The Chainlink

What happens to stolen bikes?

My heart goes out to all those who have posted about stolen bikes and they raise this question: What happens to stolen bikes? Are they resold locally? On craigslist? Taken out of town? Broken down for parts? Repainted? Are these crimes of opportunity of one person or do multiple thieves scour the city for bikes? Are some bikes more prone to theft than others? Knowing the answers could help us attack the problem from the other side of the equation. 

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on December 23, 2011 at 10:28am

While I think it is prudent for everyone to maintain a homeowner's or renter's policy, the sad fact is that these types of policies, while a good value initially, are very susceptible to increased premiums and even cancellation following even a moderate claims history. From the standpoint of benefit to the community at large, while your insurance policy may successfully shield you from economic harm (the first time or two), the presence of another poorly locked bike on the streets serves to feed the viability of the bike theft industry. 

Gary said:

Instead of toting a heavy bike lock or two around snd constantly worrying about my bike being stolen, I pay a few extra dollars a year on my renters insurance which covers the replacement of my bike.   The plan cost me $125.00/yr and covers $3,000 bicycle and $30,000 camera gear. I dont worry about either being stolen.  
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on December 23, 2011 at 11:16am

That is a horrible idea for a variety of reasons...

1. Maybe you can but I cannot just 'replace' my bikes.  They are all old, unusual and built by me for me; I would rate most of my bikes as irreplaceable.

2. So you pay 125/mo to insure a bike for 3k which means you are 'buying' that three thousand dollar replacement bike every two years; seems much cheaper to just own a couple of good locks...

3.That figure above is only stable if you never make a claim, if you do make  claim and see a rate jump, or worse get dropped and have to go to a new company, you are going to be paying much, much more than that.

4. Not caring about bike theft is only helping to make it less interesting to police.

Gary said:

Instead of toting a heavy bike lock or two around snd constantly worrying about my bike being stolen, I pay a few extra dollars a year on my renters insurance which covers the replacement of my bike.   The plan cost me $125.00/yr and covers $3,000 bicycle and $30,000 camera gear. I dont worry about either being stolen.  
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on December 23, 2011 at 11:25am

Don't want to speak for Gary, but that looks to be a typical annual premium (not monthly).

notoriousDUG said:

[snip]

2. So you pay 125/mo to insure a bike for 3k which means you are 'buying' that three thousand dollar replacement bike every two years; seems much cheaper to just own a couple of good locks...

[snip]


Gary said:

Instead of toting a heavy bike lock or two around snd constantly worrying about my bike being stolen, I pay a few extra dollars a year on my renters insurance which covers the replacement of my bike.   The plan cost me $125.00/yr and covers $3,000 bicycle and $30,000 camera gear. I dont worry about either being stolen.  
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on December 23, 2011 at 11:41am

I also pay about $120 a year for renter's insurance.  It covers all of our family's bikes (unless they all get stolen at once!). Having insurance allows me a peace of mind to lock up my Bruce Gordon bike, especially while knowing that the replacement cost of the bike is very significantly more than I paid for it.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on December 23, 2011 at 12:04pm

Oops I miss read!

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on December 23, 2011 at 1:18pm

Homeowner's insurance is of no use in protecting a bike; post 911 you get dropped by most carriers after 2 claims; you're not going to want to use them up with a $1,500 claim; and considering the above, you might as well raise your deductible to lower your monthly paynments (mine is $5,000.)

Renter's insurance is another story-- it's really a great deal if you're a renter. Still, can you really claim a bike every few months without some kind of consequence?

As to casually feeding bike thieves, without consideration of the impact on the cycling community . . . I'd better just hold my tongue.

Permalink Reply by Kevin K on December 23, 2011 at 2:20pm

Over the last three years or so I've spent a number of weekends up in Madison, WI, staying downtown near the UW campus.

Being a college town there are obviously hundreds of bikes all around, running the whole range from beaters to high-end tri and road bikes.  Many of these bikes are locked up with nothing more than a thin cable lock, often to chain link fences, flimsy poles, etc.  Suprisingly few of them were locked up w/ U-locks.

Coming from Chicago, bike-theft central, it was pretty shocking to see it the first time.  I was like, if these bikes were locked up like this in Chicago, they'd be gone in 15 minutes!!

It's just sad that there is so much bike theft in this town.  We take it as a given that your bike is probably going to get stolen eventually, no matter how you lock it up. I mean, who are these people, and do they not have any respect for other people's property??  

Permalink Reply by Kevin K on December 23, 2011 at 2:55pm

Joe, I'm with you here, I've had two bikes stolen in this town, and it p*ssed me off to the extreme.  I find it SO enraging.

You know how they used to shoot horse thieves in the Old West?  I'm not suggesting that, but this is one of those similar situations, where it's just so freaking wrong!

And yeah, unfortunately the cops must have bigger fish to fry (drug dealers, gangs, shooting, etc) so really the theives are allowed to run wild, with minimal if any law enforcement action.  It seems like Rahmbo is pretty serious about making Chicago a bike-friendly city, so maybe the city would consider using some of the resources allocated to that effort to tackling the theft problem.

Joe Willis said:

Swap-O-Rama is by fat the largest location of stolen bikes trying to be resold. I have coma across about 5 or 6 on CL in the last year, none of those where recovered because the police really don't give a $#!+. In one instance we had all the needed information plus his current address, 2 phone numbers email and all the info from the LBS he wrote a Fraudulent check for a bike willing to press charges. The Detective's final answer "I have tried calling but there is no answer." You will find a lot of parts on CL that are probability stolen (not all most are legit), if you are not sure ask the seller for the serial number!

P.S. Sorry to throw a rant in there but bike thieves get me all worked up and have a special place in HELL

Permalink Reply by Tim S on December 23, 2011 at 3:28pm

I am always so paranoid when I lock up my bike most places and I use a flat key U-Lock with cable. Sucks that theft is so rampant in this city.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on December 23, 2011 at 3:44pm

Paranoid is good. It shows that you're paying attention. But if you're locking with a flat key-u-lock and a cable, you're way ahead of the vast majority of victims. More information on evaluating your locking system to come...

Tim S said:

I am always so paranoid when I lock up my bike most places and I use a flat key U-Lock with cable. Sucks that theft is so rampant in this city.

Permalink Reply by Jared on December 23, 2011 at 3:59pm

How often are street sign poles removed to steal bikes?

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on December 23, 2011 at 4:16pm

When I performed the 4/1/11 - 10/31 analysis, I grouped defeated fences (usually cut wrought iron) with defeated signposts. The number was 52/617 = 8.43% 

Jared said:

How often are street sign poles removed to steal bikes?

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