Cycling UK Forum

Use a bike no-one would want to nick.

Zanda wrote:With this type of programme, it's possible to scare people into believing that bike theft is inevitable, that all bike locks are useless and that really, therefore, they ought to get a car.

I'm not sure that follows. We're not short of TV programmes showing cars being stolen or youtube videos telling you how like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4v8l75kP_w but who's concluding that car theft is inevitable, all car locks and alarms are useless and that really, therefore, they ought to get a bike?

Of course a thief could rock up to the cycle stands carrying an angle grinder, gauntlets, a visor and a power supply, create a flurry of sparks and one hell of a din and be gone in 60 seconds. But how likely is your thief to have access to that equipment? And would all this effort be worth the increased risk of their being detected?

The Cycle Show did at least show the current reality: small, battery-powered angle-grinders with large shields being used without gauntlets or visors... but yes, it's still a hell of a din and fairly noticeable if anyone cares.

I agree with all your precautions, plus I'd also add: if you spot anyone up to ill deeds by a bike rack, please call 999. At least in high-cycling areas, the police are more than happy to send someone, because bike thieves are sometimes people on the bottom level selling stolen bikes to get quick hard-to-trace cash to pay off even dodgier people for some reason.

mjr wrote:We're not short of TV programmes showing cars being stolen or youtube videos telling you how like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4v8l75kP_w but who's concluding that car theft is inevitable, all car locks and alarms are useless and that really, therefore, they ought to get a bike?

Sadly, it's likely that cycling loses out disproportionately since it's a mode that accounts for just 2% of journeys.

mjr wrote:The Cycle Show did at least show the current reality: small, battery-powered angle-grinders with large shields

A valid point. Fortunately, the use of any power tool is unlikely in this context not just due to noise but also the cost and the difficulty in concealing it.

Totally agree on the need for witnesses to report theft. I'd also urge victims of theft to make reports, if just for accurate stats.

The comment about making a bike appear less attractive is also good.

So that thief will be looking for attractive bikes......

We could add:-
Ride an unattractive bike or at least one that is made to look unattractive to a thief.

I'm put off a titanium bike at least in part because any weight saving will be far outweighed(!) by the need to carry a big heavy expensive lock. A drab steel bike will probably weigh less when this is taken into account.

NetworkMan wrote:

So that thief will be looking for attractive bikes......

I'm put off a titanium bike at least in part because any weight saving will be far outweighed(!) by the need to carry a big heavy expensive lock. A drab steel bike will probably weigh less when this is taken into account.

You would think that by now given how motorised vehicles have progressed that someone would have been able to invent an extremely light lock that at the same time is very secure wouldn't you !.

Mrs Briercliffe picked up a free cable lock with a MTB magazine in Tesco last week.
It's pretty good too.

HaroldBriercliffe wrote:Mrs Briercliffe picked up a free cable lock with a MTB magazine in Tesco last week.
It's pretty good too.

Define good - how have you tried attacking it?

2. locking the bike where it can be seen (like the front of a building rather than the back) because, presumably, thieves dislike the glare of the public gaze

Doesn't work.

I've had a couple of mates have cause to defeat locks in public. One outside Bernies in Ingleton, he lost a key and had to take a grinder to his cable lock; the other found his stolen bike chained to a parking meter on a busy street in Seattle, he cut it free with bolt cutters. In neither case did anyone say a word. I believe there are YouTubes of people "stealing" bikes with no response from the public.