security guard wouldn't let me take my bike in (even though they have wheel chairs what's the difference). I asked him to put it in a back closet or something, he refused that too, he made me lean it against the wall in front of the emergency room entrance. I was so pissed, I walked into my wifes room and started unplugging all the equipment. We were going to a different hospital. The doctor came in and calmed me down, he was a cyclist too. He went out got my Serotta and put it in his car for me. Thanks Doc, had the same doc ever since, and lucky for me I have the same Serotta still too, oh, and the same daughter, but different wife (go figure).

Satellite

[plag]

Looks like the thief knew exactly what he was stealing and knew that car was gonna be there.



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[mktng]

More reason to buy a junker car. . More money for bikes. Less electronic hacks.

[JAllen]

Yeah I don't leave anything in the car. If I have a bag or something in there I usually throw a jacket or other clothes over it. Honestly though, people will smash your window for change if given the chance...

Anything of value goes in the trunk if it needs to be in the car for some reason. Out of sight, out of mind.

[fogrider]

Yeah I don't leave anything in the car. If I have a bag or something in there I usually throw a jacket or other clothes over it. Honestly though, people will smash your window for change if given the chance...

Anything of value goes in the trunk if it needs to be in the car for some reason. Out of sight, out of mind.

yes, this. there is almost no reason to leave a bike in a car unattended.

I think the theft had a scanner which can grab the code when the owner locked the car with a fob. I always lock my car by pushing the lock button on the door. that way there is no code transmitted over the air.

[tumbler]

Also got in a fight with a security guard at the hospital when my oldest daughter was born. We only had one car and I rode my bike back and fourth to work. My wife had to drive to the hospital and I rode to meet her. The security guard wouldn't let me take my bike in (even though they have wheel chairs what's the difference). I asked him to put it in a back closet or something, he refused that too, he made me lean it against the wall in front of the emergency room entrance. I was so pissed, I walked into my wifes room and started unplugging all the equipment. We were going to a different hospital. The doctor came in and calmed me down, he was a cyclist too. He went out got my Serotta and put it in his car for me. Thanks Doc, had the same doc ever since, and lucky for me I have the same Serotta still too, oh, and the same daughter, but different wife (go figure).

:hello:

[1happygirl]

Check out this video of a electronic hack into a Audi in Sausalito, CA : www.marinij.com//general-news/20150227/sausalito-car-thief-hacks-into-audi-steals-expensive-bicycle My bike is alway locked with a cable to the front seat bottom frame when it's in my car ......
NO I quit thinking it was safe when at a ride overnight a thief broke into a friend's van a few feet from the Y and stole bikes from inside.
Junker van, junker bikes even.

[buddybikes]

If cops would care, put GPS in a fake "cervelo" or similar. Put it in car or locked to a post - track it to it's source. Perhaps 100's bikes can be found.

[572cv]

So, this was cautionary ! I've never expected anything to be safe in my car, except if it is being watched. That said, I have an 06 Volvo S40 sedan, and after a certain amount of experimentation, I figured out how to fit my bike into the trunk. Both wheels come off, and it has to go in a certain way and then be maneuvered correctly for the lid to close. But once you have the technique, its not hard. With the lid closed, it doesn't appear that there is any way for a bike to be in that car. So, its sufficiently stealth to make it less likely to be a target.

I post this just in case there are others with sedans in which the bike might fit if one tries hard enough. If it saves just one bike...

[Lewis Moon]

Yeah I don't leave anything in the car. If I have a bag or something in there I usually throw a jacket or other clothes over it. Honestly though, people will smash your window for change if given the chance...

Anything of value goes in the trunk if it needs to be in the car for some reason. Out of sight, out of mind.

I had a Pogliaghi stolen out of my VW van. A__Hole went in with a rock through the window. Never leave your bike in a car where you can't see it.

Thread drift: where's a good place to buy a small diameter cable to fish through both wheels and the seat to go along with the U-Lock?

[JAllen]

Thread drift: where's a good place to buy a small diameter cable to fish through both wheels and the seat to go along with the U-Lock?
I've found the smaller diameter cable at almost every bike shop that I frequent. As far as longer ones, I would order directly from the manufacturer. The longer lengths are a bit harder to find.

I was at a bike shop one time and the guy recommended a gun trigger lock. They tend to be inexpensive and throw thieves for a bit of a loop. You might want to go by a gun store or sporting goods store and check them out. Might be a good option for you.

[CNY rider]

I love living in rural upstate NY and driving an old car.
I can barely remember where the locking button is for the door.
And what place could be more convenient to keep the keys than the center console?

[Vinci]

Yet another reason why "smart keys" don't live up to their name.

[pdmtong]

If I have to leave my bike in the car I put a black bed sheet over it. And I try to leave my car where I can see it while I am doing whatever it is I am doing.

This does NOT include leaving bike in car and going to the mall for a few hours.

[weaponsgrade]

That looked scary easy. Too bad he didn't end up like this guy:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2973808/Grand-theft-oh-no-Watch-dozy-thief-knocked-throws-brick-car-window-rebounds-strikes-head.html

[plag]

So, this was cautionary ! I've never expected anything to be safe in my car, except if it is being watched. That said, I have an 06 Volvo S40 sedan, and after a certain amount of experimentation, I figured out how to fit my bike into the trunk. Both wheels come off, and it has to go in a certain way and then be maneuvered correctly for the lid to close. But once you have the technique, its not hard. With the lid closed, it doesn't appear that there is any way for a bike to be in that car. So, its sufficiently stealth to make it less likely to be a target.



I post this just in case there are others with sedans in which the bike might fit if one tries hard enough. If it saves just one bike...


I use to do this with my Honda Accord the back seat would fold down also. I just got tired of taking half my bike apart and dinging things up in the process.

My 29er would fit this way also.


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[Dead Man]

In my irresponsible/absent minded younger days, I had to break into my own truck/cars in parking lots in board daylight way too many times to ever trust a vehicle, or especially the people watching and doing nothing, to anything of value.

Once, I even got into the back my work truck, wearing winter work clothes (something about insulated flannel shirts/pants and knit caps and crap just makes you look extra bummy), in the middle of a Wells Fargo parking lot just as they were opening in the morning with people all over the place, and kicked out the rear slider of my truck full of thousands of dollars worth of tools... looks of concern on the faces of onlookers, I expected someone to say something, or at least pull out a cell phone and snap pics or call the cops; nope. Nothing. I broke in, got my keys, and even rifled through the truck for another 15 minutes trying to find my checkbook. No concerned questioning, no popo. It was pretty alarming, and revealing.

I'm sure everyone has seen the few expose vids on youtube, demonstrating people cutting locks off bikes in broad day light, and nobody doing a damn thing or appearing to care at all?

[JAllen]

In my irresponsible/absent minded younger days, I had to break into my own truck/cars in parking lots in board daylight way too many times to ever trust a vehicle, or especially the people watching and doing nothing, to anything of value.

Once, I even got into the back my work truck, wearing winter work clothes (something about insulated flannel shirts/pants and knit caps and crap just makes you look extra bummy), in the middle of a Wells Fargo parking lot just as they were opening in the morning with people all over the place, and kicked out the rear slider of my truck full of thousands of dollars worth of tools... looks of concern on the faces of onlookers, I expected someone to say something, or at least pull out a cell phone and snap pics or call the cops; nope. Nothing. I broke in, got my keys, and even rifled through the truck for another 15 minutes trying to find my checkbook. No concerned questioning, no popo. It was pretty alarming, and revealing.

I'm sure everyone has seen the few expose vids on youtube, demonstrating people cutting locks off bikes in broad day light, and nobody doing a damn thing or appearing to care at all?
They've done studies on this very thing. I forgot what they call it, but basically people think "I'm sure someone else is calling the cops right now...“. I've heard a terrible story about a woman, a long time ago, being raped and people saw this happening but did nothing thinking someone else was going to do something. I, after hearing this, ALWAYS will call 911 if something doesn't sit right with me. I would rather the police get multiple calls than none at all...

[Dead Man]

Indeed... "Broken Window Theory," it's aptly called.

(majored in sociology, once upon a time)

[zennmotion]

I love living in rural upstate NY and driving an old car.
I can barely remember where the locking button is for the door.
And what place could be more convenient to keep the keys than the center console?

I too grew up in rural upstate NY, never locked a car or the house for that matter. But there was that one time that my parents car was stolen. By the neighbors 12 year old girl who took it for a 6 mile joyride and drove it into a ditch. I think she works on Wall St. now.

[CaliFly]

<snip> Usually while still on, or at least straddling, my bike.

This as a SFW (safe for work) YouTube video tutorial would get a bajillion hits.