ADarkDraconis
Cardinal Member
- Location
- Ohio, USA
They could still just wheel it down the road or put it in the back of a truck, unfortunately.
stopping my bike getting stolen!
- Thread starter Alfa GT
- Start date
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Glow worm
Legendary Member
- Location
- Near Newmarket
May not be convenient to you but the bike shop at Lion Yard shopping centre in Cambridge city centre will store your bike securely for £1-50 a day.
vickster
Legendary Member
Indeed but it's all about making it more difficult and less attractive, especially somewhere like Cambridge where there are lots of bikes to choose from
OP
OP
Alfa GT
Active Member
funny you should say that. my last bike was stolen from right outside of that, in the underground bike park. I asked if it was common and the guys at the bike shop said people have been coming in with portable angle grinders and stealing bikes! I asked for CCTV footage and the Grand Arcade security wouldn't give it to me. I have now started using the secure bike park at weekends but I need to be in a different area during the week.
ADarkDraconis
Cardinal Member
- Location
- Ohio, USA
My brother lived with me up until a few years ago and we kept our bikes in our shed (which had seen better days, the trim and bottom were starting to rot through). I never thought that in our nice quiet neighborhood I would have to lock them inside if the shed was already locked. Well the teenage boy next door had some friends who were not quite upstanding citizens and the one busted our shed doors in, trashed everything, and stole his bike!
It was as inexpensive of a bike as you could get (a Walmart brand Nexxt 'mtb' with suspension that was the best we could afford at the time he was learning to ride,) but it had a pretty blue and silver paintjob and with the shocks I bet it looked pretty nice to a young kid who didn't know anything about bikes. They left my old Sears bike (that was plain red and pretty beat up, plus it was a girl's bike). So we call the police, ask around the neighborhood, etc. but don't find anything out. Then a couple of weeks go by...
And the moron shows up nextdoor on the stolen bike, he just painted it flat black!!! Rims, reflectors and all, everything! I just happened to be taking the dog out and see him on it, I confronted him and got it back (idiot still tried to claim it was his and attempted to ride away on it!) My brother didn't want to press charges, I did speak with the boy's mother who insisted that he never did anything like that before and the other kids had told him about the bike first. (Well if people tell him there is money in a bank does that make him not responsible if he goes out and robs the bank?!)
Sorry for the rambling, I just hate thieves and had a car stolen twice (yes, the same car! when we lived the next city over) but my point is that no matter how nice or crap your bike, someone will take it if they have the opportunity. Shed doors are rebuilt and everything is locked to wall joist anchors with OnGuard D locks and chains (even the crap Sears bike and spray painted special are super locked up, if they are stealing a bike it won't be mine even if it is scrap now!!) Also any time I see a bike with a crap repaint job I think it is probably stolen, not that it is scruffed up as a thief-deterrent.
It was as inexpensive of a bike as you could get (a Walmart brand Nexxt 'mtb' with suspension that was the best we could afford at the time he was learning to ride,) but it had a pretty blue and silver paintjob and with the shocks I bet it looked pretty nice to a young kid who didn't know anything about bikes. They left my old Sears bike (that was plain red and pretty beat up, plus it was a girl's bike). So we call the police, ask around the neighborhood, etc. but don't find anything out. Then a couple of weeks go by...
And the moron shows up nextdoor on the stolen bike, he just painted it flat black!!! Rims, reflectors and all, everything! I just happened to be taking the dog out and see him on it, I confronted him and got it back (idiot still tried to claim it was his and attempted to ride away on it!) My brother didn't want to press charges, I did speak with the boy's mother who insisted that he never did anything like that before and the other kids had told him about the bike first. (Well if people tell him there is money in a bank does that make him not responsible if he goes out and robs the bank?!)
Sorry for the rambling, I just hate thieves and had a car stolen twice (yes, the same car! when we lived the next city over) but my point is that no matter how nice or crap your bike, someone will take it if they have the opportunity. Shed doors are rebuilt and everything is locked to wall joist anchors with OnGuard D locks and chains (even the crap Sears bike and spray painted special are super locked up, if they are stealing a bike it won't be mine even if it is scrap now!!) Also any time I see a bike with a crap repaint job I think it is probably stolen, not that it is scruffed up as a thief-deterrent.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Spray it with Plastidip rubber paint. Matte black, or the most putrid colours you can find. Don't mask it off, do a really bad job. You'll know that the paint easily peels off to leave a pristine bike behind, but Johnny Lightfingers will think it's a snotter.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
£20 ........ probably nicked.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Last week I saw quite a few cable locks lying on the ground, cut, in and near the bike racks in Park Street car park. Never use a cable lock, unless an armoured heavy motorcycle one and then some. But no cyclist is ever going to buy one of these. The other option is to rent a cycle locker like I have £10 /month or you could always get a vicious dog and tie it up to your bike. That would keep thieves away.
vickster
Legendary Member
Very good point. Ask the seller for the proof of purchase
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
I did this a couple of weeks ago for a bike I saw on The Bay and was given a very rude response sufficient to indicate to me that the bike offered for auction was indeed nicked.
vickster
Legendary Member
Precisely. A genuine seller would have no issue
classic33
Leg End Member
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
So you flagged it to the bay and the seller's local rozzers, right?
fatblokish
Guru
- Location
- In bath
Bike register
