Prolific bike theif

[HLaB]

Ah, but why should we ride a crappy bike to work - my commuter is the bike I use most..... I also lock up with multiple security - enough to put most thieves off. My secondary lock is a bit unusual....... and I also use a cable lock for the saddle............

If I have to go back to locking the bike in the shed most days, then the 10lb chain will be taken back into work...... on top of a NY Fahg.....and a cable lock through saddle rail and pannier rack................

TBH - if the commuter get's stolen, it can be replaced quickly by the 'same' bike and it's insured. My 'two' old road bikes can't be replaced as such......... especially my best bike.........so that never get's left anywhere, and is d'locked to the garage floor.

That said, most bikes in the so called 'secure' compound I use, lots are very badly secured - i.e. d locks round top tube..... loads of slack............. or cheap cables..........

I hope not but I wouldn't be suprised if the bike cage at my old work has been broken into. Its at the back of the garage and the door is left open all day. The cage itself is only a wire mesh cage secured and the door is secured with a cheap combination padlock. Inside there's a few bikes bought on cycle to work (600-£1000) and they are either secured with cheap cable locks or not at all! Folk trust an unsighted cheap combi lock/ wire mesh

 

[MacB]

There is a lot of misinformation around about Sold Secure testing. The complete tool-list is below. Bronze (fairly worthless) is testing against section A, Silver against sections A and B, Gold against sections A, B and C.

Section A – Light Manual

• A01 to A03 Screwdriver 0.10m to 0.20 m with slotted tip as a lever
• A04 0.5kg ball peign hammer
• A05 Miniature hand hacksaw frame to BS 7398:1991, Type A with integral tension
• A06 Wrecking Bar - 300mm
• A07 Steel tube 0.3m long with 32mm diameter
• A08 Pair of pliers,
• A09 Allen Key Set - 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 8.0, 10.0mm
• A10 to A14 – A10 Craft Knife, A11 Tweezers, A12 Hooks, A13 String, A14 Wire
• A15 Adhesive Tape
• A16 Plastic Coupon (Credit Card),
• A17 Wedges,
• A18 Multiple Slip Joint Pliers (250mm)

Section B – Medium Manual

• B01 Socket set approximately 30 piece 3/8 inch drive to BS 1224:1970.
• B02 Range of Combination Spanners 6mm - 30mm to BS 1224:1970
• B03 20 piece Screwdriver Set, including Slotted, Phillips & Posi-drive tips
• B04 Wood Chisels 6, 12, 18 & 25mm
• B05 0.3m plumber’s Stillsons grip wrench to BS 3594:Pt 1
• B06 0.6m length of scaffolding pole
• B07 Hand hacksaw frame to BS 7398:1991 and HSS hacksaw blade
• B08 Cold & Bolster Chisel Set ranging from approx.6mm - 50mm & steel wedges.
• B09 Parallel Punch Set (100mm) 3.2, 4.0, 4.8, 5.5, 6.4mm
• B10 Side Cutters (heavy duty), B11 Bolt Croppers 0.460m
• B12 Wrecking Bar - 450mm,
• B13 Pry Bar 400mm
• B14 Scissor Jack with 1.5 tonnes capacity
• B15 Slide Hammer 1kg 0.3m,
• B16 7.2V Cordless Drill 10mm chuck,
• B17 Drill Bits HSS (1mm – 13mm)
• B18 Vice Grip Set (125mm & 250mm, parallel jaws)

Section C – Heavy Manual/ Light Electrical

• C01 Impactor Screwdrivers variety of slotted tip sizes 6,8,10,12mm
• C02 0.45m plumber's Stillsons grip wrench to BS 3594:Pt 1
• C03 B05 extended with 0.6m scaffold bar
• C04 0.6m length of scaffolding poles which fits together to item B06
• C05 1.1kg club hammer to BS 876:1981
• C06 Hand hacksaw frame to BS 7398:1991 and TCT hacksaw blade
• C07 Freezing agent - can size 0.5 Litres.
• C08 Bolt Croppers 0.610m
• C09 Bolt Croppers 1.070m
• C10 Wrecking Bar 600mm
• C11 Slide Hammer 2kg 0.45m
• C12 Grundman/Kaba "Knackerer"
• C13 Shims (set of automotive feeler gauges 0.001-2mm)
• C14 Picking tools (including a modified key blank)
• C15 12V Cordless Drill 13 mm chuck, 1500rpm max.
• C16 Tank Cutter/ Core Cutter Bit 100mm HSS
• C17 Hydraulic Bottle Jack (1.5 Tonnes) to BS AU 172b:1990
• C18 Ball Joint Splitter/Separator Kit (to light commercial)
• C19 Coil Spring Compressor (to 270mm jaw opening)
• C20 Self Contained Blow Torch Propane/Butane (1650ºC)

(My emphasis)

That's a lot of info Ben and certainly seems to fly in the face of what I've been led to believe. But something is fishy, there are several timed video demonstrations showing how long gold rate locks stand up to these tools. If my memory serves me right not one has lasted over about 30 seconds, which is a long way from the claimed 5 minutes.

The cynic in me tends to favour the demonstrations over the sales blurb...but accept that could be just my own bias.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I've had a Gold Standard D lock costing a shade under £100 off a bike in less than 2 minutes with a stubby. In the last 12 months. and I was well out of practise. But the look on my club mates face when I handed him the shattered remains of his 'impregnable' lock was a picture. He's a lot more careful where he leaves his keys now btw.

Unless you are very very careful about how you lock it, and in unfamiliar locations you make not be able to lock it as intended, someone with my.... ahem.... skills/background can have it away.

Put ye not your faith in men or princes or dodgy standards that don't stand up to independent tests. MAG used to have a stand at the NEC demonstrating how easy the locks were to destroy.

I'd put a deal more faith in Carlton Reid and the CTC than I would the Guild of Master Locksmiths (see edit below); they are the numpties who rated as 'Gold' a pile of locks in the mid noughties that you could crack with a freakin' bic biro, and when rumbled they just removed said locks from the list.

Almost as unethical as thieving bikes.

EDIT Master Locksmiths association in fact.

 

[CopperBrompton]

That's a lot of info Ben and certainly seems to fly in the face of what I've been led to believe. But something is fishy, there are several timed video demonstrations showing how long gold rate locks stand up to these tools.

Anything can be quickly destroyed given the right kit, and I've seen demos using larger croppers and jacks, but the tests are based on what typical thieves carry with them. Very few wander around with 1.5 metre croppers, etc.

 

[dellzeqq]

I think it's no big secret that the top bod on the Met's Cycle Task Force is an occasional visitor to these parts. And, sadly, he tells me that 22 seconds is about it. I'm sure that some bike thieves will fail to get through some locks, but if your bike is in the open then you take a chance. Hence the popularity of Bromptons in London.

The really astounding thing about bike thefts is that people will agree to meet someone at a tube station and part with hundreds of pounds in cash. What do they think they are doing? And here's the rub - Mr. Thief will have made several different appointments for people to look at the same bike at intervals throughout the evening. There are, it would appear, more buyers than sellers. That I find shocking.

 

[srw]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/aug/25/aviva-bike-insurance-pr-stunt

Bikes don't always get stolen. I suspect the bike market is now so well served by the legit that it's not worth a "professional" thief targetting them. Most thieves will be drug addicts after a quick fix.

If I were a professional bike thief looking for a pile of bikes to steal I wouldn't start in the UK. I'd go to Belgium, or Switzerland, or France - all countries with plenty of bikes and where typical locks are far less robust than they are here.

 

[srw]

Dellzeqq's anecdata versus srw's risk assessment. I'd be fascinated to know where the truth lies!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

If I were a professional bike thief looking for a pile of bikes to steal I wouldn't start in the UK. I'd go to Belgium, or Switzerland, or France - all countries with plenty of bikes and where typical locks are far less robust than they are here.

Campsites could be a good place to start, although the standard of bike might not always be very fancy you hardly see any locked up at all.

 

[dellzeqq]

http://www.gumtree.c...6/66141406.html
http://www.gumtree.com/london/06/66141406.html

would you buy these?

.....and if the Met thinks it worthwhile to leave fancy bikes locked up in locations frequented by thieves and makes arrests doing it - I'm with them.

 

[dellzeqq]

http://www.gumtree.c...8/66277748.html and try calling the number...

and it would appear to be the same bike as this one..
http://www.gumtree.com/london/81/66066681.html

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Anything can be quickly destroyed given the right kit, and I've seen demos using larger croppers and jacks, but the tests are based on what typical thieves carry with them. Very few wander around with 1.5 metre croppers, etc.

Heck of a lot of scrotes carry stubbies.

 

[Howard]

The really astounding thing about bike thefts is that people will agree to meet someone at a tube station and part with hundreds of pounds in cash. What do they think they are doing? And here's the rub - Mr. Thief will have made several different appointments for people to look at the same bike at intervals throughout the evening. There are, it would appear, more buyers than sellers. That I find shocking.

Haha yeah I witnessed this first hand last Saturday. Waiting outside Mile End tube for the Lady, this lad strolls up to me. In his finest London drawl he just comes flat out with it - "are you looking for a bike mate?" His rat-faced mate then toddles up from round the corner wheeling what appeared to be a brand new Boardman Comp Road bike. I looked over the bike, then back at him and his mate, then back to the bike clocking the shiny cassette and near perfect SPDs, then back at him, in disbelief. Then disgust. "No mate" is all I can say. Five minutes later this chump comes out of the tube entrance, who I can only assume is the person who is really after the bike, and waddles off round the corner with them both.

SRW - yes, bikes don't always get stolen, but the bikes used in that insurance scam were not exactly what scrotes target - here's a photo (sorry Pinnacle owners). And locking them like they did just screams "bait bike". They should have left them in Dalston.

 

[Valy]

stealing 70 bikes worth a staggering £40,000

Eh? What's staggering about that? I've a shed with bikes of 10% of that value in right now.


Every one is worth more than I paid for my last car.

Well, if you don't find £40,000 a big amount of money, then daym bro, you must be loaded.

 

[jay clock]

I've had a Gold Standard D lock costing a shade under £100 off a bike in less than 2 minutes with a stubby.

what's a stubby?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Well, if you don't find £40,000 a big amount of money, then daym bro, you must be loaded.

40k is a big amount of money. That 70 bikes could be worth £40k is not, by any informed stretch of the imagination, "staggering". only £570 odd mean per bike.