My Suspicious Mind

[mrjemm]

Just now in town, I got back to where I'd locked my bike, to see a man standing looking at it, talking on his mobile. OK, could just be admiring it I think, but as I got closer, I heard him describing it to the person on the phone, which got my suspicious nose tingling. I stood between him and the bike, placing my hand on it, and faced him, clearly asking, 'do you like my bike?'. He promptly turned away and walked briskly off.

Am I being unduly suspicious, or was his behaviour as questionable as I thought?

I don't have much faith in human nature presently, so perhaps I am prejudiced, but this has left me a tad tense. Quite angry really.

[Colin63]

The police have told a friend that there's a lot of bike theft in Lancaster at the moment, much of it from sheds and garages, but I know of a couple of people who have had theirs stolen on the street. The Merc is stored in the house but I keep it locked up even there, and I'm quite glad that I live close enough to town that walking is more sensible than cycling. I'm not sure that I'd be brave enough to leave mine in town without a couple of very good locks.

Where was it locked? I wonder if there are vulnerable sites that should be avoided.

[mrjemm]

I've heard similar tales, Colin.

I think there are numerous iffy spots to lock up, and few that aren't if you can't see the bike while it is locked.

[dazza500]

A disturbing trend round my way is to come back and find your bike locked up with someone ELSE'S D Lock.
Usually yours is inferior type. While you are away getting tools or contacting the police, they simply come back and cut your shoddy lock away, unlock their own and they're on their toes.

Crafty, but ultimately nasty business.

[mrjemm]

I've heard about that method. Very sneaky. Not aware of any examples yet, but think 1st thing I'd do would be go straight to the police in that case. Indeed a nasty business.

[dazza500]

It happened to a chap I work with. Fortunately he has a friend in the building trade. A half hour later, a lot of sparks and a portable grinder and the sneaky D Lock was in pieces. They probably watch the bikes they've tagged, so by the time you come back with the cops they've sawn through your own lock and are well away on their toes.

[gentlegreen]

I had it happen to me at work once - there were contractors on site at the time with power tools on the last day of their contract.
Luckily it was a cheap combination lock and I had a lump hammer in the office upstairs....

[dazza500]

There's a lot of bike theft Everywhere! Usually the bikes are crated up into a van and driven hundreds of miles away (I've heard stories of bikes turning up on the continent!) And sold very cheaply in markets and car boots so geographically remote there's just about no chance of recovery.

[gentlegreen]

I keep thinking I ought to keep a cheap angle grinder at work - if only in case my own D lock seizes up.

[661-Pete]

I've also heard of this dodge. One advantage, you see, of carrying a mobile - I'd call the police there and then, on the spot, and describe exactly what's been done to my bike. If they won't attend, I'd ask if there were any pattern of bike thefts by this means in the area, and if so what are they going to do about it? Failing that, I'd ask them to give me the number of a locksmith who does emergency call-outs (assuming the value of the bike justifies it). All without losing sight of my bike at any time.

All this is hypothetical for me, luckily, it hasn't actually happened.

Yet...

[mrjemm]

Maybe it was in a good spot then- from where it was locked, you can see a bike shop (for another lock), a locksmith (well, ok, a key cutter...) and a tool shop.

Nah, no good spot to have someone try to steal your bikes. This one's not a very fancy bike; it just looks a lot better than it is- an old steel mtb frame powder-coated and fitted with mostly new but lowish spec parts. Still my favourite though.

[Postboxer]

Is there any way to build a tazer into a bike, secretly?

Well secretly until someone's found next to your bike in a puddle of their own urine.

[Edwards]

With the bike having been powder coated and not sure about its make could he have been phoning a mate to check if it was his stolen bike?

[Postboxer]

I think I would have waited and watched if possible, unless there was nowhere to lurk easily or he'd seen you walking over in cycling gear.

[NUKe]

Just now in town, I got back to where I'd locked my bike, to see a man standing looking at it, talking on his mobile. OK, could just be admiring it I think, but as I got closer, I heard him describing it to the person on the phone, which got my suspicious nose tingling. I stood between him and the bike, placing my hand on it, and faced him, clearly asking, 'do you like my bike?'. He promptly turned away and walked briskly off.

Am I being unduly suspicious, or was his behaviour as questionable as I thought?

I don't have much faith in human nature presently, so perhaps I am prejudiced, but this has left me a tad tense. Quite angry really.

Well done We had similar at work. a friends bike was stolen. CCTV showed the Thief taking a photo of it talking on his phone and returning to steal it latter. It did turn up again though someweeks latter and was reunited with its original owner we never did find out if the new owner was the thief or just an unlucky punter from theifbay