Bike fear

Maybe someone should get a big billboard put up on Brick Lane where people can stick up pictures of their recently stolen bikes...

Or maybe the police should just round them up and check their bikes every single day. Be a good training gig for them support officers — harass some criminals.

im sure there wasn't a rensho for sale on brick lane...

yeah you're probably right, as I say, I'm not sure. It was with two other bikes, one of which was a big white fixie, but
they guy said they weren't for sale, and he didn't stick around for too long.

mdja: Maybe someone should get a big billboard put up on Brick Lane where people can stick up pictures of their recently stolen bikes...

seems like a good idea on the face of it, but wouldn't it force the dealers to sell the bikes in many, hard to find places instead of one easy to find place? surely it's better to do that sort of thing in more exclusive fora like this one, so the fences don't realise so quickly that there is an organised effort against them. As it stands, it's not that hard to check every bike in the market, and with three people, you could spot every half decent bike coming in and out.

velocity boy My plan is simple:
1) Insure it fully
2) A single mini d-lock if you're going to be sitting near and watching it
3) A mini d-lock plus a thick cable/chain if it's going to be out of view
4) Never leave it outside overnight

And quit worrying. You've stopped all the opportunity thieves, and if the bike still goes walkies you had it insured and will be fine.

Yes, i should bow to your wisdom here - at some point you have to let go and just make sure the
insurance is up to scratch. Have heard bad things about insurers not covering parts though - cycleguard i
think is a bit of a no no apparently...
Out of interest - how do you generally end up using the mini D & thick chain in combination?
Back wheel rim with the mini D, front wheel & frame with the thick chain?

Shitting Crikey! Out of interest - how do you generally end up using the mini D & thick chain in combination?
Back wheel rim with the mini D, front wheel & frame with the thick chain?

Whatever combinating works best depending on what I'm locking to.

The key thing is to quit stressing over it :)

[cite] velocity boy:

The key thing is to quit stressing over it :)

What like Southend?

Wait. I take that back. We were in Essex.

Was I showing stress? If I was I'm sure it was more agitation at being wet and cold.

we should start a discussion on here exclusivly for stolen bikes,so if we do spot anything down bricklane we know its stolen.

everyone take a photo of your bike(like you havent already) so if it does get stolen you can post a photo

what about a database of frame numbers inc photos each member could list bikes some parts and serial numbers although parts might be trickier to recover
does dave have enough room on his server for that kind of thing we could do a monthly photo shoot of new stuff and download

speaking of frame numbers, how do I get one put on my frame? I might just get my phone number punched into it...

Do the police still do it? I know they used to postcode your bike as a kid.

http://www.bikeregister.com/

Not free but not bad either can even get an electronic tag installed

Bronze £5.95 (Registration & logbook)
Silver £10.95 (Bronze + Police approved marking)
Gold £20.95 (Silver + Electronic Datatag)

http://www.securedbydesign.com

There's been stuff about it recently:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6221386.stm

https://www.immobilise.com/register.ikml?id=1237

What they really need to do is to use RFID tags.

Not only could you put them in non-visible and non-damaging places (under bar tape, under rim-tape, under saddle, inside BB, etc)... but the police could use a medium powered RFID reader and walk down brick-lane and immediately identify all of the stolen bikes.

Why doesn't someone do this?! Seems so freaking obvious.

I'd pay £5 for a RFID tag and registration kit. The tags would actually only cost pennies to make, it's the cost of registering them in a central database and providing the tech to the place that the fee would really cover.

Nobody gives a shit about a stolen bicycle, so just put your efforts into not getting it nicked.

It's you vs the world.

if everyones bikes were marked then none would be stolen.
if someone bought a stolen bike then the police should confiscate it.

Yeah but the police have better things to do, like concentrating on stolen cars, if anything. And of course bikes would still be nicked if they were marked. They could be stripped and sold for parts just as easily, cops just ain't gonna bother.

lpg Nobody gives a shit about a stolen bicycle, so just put your efforts into not getting it nicked.

It's you vs the world.

That is about the measure of it all right.

wasnt the red 3rensho andy pancakes??

does that sound like a business opportunity there is a company that does trackers for cars could it work for bikes ? i know cost basis would have to be lower but it sounds interesting

RFID sounds like a good idea really do hope we'll have it in the near future. but say i'm a solid believer in what lpg said.

"GPS your bike" julian? how much capital you got? count me in if you're starting the business but be mindful that i have no money and no technical know how.

anyone who's ignorant + stupid enough to nick a 3rensho should be chased after running naked in front of the peloton at CM, then tortured all the way on the all bridge night ride before we chuck him into the thames from kew bridge.

Would RFID even work through metal? I know the b*stards at my work use foil lined bags to nick blu-ray and hddvds to shield the tags.

joe_b if everyones bikes were marked then none would be stolen.
if someone bought a stolen bike then the police should confiscate it.

Exactly. Plus it would encourage more people to get on bikes because bike thefts would be reduced, thus reducing transport congestion.

velocity boy What they really need to do is to use RFID tags.

That's what Datatag use. You get a handful of stickers, an RFID tag and some epoxy to attach it to the frame. £20 a pop, though. Which isn't cheap, but the kick-back is that it lowers your insurance premiums.

No idea what proportion of stolen datatagged bikes are returned, though.