Someone Stole My Bike...AGAIN!

[Elomin Sha]

This video I just uploaded shows how I'm feeling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt49Nphfpug

Went to get my bike this morning for work to find that is had been cut from the bike lock that was around the lamp post outside my house and wheeled off. The problem with them doing that is, there was no bike seat on it because I remove it every night because it is only attached by a simple catch. Also the Back wheel was locked off by a D-Lock. I've reported it to the police, but I don't expect anything from them...AGAIN!

My road is a cul-de-sac so it is annoying that it's gone. Forum members who remember what happened last year, someone walked INTO my flat and walked out with my last one (viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6811&start=0).

[Cake]

DUuUuUuUUUde. How lame.

[Elomin Sha]

Very. At least this time I wasn't kicking the walls of the house.

[dav3meier]

I can't ride a bike in Waterloo. They get stolen like crazy around the school. And if they can't take them they will break them. It isn't worth it anymore after losing two bikes.

[YamaroV2]

Man, that sucks. Someone slashed my tires last week. Not -as- bad, but still rage-worthy. But on the bright side, I get to use this totally untasteful picture.

[CygnusX1]

I can't ride a bike in Waterloo. They get stolen like crazy around the school. And if they can't take them they will break them. It isn't worth it anymore after losing two bikes.

i have never had this problem in waterloo myself but it defiantly sucks

[jtaylor]

Solution: Get a bike that fits in a briefcase like the ones that Hammond and May rode from the ferry to the cable car in Japan. Then treat that briefcase as if it contained nuclear secrets.

[TomBrend]

I refuse to ride a bike in Boston because I know it would get stolen.

[CygnusX1]

my advice would be to just start riding crappy bikes you can get at garage sales for like $20,

[ecocd]

Wow. That's crazy. Sorry to hear it. No seat and a d-lock? Really? What the hell is the guy/girl going to do with it? Take the front wheel and trash the rest of the bike? how much is a front wheel worth? I guess the only thing to do is to move to somewhere people won't regularly steal your bikes.

[korri]

Did you d lock it to the lampost? because if not, they probably took it with them so they could figure out how to get it off.

Or just take it inside each night

[Lorithad]

Augh.
I've had way too many bikes stolen from me over the course of my life. It's really disgusting how common it is. And how little the police actually care.

The best method i've found for preventing a bike from being stolen, is to keep it out of sight. Buy a crappy shed for your back yard and keep the bike in there. Hell, i've left my shed unlocked countless times and nobody's bothered with it. But i've had a bike stolen that has had two locks on it before.

[AeroCmdr]

Man, that sucks. Someone slashed my tires last week. Not -as- bad, but still rage-worthy. But on the bright side, I get to use this totally untasteful picture.

I was thinking that from the second I read the thread's title.

Sorry to head about your bike and may the person that took it be run over by many bikes.

[Dutch guy]

I suspect it was the germans, still waiting for them to return my grandpa's bike. (If you don't get the joke, check up on german occupation of the netherlands during WW2)

Also, if you get a brand new shining bike, take a scotch pad to it and at the very least take some of that shine off. Something I've noticed here in the netherlands is that the professional thieves going for a profit are not bothered by any amount of locks whatsoever but will leave a bike that looks bad alone, and the chance-thieve who just needs a bike goes for whatever he can get fast so a good lock is all you need to prevent theft. SO, what do you do? Take your bike apart, as many bits as you can get off, dull them down, and preferably just paint them in a matt paint, then put everything back together. That sure makes it LOOK crappy putting of the pro thieves, but it's still a good bike.

Also, don't overdo it on the locks. It takes 13 seconds (my personal best) to take of the standard through the wheel type lock on the bike, about 6 seconds to cut through a standard chain, and about 8 seconds to take off a D-lock. All with an angle-grinder ofcourse. This means that no amount of locks is gonna stop a bike thief who really wants your bike. Also putting on a lot of locks signifies you have a good bike and care to protect it. Afterall who would just put a standard chain on a perfect bike and leave it out in the open? So don't bother putting on a 50 dollar bikelock, it takes about 2 seconds more to take off and your bike is still gone. A 20 buck lock does exactly the same at half the cost. There is no steal-proof lock.

(No, I'm not a bike thief, my universities faculty/student club has a thing every year with the freshman introduction days of building something from old bikes and other misc scrap. All of the old bikes are removed from stations etc. by the city and sold to us as scrap. This means most of them are still locked. To protect the freshmen we have a few experienced people handle all the grinding and welding)

[kkief02]

That sucks Elomin! People must really not want you to get places. Hope you can either get another bike, or get someone to give enough of a crap to help you out with your bike problems

[masamune]

arghh. maybe you should get a bike and cover it with twilight stickers.

[kkief02]

arghh. maybe you should get a bike and cover it with twilight stickers.

And glitter!

[Elomin Sha]

I couldn't fit the D-Lock around the lamp post because of the bulbous bottom that holds electrical wire and other bits. The bikes I've had are all terrible ones too.
Luckily enough my other bike was repaired and so I've got it back. HARRR! Now I'm keeping it inside the house.

[danpete6]

I keep my bike in my backyard, completely unlocked. If someone were to go in my backyard, they could just take it. Fortunately, I live in Minnesota. No thefferies here.

[Billy Hero4Hire]

my advice would be to just start riding crappy bikes you can get at garage sales for like $20,

Ugh, I did that once. It was a crappy bike for about 15 bucks. Not a week later I crashed into a wall and broke the right pedal COMPLETELY OFF.

[Master Gunner]

Duct tape could fix that.

[Elomin Sha]

I don't believe that could actually happen with the pedal. I suggest we get the Mythbusters in and test this myth, then blow the bike up.

[gcninja]

OR blow up whoever took yours. Did you even get your other one back? or find the guy? Sorry dude, one idea could be wire a large batt to it and leave at night then have a hidden switch to turn it off any body tries to steal it BZZZZZ. paul might be able to help

[Elomin Sha]

I never got my other bike back. The police don't really care.

[Fuzzyfreaker]

Fortunately, I live in Minnesota. No thefferies here.

Tell that to the asshat that stole my laptop bag out of my car while I was at work.