Thieves $uck, Part Dieux

We've been doing everything - everything - to save money, go green, yadayadayada. so we bike everywhere now except when unavoidable (we've driven 6 times in 3+ months). we don't use plastic bags at the grocery store, we either put it in backpacks or load our carrier. we shop the sales for groceries.

So we ride to albertsons at midnite last nite, lock the bikes, shop for 11 minutes, come out, DH's seat is gone from his bike. including seat post and bianchi seat bag with tools/parts for flats.

So we saved $17.60 on groceries, and lost $180 in theft. and DH had to do the jens voigt TdF thing and ride home with no seat.

why why why why why why why why why why why why . . . . . . . . .?

That really sucks-can I say that? people are PIGS!

That sucks! Do you think they did it knowing the value or were jerks knowing it would be hard to ride without it?

That really sucks:(

Was it a quick release or bolt on? Just curious...

CA

How horrible is that?!!! Let me count the ways...!!!!

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Originally Posted by beccaB

That really sucks-can I say that? people are PIGS!

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Except pigs are lovely creatures. :p

Too bad about the theft. Boo thieves!

That sucks. If you have to leave your bike a lot in a high crime area try these:

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/pitlock.asp

Seats are a hot thing to steal - mostly because it's fun to watch people ride off without one. I bet the thieves were still nearby and giggled away. :rolleyes:

When I was in college, someone went down the whole, long rack of about 30 bicycles and took the seat or the front wheel off of every one they could. :mad:

Lock your seat, your front wheel - anything that comes off quickly.

And, kudos to you for trying to be green. I'm doing the same.

It does suck big time.

I agree: many thieves are "opportunity driven" and will just take something for "fun." I had tie-wraps attaching my seat to my bike on my former bike, which proved enough of a deterrent for two years. (One would have needed to have a good pair of scissors to cut the tie-wraps.) Now on a different bike I don't have anything (but the quick release) but I feel like I'm waiting for my seat and seatpost to be stolen. I really hate them and just need to go and replace them, so I haven't bothered securing them. (Silly me.)

This is horrible!
Try an alarmed lock - it will start a very loud siren if someone does as much as touch your bike or slightly move the frame or components. It attracts a lot of attention (and cops if they happen to be in the vicinity) and it's quite a deterrent!

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Originally Posted by TxDoc

This is horrible!
Try an alarmed lock - it will start a very loud siren if someone does as much as touch your bike

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Too bad we can't get away with locks that give out electric shocks rather than loud noises... :D

This was posted on another board as a How to Lock Your Bike demo.

The cable lock starts on the front wheel, winds up and through the seat rails, goes down and connects to a U-lock that is on the rear wheel and bike rack. Might not deter someone really intent on ripping you off, but for the random "steal the seat for fun" twerps it should work.

I kind of like the electric shock idea ... :mad:

That U-lock should also go around the seat tube or that bike is gone with a snip of the cable (sans the rear wheel).

I always quite liked the James Bond solution to car thieves in one of the films. Car clearly had marked on it that car was fitted with anti-theft device. Anyone who tried to break in triggered car explosion. Only problem is that poor James had to replace his Maserati every time someone tried to steal it. But I am sure with a bit of fine tuning, this could be a real deterrent and could be adapted to bicycles. I also like the idea of having built in rocket devices in the front and back of the car to discourage tailgaters and people who cut in front of you. Rockets could be a bit heavy for a bicycle though.

Oh dear, I think I've been watching too much tv. Time to go for a ride - equipped with compact rocket launcher! :cool:

That does suck. Sorry someone did that to you. One of my coworkers had hers stolen but the thief put their old, nasty one on instead. They took around $200 seat/post and left a $14 malwart one. At least she could sit on the way home though. The post wasn't quite the right size so it kept slipping but she made it home. People suck.

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Originally Posted by jobob

I kind of like the electric shock idea ... :mad:

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I vote for booby trapped saddles like banks do to the bag o' dough thieves get. Should be easy for DebW to design a device where the saddle explodes in a cloud of red dye if your seat is more than 20' away from your bike. :cool:

As the thief rides away on his bike POOF.

or ... how hard would it be to put GPS in a saddle?

RUDE. I am going to have to websearch for Alarmed Lock.

Thieves really get to me. I guess I don't understand why they think they are entitled to something you worked for. There are only a few things that make me really angry and that is one of them.

Pigs ARE lovely creatures :) Thieves, on the other hand, need their kneecaps broken.

Yea, I had my saddle stolen while I was in a restaurant. I walked my bike home..it was only over 1 km. away, but I was a bit pissed off.

Bought a terry seat and immediately had mechanic change it from quick release to bolt. I like the look of a quick release..but not realistic. So had that changed too my next bike also.

My partner automatically locks up with 2 locks and 1 one of them is a cable lock so his sleek, but worn out Italia saddle doesn't get lifted.

well we put together parts from the assortment of bikes/parts we have around and ordered replacements from ebay. actually we found a better bianchi seat bag and official bianchi seat post (the other was brand x). and a kinda nasty looking replacement seat, but dh Must Have the specialized alias 143 and we got it cheap.

i really like the idea of special skewers (like locking lug nuts) and i really-really like the alarmed locks. i am so going to look into that.

thanks all for commiserating in our time of loss.

Our house was burglarized a few months ago. We thought for sure the bikes would be gone, but they weren't. Lots of other stuff, including my car, but the bikes were safely hanging where they go, next to a cupboard door that had been ripped off its hinges, so it's not like they didn't see the bikes.

Yay for us for that, but we did experience the loss of a lot of other things and the feeling of invasion that comes with any theft. Not fun! I feel for you. :(

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Originally Posted by PinkBike

i really like the idea of special skewers (like locking lug nuts) and i really-really like the alarmed locks. i am so going to look into that.

thanks all for commiserating in our time of loss.

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www.peterwhitecycles.com/pitlock.asp

These are a cool idea but ....

There's beauty to a QR. A nice QR lever is a beautiful thing like a classic Campy or the neato keen cool black ones on my Mavic rims. Seeing a rider with the QR adjusted just so fore and aft says "she knows her bike, or at least goes to a shop that does ;)"

I hate it that we have to consider locking devices not only for our bikes but for individual parts :mad: Bike thieves suck :mad: and should be keel hauled from a fixie.

Very annoying. I don't understand why people feel like it's okay to rip stuff off people's bikes. Or to rip off entire bikes, for that matter.

Glad you were able to find suitable replacements.

My Dahon is ALL about quick releases, and it would be a pain to replace the seat & seatpost, since it's a wide-diameter post with SDG I-Beam system. If I ever have to lock that bike up outside, I either take the seat with me or run a cable through the seat to my U-lock.

I seem to remember a mini cable lock just for seat posts, back in the early 90s. Are those still around? I know they won't prevent real theft, but they do deter crimes of convenience and jokesters.

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Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl

That U-lock should also go around the seat tube or that bike is gone with a snip of the cable (sans the rear wheel).

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That U-lock is applied a la Sheldon Brown (http://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html), where the shackle goes around the rear wheel, inside the rear triangle; and you usually can't get the rear wheel out with the lock on it. Probably the biggest drawback to a U-lock (other than the weight, if you go with the more resistant ones) is finding something to lock up to that will let you fit frame, wheels, and something immovable inside the U.

U-Lock + cable, as shown, is mo betta.

Tom

Hmmm, it looks to me like they get the bike quickly with a snip of the cable. Then at their convenience they can remove the U-lock and wheel, perhaps with liquid nitrogen if all else fails.

I use the kryptonie NYC chain + U-lock, but it is very heavy so I leave it on the bike rack at work.

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Originally Posted by PscyclePath

That U-lock is applied a la Sheldon Brown (http://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html), where the shackle goes around the rear wheel, inside the rear triangle; and you usually can't get the rear wheel out with the lock on it. Probably the biggest drawback to a U-lock (other than the weight, if you go with the more resistant ones) is finding something to lock up to that will let you fit frame, wheels, and something immovable inside the U.

U-Lock + cable, as shown, is mo betta.

Tom

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Didn't mean to make disparaging comments about pigs. They are very cute and make nice pets. I stayed in a campground once that had a baby pot bellied pig that had it's run of the place. It fell asleep on my foot. Anyway, though it hasn't happened here,people should be careful about the terms they use. Some seem innocent but are disparaging to certain ethnic groups of people, one of them being MY ethnic group, and I get all bent out of shape when people us it.

My seat and seat post was stolen off my commuter last week too. I was so annoyed. I had been parking my bike in the same place for over a year. It was just the stock seat and post but they both had shock absorbing qualities. I hate the new one I got so now I'm going to try something else. VERY annoying.

I will get a locking seat post clamp now though instead of the easy release one.

I feel your pain. Mine wasn't expensive so I can only imagine how annoyed you are.

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Originally Posted by Trek420

how hard would it be to put GPS in a saddle?

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Just about as hard as it would be for the thief to take it off.

Even if you installed a tracer inside the seat tube where a thief would be unlikely to look for it, you still have the issue of power. Auto/motorcycle LoJack devices are powered off the vehicle's battery. Add a battery onto a bicycle, and it could weigh more than the U-Lock, plus you have to find a place to put it where the thieves still won't see it.

Pink, I'm sorry that happened to you. Thieves DO s*ck.

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

This was posted on another board as a How to Lock Your Bike demo.

The cable lock starts on the front wheel, winds up and through the seat rails, goes down and connects to a U-lock that is on the rear wheel and bike rack. Might not deter someone really intent on ripping you off, but for the random "steal the seat for fun" twerps it should work.

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Snap,

I am not smart enough to remember that spiffy way to lock a bike. sigh.