Do cheap, ugly bikes get stolen?

[rochester21]

Hello, everyone. I`m planning on moving to Manchester and commute to work. Until now, i never kept a bicycle outside my house, and i`m starting to think about ways of avoiding a potential bike theft.

So the plan is to buy a cheap, 90s bike, and apart from getting a couple of locks, i`m thinking of actually vandalising it a bit. Things like spraying paint all over the rims, frame etc, cutting the seat, and using sand paper to mess up the levers and paint. With a bit of nail polish i can also write "rusty old banger" on the top tube.

Now, you may think this idea is stupid, because nobody would want an ugly, messed up bike, but this also applies to thieves, right? Old, ugly bikes are not worth stealing because nobody would buy them.

I started this topic because i wanted to ask if any of you tried something similar, and whether you think this would be a good way of discouraging(or disgusting) thieves. I hate the very idea of anyone ever stealing one of my bikes, so i will go to great lengths to stop that.

 

[summerdays]

Start with good locks and thinking about the places you leave it. I think I would rather have my bike nicked than ride something sounding quite so bad. But thieves will nick anything if it's easy so don't use a cable lock.

 

[User16625]

Start with good locks and thinking about the places you leave it. I think I would rather have my bike nicked than ride something sounding quite so bad. But thieves will nick anything if it's easy so don't use a cable lock.

Are cable locks really that bad? I know some of them are so thin I could probably chew through them but what about something like:
http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p3191/Abu...le-Lock.aspx?gclid=CLGLk5XA9L8CFY7KtAodi2sAOw

I use a mini d-lock to secure the frame and a couple of cheap cable locks to secure the wheels due to them being quick release.

 

[CopperCyclist]

There never a 100 percent guarantee, but in my experience a bike as you describe should be safe secured with any lock, as a thief will normally only bypass a lock if they want the bike for resale value, which yours would have the appearance of lacking. Make sure you do lock it though, as an unlocked bike is still good transport for a burglar so may take it just to move on /escape before dumping it.

Make sure the wheels look crap too.

And remember, even after all that, there's still nothing to discount the stupid random acts of vandalism that take place - however you have good odds for your plan I feel.

 

[ianrauk]

In answer to the original question. Any bike , cheap, expensive or otherwise will get pinched if the owner has given a thief half a chance.

 

[summerdays]

Are cable locks really that bad? I know some of them are so thin I could probably chew through them but what about something like:
http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p3191/Abu...le-Lock.aspx?gclid=CLGLk5XA9L8CFY7KtAodi2sAOw

I use a mini d-lock to secure the frame and a couple of cheap cable locks to secure the wheels due to them being quick release.

Some cable locks look bulky but in reality it's just the plastic outer. If you look on the Stolen Bristol Bikes website at the method of locking of a large majority of the bikes it's cable locks. But no lock is going to stop the determined thief!

 

[MontyVeda]

since my current steed is nigh on twenty years old, I reckon it's relatively theft proof... but only if the thief is looking for a quick £50 sale. An old MTB with no suspension and old cantilever brakes provably wouldn't get them more than £20... but if that's all they want, any old bike is an asset to them. Then there's the thieves that just want an easy ride home, or drunkards just being daft. I secure mine with a decent Kryptonite lock, and I've got rid of the QR skewers because kids will nick a wheel just because they can. So my advice is, lock it to something decent with a decent lock if you want to keep hold of it.

 

[Cyclopathic]

My main workhorse nag is an old Scott hybrid. I have "customized" what was an already not too desirable option for a thief with bits of gaffer tape and random splodges with paint from cans I've been clearing or brushes I've been cleaning. I have also altered the "Scott" writing on the frame so it says "Slutt". In addition I replaced the quick release skewers with ones that use an allen key and keep it locked with a fairly good D lock. It's not proof against everything but my aim was to make it not worth nicking for a quick £20 bag of smack.
It's a sad fact that one just cannot have nice things.

 

[Cycleops]

That's why you should never marry a pretty girl!

 

[Dogtrousers]

I had this discussion with a copper. He was at a bike marking stand outside Halfords, and I stopped and had a chat. I suggested that my bike's oldness and un-sexiness was a theft deterrent. He laughed, and said that a thief will steal it first and worry about how much it's worth after.

 

[User16625]

My main workhorse nag is an old Scott hybrid. I have "customized" what was an already not too desirable option for a thief with bits of gaffer tape and random splodges with paint from cans I've been clearing or brushes I've been cleaning. I have also altered the "Scott" writing on the frame so it says "Slutt". In addition I replaced the quick release skewers with ones that use an allen key and keep it locked with a fairly good D lock. It's not proof against everything but my aim was to make it not worth nicking for a quick £20 bag of smack.
It's a sad fact that one just cannot have nice things.

One can have nice things if one steals them.

 

[wintergreen]

I don't know which area of Manchester you are thinking of moving to but where I live any bike left outside overnight would be stolen, or at the very least stripped of anything that can be removed and the remains stolen very soon after.
Since January we have had a large number of people move into the area from overseas, People going through gardens/yards looking for metallic objects which can be weighed in for scrap metal has become an everyday occurrence.
Simply put, if it can be stolen It will be stolen.

 

[rliu]

All about the locks and not about the bike.
Had a Halfords Carrera Subway stolen 3 years ago, even though it only cost 200 quid

 

[rochester21]

That`s quite amazing.

Since January we have had a large number of people move into the area from overseas, People going through gardens/yards looking for metallic objects which can be weighed in for scrap metal has become an everyday occurrence.
Simply put, if it can be stolen It will be stolen.

Thank you for all the replies, they are quite interesting. It seems that in the end, i have to prepare myself emotionally for the day i`il discover just a broken lock on the spot where i left my rusty bike.

To be honest, i never expected to hear about such high rates of criminal activity in the United Kingdom. I always imagined this country as being perfectly orderly and polite.

 

[Garry A]

A couple of years back a guy that worked in a mobile phone shop told me the dummy display phones got stolen. People will steal ANYTHING.