I have been lucky I guess...

[spamjoshua]

Not counting yesterday, it has been a long time since someone with allen wrenches got to one of my bikes.

Daylight; Downtown San Francisco; yes, I locked it over lunch. Stupid me.

Annoying, but at least a seat and post, and not a wheel.

Joshua

[oliver1850]

.

[mo3039]

Bummer. It's really such a pathetic thing....another reason why I'm super-selective about buying used stuff, especially used bike parts. Don't ever want to be part of that evil chain...

Sorry for ya. Hope your seat/post aren't too hard to replace...

[dimsy]

i try and find a medium between what the poster above had said. i ride a slightly more beaterish bike when i'm around town (and theft is pretty high here wrt bicycles).

what i do in addition to lockable skewers on my wheels and seatpost is two things...

i either roll up a piece of tin foil into the size of a ball bearing and drop it into any allen hole and top it off with a little clear nail polish remover. this makes it a bit more difficult to get to the bolts quickly. if i need to do any maintenance it's a bit of a pain in the ass but... but you can easily chip out the lacquer with a sharp knife.

I don't know if anyone's ever tried stealing it but i'd imagine they were frustrated if they did.

[bike22]

if it's a beater bike- old chain in a 23c tube through saddle rails to seatstays, bb/wax/super glue/silicone sealant/etc in allen bolt to impair theft, or get one of those cables made to secure yr saddle to the seatstays.

[sg8357]

All manner of odd tamper proof screws, using something that is not
carried in bike shops is a good idea.

http://www.tamperproof.com/categories/products.html

[Ken Robb]

My 1989 Bridgestone MB-3 came with a "magic" seatpost clamp that allows one to close the quick-release lever and remove it. The clamp can't be opened without the lever.

[spamjoshua]

I always owned a "city" bike. Something I did not care about, something I could lock around the corner from the Fillmore and still have there at the end of a show.

Now I just have bikes that are too much for most US cities, even for a short stop for lunch. I knew better, knew the risk, its just...

Frustrating/depressing/stupid that owning nice things is a liability in some places.

Joshua