how best to protect bike/s from thieves

[bargainguy]

Although you probably don't have a garage in the bay area, it's one of the worst places to store a bike. A thief who wouldn't think twice about breaking into a house will break into a garage without hesitation.

Always bring your bike inside the house and never leave it unattended if at all possible. A determined thief can use any number of means to get at your locked bike, so a lock only slows them down, never stops them.

Don

[fogrider]

bikes are one of the low level crimes that the police don't give much attention to, so addicts find bikes an easy means of quick cash. this is the dark underside of bikes. as others have said, don't leave your bike unattended, and don't let others know how much it cost.

[eippo1]

This whole discussion reminds me of a great schwinn peloton ad from 1999 that had the bike locked up to a house bannister with an abundance of locks. I wanted that bike so bad.

[54ny77]

shoot them so they don't do it no more.

[wingnut]

Never lock a bike that you don't intend to lose.

For those who suggest bringing it into the house, that's probably the safest bet. However, I live in the Bay Area and have had my house burglarized before so its' not a sure bet. You hear about apartment/house break-ins all the time in the city (SF).

[benv]

Living in the Bay Area as well, in San Francisco actually, it is definitely a huge problem. I also belong to a SF based cycling forum and the number of posts a day in the "Stolen Bike Listing" thread is quite ridiculous. It is also pretty funny when walking around the Civic Center/SOMA districts and seeing homeless people walking around with a shopping cart in one hand and a Pinarello or Colnago in the other.

I can proudly say that I have never had a bike stolen or even any component stripped off my bike. I would say I am pretty darn careful when picking and choosing where to lock up the bike or to lock it up at all. Even though its a major concern, I feel like I am kinda over it and just want to enjoy biking in the city. I have a pretty nice stable, and most of my bikes only see the city streets rather than waiting for some time to take a ride up to the North Bay. I am at the point where I will ride my Colnago with Campy 11 on my daily messenger shifts. I rarely get time to take an actual ride as I spend most of the day 7 days a week in the saddle delivering food, beer, prescriptions, clothing, you name it. Yes, I lock up my Moots when having dinner in Chinatown without it even in sight. Of course, I will never lock a bike up overnight or to a pole that is loose from the ground. You just have to be smart and somewhat think like a thief.

A couple of tips I could come up with:

1. Just a U-Lock through the front rim and frame is not enough. Get a cable and run it through the rear wheel and connect it with the U-Lock. Or even just a second lock. If really worried, get the skewers with bolt ends.

2. Register the frame/serial number with the local police. Take some pictures with the bike. Make sure if it ever pops up on Craigslist or some local flea market that you can point out something unique to you and the bike. If none of this, the cops can't and wont do a thing.

3. If your with some friends, gently lock all of your bikes up together. Put your locking mechanisms through 2 or 3 frames. Makes it a bitch for a thief to walk away with mound of steel.

4. Quit whatever job you have and find one that allows you to keep your bike in your cubicle.

[Aaron O]

From what I've heard, bike theft out west is different from what we have on the east coast. I think you guys deal with targeted high end bike thieves. I think we mostly have junkies looking for thefts of convenience. You hear about how there are portable edge saws and gigantic bolt cutters that will make quick work of top notch u-bolts, but I've never heard of anyone losing a bike to one of those in my area. I have heard it happens out west. My biggest fear is a break in or smash and grab.

My Motorola Merckx had been abandoned for about 8 months, locked near a building, at Temple University in North Philadelphia. Somehow no one touched it. It had a u-bolt and cables, and apparently that was enough to keep it safe in a high bike theft area. What I'm saying is...I think sometimes we overstate bike theft, at least in my neighborhood.

[tsarpepe]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

My Motorola Merckx had been abandoned for about 8 months, locked near a building, at Temple University in North Philadelphia.

I am not sure whether I should laugh or cry. Oh well, I'll just put a lot of puzzled faces:

[Aaron O]

Originally Posted by tsarpepe

I am not sure whether I should laugh or cry. Oh well, I'll just put a lot of puzzled faces:

Crazy, right? As near as I can tell (and some of this is based on conjecture)...

Bauer, or one of his people, sold the bike and it ended up in a shop in Minnesota. It was built up with Campy 8 sp record and panto'd De Rosa early Delta brakes (probably off an anniversary or 87' Signature). It changes hands from owner to Temple Student. Temple Student begins having issues and can't afford to have a decent shop do repair work. He lacks the mechanical knowledge to properly deal with the problems. It has missing and/or frozen bearings, and he can't remove the cups. He puts Shimano cables into the Ergo levers...he gets a flat...and he just gets sick of it. He leaves the bike, locked up, and abandons it. One of the panto delta plates goes missing

Here's where the history gets more clear:

Temple's grounds manager is an avid cyclist and races cyclocross. As is his job, he is removing abandoned bikes end of terms...and he knows what it is. He takes it to Temple's police for 3 months, no one comes for it and it's officially now property of the grounds manager. It's a HUGE project and needs substantial work and he sits on it for a bit. One day he breaks his cross bike's frame.

Enter me...

I had just bought an SLX De Rosa with some parts I felt unworthy of being on the bike. I wanted to put some shiny c-record/ergo stuff on but didn't have the cash reserves to immediately buy them. I do have a Kona JTS that I'm not using much and, as a total flyer, toss it on CL as a want to trade for c-record/record parts ad.

Grounds manager comes across my ad and needs a cross bike more than he needs his sitting around, costly, Merckx project. I get some help with the cable replacement and restore it.

And that's our story!

[thwart]

Bring your bike with you at public restrooms if at all possible.

Just don't spend a lot of time in the stall... or make any weird noises...

It would just confirm what some folks think of us bike snobs.

[eippo1]

Pics of the Merckx please. Good story. Most stolen bikes in the Boston area seem to be the improperly locked ones and occasionally ones within view of a window etc.

[Aaron O]

I'll try to post some a little later tonight (work blocks Photobucket). There are a bunch of photos of it on here...and some on bike forums. I thought everyone had seen it, and was bored with it, by now.

[Jellybird3]

Originally Posted by geoffkaplan

thanks for the feedback!

some additional info i've become aware of lately:
according to a local riding club's google group (mission cycling) there was word that thieves in cars were following riders home. also, people were posting their strava ride maps which originated from their home. the stava profiles also included what type of bikes the rider rode.

Welcome to the forum. One bit of advice if you're a Strava user is to adjust your privacy settings so that your tracked ride is hidden within 500'/1,000'/1 mile of your home.

[bargainguy]

Love the story. Both parties benefit. You da man!

Don

[cody.wms]

Originally Posted by geoffkaplan

also, people were posting their strava ride maps which originated from their home. the stava profiles also included what type of bikes the rider rode.

Of course, you can also set it up in Strava so none of the rides that originate within a set distance (500 ft, 1000 ft, 1 mile) of your home show up to the public, or even to other signed-in Strava members.

EDIT: Jellybird beat me to it.