Cycling UK Forum

365000 Bikes have been stolen in the last 5 years alone, that must be well over 100 million pounds worth of bikes if not a lot more than that, in Manchester the bike theft conviction rate is 1%, it has now become an epidemic, seems like the police are not interested from most accounts of folk who are victims.

https://road.cc/content/news/cyclists-a ... val-309349

Not just bikes being stolen from their owners when “parked”, shops are getting hit with very targeted raids taking high-end road bikes and e-bikes.

I remember last time there was a real epedemic of obviously organised thefts like this, in the mid-1980s, and then it was eventually traced to gangs who were shipping them out of the country by the lorry-load, mostly to the Netherlands IIRC, and I wonder if the same is happening now, maybe by container to ???? Africa maybe??

Nearholmer wrote: ↑10 Jul 2024, 10:28am Not just bikes being stolen from their owners when “parked”, shops are getting hit with very targeted raids taking high-end road bikes and e-bikes.

I remember last time there was a real epedemic of obviously organised thefts like this, in the mid-1980s, and then it was eventually traced to gangs who were shipping them out of the country by the lorry-load, mostly to the Netherlands IIRC, and I wonder if the same is happening now, maybe by container to ???? Africa maybe??

Presumably there is a significant market for all of these stolen bikes. It seems unlikely that the thieves themselves will be riding them all. Who, then, are the customers? And how much are they aware of the status (stolen) of the bikes they buy?

It takes two to tango; and if tangoing is a damaging thievery perhaps both partners should be sent orf the dance floor.

On the other hand, perhaps some are as desperate for some personal transport as they are for food, so shoplifting and bike stealing have become just a means to survive modern life in blighted Blighty? " I need my stolen bike, yer 'onour, to preform my 5 gig economy jobs".

At what point does the effective decriminalisation (via no policing and no justice system) of all this growing crime, from using a car as a blunt instrument to nicking one's dinner, effectively destroy the rule of law so that we all end up turning to various degrees of viking about? Will the new government fix policing and courting and other deterring services? It's hard to see how without a magic money tree. In any case, once the genie (undeterred criminal behaviour) is out of the bottle, it's near impossible to put it back.

Once the coastal monasteries and farmsteads had to look out for the sails of a longboat or twenty. What do we look out for now? It might become: any and everybody else. That Thomas Hobbes was reet!

Organised theft, with organised distribution and resale. If you get the goods far enough away from source, probably overseas, they can be presented to potential buyers through apparently legitimate channels, bike shops even.

But should the cycle industry be investing more in theft protection?
Whilst I have no love for the technology, electronic shifting does present opportunities to increase bike security measures.. why not fit them with an electronic key, which is detachable, when the bike's parked..
...way back in the 1950's and 60's Raleigh mounted a steering lock into the front fork- and yes while it could be broken, selling a second hand bike with a broken lock should at least raise concerns..
...whilst manufacturers have been falling over themselves to produce bikes with more powerful braking, smoother shifting gear systems and everything else, the one issue which has been left behind seems to be security measures...

Cugel wrote: ↑10 Jul 2024, 11:58am ...
Presumably there is a significant market for all of these stolen bikes. It seems unlikely that the thieves themselves will be riding them all. Who, then, are the customers? And how much are they aware of the status (stolen) of the bikes they buy?
...

I've read in different places including here that a fair portion on higher end stolen bikes are broken down and parts sold. A high end disk brake system will fit on lots of bikes and fewer questions asked by purchaser.

Steal a complete bike and sell it and purchaser has to be right size, after that tupe if bike, etc. But parts fit any sized person.

But I'm no expert, just repeating what others have said.

Ian

Last year in Germany some larger campsites have suffered a lot of bike thefts. Koblenz main city are locking bikes in a shipping container overnight. I stayed a few miles outside the city in a large campsite and asked snd they said they also have suffered a lot of thefts but only e-bikes are taken as that is what will sell.

Ian

"that a fair portion on higher end stolen bikes are broken down and parts sold"
I was asking about a silver rated linked bar lock on the ride the other Sunday (as far as I can tell, they seem to be bronze or gold).
One of our members mentioned he once at some social gathering ended up talking with "a professional bike thief" - I guess the conversation moved to locks, the thief said he didn't worry about the locks, slice through the frame, strip for parts and sell them on, no traceability/frame numbers to worry about.

^ "...the thief said he didn't worry about the locks, slice through the frame, strip for parts and sell them on, no traceability/frame numbers to worry about."

Not new. Over 20 years ago I saw a top end mtb with the front end completely removed. Value in the forks and controls!

(I've said this before, but ...)
I'd really like to see good research on who buys the stolen bikes/parts.

No doubt a few people are hard up and being able to buy daily transport from some dodgy mate's mate down the pub for £40 is a life-saver. But I reckon the majority of this swag is selling to cyclists with a decent budget - dare I say it, people like us?

Assuming it’s being sold in the UK, you must be right.

EBay alone is awash with groupsets, wheels etc that have come from “crash damaged” bikes, bikes “being upgraded” etc, and they are the sorts of things that only a person with competence and tools, and who understands “what good looks like”, would buy.

djnotts wrote: ↑12 Jul 2024, 8:19am ^ "...the thief said he didn't worry about the locks, slice through the frame, strip for parts and sell them on, no traceability/frame numbers to worry about."

Not new. Over 20 years ago I saw a top end mtb with the front end completely removed. Value in the forks and controls!

I saw a string of pics on Twitter the other day of an e-bike (one of the self-build / conversion ones) that had been cut to pieces to nick the motor and battery.

Nearholmer wrote: ↑12 Jul 2024, 8:55am Assuming it’s being sold in the UK, you must be right.

EBay alone is awash with groupsets, wheels etc that have come from “crash damaged” bikes, bikes “being upgraded” etc, and they are the sorts of things that only a person with competence and tools, and who understands “what good looks like”, would buy.

Most of the decent stuff gets shipped abroad. Same with stolen cars - sure some will end up in chop shops across the UK being cut up for parts but most are in shipping containers and straight off to West Africa or Eastern Europe.

Used to be the case that most people reporting bike thefts didn't know the frame number. Trying to identify whether a recovered bike is stolen other than by the frame number or some other marking/ID system is hopeless.

So much that I bought a good quality Deore level hybrid at a police bike auction which was obviously stolen. That European style frame mounted lock was locked. It was in excellent condition. £60.

It was also the case , in Glasgow anyway, that bike locked in public places with half decent locks were rarely stolen. Most were either unlocked, taken during garage/shed break ins, or stolen when locked in common closes where the thief had time to work at a lock unseen.

Despite me complaining my son regularly parks hid bike at the front of his house in Paisley unlocked. Not stolen so far. Granted it is a very scruffy looking hybrid with new drivetrain so it rides well.

I have been parking my bike around Glasgow for decades without it being stolen. In public places, Locked. Not anywhere regularly though. Only for an hour or two attime. A scuffy tourer with mudguards so not a top target.

So I guess there isn't an epidemic everywhere. Would I park a high end MTB in the street in Glasgow? No. If I ever buy an E-bike I will be carrying a serious lock and chain to park in public. And at home my shed door is as secure as my house door.

foxychick wrote: ↑10 Jul 2024, 9:48am 365000 Bikes have been stolen in the last 5 years alone, that must be well over 100 million pounds worth of bikes if not a lot more than that, in Manchester the bike theft conviction rate is 1%, it has now become an epidemic, seems like the police are not interested from most accounts of folk who are victims.

https://road.cc/content/news/cyclists-a ... val-309349

This has been discussed many times here, and whilst I 100% believe that not enough is being done to stop it, and the scum who do it, we must also take responsibility for our own actions.

I am VERY lucky I live in a nice place, occasionally going to Aberystwyth, when I go to my local cafe I don't even lock it, trust me it is 100% safe

However when I go to Aberystwyth I take THREE locks, 2x D locks (Abus Granite the better one) and a lock around the battery. The chances of my bike being stolen locked outside Halfords, a supermarket or a cafe are almost nil.

I was in Halfords the other week when a chap bought this

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-a ... MC4wLjAuMA..


SERIOUSLY !!!!!!!

Pinhead wrote: ↑12 Jul 2024, 11:09am I was in Halfords the other week when a chap bought this

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-a ... MC4wLjAuMA..


SERIOUSLY !!!!!!!

There's an old joke about hikers in the woods encountering a bear and running away. You don't need to run faster than the bear, you just need to run faster than the other hikers!

Same principle in locking a bike up. A local cycling cafe has a bunch of those cable locks outside, free to use for customers. They're enough to stop a snatch-and-grab theft. Yes, they'd last seconds against bolt cutters but the point is there are always lots of cyclists there right by the bikes and the lock is enough of a deterrent to stop some passer by from grabbing one or from a sneak theft.

Sneak theft is where you have a "cyclist" (ie someone dressed the part) at a cafe etc, they get up, walk to the rack, get on a bike and irde off - no-one bats an eyelid cos it's simply a cyclist collecting their bike and going on their way. Except it's not actually their bike.

The cafe in Richmond Park suffered quite a spate of those. Basically 2-3 guys were working together, one or two at the cafe, one in a van parked along the road in the car park. Wait until a cycling group comes in and parks the bikes, everyone goes inside to order. Finish your coffee, stroll up to the bikes all normal like, get on bike, ride off to the van. To onlookers, used to seeing hordes of cyclists, nothing looks out of place at all, it's not a balaclava-clad hooligan grabbing it, it's a "cyclist". And in those circumstances, a cable lock like that means your bike stays, the unsecured one gets pinched.