Thefts of GPSs in cafes.

[Globalti]

Has anybody heard any reports of this happening? A cycling buddy visited a popular cycling cafe near Preston a couple of days ago. Removed his Garmin, put it in his helmet along with gloves and other stuff, which he left on a table while he went to the counter to order and pay. When the time came to leave - no Garmin. The cafe was crowded with cyclists and non-cyclists so anybody could have casually picked it out of his helmet in passing. Unfortunately for the thief it's got a cracked screen and a mount glued on the back.

Not far up the A6 from there is Scorton whose two cafes used to have a terrible reputation for bike thefts.

 

[si_c]

Has anybody heard any reports of this happening? A cycling buddy visited a popular cycling cafe near Preston a couple of days ago. Removed his Garmin, put it in his helmet along with gloves and other stuff, which he left on a table while he went to the counter to order and pay. When the time came to leave - no Garmin. The cafe was crowded with cyclists and non-cyclists so anybody could have casually picked it out of his helmet in passing. Unfortunately for the thief it's got a cracked screen and a mount glued on the back.

Not far up the A6 from there is Scorton whose two cafes used to have a terrible reputation for bike thefts.

They're too small and easy to move unfortunately. I always put mine in my pocket when I walk away from the bike, better safe than sorry.

 

[fossyant]

Always keep mine with me.

 

[Drago]

If it's worth more than a few quid, in public, and unattended for a split second someone will nick it. His wallet or wristwatch would have disappeared just as swiftly.

 

[Ilovehills]

I always take mine in with me, and my lights. Never worth the risk

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Great thing about dynamo lights. No one carries around a spanner to take them off the bike. GPS I put in jersey pocket whilst in a cafe.

 

[Sniper68]

Always slip mine in my Jersey pocket...even some cyclists are dishonest
I haven't heard of it being a problem around these parts though.

 

[vickster]

Always surprised by how many people leave their GPS units on their bikes when parked in a local(ish) high end bike shop. The area is covered by CCTV which would protect a bike but not a small GPS

Mine goes in pocket or helmet which is watched. Lights come off when bike parked up. If they’re on the bike, they’d be needed on the onwards journey

 

[Deleted member 26715]

If he logs onto his Garmin account & finds the serial number I believe Garmin can then block them making it useless, it's even too small to be a door stop

 

[jefmcg]

Has anybody heard any reports of this happening?

Theft of small, valuable items left unattended in busy cafes? Yes.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Theft of small, valuable items left unattended in busy cafes? Yes.

Mobile phones are the most common, not surprising when you see how careless people are even with expensive iphones.

 

[lazybloke]

I did an overnight charity ride in 2014 - my first cycling 'event' since the 90s. Was amazed by how much tech was left unattended on bikes. And with only 1000 riders spread over a nearly 70 mile course, plenty of opportunity for it to go missing.

Took mine with me.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

If it's worth more than a few quid, in public, and unattended for a split second someone will nick it. His wallet or wristwatch would have disappeared just as swiftly.

There was an incident in my local watering hole not long ago where someone had a pair of prescription spectacles and a pint of beer stolen from their table whilst they were using the toilet. Nothing surprises me any more. Some scrotes will nick anything. In a cycling café, any random scumbag could walk in dressed as a cyclist, in exactly the same way people will wander on to a building site wearing a hi-vis jacket and hard hat and walk off with any power tools that have been left unattended. If you look like you belong in a certain setting, you become invisible and no-one pays a blind bit of attention to anyone wearing the right kind of attire.

 

[R_nger]

If he logs onto his Garmin account & finds the serial number I believe Garmin can then block them making it useless, it's even too small to be a door stop

That's clever - how do they do that ?

 

[Sniper68]

That's clever - how do they do that ?

By GPS?Quite easy for them to block the unit.

If you look like you belong in a certain setting, you become invisible and no-one pays a blind bit of attention to anyone wearing the right kind of attire.

There was a spate of MTB thefts at Coed-Y-Brenin a few years ago.Riders were leaving their expensive MTBs on the hanger provided outside the cafe.It would hold 20-30 bikes.Thieves were turning up in full MTBing gear,casually walking up to the rack and taking their pick.