Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
Plastic jesus on the stem, or hula girlie.
Anti-theft parts bin sh*tter.
- Thread starter Tsundere
- Start date
CassidyAce
Senior Retro Guru
Frankenorange
Orange 🍊 Fan
Needs
A U-lock mount on the frame, but no u-lock.
Black, or white gaffa tape looking like it is holding the nose of the saddle together.
A brand new handlebar bell ('I heart cycling', My Little Pony, etc) bought as xmas gift by child.
2 rusty Jubilee clips holding something on. Maybe something that has been re-purposed.
Double lights either front or back. 1 held together with gaffa tape.
Comedy valve cap(s). Also new as gift to self when drunk on ebay. Maybe only 1 as the other got lost fixing a puncture.
Some spokey-dokeys and/or reflective tape
A U-lock mount on the frame, but no u-lock.
Black, or white gaffa tape looking like it is holding the nose of the saddle together.
A brand new handlebar bell ('I heart cycling', My Little Pony, etc) bought as xmas gift by child.
2 rusty Jubilee clips holding something on. Maybe something that has been re-purposed.
Double lights either front or back. 1 held together with gaffa tape.
Comedy valve cap(s). Also new as gift to self when drunk on ebay. Maybe only 1 as the other got lost fixing a puncture.
Some spokey-dokeys and/or reflective tape
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Frankenorange
Orange 🍊 Fan
Wobbly head dashboard Elvis
This parts bin sh!tter-anti theft bike thing is a whole genre of bicycle. It is finding exactly the right balance of everything so it doesn't look contrived, but like something which has evolved over decades of being the workhorse and shows all the moods of the owner. Love, hate, tiredness, financial woes, desperation, etc
Much harder in some ways to achieve than building a regular bike if you are trying to re-create the look.
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averagebiker
Retro Guru
Its easy. Buy an old Raleigh pioneer. No one nicks those and is my station bike of choice lol
highlandsflyer
Retro Wizard
- Feedback
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True. Maybe easier to just nick one someone else has done.
bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
Great thread
we all know of plenty of thieving incidents, some involving personal loss.
but 30 years talking to a couple of bristol bike theft victims a week tells me this:
Different kinds of thief look for different things...
Most ultimately want cash,
so will make an effort to steal a tidy "Specialized"
condition and branding are crucial even to the
"I dont want much for it mate" vendor.
Usually looking for things to steal where it's most abundant - city centres, sports centres, cinemas supermarket, college or hospital bike racks.
Sometimes a thief might identify valuable components or rarities, but a whole working tidy bike is an easier sale.
A few want parts for their own use, or to sell to mates. Often MTB, shiny, status brands. From a complete wheel to fix a puncture, up to fancy Sus forks to upgrade.
Some just want to ride home and dump the bike.
Some have psychiatric issues.
(My wife's bike once had its brake arms stolen when locked at the station)
Sometimes they just vandalise.
These guys love remoteness and night time.
These last 2 rarely have the tools to cut a decent lock, luckily, but sometimes target any rideable bike.
We all know most of this already, but it's handy to break it down.
When customers tell me "oh they can steal anything if they want to" i have to agree that you can't reduce the risk to Zero, but if you get closer, it ought to be Good As.
we all know of plenty of thieving incidents, some involving personal loss.
but 30 years talking to a couple of bristol bike theft victims a week tells me this:
Different kinds of thief look for different things...
Most ultimately want cash,
so will make an effort to steal a tidy "Specialized"
condition and branding are crucial even to the
"I dont want much for it mate" vendor.
Usually looking for things to steal where it's most abundant - city centres, sports centres, cinemas supermarket, college or hospital bike racks.
Sometimes a thief might identify valuable components or rarities, but a whole working tidy bike is an easier sale.
A few want parts for their own use, or to sell to mates. Often MTB, shiny, status brands. From a complete wheel to fix a puncture, up to fancy Sus forks to upgrade.
Some just want to ride home and dump the bike.
Some have psychiatric issues.
(My wife's bike once had its brake arms stolen when locked at the station)
Sometimes they just vandalise.
These guys love remoteness and night time.
These last 2 rarely have the tools to cut a decent lock, luckily, but sometimes target any rideable bike.
We all know most of this already, but it's handy to break it down.
When customers tell me "oh they can steal anything if they want to" i have to agree that you can't reduce the risk to Zero, but if you get closer, it ought to be Good As.
averagebiker
Retro Guru
Its a bit like the old joke where, when 2 blokes are confronted by a lion, one starts putting on a pair of trainers. The second scoffs and points out he can't outrun a lion......to which the first replies "I only need to outrun you!"
In our case we just need to make our bikes look less desirable and/or more difficult to steal than the others in the rack. Sad but true.
In our case we just need to make our bikes look less desirable and/or more difficult to steal than the others in the rack. Sad but true.
baron von greenback
Old School Hero
Most of the people nicking bikes have no idea it's younger ones that think carreras and cubes are brilliant or because it looks new if you put a load of cheap anodised stuff on a bike they will nick that first it's the other theives that you should worry about who knows what there looking for and hunt you down they are not on the street put a tracker in the down tube best thing
