Well thankyou BBC for your useful piece this morning about stolen bikes, explaining in much detail how to identify an expensive bike amongst cheaper bikes, and specifically highlighting how to identify a >£2k bike.

I’m sure that’ll help reduce bike crime…

You are apparently* more at risk if you ride a mid-range Specialized or Trek.

http://road.cc/content/news/119280-whats-britains-most-stolen-bike-answer-will-surprise-you

.

* I say “apparently” because actually that is a meaningless statistic that doesn’t account for the proportion of cheap to expensive bikes that are left in easily nickable location.

graham s, that makes sense to me.
how many times have you heard ‘yeah my mates got one of those specialised/trek mountain bikes it cost etc etc’

Yeah makes sense to me to – it’d be interesting to figures after they adjusted for market share, but that’s a lot harder to do.

The bike I had stolen was a Specialized Hardrock so the stats must be true.

Thick criminals who are going to steal a bike they see as they walk by are going to steal it whether it’s worth £20 or £2000.

Bright criminals who are going to steal high value bikes/parts to make good money already know the difference.

I once had a 10 year old Specialized Rockhopper stolen. Right next to it was an unlocked, newer, better condition, more expensive Scott. Brand names seemingly matter.

But criminals also steal what they know they can shift.

A custom built hardtail with exotic components might be worth a fair few bob – but it sticks out a bit when you try to flog it on eBay!

I’m less worried about whole bike theft than “clued up magpies” half-inching my fatbars, pedals and wheels.

*remembering sad times*