Dead Man
02-10-14, 14:53
I've recently been exploring the broad, fascinating world of bike theft, and it has me reassessing my bike security methods and systems. This obviously is not a bike forum, but this board does have a lot of cops who have likely dealt with a number of bike theft cases. Likewise, anyone who has spent any real time cycling has had a bike stolen at some point. I think it will be a relevant discussion to a lot of members here.
My observations:
-Expensive bikes will be stolen if a pro-thief zeros in on one left unattended for longer than 30 minutes or so. Doesn't matter how well you lock it, a cordless angle grinder with a cutting wheel can kill any lock in about 10 seconds; including multiple locks
-Cheap (Bell, Master, bike-brand locks, etc), un-hardened locks are easily defeated with bolt-cutters and hack-saws, or even a solid whack from a hammer, whether chain or U-style. No power-tools needed. You might as well tie it up with string; you're just keeping people from walking off with it while you quickly run into the store, at that point.
-Most U-locks can be defeated with nothing more than a crowbar or hammer.
-All cable locks, armored or not, can be defeated with bolt cutters and usually nothing more than wire-nippers
-Bike thieves know that no one will stop them or even question them as they saw through your lock in broad daylight, as confirmed by multiple demonstrations on YouTube
-The best locks are carburized chains weighing around 10lbs, completely negating the extra $K you put into your bike to have a sub-20lbs ride. Hardened U-locks from Kryptonite and Abus are a close second, but aren't nearly as versatile and are still hefty. You'll need one big enough to accept your front wheel, or plan to add a cable.. So 5-7lbs is still the weight range you're looking at, to beat everything but an angle grinder.
I commute into one of America's top-10 bike-theft cities from the 'burbs by bike, and log high miles. Given the amount of time I spend in the saddle, I've invested quite a bit into my commuter for speed and comfort sake. Pretty mid-range aluminum frame, but a halfway trained eye will recognize Easton carbon fiber and Red components. It's a risk that I accept for sake of not having to ride thousands of miles on a piece of shit: simply not willing to go that route. Unfortunately, I do have to lock it up outside for extended periods of time sometimes, up to 3 or 4 hours. I will try to go check on it every hour or two if I can, but since we know it only takes a couple of minutes to rip it off, that's really nothing more than satisfying my itch to see if it's still there. My hope is that a bike thief might be deterred by seeing someone come back to the bike, but these are obviously slim odds.
What methods have you (cop, rider, thief) seen or employed effectively? Any thoughts on camouflaging? I've been tempted to wrap the frame up in florescent orange duct tape or spray it with PlastiDip, but I wonder if that might just draw more attention to it. Anyone ever thought of a reasonable way to hide component quality? I've thought about taking some kind of solvent to the painted labels on the derailleurs, but am afraid to try the same on carbon fiber. Anyone ever done a full bike electrical-tape wrap? What about decals?
Things that I do/have done:
Kryptonite New York and supplementary cable for extended exterior locking - Lock frame to post, run cable through both wheels and chainrings (fortunately, most cranksets worth stripping are also skeletonized enough to achieve this); swaged cable from saddle to frame, keeping not only the post/saddle assembly from getting ripped off, but the saddle from being unbolted from the post as well; use less expensive components where the components can't be protected- drivetrain is Red, but my shifters are 105; always cable rims, not spokes- spokes are easily cut and replaced, but if they cut the rim, the wheelset is almost worthless (you really going to go to all that effort for hubs?); carbon frames beg to be stolen- a good aluminum frame with carbon fork, bar, and post will ride almost as well and isn't nearly as eye catching.
Has anyone ever come up with an effective handlebar security method?
Does anyone have any experience with the Tigr lock? What about Abus's folding locks?
All other thoughts and considerations on the topic in general welcome.
Some interesting videos on the topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zb8YXrmIA
BBC documentary part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AdugFzCi24
BBC part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhPzF-hyC7Q
I've also got a pretty good list of articles on the topic that go into more specific detail that I'll post at a later time.
My observations:
-Expensive bikes will be stolen if a pro-thief zeros in on one left unattended for longer than 30 minutes or so. Doesn't matter how well you lock it, a cordless angle grinder with a cutting wheel can kill any lock in about 10 seconds; including multiple locks
-Cheap (Bell, Master, bike-brand locks, etc), un-hardened locks are easily defeated with bolt-cutters and hack-saws, or even a solid whack from a hammer, whether chain or U-style. No power-tools needed. You might as well tie it up with string; you're just keeping people from walking off with it while you quickly run into the store, at that point.
-Most U-locks can be defeated with nothing more than a crowbar or hammer.
-All cable locks, armored or not, can be defeated with bolt cutters and usually nothing more than wire-nippers
-Bike thieves know that no one will stop them or even question them as they saw through your lock in broad daylight, as confirmed by multiple demonstrations on YouTube
-The best locks are carburized chains weighing around 10lbs, completely negating the extra $K you put into your bike to have a sub-20lbs ride. Hardened U-locks from Kryptonite and Abus are a close second, but aren't nearly as versatile and are still hefty. You'll need one big enough to accept your front wheel, or plan to add a cable.. So 5-7lbs is still the weight range you're looking at, to beat everything but an angle grinder.
I commute into one of America's top-10 bike-theft cities from the 'burbs by bike, and log high miles. Given the amount of time I spend in the saddle, I've invested quite a bit into my commuter for speed and comfort sake. Pretty mid-range aluminum frame, but a halfway trained eye will recognize Easton carbon fiber and Red components. It's a risk that I accept for sake of not having to ride thousands of miles on a piece of shit: simply not willing to go that route. Unfortunately, I do have to lock it up outside for extended periods of time sometimes, up to 3 or 4 hours. I will try to go check on it every hour or two if I can, but since we know it only takes a couple of minutes to rip it off, that's really nothing more than satisfying my itch to see if it's still there. My hope is that a bike thief might be deterred by seeing someone come back to the bike, but these are obviously slim odds.
What methods have you (cop, rider, thief) seen or employed effectively? Any thoughts on camouflaging? I've been tempted to wrap the frame up in florescent orange duct tape or spray it with PlastiDip, but I wonder if that might just draw more attention to it. Anyone ever thought of a reasonable way to hide component quality? I've thought about taking some kind of solvent to the painted labels on the derailleurs, but am afraid to try the same on carbon fiber. Anyone ever done a full bike electrical-tape wrap? What about decals?
Things that I do/have done:
Kryptonite New York and supplementary cable for extended exterior locking - Lock frame to post, run cable through both wheels and chainrings (fortunately, most cranksets worth stripping are also skeletonized enough to achieve this); swaged cable from saddle to frame, keeping not only the post/saddle assembly from getting ripped off, but the saddle from being unbolted from the post as well; use less expensive components where the components can't be protected- drivetrain is Red, but my shifters are 105; always cable rims, not spokes- spokes are easily cut and replaced, but if they cut the rim, the wheelset is almost worthless (you really going to go to all that effort for hubs?); carbon frames beg to be stolen- a good aluminum frame with carbon fork, bar, and post will ride almost as well and isn't nearly as eye catching.
Has anyone ever come up with an effective handlebar security method?
Does anyone have any experience with the Tigr lock? What about Abus's folding locks?
All other thoughts and considerations on the topic in general welcome.
Some interesting videos on the topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zb8YXrmIA
BBC documentary part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AdugFzCi24
BBC part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhPzF-hyC7Q
I've also got a pretty good list of articles on the topic that go into more specific detail that I'll post at a later time.