Does anyone have a bigass oven? I want to stop theft.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 17, 2013 at 6:55pm

BTW if you want to get an idea as where stolen bikes go, you can read here:

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/recovered

In 7 years there has never been a report of a bike stolen in Chicago turning up in another city outside the Chicago area, although we have received credible information that some of the 'professional' bike thieves have connections in other states.

Christine (5.0) said:

Is scrap metal the usual fate of stolen bikes?  I figured they would be transported to another city and sold.  Who would buy a bike with someone else's phone number welded on it?

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Permalink Reply by Blatherskate on July 17, 2013 at 6:55pm

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Christine, don't you ride a cargo bike? I could see how bringing it into your apartment (if it were an option) would be a challenge. Best of luck. Did you post it on CSBR?

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Permalink Reply by Christine (5.0) on July 17, 2013 at 7:10pm

Nope; my previous bike was a hybrid.  And a bit of a tank, with the fenders and rack and thick frame and such.  I recently bought a BOB Yak off of someone on the Chainlink.  It now occurs to me that the new bike I picked is not compatible with the quick release necessary for attachment.  That's... unfortunate.  I never got to haul any cargo :(

There is another place at courtyard style apartment that I may be able to keep the bike behind a locked gate.  I need to investigate and find out if there's anything back there I can attach my bike to.  I could potentially attach it to the staircase that goes to the porch off the kitchen.  It would be outside and on the ground which is convenient for me, and behind a locked gate which is certainly more secure than out in the open.  There's currently no key from the kitchen to that area, so it hadn't occurred to me to look there.

Blatherskate said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Christine, don't you ride a cargo bike? I could see how bringing it into your apartment (if it were an option) would be a challenge. Best of luck. Did you post it on CSBR?

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 17, 2013 at 10:23pm

My commuter bike was stolen a couple years ago.  I know how you feel.  I have several bikes in my garage and basement.  I'm constantly worried that they aren't safe enough, even there.

For the next bike, instead of maybe wrecking the frame, why not try something a bit less potentially destructive?  A few things come to mind:

• use an engraving pen (e.g., http://www.harborfreight.com/electric-engraver-46099.html)
• get something like Tile or SpyBike so you can track the thieves
• work to find more secure storage locations (indoors? monitored?) in the areas you frequent on your bike
• bike insurance (might require some documentation of your locks, locking methods and locations - fairly easily done with your cell phone camera, I would think)?
• check to see if your homeowner's insurance or renter's insurance will cover you

If you are set on doing something really significant to your frame, contact a framebuilder for help. Your local bike shop should be able to help you contact someone.

I realize we've had this discussion in the past week or two, but I think reporting bike thefts and putting pressure on the police to investigate bike theft is important.  Each individual theft is a low-ticket item compared to a car, but when it's your primary means of transportation, it puts you just as out of commission as if it had been your car.  In aggregate, there is a lot of theft going on, probably by organized rings of thieves. Maybe ask your alderman for some help with the pressure tactics.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Loomis on July 18, 2013 at 7:46am

Cameron is absolutely correct. Heat treating is difficult and requires special equipment. Walmart style bikes are not heat treated, which is one of the many reasons they are sold so cheap.
 
Cameron 7.5 mi said:

Welding to thin walled tubing like most bikes are made out of is very difficult to do without burning through the tube. Torching your name into the frame will introduce enough heat into the tubing to create stress concentrations and eliminate some (most) of the benefits of any heat treating done during manufacture. This will weaken your fame and is a bad idea. Heat treating your frame is not as simple as sticking it in a big oven. You have to carefully control heating rates, cooling rates, oxygen exposure, etc. Heat treating is a complicated industrial process that requires more equipment and knowledge than most people have. A better option for a difficult to remove ID would be to get an engraved plate and braze it onto the frame.

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Permalink Reply by Josh L. on July 18, 2013 at 8:21am

where do you live? I am pretty shocked that somebody would cut through a gate?

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 18, 2013 at 8:23am

This.

Not only will this not keep your bike form being stolen but unless your friend is an excellent welder (as in a skilled professional) you are probably going to ruin the frame doing it and heat treating after is never going to work.

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

Welding to thin walled tubing like most bikes are made out of is very difficult to do without burning through the tube. Torching your name into the frame will introduce enough heat into the tubing to create stress concentrations and eliminate some (most) of the benefits of any heat treating done during manufacture. This will weaken your fame and is a bad idea. Heat treating your frame is not as simple as sticking it in a big oven. You have to carefully control heating rates, cooling rates, oxygen exposure, etc. Heat treating is a complicated industrial process that requires more equipment and knowledge than most people have. A better option for a difficult to remove ID would be to get an engraved plate and braze it onto the frame.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 18, 2013 at 8:25am

Untrue.  Ask the people who used to buy bikes off scrappers at the scrap yard about the bikes they have scored.  Scrappers see bikes, and most stuff they find, as nothing but metal.

h' 1.0 said:

Scrappers make their living off of knowing exactly what things are worth. They're not going to scrap a quality bike for the value of the metal.

Michael A said:

A lot of bikes are sold for scrap, the scrap yard does not care who's name is welded on it

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Permalink Reply by Christine (5.0) on July 18, 2013 at 8:37am

Lakeview East!  http://chicago.stolenbike.org/node/194256

jolondon30 said:

where do you live? I am pretty shocked that somebody would cut through a gate?

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on July 18, 2013 at 8:49am

I am not being facetious nor am I trying to be condescending: where do you live?  This happens all of the time--look at the reports on the stolen bike registry.  And it happens in "good" neighborhoods, like Lakeview.
 
jolondon30 said:

where do you live? I am pretty shocked that somebody would cut through a gate?

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 18, 2013 at 9:07am

Read again, Doug. See "quality." I know what Working Bikes was getting for $5 from the scrappers and I don't think it's in the same universe from what was stolen from Christine here (although it looks like we'll never know excatly what her bike was beyond "hybrid.")

I don't really need to go looking for anyone to ask, anyways-- one of my tenants is a Junkero an I've watched first hand for 7 years how items with value in excess of scrap value get sold through other channels.

notoriousDUG said:

Untrue.  Ask the people who used to buy bikes off scrappers at the scrap yard about the bikes they have scored.  Scrappers see bikes, and most stuff they find, as nothing but metal.

h' 1.0 said:

Scrappers make their living off of knowing exactly what things are worth. They're not going to scrap a quality bike for the value of the metal.

Michael A said:

A lot of bikes are sold for scrap, the scrap yard does not care who's name is welded on it

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Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on July 18, 2013 at 9:12am

I've lived in Lake View East for three years now, and have never gotten a bike stolen. I have lived in three apartments, and was lucky enough that two of them had bike rooms. The third, I kept my bike in the living room (of my 350 square-foot dwelling), behind the couch. I have never left my bike outside overnight, and I believe that contributes to my lack of theft.

Christine (5.0) said:

Lakeview East!  http://chicago.stolenbike.org/node/194256

jolondon30 said:

where do you live? I am pretty shocked that somebody would cut through a gate?

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