silverclaws
Senior Retro Guru
So it has come, the Retrobike scene, old bikes with old components on them, ebay that usual source of long forgotten ,'found dusty at the back of the shed' items for sale, are they really that, or are they in fact goods of no fixed owner doing their rounds via sellers and buyers, buyers paying more and more for the rarer items ?
Now, maybe I am paranoid or just totally untrusting of my fellow species, but my bike I have to use as a commuter and although where I park it at my college the bike park is behind a central Police Station, bikes do get attacked there, ( usually by the riff raff that get released from the police station who take short cuts through the college, they have been seen on the cctv, but never caught or even challenged), but some students are light fingered as well, that has been proved.
Now after losing my first Saracen, I am keen not to loose this one, or any of the bits on it as it occurs of all those pre owned retro parts one finds on ebay, how many of them are stolen ?
So my paranoid answer to a problem I foresee is to protect my stuff, of course I have the D shackle lock, bloody great heavy thing weighing in at about one and a half kilos, one sure feels it when carrying that lump. I have also gone for the locking wheel skewers and recreated the old seat keeper I used to have, handy having a yacht rigger in the family, ( but a possible use for those old brake cables, get some ferrules and make your own, cheap, easy and effective), so all in all major usual nickable favourites are protected from the casual thief, not that my wheels are tasty, it is just I don't want to shoulder the frame and walk home, 8 miles and be deprived of personal transport for a while.
But what of the retro bits, the things bolted on with those natty little colour anodised, chrome plated cap screws or even exotic titanium, well, I have thought on this and have gone down the route so as to source A2 stainless steel anti tamper fixings to replace the cap screws, myself going on the premise that although a tea leaf might have the correct size Allen key with them, a size typical to most mountain bikes, they wont have a centre pinned Allen or centre pinned Torx or even a snake eye fixing wrench if they have a wrenches with them. Who would carry allen keys as part of their normal day carry, cyclists perhaps, who might the casual thieves be ?
All these security fixings are available in stainless steel, and I fit bog standard A2 stainless for normal bolt ons, but a higher grade for places where component stress will be present. Oh, and mud in the fixings actually enhances their security, as it has to be picked out with a pointed tool in a more crowded area than an Allen, before the wrench will locate, ok for me, but overly time consuming for the casual light fingered scrote who usually does not have time on their side.
The other thing I do, was recommended in an old mountain bike magazine back in the early nineties, that was to put a note inside a plastic bag saying that, This bike was stolen from, insert name and post code and shove it down the seat tube, steerer tube. So if anyone finds a black Saracen frame with that information down the seat tube and it matches my name, it was stolen from me, not that I ever expect to see the thing again due to my dim view of human nature.
I did also on my last Saracen, I might also do it on this one, but I engraved the cycle frame number into componentry, wheels etc, that with hope buggered up the chances that a part can be sold on without a good explanation, people like me will ask, when something like that is seen.
So, I believe no one is truly made of money that they can afford to see their pride and joy stolen or stripped for use by another, this website shows the love people have for their machines, so what do other people do regards the security of their two wheeled pride and joy ?
Oh, and am I paranoid or just sensible ?
Now, maybe I am paranoid or just totally untrusting of my fellow species, but my bike I have to use as a commuter and although where I park it at my college the bike park is behind a central Police Station, bikes do get attacked there, ( usually by the riff raff that get released from the police station who take short cuts through the college, they have been seen on the cctv, but never caught or even challenged), but some students are light fingered as well, that has been proved.
Now after losing my first Saracen, I am keen not to loose this one, or any of the bits on it as it occurs of all those pre owned retro parts one finds on ebay, how many of them are stolen ?
So my paranoid answer to a problem I foresee is to protect my stuff, of course I have the D shackle lock, bloody great heavy thing weighing in at about one and a half kilos, one sure feels it when carrying that lump. I have also gone for the locking wheel skewers and recreated the old seat keeper I used to have, handy having a yacht rigger in the family, ( but a possible use for those old brake cables, get some ferrules and make your own, cheap, easy and effective), so all in all major usual nickable favourites are protected from the casual thief, not that my wheels are tasty, it is just I don't want to shoulder the frame and walk home, 8 miles and be deprived of personal transport for a while.
But what of the retro bits, the things bolted on with those natty little colour anodised, chrome plated cap screws or even exotic titanium, well, I have thought on this and have gone down the route so as to source A2 stainless steel anti tamper fixings to replace the cap screws, myself going on the premise that although a tea leaf might have the correct size Allen key with them, a size typical to most mountain bikes, they wont have a centre pinned Allen or centre pinned Torx or even a snake eye fixing wrench if they have a wrenches with them. Who would carry allen keys as part of their normal day carry, cyclists perhaps, who might the casual thieves be ?
All these security fixings are available in stainless steel, and I fit bog standard A2 stainless for normal bolt ons, but a higher grade for places where component stress will be present. Oh, and mud in the fixings actually enhances their security, as it has to be picked out with a pointed tool in a more crowded area than an Allen, before the wrench will locate, ok for me, but overly time consuming for the casual light fingered scrote who usually does not have time on their side.
The other thing I do, was recommended in an old mountain bike magazine back in the early nineties, that was to put a note inside a plastic bag saying that, This bike was stolen from, insert name and post code and shove it down the seat tube, steerer tube. So if anyone finds a black Saracen frame with that information down the seat tube and it matches my name, it was stolen from me, not that I ever expect to see the thing again due to my dim view of human nature.
I did also on my last Saracen, I might also do it on this one, but I engraved the cycle frame number into componentry, wheels etc, that with hope buggered up the chances that a part can be sold on without a good explanation, people like me will ask, when something like that is seen.
So, I believe no one is truly made of money that they can afford to see their pride and joy stolen or stripped for use by another, this website shows the love people have for their machines, so what do other people do regards the security of their two wheeled pride and joy ?
Oh, and am I paranoid or just sensible ?
