Bicycle theft

Leo Lichtman said:

SF Channel 7 had a disturbing story on biycle theft this evening,
which I find very disturbing. The thieves are using an approach to
stealing high end bikes that I had not heard of before. Lets say you
are out riding your expensive bike. Someone follows you home and
writes down your address. Later on someone breaks into your place and
steals the bike. The actual burglarly may be committed by still a
third person.
I don't know how you can be safe against this. I suppose if you have
an attractive, expensive bike, you need to use a heavy chain even
inside your home.

I'm so fast they'll never stick with me.

Bill "or I'll bore 'em to death" S.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Lets say you are out riding your
expensive bike. Someone follows you home and writes down your address.
Later on someone breaks into your place and steals the bike. The actual
burglarly may be committed by still a third person.

I don't know how you can be safe against this. I suppose if you have an
attractive, expensive bike, you need to use a heavy chain even inside your
home.

Get an alarm. Or a pit bull.

This story makes me glad I live at the end of a dead end street, as I'd
notice being followed. Of course, my working at home, having 3 dogs, and
some seriously nosy neighbors won't hurt, either.

You could just U-lock your bike to a pipe (I'm thinking my water main in
the basement). Remove the front wheel, and lock through both wheels and
the frame, and you'd be fine. The rest of your belongings, of course,
would still be fair game (and probably worth more fenced).

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_ [email hidden]
(_)/ (_)

Leo Lichtman said:

SF Channel 7 had a disturbing story on biycle theft this evening, which I
find very disturbing. The thieves are using an approach to stealing high
end bikes that I had not heard of before. Lets say you are out riding your
expensive bike. Someone follows you home and writes down your address.
Later on someone breaks into your place and steals the bike. The actual
burglarly may be committed by still a third person.

I don't know how you can be safe against this. I suppose if you have an
attractive, expensive bike, you need to use a heavy chain even inside your
home.

It's possible of course that there's some truth to the report- there
really are burglars that plan their burglaries- but unless these
burglars are being caught and confessing to the details of their crimes
I'd take such media exposes with a very large grain of salt. On slow
news days especially the media has been known to manufacture "new
trends" from two similar but unrelated incidents. When it's pointed out
to them that similar events have been occurring for years (in this
case, burglars scouting possible targets in advance), they just change
their description to a "growing trend".

Regards,
Bob Hunt

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

Quoted message said:

Leo Lichtman said:

SF Channel 7 had a disturbing story on bicycle theft this evening, which
I
find very disturbing. The thieves are using an approach to stealing high
end bikes that I had not heard of before. Lets say you are out riding
your
expensive bike. Someone follows you home and writes down your address.
Later on someone breaks into your place and steals the bike. The actual
burglary may be committed by still a third person.

I don't know how you can be safe against this. I suppose if you have an
attractive, expensive bike, you need to use a heavy chain even inside
your
home.

It's possible of course that there's some truth to the report- there
really are burglars that plan their burglaries- but unless these
burglars are being caught and confessing to the details of their crimes
I'd take such media exposes with a very large grain of salt. On slow
news days especially the media has been known to manufacture "new
trends" from two similar but unrelated incidents. When it's pointed out
to them that similar events have been occurring for years (in this
case, burglars scouting possible targets in advance), they just change
their description to a "growing trend".

I'm wondering why burglars would decide to target bikes? Are they elitist
green liberal snob thieves?

Why follow someone riding and expensive bike - and how they'd know what an
expensive bike looks like - instead of someone driving an expensive car.
Hell, why not just case expensive homes?

This has the whiff of urban legend.

"recycled-one" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

... the media has been known to manufacture "new
trends" from two similar but unrelated incidents. When it's pointed out
to them that similar events have been occurring for years (in this
case, burglars scouting possible targets in advance), they just change
their description to a "growing trend".

Why follow someone riding and expensive bike ... instead of someone
driving an expensive car. Hell, why not just case expensive homes?

Casing expensive homes occurs in "The Autobiography of Malcolm X": a woman
would come into your home for a "marketing research interview" and case the
joint (perhaps on her way to the bathroom). Malcolm would break in a few
days later. This was before Malcolm got religion, so this is probably from
the 1950's.

Is the value of a fenced bicycle sufficiently high to justify this sort of
attention? I'm not saying bicycles can't be stolen from inside dwellings (my
daughter's junker was, although it was the least valuable of the 4 bicycles
there). Planning bike theft in advance seems like poor time allocation
relative to other criminal opportunities, like stealing cars. But maybe bike
thieves don't use six sigma processes.

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

Quoted message said:

"recycled-one" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

... the media has been known to manufacture "new
trends" from two similar but unrelated incidents. When it's pointed out
to them that similar events have been occurring for years (in this
case, burglars scouting possible targets in advance), they just change
their description to a "growing trend".

Why follow someone riding and expensive bike ... instead of someone
driving an expensive car. Hell, why not just case expensive homes?

Casing expensive homes occurs in "The Autobiography of Malcolm X": a woman
would come into your home for a "marketing research interview" and case
the joint (perhaps on her way to the bathroom). Malcolm would break in a
few days later. This was before Malcolm got religion, so this is probably
from the 1950's.

Is the value of a fenced bicycle sufficiently high to justify this sort of
attention? I'm not saying bicycles can't be stolen from inside dwellings
(my daughter's junker was, although it was the least valuable of the 4
bicycles there). Planning bike theft in advance seems like poor time
allocation relative to other criminal opportunities, like stealing cars.
But maybe bike thieves don't use six sigma processes.

I doubt thieves specialize so. If they are going to burgle a house they are
going to carry away everything they can easily carry and fence. Bikes, sure,
but notebook computers, golf clubs, etc.

It just seems that burglar would be so selective and thorough in their
targeting as the OP suggests. I'm guessing most bike thefts are crimes of
opportunity: a deserted location, an unlocked bike. I seriously doubt that
thieves would put that much effort _just_ to steal a bike, even an expensive
one.

recycled-one said:

This has the whiff of urban legend.

It sure does. Did the news story say HOW the thieves follow the cyclist
home? I would certainly notice either a car or a bike following me for
any length of time.

Diablo Scott said:

recycled-one said:

This has the whiff of urban legend.

It sure does. Did the news story say HOW the thieves follow the cyclist
home? I would certainly notice either a car or a bike following me for
any length of time.

There is a good chance that the person who owns a very expensive bike
most likely has some other very expensive toys at home as well.

"justin david smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Diablo Scott said:

recycled-one said:

This has the whiff of urban legend.

It sure does. Did the news story say HOW the thieves follow the cyclist
home? I would certainly notice either a car or a bike following me for
any length of time.

There is a good chance that the person who owns a very expensive bike
most likely has some other very expensive toys at home as well.

So does the guy driving a Ferrari. The problem with the story is why focus
on expensive bikes both for selection and theft? The vast majority of people
will recognize a luxury car more easily than an expensive bike.

Leo Lichtman said:

SF Channel 7 had a disturbing story on biycle theft this evening, which I
find very disturbing. The thieves are using an approach to stealing high
end bikes that I had not heard of before. Lets say you are out riding your
expensive bike. Someone follows you home and writes down your address.
Later on someone breaks into your place and steals the bike. The actual
burglarly may be committed by still a third person.

I don't know how you can be safe against this. I suppose if you have an
attractive, expensive bike, you need to use a heavy chain even inside your
home.

Unless the bike is an obvious boutique-level design (like many carbon
Treks with their shaped-to-the-rear-wheel seat tubes), obscuring the
bike's credentials would probably help. Remove decals or replace them
with ones that say "Roadmaster". Install duct tape. That which looks
worthless is not going to inspire avarice as easily. If this practice
is anathema to you, well, to each his own.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
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Sorni said:

I'm so fast they'll never stick with me.

Ride naked and nobody will want to steal the bike.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

recycled-one said:

I'm wondering why burglars would decide to target bikes? Are they elitist
green liberal snob thieves?

No, but expensive bikes get flown around a lot, and aren't scrutinized
much by Customs anywhere. Many of them have no serial numbers,
either.

Quoted message said:

Why follow someone riding and expensive bike - and how they'd know what an
expensive bike looks like - instead of someone driving an expensive car.
Hell, why not just case expensive homes?

I'm sure there are specialists of those types, but if the police have
been clocking an unusual number of B&E/Burglary events where the only
or primary item taken was an expensive bike, they might very well have
spotted a trend.

Quoted message said:

This has the whiff of urban legend.

To some extent, yes.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

As the OP, I am a little embarassed. The skeptical part of my brain must
have been turned off.
1.) It seems implausible that a burglar would go to that much trouble to
get the bike, and touch nothing else. If he stole other stuff, then the
clarity of his motive to steal the bike woule be obscured.
2.) A bicycle is a clumsy object to escape with, and brings a poor dollar
return, compared to tools, jewelry, electronics, etc.

recycled-one said:

I'm wondering why burglars would decide to target bikes? Are they elitist
green liberal snob thieves?

Not everyone that owns expensive bicycles are elitist green liberal
snobs. Some are neoconservative protofascists or at least that
opinion's been voiced in political threads here. ;-)

Quoted message said:

This has the whiff of urban legend.

The OP wasn't passing along an urban legend but a report from a
respectable mainstream news organization. It kind of makes one wonder
what else the newsies do to fill in on slow news days, doesn't it?

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Leo Lichtman said:

As the OP, I am a little embarassed. The skeptical part of my brain must
have been turned off.

No need to be embarrassed by being hornswoggled by media reports, Leo.
Thanks to the media there are still people that believe Al Gore won in
Florida, that Alar on apples was a dangerous health hazard, and that
Fidel Castro once tried out for a major league baseball team. <g>

Regards,
Bob Hunt

On Thu, 25 May 2006 02:34:13 GMT in rec.bicycles.misc, Kristian M

Zoerhoff said:

You could just U-lock your bike to a pipe (I'm thinking my water main in
the basement). Remove the front wheel, and lock through both wheels and
the frame, and you'd be fine.

Nope. You can break a U-lock with an 9 foot 2x4. I watched it
happen one day in Westlake Plaza in the heart of downtown
Seattle. I was in the SBC espresso stand on the corner when I
saw the guy with the 2x4 get out of the pickup, pop the 2x4 in
the Kryptonite, drop the stick, grab the Cannondale, throw it in
the pickup, and they took off just as the owner came screaming
out of the espresso stand, helmet, jersey, and all.

It's the leverage, and the fact that the steel in the locks has
been hardened against *cutting* tools, so it's brittle. The perp
obviously had done it before, because it took him about a second
to break the lock.

Sounds to me like more folks in SF just need to put bars on all
their windows. And someone needs to stop buying cheap high end
bikes that are being fenced.

Leo Lichtman said:

As the OP, I am a little embarassed. The skeptical part of my brain must
have been turned off.
1.) It seems implausible that a burglar would go to that much trouble to
get the bike, and touch nothing else. If he stole other stuff, then the
clarity of his motive to steal the bike woule be obscured.
2.) A bicycle is a clumsy object to escape with, and brings a poor dollar
return, compared to tools, jewelry, electronics, etc.

While this seems a bit unlikely the report could be true. I expect
that some longterm thieves specialize to a considerable amount.
Certainly I know of one who for some time specialized in snowmobiles.

High end bikes strike me as a bit strange but one needs to stop and ask
oneself just how fast one can sell the bikes and the attendent risk.
Particularly if the thieves have a dedicated fence outside of the area.
I know that there are dedicated police units for car thieft. I
suspect that a similar thing does not exist in North America for bikes.

The story sounds suspicious but not necessarily false. However knowing
how accurate much of the press is when reporting other cycling stories
.....
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

The story about the pick up truck and a 9 foot 2x4 is very impressive.
I wonder how often this happens.

I've been stupidly leaving my Felt in a locked car in a locked publoc
garage of my apt complex for a month, and one night it got neatly
stolen (I posed on this a month or two ago). Neatly means the cars'
windows weren't broken (thank you). To keep my paranoia under control,
I now keep all my bikes at home locked to ea other and to the bike rack
with a kryptonite NYC chain, and I purchased renters' insurance. To
keep my paranoia under *full* control I would need to get a heavy piece
of soild metal/concrete that can only be lifted by 2-3 adult men, and
to chain the bikes to that. My apartment does not happen to have silid
pipes or anything "immovable but protruding".

I also can see a scenario of the thief getting into the house with the
intent to steal the bike, find the bike nicely chained, and doing some
nasty damage to the bike to let out his frustration.