The Chainlink

Sick of People Ignoring Bike Theft in Chicago

My Bike was stolen this weekend in full public view.  It was very upsetting and I am mourning the loss of my best friend.  Why do people ignore bike theft?  When I lived in D.C. my bike was stolen.  I located it 2 months later, locked to a bike rack.  I waited, confronted the theif who was a 20 year old pot smoking idiot.  I got my back back and had it out with the ignorant thief.  Everyone has cell phones with cameras.  Take a freaking photo of the theft - atleast the police have an image of the thief.  I guess people are afraid of confrontation - but from my experience the majority of bike thieves tend to be immature drug-addicted idiots - majority male. 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 29, 2011 at 12:49pm

I see you have registered with the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry.

 

Hopefully you will see your bike again.  If you do, or when you are forced to get a new bike consider getting a good U-lock.  Bike floss doesn't hardly slow down a bike thief.   Even a good U-lock won't stop a concerted theif but a cable is next to worthless in this city :(

 

 

Permalink Reply by Bridget on June 29, 2011 at 1:13pm

A better lock will minimize the possibility of theft - but hell - when a thief rips off the sign the bike is attached to - well a lock ain't gonna help.  What's the point of humanity?

 

Permalink Reply by Zomboogz on June 29, 2011 at 2:05pm
I'm sorry your loss Bridget. I will keep an eye out for these very distinguishable features and alert you if I spot anything suspicious. The U-Lock and cable in combination with out another seems to deter theft but a determined thief will be able to get anything without community and authority involvement. This is a huge issue this summer.
Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on June 29, 2011 at 3:52pm

Wait. You've had a bike stolen before, but decided it was still a good idea to use a cable lock?

 

Not, "blaming the victim", but come on.

Permalink Reply by Eric on June 29, 2011 at 3:56pm

I feel bad for Bridget, but it is a proven stat. On the CSBR, of all the bikes stolen, 70% were either not locked or locked with some type of cable, 50% of that being cable locks.

 

Quite frankly, cable locks are only useful for kids huffy type bikes at schools in suburbia and as an additional aid in locking.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 29, 2011 at 4:36pm
I feel bad for Bridget as well, and I do think everyone needs to be vigilant when it comes to the safety of our bikes and the bikes of others. Eric's a little high on the CSBR stats-it's actually about 20% of bikes not locked at all and about 35% locked with some type of cable, but he's on the right track. Even if we lived in a world where everyone was constantly watching out for bike theft, the reality is that cables can be cut in a matter of seconds.

Eric said:

I feel bad for Bridget, but it is a proven stat. On the CSBR, of all the bikes stolen, 70% were either not locked or locked with some type of cable, 50% of that being cable locks.

 

Quite frankly, cable locks are only useful for kids huffy type bikes at schools in suburbia and as an additional aid in locking.

Permalink Reply by Bridget on June 30, 2011 at 9:18am
Yes, I use a cable lock occasionally for 15 minute errands.  Ulocks are difficult to get around wide surfaces sometimes. I've had a bike stolen with an expensive ulock.  I've had pieces of my bike stolen.  I understand this is what happens in an urban setting.  My point is bike theft is just so brazen in the city right now.  I'm sick of seeing all the bike corpses around. And most of all - I'm sick of assholes.  I could go around stealing pieces to replace what I lost.  I choose not to cuz I won't inflict my pain on others.  Everyone carries a cell phone - snap a shot of the thief in action - report it - and post his MF photo all over with the word ASS.  

Adam "Cezar" Jenkins said

Wait. You've had a bike stolen before, but decided it was still a good idea to use a cable lock?

 

Not, "blaming the victim", but come on.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 30, 2011 at 9:38am

About the only thing a cable lock is good far is locking the wheels up to slow them down.  I use a REALLY thick cable lock that weighs more than my U-lock and that is a heavy monster (the heaviest-duty OnGuard unit: The Brute.  The Cable is thicker than my thumb and has big wide ends so I can use the U-lock to secure it when it comes back from both ends of the bike after going through both tires.   If you only use the U-lock to lock the frame it is not hard to get it around things.  If the fame is locked well then they will usually pass on for something easier.  In a perfect world I would use a second lock on the cable as just cutting the one U-lock gives them access to the whole bike but that extra weight of another lock is a bit much.  Already I'm carrying around more weight in locks than most people's bikes weigh.   I've yet to have had a locked bike stolen in 40 years of riding.  The only bike I've ever had stolen is when a gang of thugs kicked me off of the bike and took it from me.  That's when I was 10.  We got the bike back as I ID'd them to the police.   Of course they didn't DO anything to the kids who did it and they never paid to fix the damage they did to it as they ghost-rode it down the steep hill a dozen times but that is a different story...  

 

 Nothing has changed in decades.  The bike theft problem is nothing new -nor is the complacency of the jack-boots who are too busy bothering peaceful people for petty stuff because they don't tend to shoot back while the real violent criminals are allowed to keep terrorizing the populace unhindered.  Those guys are dangerous.  The donut shop or harassing bicyclists on the LFP is much safer than messing with real criminals. 

 

 

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