Ways not to lock your bike

Carbon will give you splinters though.

and cancer

and knives.

in the eyes.

And an onion in the vagina.

Generally thieves want the frames intact, no?

Not always. Thieves are often discovered with piles of stripped frames - as frames have serial numbers which can be traced to owners they can be difficult to shift whereas parts can be sold through gumtree/ebay a lot easier.

I'd guess a lot of stolen bikes are stripped for parts rather than being stolen for the frame.

Worrying

I've been locking up next to this abandoned bike every morning while I grab a coffee for over a year now, until today it has remained intact but finally someone has begun scavenging parts from it.

I notice you leave your front wheel out of shot. That's a bit suspect

I'm calling the fuzz

I notice you leave your front wheel out of shot. That's a bit suspect

I'm calling the fuzz

They'll never take me alive.

That's plane stupid.

but finally someone has begun scavenging parts from it.

Hmmm, not sure about the scavenging thing. On the one hand, if the bike is abandoned, then it is OK, no? I mean, it's recycling isn't it? Better than it being removed by council and recycled as scrap. On the other, it is a slippery slope.. how do we know the bike is abandoned? How long is long enough?

love how people lock up their bikes,,,the one locked against a tree,, is he trying to be environmentally friendly , haha

Hmmm, not sure about the scavenging thing. On the one hand, if the bike is abandoned, then it is OK, no? I mean, it's recycling isn't it? Better than it being removed by council and recycled as scrap. On the other, it is a slippery slope.. how do we know the bike is abandoned? How long is long enough?

I suppose the trick is working out if it is actually abandoned or not.

In this case that white tape/paper has been wrapped around the bike for at least 2-3 weeks now so it's fairly obvious it's been abandoned to anyone who passes regularly.

Yeah. Maybe the trick, for wannabe bike scavengers, would be to print up some leaflets and tie them to bikes - "is this yours?" sort of thing.

Still though, slippery slope. I can see me having to clear a few off my bike every evening outside work, and then worrying if I leave it there overnight to have drinks*.

*Not that I would, I would either take it with me to the pub and then home, or unlock it and put it in the office - unapproved, but OK overnight.

In general I probably wouldnt scavenge from a bike through fear of it not being abandoned, but in the case of the one I posted I know 100% that it hasnt moved from that spot for over a year.

I wouldn't trust components that had been out in all weathers for a year, unmaintained. But I'd be more concerned with the potential dialogue to be had with any passing Plod. I do not see that going well.

Nope it probably would not. What would help if there were some sort of card one could carry which would let plod know that you are innocent - one would apply and get one if proven to be a "good type". A sort of "Don't go to jail" card. Although the opportunities of abuse of such a system would be numerous.

@ Shinkuu - haa...I remember that tree...it was half dying.

^^You mean one of these?

I doubt the plod in Manchester would give a damn. My friend cable locked his bike to mine (without telling me) outside of a gig once and then proceeded to lose his key.

It ended with another friend cycling home and coming back with bolt cutters and we basically 'stole' our own bikes back in front of a bar full of people, two bouncers and a passing police car, not a word was said to us.

^ I was going to say that... but to be honest I didn't want to keep going on, like it is something I would encourage. But yeah, you see those vids with the police "nicking" bikes to see what happens, and nobody says anything. One hilarious example where a bloke with bike is looking at a full rack with nowhere for him to lock up and two coppers dressed as Santa or something come along and bolt-cutter the lock off a bike and ride away. Man watching is like, "oh, nice, there is a spare spot now", and proceeds to lock his bike up in place of the just "nicked" one.

i have managed to never have to leave my bike locked up like this.
would be fuming to find anything gone from my ride,.

^^^ and that was after we had tried drunkenly lifting his bike up and rotating it round and round in the hope the lock would eventually snap.

Do not scavenge bike parts, you could very easily be arrested. Just because you may have seen other instances where it has been done seemingly without recourse, don't think it definitely won't happen to you.

If you do find that someone has locked your bike with an extra lock, phone the police switchboard and ask for your local station. Let them know this has happened and that you think the intention is to steal your bike. Tell them you are going to cut off the offending lock and ask for a reference number from whoever you speak to. That way, if plod do approach you and ask why you are cutting the lock, you can explain it to them, give them the reference number (preferably a CAD number) and all SHOULD be ok. Also, keep plenty of photos of your bike and any serial numbers (a full list of components is also handy).

Rest assured people do get arrested for these kind of things. I (during my term with the MPS) arrested two yoots in Clapham for hanging around the locked bikes behind Clapham Common Tube Station. One had a bike lock but no bike and the other had bolt cutters, both knew each other. Both were arrested for going equipped to steal. Don't let it happen to you.