[Closed] Afan / Glyncorrwg bike theft

I'd lie in wait with a big set of hand cutters...that will learn the scrotes

Not the first time it's happened either. Fantastic scenary / riding down there, not the nicest of neighbourhoods unfortunately.

I occasionally pop there after work (when visitng the Neath factory), live in fear of having to explain to work why the hire car was broken into and my works laptop stolen, when you not supposed to use hire car for personal reason.... like I'm going to drive within 5 miles of Afan and not ride there ffs!

shite all the same for you guys though.

This isn't the 1st time by a mile, why have the local police not just setup a honey trap?
Wouldn't be difficult...

This isn't the 1st time by a mile, why have the local police not just setup a honey trap?
Wouldn't be difficult...

Catch one gang, then another will belong, then another etc.

IMO the onus is on the owner to make the secure to the best of their ability, locking it to a car is not secure and I'm speaking from experience, twice.

[i]Catch one gang, then another will belong, then another etc.[/i]

Isn't it all about arrest figures these days, surely a regular honey trap there would be an easy way to boost them then going by your statement?

"Catch one gang, then another will belong, then another etc.

IMO the onus is on the owner to make the secure to the best of their ability, locking it to a car is not secure and I'm speaking from experience, twice. "

What a defeatisit attitude. Of course we should take care of our belongings but the Police have a duty to catch and prosecute these bastids.

This is the 2nd thread this week

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/skyline-cyles-glyncorrwg-simply-the-best

Does anyone know if the bike lock up at BrynTeg House is up to the job?

IMO the onus is on the owner to make the secure to the best of their ability

The policy of defeat?

Lock it up the best you can - but to make it the owners fault if you don't & it gets nicked - I can't accept that

I was personally involved in a situation there when I was riding the Jetlag descent with my son and had stones thrown at me by local kids. Back in the cafe we met up with another guy who had met the same bunch of kids, who had by then stretched a rope across the trail at neck height- nice. We gave the description to the police who paid a visit and prosecuted. Ringleader was well known and his mum apparantly gave him such a good hiding that the police had to intervene on his behalf.

Realistic not defeatist, I'm a Bristol cyclist I've had 7 attempts on my garage for my bikes this year, the last attempt was on Monday night, the Police have been making arrests, stepping up local patrols but again the thieves keep coming.

The only thing that has prevented my bikes being stolen so far is the security I have in place, I sure as heck don't expect the Police be camping outside my garage 24/7.

Leave you bike poorly secured and/or on you vehicle overnight practically anywhere in this country and you'll be very lucky if it's still there in the morning and as above I am speaking from experience.

[url= http://www.mtb-wales.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=XForum&file=viewthread&tid=17348#pid ]Previous incident[/url]

I was personally involved in a situation there when I was riding the Jetlag descent with my son and had stones thrown at me by local kids. Back in the cafe we met up with another guy who had met the same bunch of kids, who had by then stretched a rope across the trail at neck height- nice. We gave the description to the police who paid a visit and prosecuted. Ringleader was well known and his mum apparantly gave him such a good hiding that the police had to intervene on his behalf.

Leave you bike poorly secured and/or on you vehicle overnight practically anywhere in this country and you'll be very lucky if it's still there in the morning and as above I am speaking from experience.

I 100% agree
I won't agree it was your fault though

[i]Ringleader was well known and his mum apparantly gave him such a good hiding that the police had to intervene on his behalf. [/i]

shame the police felt the need to do that.

I've heard about this happening before but always thought it was just one off's here and there. Sounds like it's getting worse! I was going to camp but this has put me off massively.
I would have thought that the local police would be on-top of this as cycling and what comes with it is surely one of the areas largest incomes?

Ah the Afan "secure storage". The place which is opened up early in the morning for all and sundry to wander in.....

I won't agree it was your fault though

The two times I've had my bike stolen from my car were entirely my fault they were on show and poorly secured.

Of course it's my fault, I should have known better, thieves want to steal your nice things bikes or otherwise, leaving them on display and accessible is stupid.

 

I'm led to believe that cycling brings in a similar revenue to rallying- which is a LOT.

Don't get me wrong, Glyncorrwg is local to me and I thing it is great, it is a minority of scallys that spoil things.

Also- I would suggest that if you are thinking of camping that industrial grade midge repellant is used to keep the nasty little insects at bay. I find it worse there than I ever found in the highlands.

would have thought that the local police would be on-top of this as cycling and what comes with it is surely one of the areas largest incomes?

I dare say the Police cuss us outsiders coming in with our expensive bikes, encouraging the thieves to operate in the area.

Of course it's my fault, I should have known better

is it just me that finds that statement unacceptable?

I take you were 'asking for it'?

There's only one person to blame [regardless of what precautions you took, or didn't] & that's the thief

KingTut's always asking for it...

is it just me that finds that statement unacceptable?

You can find it as unacceptable as you like, it won't help prevent bikes form getting stolen, good security measures will.

Blame counts for F all when your possessions have been stolen.

All this is very scary!! There is only so much my ground anchor can do. After having my motorbike pulled apart to get out my garage I've been offered a 'shotgun cartridge blank' trip wire from a local farmer. It works for his predators and he tells me it WILL make their ears bleed if it goes off!! Tempting..

Just buy some sort of motion detector and fit it securely to a bike, eg a rape alarm ,so that when pin is pulled the alarm goes off,or connect the bike to an electric fence battery, thats hidden in the car.

You can find it as unacceptable as you like, it won't help prevent bikes form getting stolen, good security measures will.

Oh I know it won't - I've had bikes stolen too & I lock them up tighter than a tight thing
But I won't go down the road of blaming the person who had it nicked just because they didn't outwit the thief

All this is very scary!! There is only so much my ground anchor can do.

Absolutely, the layers of security I have in place are an incredible pain in the arse, but are worth it.

But I won't go down the road of blaming the person who had it nicked just because they didn't outwit the thief

I'm not apportioning blame, as I said blame counts for F all when your possessions have been stolen, what I'm saying is that (unfortunately) the onus or responsibility is on the owner to ensure that to the best of their ability the bikes are super secure.

Otherwise someone else will be riding them.

I'll change the statement then

But I won't go down the road of making the person who had it nicked responsible just because they didn't outwit the thief

But I won't go down the road of making the person who had it nicked responsible just because they didn't outwit the thief

Fair enough.

When camping with bikes simply tie some fishing wire around your big toe and attach the other end to your bike!

When someone tries to off with your bike, you'll know about it!!

It was my bike that was stolen in the earlier thread mentioned by Uplink above. They actually stole two bikes, but one was later recovered.

I guess in hindsight (a wonderful thing I'm told) we should have been a lot more careful where the bikes were left but we just weren't aware there was a problem in the area. The local police told us there had not been a problem for about a year so maybe it's just rearing it's ugly head again. As regards the lockup, my main gripe with that is that it doesn't open until 9am. When you are camping, you are usually ready to go riding by 8am easily so it means a lot of hanging around if you do use the facility. I guess it's better than waiting for the police to arrive to take a description of the bike that's been nicked though !

On a lighter note: As for the midges, I've got about 50 bites on my legs where they feasted over the weekend and they are itching like **** now !

Arrrhhhhh, midges. Why do they have to itch so flamin much? Next time I'm gonna wear my wifes body stocking!!!!

we just weren't aware there was a problem in the area

I guess it was sad but inevitable that sooner or later there would be problems. At the other visitor's centre, people (including me) routinely leave their bikes outside unlocked while they go and get food. Sometimes there will be a selection of 10-20 unlocked bikes outside! Some eyecatching warning signs would seem to be in order.

[i]When you are camping, you are usually ready to go riding by 8am[/i] 😯

Whathaveisaidnow-
When camping with bikes simply tie some fishing wire around your big toe and attach the other end to your bike!

When someone tries to off with your bike, you'll know about it!!

Yep, you'll have a toe cheese-wired off.... 😯

Some eyecatching warning signs would seem to be in order.

Is anyone really unaware that they're taking a risk by doing that though? I know it's easy to get complacent but it's always at the back of my mind that places like that are likely to be honeypots for thieves.

I usually take some comfort in the fact that there are always much flasher bikes than mine around!

When you are camping, you are usually ready to go riding by 8am

Woke up at six last time...had to wait for lock up- true but also had to wait for Cafe and enormous breakfast first 🙂

DropOff breakfast is a ripoff a fiver!! they dress it up with a huge bit of bread so it looks huge .. no even a cuppa extra £1.20 so really your paying £6.20 for a breakfast.

Is anyone really unaware that they're taking a risk by doing that though?

I know that it rang a few alarm bells with me, but everyone else was doing it so you assume that it'll be fine. Bit easily led, I know, but if you're riding with mates who just want to get to the cafe rather than fannying about with locks then it's tempting to go with the flow.

If there were notices up saying "bike thieves operate in this area" then I would think most people would lock their bikes up, or get a mate to watch them, without feeling like a paranoid killjoy.

You've got to have your wits about you for sure.

Was there a few months back looking in the shop window while my mate took a leak having just pitched tents etc. Some shifty looking fella picked up my friends bike then asked what it was worth, also enquired about the value of mine.
Is that really the first/most appropriate question from one rider to another? Told him to **** off.

Next day we did Cwmcarn, stopped off for snacks afterwards when one chav was stood next to our bikes clearly having a 'coded' conversation on his phone. Moments later theres six of them eyeing up our bikes and us. Def. scouting for an opportunity

Its easy for people to switch off and go into holiday mode when they're away for the weekend, enjoying the scenery etc.
Being a cynical git stops me from losing my precious bike to some scroat.

frak me 6.20 for a breakfast thats the real crime

you can get breakfast for under a fiver in chiswick, and thats huge with posh sausages and a cup of tea

[url= http://www.myvillage.com/chiswick/places/67668-hothouse-cafe/reviews ]best cafe in west london[/url]

But what are the trails like in Chiswick ? 😉

Midges - take "skin so soft". I was there 3 weeks ago and not one bite. I usually get bitten by everything that can fly.

Breakfast - maybe they should charge a fiver, have 10 cups of tea but charge £20 for access to the trails.

Lock-up - Bloke opened it at 8.30 when I was there. Glad I was in the queue to get our bikes.

Scrotes - stocks are the answer. Leave them naked there covered in something midges really like.