security question

Perhaps this is a symptom of modern threadless headsets not requiring
special tools other than a hex key to remove?

I'd replace it with a rigid fork---that might be a bit less tempting,
though the stock fork is nothing special--some people might associate
"GT" with fancy, and think that the front end was somehow precious.

Haakon Studebaker said:

Last weekend my bicycle's front fork was stolen. I had it locked up
with a Kryptonite NY lock and one of their medium security u-locks
laced around the seat post and through the removed front tire and the
back tire. A cable kept the seat from being stolen. The front fork
was the only thing they could steal.

1. Short of keeping my bike indoors, which I will do from now on, how
could I have prevented this?

2. It's just the basic front fork that comes with a GT Avalanche 2.
Is it really worth something?

Just trying to figure out if this was malicious vandalism or there's a
knowledgeable bicycle thief in the area.

Malicious probably...or someone needed a part or something. (A despicable
someone, that is.)

You've already adopted the best solution: keep it inside or within view as
much as possible.

Bill "sucky people suck" S.

Haakon Studebaker said:

Last weekend my bicycle's front fork was stolen. I had it locked up with a
Kryptonite NY lock and one of their medium security u-locks laced around
the seat post and through the removed front tire and the back tire. A cable
kept the seat from being stolen. The front fork was the only thing they
could steal.

Also the handlebars.

Quoted message said:

1. Short of keeping my bike indoors, which I will do from now on, how could
I have prevented this?

Nothing that most people do, but it's possible to use tamper-resistant
bolts that require purposefully exotic bits to tighten or loosen. I
haven't done this but would imagine that if you were doing this on any
of the stem bolts (bar clamp or steerer binder) you'd need to make sure
that whatever head the fastener uses is designed for the torque
required, which is higher and more important on M5 and M6 fasteners on
bikes than it is in some other applications. You could also just put
one in place of your topcap bolt to give a threadless fork some extra
security, and anything can handle that amount of torque.

There's a German company called Pitlock that makes the best locking
skewers, as well as a coded theft-resistant topcap & bolt and some
other stuff. They're available all over Europe but there is no US
importer.

Quoted message said:

2. It's just the basic front fork that comes with a GT Avalanche 2. Is it
really worth something?

Pretty sure that there have at least several years of bikes with that
model name, but the short answer is not really. OTOH, if it was the
2005 version I just looked up, then the Judy TT it had is a whole lot
less worthless than the forks on many bikes, and probably does have
some street value just because its Rockshox, which in my experience is
a name the tweaker set hold in very high regard.

Quoted message said:

Just trying to figure out if this was malicious vandalism or there's a
knowledgeable bicycle thief in the area.

I think that in most cases where a "pro" would bother to do this, which
they might even if the payoff seems small, if they cut rather than
unbolted the front brake cable, then they'd take the handlebars with
all its goodies too, since the only thing more they need to do is snip
the other cables. If it was a pro without a cable cutter handy who saw
a target of oppurtunity, then maybe not. Hard to say.

However, obviously there's a thief in the area knowledgeable enough to
steal a fork, which many/most of them aren't. Assuming the worst is a
good idea.

Haakon Studebaker said:

Last weekend my bicycle's front fork was stolen. I had it locked up with a
Kryptonite NY lock and one of their medium security u-locks laced around
the seat post and through the removed front tire and the back tire. A cable
kept the seat from being stolen. The front fork was the only thing they
could steal.

1. Short of keeping my bike indoors, which I will do from now on, how could
I have prevented this?

2. It's just the basic front fork that comes with a GT Avalanche 2. Is it
really worth something?

Just trying to figure out if this was malicious vandalism or there's a
knowledgeable bicycle thief in the area.

You don't really need the steerer top cap or the star-fangled nut inside
the tube. See Sheldon Brown's site for a technique to set the headset
preload without them. With the steer tube wide open, you could pass a
cable through it easily.

Haakon Studebaker said:

Last weekend my bicycle's front fork was stolen. I had it locked up with a
Kryptonite NY lock and one of their medium security u-locks laced around
the seat post and through the removed front tire and the back tire. A cable
kept the seat from being stolen. The front fork was the only thing they
could steal.

1. Short of keeping my bike indoors, which I will do from now on, how could
I have prevented this?

2. It's just the basic front fork that comes with a GT Avalanche 2. Is it
really worth something?

Just trying to figure out if this was malicious vandalism or there's a
knowledgeable bicycle thief in the area.

1- Not much, really. About all anyone can do is make their property
more difficult to steal. 100% security is a fantasy so don't feel too
badly about being a victim.

2- It's worth its replacement value, no more and probably much less.

BTW, neither malice nor a knowledge of bikes was necessarily involved.
Many thieves will steal anything they can just because they can. If
they can't sell it later or use it themselves, they simply discard it.
It cost them nothing but their time after all and few things are valued
less than a thief's time.

Regards,
Bob Hunt