Disguise your bike ?

[Chess]

Anyone done this ? If so, how and what did you do ?
Hi all,
As bike theft is on the up I was wondering if this is a viable option to deter thieves.
I use my bike for commuting / shopping etc but constantly worry whether it will be there when I walk out of the shop.
Yes, I lock it but will making it look old, tatty, a pile of rubbish not worth nicking help to deter theft ?
If anyone has done this please let me know what and how. Pics, links and advice and your thoughts much appreciated.
And thanks in advance.

 

[Bimble]

I've heard if this, and know that people do do it, but it's not something I've ever considered. I tend not to clean my bikes very regularly though, so they possibly look more tatty than they might otherwise, but I can understand why people might think it's a good idea; it's blood-boiling annoying having your bike nicked, especially when you've taken time to invest in locks / security and make the effort to lock it up, and damned inconvenient if it happens away from home.

 

[welsh dragon]

I have disguised my bike as a clothes horse in my bedroom.

 

[mjr]

Yes, I lock it but will making it look old, tatty, a pile of rubbish not worth nicking help to deter theft ?

I suspect unless your bike is something famously resellable like a Specialized Allez or expensive like a Pinarello Dogma, it's not going to matter. Most people don't know what they're looking at with bikes - I've had compliments paid to my clanky, rusty made-in-Poland gas pipe roadster.

So I concentrate on locks (one chunky D, one alarmed cable) and parking locations: preferring ones with CCTV, good lighting, passing traffic; avoiding leaving it long in cycle parks that show up hot on the stolen-bikes maps. I'd worry more about leaving any well-known nickable components like Brooks saddles uncovered when parked.

 

[ianrauk]

If a thief see's an easy target, disguised or not they will have it away. 2 very good locks is what you need not a disguise.

 

[steveindenmark]

A friend of mine has a perfectly good TREK road bike which came in red. She then had it stripped and painted pink with flowers. It never seems to go missing.

 

[Salty seadog]

A trick I see in London is to cover the frame in many looking tape of various sorts. It would be a Bugger to get off and clean up I reckon.

 

[Sharky]

Tried to get planning permission for our bathroom update, but got turned down.
Don't know why not - seems a good design to me?

 

[vickster]

Good locks and insurance

 

[I like Skol]

.....avoiding leaving it long in cycle parks that show up hot on the stolen-bikes maps.

Where can I find this theft hotspot data? Would like to check out my local area and regular haunts to see if I am risking being hit. I kind of suspect the crime hotspots coincide with common sense, i.e if you lock your bike in that dingy alleyway at the side of the benefits office on signing on day then you are saying goodbye to your pride and joy!

 

[jefmcg]

Where can I find this theft hotspot data? Would like to check out my local area and regular haunts to see if I am risking being hit. I kind of suspect the crime hotspots coincide with common sense, i.e if you lock your bike in that dingy alleyway at the side of the benefits office on signing on day then you are saying goodbye to your pride and joy!

I don't think it works like that. For instance, this open and well trafficked rack is a hotspot in my neighbourhood, as are most station car parks.

Oh, having cleaned a river, I can attest to the fact that people steel shitty bikes too. They just dump them in a waterway when they are done with them, if they can't sell them.

 

[Gravity Aided]

When I take my bicycle downtown, I usually park it and lock it up within sight of a sidewalk cafe. No one is going to apply a grinder in front of a group of people, I suspect.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I don't think it works like that. For instance, this open and well trafficked rack is a hotspot in my neighbourhood, as are most station car parks.

Oh, having cleaned a river, I can attest to the fact that people steel shitty bikes too. They just dump them in a waterway when they are done with them, if they can't sell them.

They do that in the States, too. How odd. Must be the same set of motivations and thought processes.

 

[Bimble]

When I take my bicycle downtown, I usually park it and lock it up within sight of a sidewalk cafe. No one is going to apply a grinder in front of a group of people, I suspect.

You would think that, but ...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dz0Za5-wOM

 

[mjr]

Where can I find this theft hotspot data?

http://www.stolen-bikes.co.uk/mapping/ and - unless you're in a particularly theft-prone postcode - scroll down for the "all thefts in England and Wales in 2014" map too.

I don't think it works like that. For instance, this open and well trafficked rack is a hotspot in my neighbourhood, as are most station car parks

Indeed - that parking is near a train station. The other hotspots tend to be parking near gyms, swimming pools and cinemas if they haven't got good lighting, CCTV and/or staff - basically places where a thief has a reasonable chance of a bike being unattended for an hour or more. Quite a lot of bikes get nicked from residential back gardens, industrial back yards or being left locked to nothing or to themselves outside corner shops, but that tends to be too scattered to show up as a hotspot in its own right. There's also a surge in August and September as bikes get carted off to university cities to be flogged cheap to unsuspecting freshers.