The paradox of having a good bike

[mjr]

Quite likely. That's why we have parking standards that should require real security but they can currently only be imposed when planning permission is required, not for older buildings if they're left unmodified.

[roberts8]

Since retiring I no longer commute but still lock my hack bike up in town when shopping etc.

I have a rockhopper and fitted butterfly bars for extra comfort and it occurred to me that as so few bikes in this country have them that may act as a deterrent. My LBS is currently replacing front suspension with a rigid fork. Better for me but may also put thieves off.

[Vorpal]

I've been known to take my bike in with me and park it at an empty desk or something. One place I worked, I used the ladies' locker room. I was the only one who ever used it, so my bike went in there, too.

[Cyril Haearn]

I am also a subscriber to the 'ratty-looking-bike' principle.

It helps if it is fitted with weird or undesirable components, too. I have one bike that is so ratty looking that it has been taken and dumped again. It has scruffy bar tape, scruffy paint, some rust, an IGH (that looks like a SA 3s hub but isn't), weird looking shifters mounted on the stem pinch bolt and a plastic bag over the saddle. It has dropped bars but non-aero levers, a drilled stem (for canti hanger), the roughest looking pair of MTB SPD pedals you have ever seen (which seems to deter opportunist thieves who just want something to ride). It does have a modern hub dynamo in it, but that is the only recognisably recent or even vaguely desirable part. The frame is covered in braze-ons that make it almost unique.

This bike looks dreadful but is actually very competent and I will happily ride it 50-100 miles at a stretch on occasion. It is usually fitted with a setup that gives it ten gears from ~22" to 100". Sure it could easily be two or three pounds lighter in weight, but I'd probably have to carry a lock that weighed two or three pounds more if I wanted to keep it too....

I didn't set out to make the bike this scruffy, it just kind of happened by itself. I could make it look tidy again but I probably won't, because it won't make it better to ride, but it will make the bike more likely to be nicked.

cheers

May we see a picture of it?

Diolch

[Brucey]

it looks so grotty that I am slightly ashamed of it in the company of other cyclists. I'll think about posting photos but it looks so bad I probably won't. It looks even worse than normal at present, because the front mudguard broke the other day (my fault entirely) and it is held together with sticky tape pending a repair. The sticky tape seems to be working OK; I have done about a hundred miles with it like that so far... it all adds to the grottiness...

cheers

[colin54]

It sounds a bit like this road warrior I saw in Leeds ,more to it than a casual glance would suggest.

Note the bloke in Timpson's window giving it close attention.

[Patrickpioneer]

the other day at the supermarket I watched a young man lock his MTB up to a post, one problem the post was only 4 foot tall! as others have said make a rat bike, buy a very good lock and don't worry about muggings, you are more likely to be mugged for your wallet walking
down the road,

[Cyril Haearn]

Just insure it, then you can have a new one if it is nicked

[pjclinch]

Folders are easy to take inside and park in a cranny. A Brom fits under most desks.

Another aspect of security is bikes that get nicked tend to be the ones that can be sold on easily. My MTB is much less valuable than my recumbent tourer, my cargo bike or the Moulton TSR I use as a general purpose bike, but I'd give good odds that it would be the most desirable to thieves. All the others are not immediately cool/fashionable, would be much easier to trace and harder to find a buyer for.

Pete.

[Tbizzy101]

I had a rubbish Saracen bike at Uni (Nottingham) and it stil got stripped, locked up outside a lecture hall. So I’d say nice or not, these things can be taken I’m afraid. Inside it, be sensible and don’t worry!

[Debs]

No need for locks and chains, all you need is a faithful friend

[GrumpyGit]

With a good lock, a reasonable locking-up spot and some household insurance you shouldn't lose your bike more than twice a year.

Twice a year? I don't want to lose a bike once a DECADE!!!!

Bike thieves are the lowest form of scumbag and should be boiled to death in raw sewage!

[Gattonero]

You can have a good bike that doesnt look flashy.

Most people (and potential opportunists) dont have a clue what is CF, titanium, XTR, Rohloff, Mercian etc and would happily steal the Tesco's MTB next to it instead....

+1 for this.
Yobs would look for the Specialized/Trek/Marin/etc mtb better if it has disk-brakes and a suspension or two.
The average "touring bike" could be an expensive handbuilt frame but would still look "Grandpa's bike" in their eyes, so they would steal it only if in real need for cash and there's no other bikes.

Mind you, if going in areas with such crime rate and the risk of being mugged, you may as well not carry ever a mobile phone, cash, sunglasses and whatever else. You better inform the Police and try to get the things sorted in the first place, society shouldn't live in fear of a small bunch of yobs

[Abradable Chin]

https://priceonomics.com/what-happens-to-stolen-bicycles/
gives a hypothesis about why bike crime is so common.
It's to do with the risk to reward ratio, and whilst the reward is pitifully small, the risk is more or less zero.

[mattsccm]

Am I the only one who thinks that 2 out of 3 of the OPs worries are excessive. Having your bike interfered with or stolen via a mugging, compared with the same risk walking, much be a negligible risk. Is your commute really that bad?