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

[tommaguzzi]

T.M.H.N.E.T...... yes i realise that strava might not be the cause, but they did seem like targeted thefts of road bikes. When plod came round for the lad across the road he said there had been a spate of such thefts in our district probably atributable to one person or gang. We live in a low crime area on a quiet cul de sac and looking at the start points of my rides it made it fairly obvious to any scum bag with stolen laptop and a strava account where there might be some rich pickings if your into lifting road bikes. So I think to myself, they will know that they have nicked a bike on our road and now there are more strava rides posted from that area. So if they were using this method then hopefully they think there are no more bikes around and go and try somewhere else.

My other point was that I am now free of "strava madness" which has been an unexpected blessing.

 

[DRHysted]

I am much more concerned, by the housing estate 100 yards down the road.

Unlike Strava I can't stop them seeing me come and go, and they have noticed. When I was last asked if I wanted to sell one of my bikes, I visited my local lock smith and spent £300 on extra locks and chains.

 

[Steady]

The only time I worry about theft is the last part of my ride, whilst I don't live in a bad area nobody is really ever far from one and the typical benefit in the front garden all day smoking brigade. I'm very aware the most obvious point of anybody knowing what bike I have is the moment when I'm getting on/off, and I don't have any expensive bikes, to most people it has very little value but to me they're my pride and joy.

I don't think Strava/Garmin really has much effect on bikes stolen in a general sense, but I can see it being a very good tool if someone is already being targeted ie. somebody happens to be walking down the street, sees a potential high value bike being wheeled into a property and then the opportunity to track cyclists in that area on that specific day to narrow it down to a profile and then find out what else bike activities they do could weigh heavy on deciding whether there's likely to be more than one expensive bike at that household.

 

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

T.M.H.N.E.T...... yes i realise that strava might not be the cause, but they did seem like targeted thefts of road bikes. When plod came round for the lad across the road he said there had been a spate of such thefts in our district probably atributable to one person or gang. We live in a low crime area on a quiet cul de sac and looking at the start points of my rides it made it fairly obvious to any scum bag with stolen laptop and a strava account where there might be some rich pickings if your into lifting road bikes. So I think to myself, they will know that they have nicked a bike on our road and now there are more strava rides posted from that area. So if they were using this method then hopefully they think there are no more bikes around and go and try somewhere else.

My other point was that I am now free of "strava madness" which has been an unexpected blessing.

Uhh no. If you had a privacy zone that is not the case. It shows you and only you where the ride actually started

 

[tommaguzzi]

Yes I know that but in my case the zone showed just about all my rides starting from just two places, one at the entrance to cul de sac and one at the end of a path which leads to other end of same cul de sac. I dosnt take Sherlock Holmes to realise where the rider lives and what days he might go out. So then just turn up and watch to find out where he lives or in the case of lad across the road see his car with a bike rack on the roof.
I am not saying the scum bags used definitely used strava just that its one less thing they can use now. If I had thought about it I would have always started half a mile away but 2 years of posted rides made it impossible to change. I could have started again with a different account I suppose but training peaks works for me now.

 

[siadwell]

You are not limited to a single privacy zone in Strava, and you can use street names as well as postcodes.
I spent 10 minutes creating multiple privacy zones that extend along any route I could ride from my house, so my rides all begin and end on the edge of a zone that covers scores of streets and hundreds of houses.
Plus, I'm an antisocial so-and-so and only use Strava for my own purposes, so make all my rides private anyway.

 

[the_mikey]

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.

You can also have multiple privacy zones in Strava , I use several to cover most of the village where I live, also I crop the ride data if I inadvertently stared or finished the ride outside my home.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

You can also have multiple privacy zones in Strava , I use several to cover most of the village where I live, also I crop the ride data if I inadvertently stared or finished the ride outside my home.

messes with me segments innit.

 

[the_mikey]

messes with me segments innit.

Cycle further away from home

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Cycle further away from home

Actually I don't use it for cycling. Well very rarely. I record my runs on strava.

 

[mcshroom]

Actually I don't use it for cycling. Well very rarely. I record my runs on strava.

Yebbut someone might decide to come and nick your trainers

 

[tommaguzzi]

Ha ha ha!

 

[Dibdib]

With the number of people you see riding nice bikes on pretty much any sunny afternoon these days, thieving scrotes don't need Strava to target road bikes. Just eyes.

That's not to say that setting a decent exclusion zone in Strava isn't a good idea, though.

 

[Venod]

You are not limited to a single privacy zone in Strava, and you can use street names as well as postcodes.
I spent 10 minutes creating multiple privacy zones that extend along any route I could ride from my house, so my rides all begin and end on the edge of a zone that covers scores of streets and hundreds of houses.
Plus, I'm an antisocial so-and-so and only use Strava for my own purposes, so make all my rides private anyway.

I have to ask, if all your rides are private why the extended privacy zone ? following your tip I have just extended my zone

 

[ufkacbln]

There was a similar myth about "home settings" on SatNav

Car thieves would nick the satnav, look up the home setting amd knowing that you were going to be out for a while by the time would then burgle your home