Theft Warning......do you use a cycle computer e.g. Garmin??

[Saluki]

I start and finish my ride in the next street, just in case.
Sometimes I set my privacy to 'everyone' so I can see if I am still last on the segments but then set it back to 'just me'.

 

[Profpointy]

I think it relatively unlikely that I was seen leaving or returning to the house, I've only ridden twice from the house so he would have to have picked the right 4 minutes in a month and half. It was only when the police said that another had been nicked from around the corner that i wondered if it had any connection

He's nicking a couple of bikes, upsetting in the extreme for you as the victim, just as it would be for any of us, but he's unlikely to be doing some mission impossible style computer hack to do so.

 

[WindyRob]

He's nicking a couple of bikes, upsetting in the extreme for you as the victim, just as it would be for any of us, but he's unlikely to be doing some mission impossible style computer hack to do so.

It s hardly a computer hack. Go to strava then explore activities put in your post code and select rides, pick a few of the longer ones which would point to more committed cyclists who have invested money and time into their bikes and see how many lead to a front door or worse still a back garden!

 

[Hip Priest]

Just ride really slowly all the time so the thieves think you've got a rubbish, heavy bike that ain't worth nicking.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The warning is very much needed.
A fair percentage do not even know that anyone and everyone can see where they live ect etc.
Fact is these companies default to the most dangerous setting in order to further promote their service.

Teir cop out is that it is all in the terms and conditions that no one understands even if they do read it.

I read it. I understood it. I suspect I am not alone. Hence my settings on GC are private and, as I use GC to pass through to Strava, my Strava settings include a privacy zone which is not centered on my home address.

 

[snorri]

I seldom use my garmin on the bike, and certainly never torecord my route, but I did make my house a waypoint which I've labelled HOME so that if anyone finds my gps they can find the way to my house to return it to me.

 

[Piemaster]

Just ride really slowly all the time so the thieves think you've got a rubbish, heavy bike that ain't worth nicking.

Thats if you have much choice about the 'ride really slowly' bit. ​

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Had bikes stolen - therefore strava

What rubbish. Thieves existed long before electricity, the internet or Strava, just saying.

 

[Arrowfoot]

What OP is saying is that its easier for someone to track your movements, note its regularity/pattern and do something criminal. Well it is easier now and than before as folks tend to provide these information including bike details.

It would make sense to ensure some level of privacy. I think changing the start and end default to a public property has been advice for quite sometime back.

I also note that yesterday someone was in position to harvest email addresses and determine spend pattern for bike accessories from those emails.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I only download info from Strava. I have my privacy set up, with a half mile 'exclusion zone' around where I actually live. It's not totally thieving scum proof, but they'd have to actually follow me, if they wanted to know where exactly I live.

 

[tommaguzzi]

I stopped using strava and deleted all my data after 2 bike thefts last year, both were inside my privacy zone and only road bikes were taken. (Last one was the house opposite mine, the scum left two perfectly good bearly secured mountain bikes alone but cut a 10mm chain to take the roadie)
I now use training peaks to upload my garmin data. It is completely private and now I am free of strava I find I enjoy my rides much more again, i no longer go out looking for pb,s in favourable conditions or try to get as high as possible in the koms lists all the time. While I was on it I thought strava was great but I for one am better off without it.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

I stopped using strava and deleted all my data after 2 bike thefts last year, both were inside my privacy zone and only road bikes were taken. (Last one was the house opposite mine, the scum left two perfectly good bearly secured mountain bikes alone but cut a 10mm chain to take the roadie)
I now use training peaks to upload my garmin data. It is completely private and now I am free of strava I find I enjoy my rides much more again, i no longer go out looking for pb,s in favourable conditions or try to get as high as possible in the koms lists all the time. While I was on it I thought strava was great but I for one am better off without it.

You realise that strava was most likely not to blame?

 

[User6179]

I stopped using strava and deleted all my data after 2 bike thefts last year, both were inside my privacy zone and only road bikes were taken. (Last one was the house opposite mine, the scum left two perfectly good bearly secured mountain bikes alone but cut a 10mm chain to take the roadie)
I now use training peaks to upload my garmin data. It is completely private and now I am free of strava I find I enjoy my rides much more again, i no longer go out looking for pb,s in favourable conditions or try to get as high as possible in the koms lists all the time. While I was on it I thought strava was great but I for one am better off without it.

All you need to do is start and stop strava 100 yards from your house , if you forget then dont upload it .

 

[nickyboy]

Whilst I suspect the chances of someone using your strava info to target you and nick your bike is very small, why not reduce the risk? The number of profiles I see with details of fancy, expensive bikes that are easy to search for using strava.
All a thief would need to do is join strava and select "Pinarello" as a search option. Bingo

 

[BRounsley]

I had my bikes nicked about 18 months ago.

When I look back I think my main mistakes were:-
A) Sitting on my front garden wall post ride admiring my bike and my own awesomeness (for about 15 minutes) after each ride.
B) Storing my bikes in a metal bike shed. There is very high odds a £400 metal bike shed contains a worth nicking bike.

I was either spotted on the drive or someone just saw the shed in the back garden. I now admire my bike and my own awesomeness in the back garden!