What to do if someone has locked their bike to yours?

i know this must have been discussed before so would be greatful if anyone could point me to the relevant thread or dispense some advice please!

someone has locked their crappy bike to my girlfriend's nice bike, with a big lock. chances are its some moron but equally it could be that they plan to nick it later!

has anyone had experience with what to do in this situation?

thanks alot,

Leo

Not directly helpful, but a group of us (15 or so) locked our bikes outside the Table on Southwark St some time ago. We were sharing locks, and the Old Bill who were driving past at the time, stopped to inquire about what we were doing and who the bikes belonged to.

Apparantly there is a scam where scumbags will lock a bike or group of bikes, wait for the owner to see and abandon it, and then under the ocver of darkness work away at the original lock until it comes loose.

Not sure what can be done about it though...

what to do in this situation?
Find an angle grinder / someone with and angle grinder and cut it off.

Make a thread about it on a forum.

lock yours to theirs

What type of location is it in? (don't tell us where). How long has it been there? What type of lock has the other person used? Did they have infinite other places to lock up and therefore deliberately target your girlfriend's bike? Is it a simple error (cable picking up part of her frame while being passed through from the other side of a lamppost or bike stand)?

Find an angle grinder / someone with and angle grinder and cut it off.

My angle grinder was the cheapest one in B&Q- around £15 as I recall, cheaper than a decent metal cutting disc anyway.

Go and get one, then use it to cut the other lock off.

Leave a note (chalk on the pavement might work well for this), then take the now unlocked bike to the nearest Police Station and hand it in.

what i did was re-lock my bike to theirs (and the sheffield stand) and leave a note with my phone number. she was very apologetic.

^i made the judgement that given the location and time the owner was very likely to come for their bike that day so i wouldn't be leaving my bike there overnight. i was correct.

My angle grinder was the cheapest one in B&Q- around £15 as I recall, cheaper than a decent metal cutting disc anyway.

Go and get one, then use it to cut the other lock off.

Leave a note (chalk on the pavement might work well for this), then take the now unlocked bike to the nearest Police Station and hand it in.

exactly what the police advised and now resolved! thanks all

Where do you get power from?

Oh have a big pair of croppers...but would like the lend of a cordless angle grinder.

OK this has happened to my friend Vit (username Vit on here, only recently joined), someone else locked their bike, and his at the same time, near Angel tube. He's left it overnight, the cops werent much help to him when he called 101 (his English is good, but not good enough that he would be vociferous with the cops in taking some form of action).

He's going to go down this morning and check it out. He said that the other lock is a big chain.

I really hope his bike has not been nicked. If the lock is still there, does anyone have a cordless angle grinder I can borrow? I'm based Camberwell / Peckham area.

If you are cutting chain, make sure you take something to clamp it into place. Regardless of what you use to cut it (a hacksaw could work fine).

Come on here and bitch about it.

I go for the tell the police what your doing and then chop the lock off, in to as many tiny pieces as possible. Then take the bike to the local police station and leave it there telling them what happened.

cut lock, tell plod, leave it to plod to collect

or if feeling generous, cut your bike free and secure theirs with your lock and leave a note for the owner. if they want the bike unlocked they can pay reasonable expenses for you to come out and unlock the bike plus whatever you incurred to brake their lock - they are a cretin and should pay for their stupidity

OK this has happened to my friend Vit (username Vit on here, only recently joined), someone else locked their bike, and his at the same time, near Angel tube. He's left it overnight, the cops werent much help to him when he called 101 (his English is good, but not good enough that he would be vociferous with the cops in taking some form of action).

I had a convo about it one time at easts.
if something like this happens, how can we prove we are not stealing somebody's bike?

explain that their bike is locked on top of yours

and that if anyone is pulling a scam it is them not you

This happened to me a few years ago, don't bother cutting the lock off it can take some time with a hacksaw, its a lot easier to cut the offending bike in half and then take your time cutting the lock off at your own pleasure. Also it stops people thinking your a thief.

Hardcore. I like it.

hope that it is an optical illusion.

This happened to me a few years ago, don't bother cutting the lock off it can take some time with a hacksaw, its a lot easier to cut the offending bike in half and then take your time cutting the lock off at your own pleasure. Also it stops people thinking your a thief.

I lol'd

Update: my pal went back the next morning and the other bike was gone, his was still there, so thankfully everything finished up OK.

I would not have done that - no way I'd leave a bike overnight. If at the time I couldnt get an angle grinder to cut through the other person's lock, I'd have gotten my hacksaw and gone through their frame.

I'd ring the cops first and ask them for help, if none was forthcoming I'd tell them what I was about to do, and ask for the name of the person I was dealing with on the phone, so if any passers by called 999 when I was cutting a lock or frame up, I'd be able to say "yeah well I talked to XXX at this station, and they couldnt help me, so I informed them of what I was about to do. You can call them up if you want". Always good to have a name.

Decent cordless angle grinders are the best part of £100.

Just had a call from the gf, someones bitch-locked to her in Bishopsgate. They've used a shite bike but a good lock which says to me they've targeted her on purpose. She's rocking double kryptos and they've used another d lock.
The police have said they'll do nothing as it's criminal damage for them or Liz to cut the lock(sure this is bs).
Is there anyone in the area who can chop that shit for her? Or have the number for the cycle task force? I can only find the email address.

the fire brigade may help with their hydraulic cutters.

Can you not say that the shit bike is yours and you've lost the key?