Statistics on recent Bike Thefts and my personal recommendations on how to minimize them

I just examined 201 of the July bike thefts on the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry website (http://chicago.stolenbike.org/) because a recent breakdown of the thefts did not discuss the 39% of bikes that were outside of the "not locked" or "poorly locked" categories - I was curious about those too.

I totaled the different categories of theft and came up with these:

Not locked at all or locked to itself only or left unlocked in a garage or porch that got broken into = 38%
Locked with a combination lock and chain = 18%
Padlocked with a chain - 8%
Locked with an integrated lock in a chain = 6%
(the last three use chains that are easily cut and constitute 32%)
Flat Key U-Locks
To a street sign that got lifted or fence that got broken = 19%
Front Wheel only locked - so rest of bike was stolen = 2%
Using older U-Locks = 2%
Bike was disassembled around U-Lock = 1%
U-Lock itself was broken = 6% (presumably using tools like hacksaws, or bent open with force, or chiseled into) (note: 6% is still a small percentage)
From these statistics I conclude:
- Never ever fail to lock your bike and never lock it to itself.
- Never use chains (unless you are parking within eye sight, say outside a coffee bar you are sitting at).
- Don't lock your bike outdoors on the streets for more than a short period of time (minutes) if you are only using 1 lock.
- It is better to keep the bike in your apartment, condo or house than in a car garage that may be broken into unless it is a building garage explicit for bikes in which residents require special building-provided keys, pay for their parking spot, and in which security may provide some monitoring of people entering the building..  The risk that another resident will steal your bike still exists of course, but that remains relatively small (and if you are worried about that, take it into the home and don't pay for the bike garage).

- If locking outside on the streets for hours, use a bike rack instead of a fence, gate or street sign, and use preferably two U-Locks, in particular the hard-core ones like the Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit or others in that family, whatever the brand.  If one is keeping the bike outside for several hours, attach the front wheel and the frame to a bike rack with a solid duty flat-key U-Lock AND an additional smaller but heavy-duty U-Lock to attach the frame again to the bike rack - that will give the thieves more work than they may want to put into the job (remember, they don't like to work as hard as the rest of us).  Small O-Locks may be used for an additional and impressive secondary or tertiary level of security.  The advantage of an O-Lock, while small, is it is built to resist leveraging, sawing, chiseling or hammering - perfect to attach to a back wheel.

This is all common advice but the statistics seem to support it.

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Permalink Reply by Bez on August 7, 2013 at 3:05am

Here's an anecdote about being perceived as overly careful about locking:

A girl who used to lock in the same place as I do asked why I bother with 2 ulocks (front wheel and frame to the rack with a longer one and back wheel to the frame with a shorter one) and why I have a cable and lock on my seat even though I don't have a quick release on it any more.  I explained to her that I would prefer not to return from work and find my bike or seat missing.  She said "Where do you think you are, in the city?  We don't get bike thefts from here."  At which point I just smiled and continued locking.  She was using one of those word cables that you can buy at the department stores for like $15.  3 weeks later, her bike got stolen during the day while everyone was at work.

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on August 7, 2013 at 4:17pm

Good anecdotes Dann and slow coach.  Everyone has a different approach to this.

Here's an interesting data point for you.

I lock up in front of the Merchandise Mart (wells) every day.  Probably the coldest day of the year this year, something like Jan 16, I used a cable lock because my ulock was unavailable (bad decision).  My bike got stolen.  

So this is just one anecdote but suggests to me that at least in the Loop area these thieves are always out there. And also that unlike what somebody suggested previously in this threat, a single U lock is a significant deterrent.

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on August 7, 2013 at 11:48pm

The stats showed 16% but many of us are skeptical of that number, believing it over reports.

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