thieves!

<ouch> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

He's now purchased an extended cable (2 loops on either end) and I showed him how to use it
effectively so that the frame and both wheels can be secured. Is this enough? Should he get
another cable to tie his saddle? It's one of those that has a hole in it.

It annoys me that these things happen and makes me paranoid about leaving MY bike anywhere. What
are we meant to do?

Three questions answered in order:

No - anything can be stolen if the thief so desires. The trick is to make it more trouble than
it's worth.

Maybe - is the saddle on a QR? If so, take it with you.

Lock it up or move to a small village. Store it indoors overnight. Big locks, not cables (too easy
to cut). I like chains.

Quoted message said:

not to mention the fact that the brakes might not have been readjusted after the wheels were
swapped out

?! You display a touching faith in the wheel thieves. What do _you_ think? Will your typical burglar
do the washing up on the way out?

cheers, clive

Quoted message said:

Hello Everyone,

I hope you don't mind if I rant on a bit about a bad experience that my friend had.

On Thursday evening he parked his mountainbike outside his new flat (London) for the first time
but his U lock wasn't big enough to to go around both the railings and his back wheel. He planned
to get an extender cable the next day but woke to find...

I hate to say this, but he was lucky the whole bike wasn't nicked. I had one stolen from an
underground car park. The thieves cut through a U-lock - I have the pieces still. A few months ago,
I found the type of bolt cutters they use, conveniently stashed somewhere. Handles around 3 foot
long. There are other methods, like using a car jack or an angle grinder.

I really sympathise with your friend - not a nice experience to have a bike nicked, as they are such
personal things.

But in a London flat, he shoud think of taking it indoors or keeping it on a balcony. Sad reflection
on our society. If it must be kept outside, he'll need the best and toughest chain he can afford.
cycling Plus did an article on locks/chains a few months ago.

Get him a Kryptonite lock. New York model if possible. I have had the immense pleasure of sitting in
a certain burger bar up London and watched a theif attemp to use a car jack on one of these. I sat
and watched for half an hour while I finished eating. He scarpered as I approached. They are heavy,
but for a mountain bike I've always found added weight not a problem.

Gadget

In message <[email hidden]>, ouch <?@?.?.invalid> writes

Quoted message said:

Gadget said:

Get him a Kryptonite lock. New York model if possible.

He has a Kryptonite, New York model I believe. It doesn't seem to be wide enough to go round both
the seat tube AND the rear wheel. He has a 12mm Kryptonite cable (one of those with a loop at
either end to extend the capabilities of the Ulock) now, so hope that does the trick.

The cable lock will probably suffice, however, If he is leaving this bike parked here everynight,
then I would suggest getting a hefty F*** O** chain and padlock, such as motorcyclists use.

If he just leaves the chain locked up to the stand when riding the bike it doesn't matter about
the weight.

Thing about all this is that it all depends on the lengths to which you want to go. Whatever you do,
if someone wants the bike enough they will get it. I once had my handlebars stolen (on a winters
evening in Camden) complete with shifters, levers etc. they undid the stem bolt, and cut the cables.

I would certainly lock into using something like Pitlock skewers a for the saddle, , wheel QR's etc.
--
Chris French, Leeds

<ouch> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It annoys me that these things happen and makes me paranoid about leaving MY bike anywhere. What
are we meant to do?

If possible leave your bike locked up at something like a NCP or council car park in sight of the
guy in the kiosk. You can ask them to do you a favour and keep an eye on it for a packet of [censored] or
something. It's something I've done in the past.
--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W simonmason.karoo.netsimonmason.karoo.netOpen ↗

ouch said:

It's one of those that has a hole in it.

Aren't those women's comfort saddles?
--
remove remove to reply

In message <[email hidden]>, Gonzalez
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

John Tomlinson said:

ouch said:

He has a Kryptonite, New York model I believe. It doesn't seem to be wide enough to go round both
the seat tube AND the rear wheel.

There is no need to loop a lock around the rear wheel and the frame, providing you lock the wheel
to something solid through the rear triangle. As always, there is more information at:

sheldonbrown.comlock strategy.htmlOpen ↗

The Oracle seems to miss the obvious here. He doesn't consider the possibility of an incompetent
bike thief trying to steal the bike and causing a lot of damage in the process.

Sometime ago I knew someone who acquired cheaply a 2nd hand MTB to ride around on. It had some
parcel tape wrapped around the seatstays near the top. (This was in the days of U brakes on the
chainstays)

One day I realised why the tape was there, the seatstays had both been cut, the tape stopped them
waving around........

The only reason I can think of was a theft.

Quoted message said:

Does bike insurance cover vandalism?

Mine does.
--
Chris French, Leeds

mine (along with 2 others within a half hour period) was stolen after being locked to the bike racks
outside a police station in SW London...now that is pure cheek. what made it worse was that the
insurance company initially refused to honour the policy claiming that it wasnt insured even though
i had specifically asked for it to be. I complained, told them that i wanted them to prove to me by
releasing transcripts of the tape and amazingly they agreed to honour the policy (but I have to buy
through Halfords at the full RRP andam still waiting for the bike to appear 10 weeks later due to
inability to get hold of any bikes whatsoever!) "John Hearns" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hello Everyone,

I hope you don't mind if I rant on a bit about a bad experience that my friend had.

On Thursday evening he parked his mountainbike outside his new flat (London) for the first time
but his U lock wasn't big enough to to go around both the railings and his back wheel. He
planned to get an extender cable the next day but woke to find...

I hate to say this, but he was lucky the whole bike wasn't nicked. I had one stolen from an
underground car park. The thieves cut through a U-lock - I have the pieces still. A few months
ago, I found the type of bolt cutters they use, conveniently stashed somewhere. Handles around 3
foot long. There are other methods, like using a car jack or an angle grinder.

I really sympathise with your friend - not a nice experience to have a bike nicked, as they are
such personal things.

But in a London flat, he shoud think of taking it indoors or keeping it on a balcony. Sad
reflection on our society. If it must be kept outside, he'll need the best and toughest chain he
can afford. cycling Plus did an article on locks/chains a few months ago.

<snip snip>

Quoted message said:

Three questions answered in order:

No - anything can be stolen if the thief so desires. The trick is to make it more trouble than
it's worth.

Maybe - is the saddle on a QR? If so, take it with you.

I do sometimes but it's quite cumbersome to carry it around with you. Oh well. I suppose I should
try to do it more often.

Quoted message said:

Lock it up or move to a small village. Store it indoors overnight. Big locks, not cables (too easy
to cut). I like chains.

Quoted message said:

not to mention the fact that the brakes might not have been readjusted after the wheels were
swapped out

?! You display a touching faith in the wheel thieves. What do _you_ think? Will your typical
burglar do the washing up on the way out?

I've seen how ignorant a lot of cyclists can be about basic bike mechanics (and safety). My friend
fits into one of those categories so I'm glad he noticed there was something wrong with his rear
wheel. If he had started cycling who knows what would have happened?

I don't know how a bicycle thief thinks but do you think they're aware that they might be
endangering people's lives too?

One last thing. I think it was very cheeky to actually leave his old wheels on my friend's bike!

Quoted message said:

Lock it up or move to a small village.

That's it. In my last four years in Lancaster I had three bikes stolen (all locked at the time), and
Lancaster is scarcely a metropolis; since I moved home twelve years ago I haven't had any stolen.
Mind you, we do lock the bike shed, even though we don't lock either the front door or the car. Mind
you, the bikes are probably worth more than the car...

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

;; An enamorata is for life, not just for weekends.

Gadget said:

Get him a Kryptonite lock. New York model if possible. I have had the immense pleasure of sitting
in a certain burger bar up London and watched a theif attemp to use a car jack on one of these. I
sat and watched for half an hour while I finished eating. He scarpered as I approached. They are
heavy, but for a mountain bike I've always found added weight not a problem.

Gadget

He has a Kryptonite, New York model I believe. It doesn't seem to be wide enough to go round both
the seat tube AND the rear wheel. He has a 12mm Kryptonite cable (one of those with a loop at either
end to extend the capabilities of the Ulock) now, so hope that does the trick.

Simon Mason' email hidden in said:

<ouch> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It annoys me that these things happen and makes me paranoid about leaving MY bike anywhere. What
are we meant to do?

If possible leave your bike locked up at something like a NCP or council car park in sight of the
guy in the kiosk. You can ask them to do you a favour and keep an eye on it for a packet of [censored] or
something. It's something I've done in the past.

The word NICKotine springs to mind!

--
"Netiquette" states that a signature should be no more than four lines long.

Gadget said:

Get him a Kryptonite lock. New York model if possible. I have had the immense pleasure of sitting
in a certain burger bar up London and watched a theif attemp to use a car jack on one of these. I
sat and watched for half an hour while I finished eating. He scarpered as I approached. They are
heavy, but for a mountain bike I've always found added weight not a problem.

Gadget

It's paradox: That the lighter your bike the heavier the lock you need to protect it :-)

Simon Mason said:

You can ask them to do you a favour and keep an eye on it for a packet of [censored] or something.

That would be an excessively expensive option.

Simonb

"John Hearns" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hello Everyone,

I hope you don't mind if I rant on a bit about a bad experience that my friend had. theft tale
snipped
I hate to say this, but he was lucky the whole bike wasn't nicked.

I had one stolen from an underground car park. The thieves cut through a U-lock - I have the
pieces still. A few months ago, I found the type of bolt cutters they use, conveniently stashed
somewhere. Handles around 3 foot long. There are other methods, like using a car jack or an angle
grinder. snip If it must be kept outside, he'll need the best and toughest chain he can afford.
cycling Plus did an article on locks/chains a few months ago.

For a regular parking spot try the heavy chains sold for locking motorbikes. Too heavy to carry
but a regular parking spot is high risk as the thief can choose any quiet time of day or night
to steal it.

Clive George said:

<ouch> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It annoys me that these things happen and makes me paranoid about leaving MY bike anywhere. What
are we meant to do?

Three questions answered in order:

No - anything can be stolen if the thief so desires. The trick is to make it more trouble than
it's worth.

Maybe - is the saddle on a QR? If so, take it with you.

Lock it up or move to a small village. Store it indoors overnight. Big locks, not cables (too easy
to cut). I like chains. ...

And report it to the police. The bigger the problem of stolen bikes looks on the stats, the more
likely it is that serious police effort will be devoted to solving it.

Theft is probably the main deterrent to cycling to stations. For most people car-free living is
impossible without the ability to leave bikes at stations and rely on them staying there, undamaged.

Colin McKenzie

would you belieeeeeeeve it.....the police called me last night to say that they'd caught the bloke
who did it, and that he'd sold all the bikes that he'd nicked to fund his drug habit! anyway....he's
in prison at the moment waiting to go to court, but with todays justice system, will probably only
get 2 hours community service, learning how to pick locks !!!! "Gonzalez"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

ouch said:

It's one of those that has a hole in it.

Aren't those women's comfort saddles?
--
remove remove to reply

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe - is the saddle on a QR? If so, take it with you.

I do sometimes but it's quite cumbersome to carry it around with you. Oh well. I suppose I should
try to do it more often.

I replaced all three of my quick releases with ones which take an allen key. For just a few pounds,
better peace of mind when leaving the bike outside shops etc.

I think the QRs like Pitlocks look a good idea though - each one is supposed to have a unique key,
which fits on the end of an allen key(?) so allen-key toting thieves have less of a chance at swoing
wheels/saddles.

Quoted message said:

He has a Kryptonite, New York model I believe. It doesn't seem to be wide enough to go round both
the seat tube AND the rear wheel. He has a 12mm Kryptonite cable (one of those with a loop at
either end to extend the capabilities of the Ulock) now, so hope that does the trick.

Ahh yes but I own the chain version and it seems to reach from front to back with a lock on each end
securing the wheels on.

Gadget