Show us your decent bike disguised as a crappy bike.

[mickle]

Hmm, old bike but not crappy. XT and LX.

View attachment 774967

That doesn't qualify. It's not sh!t enough.

 

[wafter]

When you want to ride a good bike and park it anywhere without attracting the attention of thieving scumbags you disguise it as a 'sh!tter'.

Mine came to me as a £35 knackered old mid nineties Marin Kentfield. I took the paint off and my parts bin, ebay and my local bike recycling jount supplied the upgrades. It's geared low enough to tow a trailer.

View attachment 774941

Very nice - love all the utility adornments and the low-key aesthetics (even if I question losing the original paint as this is usually more durable than DIY stuff).

However, I'd file that more under "unassuming" that "shitter"; it looks tidy, just not necessarily expensive / worth robbing to punt on given the unfashionable bits.. although that said I think the understated paint and format almost makes it look worth more than it likely is. Regardless I'd still be looking at a decent lock as the sleeper aesthetic won't stop the smackheads robbing it to chase their dealers all over town..

I'd rate that on the same level as my Fuji - undesirable to the career-thief but not something I'd leave locked up for more than half an hour or so while I nip into the shops.


The only one of mine I'd leave locked up for a long period of time (i.e. all day while I'm miles away) would be the Routier; and that's only because it's obviously old and worth next to nothing.. although I only got this because it had been nicked and dumped so it was obviously sufficiently appealing to some lightfingered scumbag. Hopefully the decent D-lock and cable through the wheels are more than had to be overcome to liberate it from its previous legitimate owner..

I'm still looking for ideas of how to "rat-look" my CdF 20 Flat Bar - which is obviously a fairly pricey bike, and will have more pricey bits hanging off it by the time it gets any practical use.. This will be a challenge as it'll be by far the most minty / expensive bike I'll have tasked myself with leaving locked up and is going to take some serious anxiety management if it's ot be used as a proper utility hack..

Nah it's a 23" in basic 18-30 I think (no sticker so it could be 501) but it has that 'loping' Raleigh ride quality...............real mile eater that I could ride all day.

Interesting you say that as my Routier (which I believe is the same frame) is a bit of a bone shaker - however this could just be down to the saddle and bar tape..

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have wondered a fe wtimes if there is a "wrap" type ting that can be used to make a bike look rubbish

it would be easier to do than painting it maybe??

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

I have wondered a fe wtimes if there is a "wrap" type ting that can be used to make a bike look rubbish

it would be easier to do than painting it maybe??

Maybe, but pretty sure there used to be rust effect stickers.

 

[raleighnut]

I have wondered a fe wtimes if there is a "wrap" type ting that can be used to make a bike look rubbish

it would be easier to do than painting it maybe??

No need, spray/wipe it down with an oily substance then take it out for a dusty ride and don't wash it.....ever..............Keep cleaning down to Chain/cassette/freewheel and braking tracks on wheels and keep cables/pivots etc well lubed and it will soon aquire that 'old nail' patina.
I mean we all like 'shiny' but so do thieves so the object is to make it look grimy but know that mechanically it is perfect it just looks like an old hack bike.

 

[Punkawallah]

70’s Dawes (Fox?) frame, to flat bar, brake calliper cable adjusters on the down tube shifter bosses to enable trigger shifters on the bars. Used as a ‘hack’ for back and forth to town. Shimano SIS gears and six speed block, steel chain set, Weinmann wheels and 730 calipers, Selle Italia saddle. It will outlive me, at least.

 

[raleighnut]

70’s Dawes (Fox?) frame, to flat bar, brake calliper cable adjusters on the down tube shifter bosses to enable trigger shifters on the bars. Used as a ‘hack’ for back and forth to town. Shimano SIS gears and six speed block, steel chain set, Weinmann wheels and 730 calipers, Selle Italia saddle. It will outlive me, at least.

View attachment 775016

Nice bike but too clean, Harry 'crackhead' and his oppo's would see that as a cool bike and have it away in seconds

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

How do insurance companies react to decent bike made to look like wrecks??

I mean - presumably if you have the original receipt and the bike is pretty much just as it was then that would be OK

but if you have a decent frame and put decent stuff on it but it looks rubbish then a photo isn;t going to impress them when you claim £1000 for what looks like something you got out of a skip
It would need someone who knows about bikes to notice the real value


or is this where the specialist bike insurance people are better and the general Home Insurance cause problems??

 

[wafter]

I have wondered a fe wtimes if there is a "wrap" type ting that can be used to make a bike look rubbish

it would be easier to do than painting it maybe??

I thought similar as vinyl wrap for cars is a things, as is frame protection tape for bikes.

However, ultimately if you wanted to cover the whole bike I think it would be next to impossible given the complex shape of the frame..

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I thought similar as vinyl wrap for cars is a things, as is frame protection tape for bikes.

However, ultimately if you wanted to cover the whole bike I think it would be next to impossible given the complex shape of the frame..

I was probably aiming too high
I reckon some badly done gaffa tape would work well

leaving the edges exposed to gather road dust and grit would help the look

and even if the thief realises the bike is actually good - the time needed to remove the tape and sticky stuff would be more than they would be prepared to spend on it

would add a few grammes to the weight - but then a lock ain;t light!

 

[Punkawallah]

Nice bike but too clean, Harry 'crackhead' and his oppo's would see that as a cool bike and have it away in seconds

Not so far - as soon as they realise it’s a steel frame they must change their minds ;-)

 

[wafter]

I was probably aiming too high
I reckon some badly done gaffa tape would work well

leaving the edges exposed to gather road dust and grit would help the look

and even if the thief realises the bike is actually good - the time needed to remove the tape and sticky stuff would be more than they would be prepared to spend on it

would add a few grammes to the weight - but then a lock ain;t light!

Sounds like a pretty good plan; although I'd not much fancy removing that nasty residue either...

 

[raleighnut]

Not so far - as soon as they realise it’s a steel frame they must change their minds ;-)

Why when Steel is by far the best material for a bike frame unless you're racing at pro level and they're gonna chuck new crackbon frames at you when needed. OK there is a bit of a weight penalty but not as much as is touted by advertisements.

Main reason for plastic bikes is anyone could make them given the mould whereas Steel frames take a craftsman to construct.

 

[Dadam]

Don't have a bike that looks crappy and am not fussed about having one. I want to have nice things.
And due to not being on a bike at all from teenage years until my fifties I have zero nostalgia for legacy tech and how things were "better" in some unspecified golden age.

I'm fortunate to lock my commuter bike in a reasonably safe location and I rely for security on minimising risk exposure (location and/or time), good locks and good insurance.

I do wonder if the benefit is more placebo than deterrent. You're not going to convincingly disguise a really good bike as a shitter IMHO. Maybe you'd put off the crack head opportunist but so would a good lock; they're looking for easy pickings. The semi pro tealeaf would see through rust paint and stickers in a heartbeat.

Anyway, here's my "rattiest" bike, a 2019 Giant Escape 2 Disc which doesn't really qualify as it's way too clean.

And here's my oldest bike, a Spesh Roubaix Sport, which absolutely does NOT qualify!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The point about making it look like a rubbish bike is really just based on the concept of

this bike is rubbish - take that one

so it does depend on there being other bikes very close
hence the point that even though all locks that are portable can be broken - but why would a thief spend time breaking a U-lock
when someone has left a bike next to it with a cable lock that they can break with a cutter in 1 second


and also the idea that the actual thieves are normally not clever people and do not know much about bikes

If you have a clever, knowledgeable well equipped thief with the time needed
then that is what you have insurance for

for the normal type - looking rubbish and being next to a nice clean pretty bike is the best protection