[Closed] Reducing bike theft...

Gutted for u buddy, had 2 bikes nicked a couple of weeks back, although i now have a lovely new toy to play on thanks to the insurance paying out. Well, they will and until then the credit card is red-hot 😯

so anyone who is caught they should receive super strict non negotiable punishment

what makes a bike special ? It's just a thing. Robbery with violence would be more serious.

Bolt-crop their fingers off - it's the only to be sure they don't re-offend 😈 .

I feel your pain . . . rant away, heck I'm still ranting over a cropped lock but fortunately still have my baby.

[url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1567410/Man-who-had-sex-with-bike-in-court.html ]ask robert 😯 [/url]

what makes a bike special

Bolt-crop their fingers off - it's the only to be sure they don't re-offend

welcome the the middle ages 🙁

Recieving stolen goods is already a crime. I'm not sure what the solution is - the only thing that's stopped car crime is making cars virtually unstealable, which is rather more difficult to do with a bike.

Sorry to hear it's been nicked.

Harsh, but it's an Inbred, but the same would apply to most nice but not bling/unique bikes out there. Don't know how upmarket a build yours was, but for a low (for on here) spec Ebay will like as not get minimum £10 for bars, £5 for stem, £80 forks, £10 headset, £60 brakes, £50 wheels, £5 post, £10 saddle, £30 crankset, £15 tyres, £10 cassette, £15 shifters, £20 mechs and dump the rest. You wouldn't think about asking for a serial no on the bits. I hope I've not bought stolen goods either on here or ebay, but how would I know?

yeah true there wouldn't really be any point in clamping down on small bike parts or any other small goods for that matter otherwise ebay etc would pretty much close down. But whole bikes, where there is a market for stealing only bikes, surely it isn't that hard to check the serial number and ring to see. It of course would be silly to try and do that with every single item bought second hand, but bikes? Some [s]people[/s] scumbags make a living out of stealing only bikes and I'm not sure how many of them actually go through the trouble of stripping it for parts and putting up each one on ebay? Although maybe they would be bothered if seeling whole stolen bikes was being cracked down on. There must be a solution!

welcome the the middle ages

Thats the middle ages without many thieves 😀

Without many reoffenders, at any rate.

There does seem to be a spate of it at the minute. We had ours nicked a few weeks ago too, it's gutting.

Just let us deal with the thieving scum the "Tom's way".
Simon, loosen up, not everybody wants to live in a [s]screwed-up[/s] modern society.

[i]what makes a bike special ? It's just a thing.[/i]

Bit like Bert the dog yeah? 🙄

There are a few reasons why bike theft is currently on the up, the "sudden" realisation by the majority of light fingered scum that bikes can be expensive, how easy they are to get rid of due to them not being very identifiable (not at least to people who aren't involved in the sport)and the acceptance within the industry and of people who partake in it. It seems to me that insurance claims for stolen bikes are welcomed by the bike shops (more trade) and by the losers (new shiny toy).
Police forces are hammered on strict narrow targets by the government so nobody is going to stick their neck out out set up a "task force" of seasoned detectives to investigate bike theft. The community at large, which now has to be consulted on policing matters, usually moan about hoodies, mini motos and dog crap, so that gets policed. Government policy, our own apathy and magpie approach to our sport has lead to this. The people get what the people want, seems to be the mantra for the last ten years or so, the only problem is the people don't realise that they don't want it until it is too late to stop it.

Bit like Bert the dog yeah?

no, nothing like! And I would reiterate that the remarks for which I was banned were not directed at Matt or Bert but at the sycophantic and/or delusional posts about the matter posted by other people...

And while I might be personally willing to inflict punishments like finger cropping for the rape of a child - and accept the subsequent incarceration for my crime of revenge - to suggest it for bike theft is purely ridiculous 🙁

I very much doubt they would advocate that kind of punishment. Let people vent a bit of rage.

Let people vent a bit of rage.

sounds pointless to me 🙁 Can't they just think it in their heads ?

Yeah of course if in some parallel universe losing fingers for bike theft was passed as law I think I would be slightly alarmed, but for this evening I am happy to fantasize about the little **** who stole my bike tonight squealing like a pig 😈

Can't they just think it in their heads ?

Something which you are clearly incapable of doing.

[b][i]"the remarks for which I was banned ........blah, blah, blah.[/i]"[/b]

Do you think it's worth developing a satellite tracking device?

My mate may be able to miniaturise their existing product but the problem is where to put it? Got to be inside the tube and a small watch size battery ...

🙂

I've oft wondered if packing the tubing with plastic explosives and connecting to a detonator capable of being operated remotely over a distance of, say, 100 miles or so would be an option.

It's harsh, yes.
Indiscriminate, quite possibly.
Effective? Well, after a while, the thieving scum may think twice about pinching someone's ride if there's a chance it'll go off in their hands.
Knowing this country, it's probably illegal in itself, and therefore unlikely to be marketable.
Puts a bit of beef behind the warcry that is "Owned.....With Bombers" though.

I'll say +1 for chewkw's satellite tracking device. In fact, I'm surprised it's not been made available by now!

My mate may be able to miniaturise their existing product but the problem is where to put it? Got to be inside the tube and a small watch size battery ...

I thought briefly about this, and it'd be difficult to make work - GPS signals are unlikely to get through tubes. Hide it in the frame and you'll just see bike being broken for bits very quickly. And so on.

what makes a bike special ? It's just a thing. Robbery with violence would be more serious.

I've often thought about installing/building some sort of electric shock locking device to my bike, a capacitor or something like that that'd deliver a nasty but not fatal shock if anyone attempted to cut the lock...

Have also thought about the explosive bike plan as well... I ****in hate bike thieves!

I've oft wondered if packing the tubing with plastic explosives and connecting to a detonator capable of being operated remotely over a distance of, say, 100 miles or so would be an option.

given the frequency at which I crash into stuff I'd rather not have an exploding bike 🙁 What happens if the thief takes it home and their children, friends, probation officer etc are all killed ?

Do you think it's worth developing a satellite tracking device?

My mate may be able to miniaturise their existing product but the problem is where to put it? Got to be inside the tube and a small watch size battery ...

Your mate will point out to you that for it to work it would need line of sight contact with satellites, not to be buried in metal tubes which block the signals. IT, and the contract for tracking, would be worth more than most low to mid range bikes anyway.

I've never really got the "it could have been worse so get over it" argument.

Me neither, it smacks somewhat of having given up on life and just accepting anything for a quiet life.

As regards small parts you often see someone posting really big clearouts of parts (50 items plus)ranging from top of the range to cheap stuff in the same post, like XTR stuff and Suntour forks.

Then they do the same a few months later with a whole new batch of kit.

Seen it on other forums a lot and occasionally on here.

Obviously they could be genuine, perhaps buying whole bikes secondhand then stripping and selling the parts for profit.

Or they could be selling stripped stolen bikes.

As I can't tell the difference I would be loathe to buy just in case.

set up a 'bait bike' and lye in wait with a sniper rifle perhaps? Should keep SFB happy, one clean shot = one kill and one less bike thief in the world? 😈 Best use a low velocity round to minimise the risk of a collateral from a through shot though...

Is 'lye' the right word/spelling btw??

"what makes a bike special ?"

Sorry I thought i was on singletrackworld.com.........!

I’m very disappointed with all of you

At the end of the day you can't burden the buyer with the requirement to ensure it's legit when there is no way of checking. I've bought plenty of stuff off people who were just very kind and getting rid of stuff they had no chance of using in future for a good price. The buyer already will be had for having stolen goods if they were aware of it, and if not they get no cash back when the goods are recovered. Reducing bike theft is best done by better security, logging of frame/fork numbers and not showing your bike off in the area that you live/work in.

And think of the battery size it would need! Say it needed to be active for 2 weeks without charge (gets nicked whie your on holliday). the average GPs lasts about a day on a set of AA's, and you want to build a transmitter into it as well?

Might be possible to build in radio tracking, but then you'd have to drive round all the sink estates trying to pinpoint the signal.

Should keep SFB happy

what if they were taking it to the police station ? I think the death penalty, if used at all, should be reserved for very serious crime, not property disputes.

what if they were taking it to the police station ?

Why would they be cutting my lock to take my bike to a police station? need a better argument than that guv'ner 😉

Small amount of Semtex in the saddle and a remote detonator. Just enough "oomph" to castrate the tealeaf, but not enough to cause anybody else any harm. Tied in with the bait bike above, it could prove a nice deterrent (and birth control method). 😈

Yeah, okay. A rigged bait bike. I'm liking that.
We could film the results too.
There must be a production company out there that could make a TV show out of this and sell it on.

Ever watch SWAG (I think it was called that?) where they did just that with bikes that fell to bits in a few meters or had smoke bombs/water pistols/ in the tubes.

Ojhh, and some kind of solenoid into the front spokes would be much more entertaining.

> nobody is going to stick their neck out out set up a "task force"

When our bikes got nicked from the Trafford Centre car park, I was told by GMP that they'd set up exactly this due to the current high rate of bike theft. As it turned out, in my specific case they proved to be about as much use as tits on a nun, but at least they're acknowledging the problem which is a step in the right direction.

Stem cap ejects marker ink if not disabled before moving?

I have spoken to my mate and the tracking device can be reduced to the size of USB memory key including a small watch battery inside it.

There should not be a problem transmitting the signal apparently but the only problem is where to insert the tracking device for the user easy access (yes, that also means a security issue too) so that user can change the battery when it is needed.

I will ask if he can build a prototype ...

d;-)

the only problem is where to insert the tracking device for the user easy access (yes, that also means a security issue too) so that user can change the battery when it is needed.

Incorporate it into a seatpost? Or into a stem?

psychle: Incorporate it into a seatpost? Or into a stem?

Seatpost = take out and throw away so no more tracking.

Stem = very difficult as most steam has no space for a device the size of "USB memory" to insert.

😕

Stem = very difficult as most steam has no space for a device the size of "USB memory" to insert.

You could make it hollow though? Might not work with a 50mm job, but maybe 90-120mm stems would have enough space?

Could still be removed of course, but a little bit harder to do than a seatpost at least...

psychle: You could make it hollow though? Might not work with a 50mm job, but maybe 90-120mm stems would have enough space?

Could still be removed of course, but a little bit harder to do than a seatpost at least...

Safety issue there I am afraid as making the stem hollow (drill etc) might weaken its functionality. Stem manufacturer will never have that.

Inside the frame is the best and he also suggested the wheel ... told him the wheel could be off in seconds.

Is 'lye' the right word/spelling btw??

In believe it's ye olde Englishe way of spelling it ....... 'lie' is the more common way of spelling it these days.

It was probably SFB's [i]"welcome to the middle ages"[/i] comment, what made you want to hark back to those simpler times - when there weren't any bike thieves about 💡

i think it speaks well of cyclists in general that we haven't organised our own 'sting' operations.

- leave a nice bike locked somewhere known for bike theft, retreat to a comfy observation point, and wait with half a dozen of your grumpiest friends, and have a quiet word* with anyone attempting to take the bait.

(*super-soakers loaded with p!55 as a suggestion...)

Safety issue there I am afraid as making the stem hollow (drill etc) might weaken its functionality. Stem manufacturer will never have that.

Most of the stems I have are hollow...

I've thought about this a fair bit, and there is a way of making a nicked bike remotely identifiable, but it's not GPS, and it's not a great solution.

That idea about Gumtree forcing sellers to enter a frame number is a good one.

ok now ive slept on it and calmed down a little hopefully I can be a little less rant like today, I'm still pretty pissed off though!

Although I think all the talk of GPS etc. is nice to think about as an option and gets you thinking, it still wouldn't prevent bike theft only aid recovery by which time your bike will most likely have been sprayed some hideous colour and have been wrecked in some way.

I think with the money spent on a complicated GPS tracking device you could probably buy some titanium super lock that would take a circular saw to get off. Thinking about it my lock, being able to be cut off with bolt cutters was never going to be enough, next time even with a lesser commuter bike I will be looking for something that would take a hell of a lot of effort to get off, not just a bolt cutter snip that can be done in seconds. Even though I would love to be able to catch the theives, I think someone made a good point that cars are no longer stolen as often anymore because they are just to much effort to steal (and sell).

I am surprised however that there isn't more very very strong lightweight (ish) locks out there, I mean really what use is a d-lock or cable lock these days? Maybe something that completely locks the bikes parts from moving may be better? (but also locks it to a secure point aswel of course).

There I told you much more relaxed today! Thats not to say I still wouldn't enjoy performing an american history x style curb stomp on the little pr1ck 😈

SfB, it's nice and easy for you to say 'it's just a bike', from your high vantage point, but then, you don't much give a toss about bikes, they're just a means to an end, a devise to get you into the hills. Other people, however, take a dim view of [i]any[/i] personal property being stolen, no matter what the value. It's the fact that it's [i]their[/i] money, that [i]they[/i] worked hard for, to spend on a little luxury item that has been taken by some miserable scumbag who's attitude is 'they've got something I want, I can't be arsed to work for it, so I gonna take it 'cos I's disadvantaged, innit. The gov'mint told me I was, so they owe it me'. I'd be more than happy to get mediaeval in their arses; in the Bible it says "thou shalt not steal", and "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", a sentiment I agree with.

The 'tracker' devices in cars don't have 'clearline of sight' nor need the batteries changing very often, had one in a car for a couple of years without anything needing to be done. No idea how big the car units are, but they do work well.

My dog looks after security in the house while I'm at work 😈

I am surprised however that there isn't more very very strong lightweight (ish) locks out there, I mean really what use is a d-lock or cable lock these days? Maybe something that completely locks the bikes parts from moving may be better? (but also locks it to a secure point aswel of course).

Well my New York lock was barely marked (tho' they did manage to partially crop through one of the railings it was attached to. Still looking for a replacement for the Abus Steel-o-flex though.

There is so many bike thefts going on with bike shops being broken into and so many threads on here. What can you do, you cant take matter into your own hands (be done for GBH or ABH) and if you do the scum get away with it. Had 3 bikes nicked in Bristol and twice there was cctv and people about in broad daylight but no action was taken. I don't leave my bike anywhere despite having a kyptonite evolution d-lock and a 19mm link chain which cost me £70 and that is proved to be bolt cropper proof. But still no chance.

mamadirt have a look at almax series 3 or 4 they do really good chains. 16 or 19mm links and have been tested by mahoosive bolt croopers and they bent them

Cheers Simon!

The 'tracker' devices in cars don't have 'clearline of sight' nor need the batteries changing very often, had one in a car for a couple of years without anything needing to be done. No idea how big the car units are, but they do work well.

Yes it does, it has clear line of sight to the GPS satellite (the antenna is mounted inside the car, not behind the metal bodywork). Much the same as you can put your GPS unit in your pocket and it still work, but you cant put it in a tin in your pocket, and if you put it in an open tin it'll only get 1 or 2 satellites as you've collimated its view of the world. The bodywork is a faraday cage, radio transmissions CANNOT pass through without a route out. They then use GPRS data transmission (possibly 3G these days) over the normal mobile phone network to transmit the GPS data back to the tracking server. (give me £5 and a little time and I'll build you a pocket sized portable device that totally mashes the tracking signal and renders it useless) - basically if you tell me it's there I'll block it, if you don't it's not a deterrent (but at least you might catch the sods)

Also no, the tracker doesn't require a battery change because most of the time it's being charged by a 100kW generator under the bonnet and it's about the size of a box of eggs, so it's got plenty of room for a high capacity battery pack 🙂

There's no way you'd get a GPS tracker and GPS transmission unit into a bike, the power requirements and antenna requirements are impossible. OK not impossible but highly flawed. It's possible to get a GPS receiver into a bike, and possibly either a radio low-range radio transmitter or stretch to a GPRS transmitter, but again it'd require a reasonable battery pack - technically I can see that as small as a pack of chewing gum, but I'm not convinced it wouold work effectively unless it could be placed in such a location as to allow the GPS signal good reception and the GPRS antenna good reception and transmission. That would require it to be on a surface of the bike. Stem top-cap maybe. Integrated into the saddle. Not buried in the tubing. This means they're identifiable and very very easily removable. If not removable, they'd be easily blocked - tinfoil over the antenna and the whole system isn't worth the paper these words are printed on.

Forcing frame numbers on adverts is not infalible either, I put the wrong frame number on - only the guy going to buy will know if it's different when he gets there. But it's a start.

Many bikes are datatag'd, but it'd only help when picked up, it's not a deterrent.