Street signs being pulled out of concrete?

Not sure what to make of this-- look at the most recent reports:

http://stolenbike.org

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 2, 2011 at 8:55am
Two of 'em, resulting in 3 bikes stolen. All reported today. Make sure of what you're locking your bike too, Folks.
Permalink Reply by jen on June 2, 2011 at 9:33am
In both of the reports it did not state that the street post was in cement. Not all street signs are in cement. I thought the one infront of my house was until I was victim off a similar theft last year. Most sign posts  on residential streets i.e for street cleaning are not set in cement they are just stuck in the ground. Also due to the amount of rain we have had recently the ground is pretty soft and would be fairly easy to remove a sign post
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 2, 2011 at 9:39am
I'm going to check on the Winchester site on my way home today.
Permalink Reply by Chris B on June 2, 2011 at 10:11am

Yeah the sign in front of my building is bolted to the sidewalk, but only the base is bolted with 3 bolts, then the sign itself is bolted to the base with only one bolt. So someone could easily remove that one bolt and take the sign out. The sign is pretty wobbly too.

I was late and couldn't find a spot and locked to it , but later went and moved it to a rack spot.

Permalink Reply by igz on June 2, 2011 at 10:30am
there's a bunch of signs like that at milwaukee/damen/north - but no bolt

Chris B said:

Yeah the sign in front of my building is bolted to the sidewalk, but only the base is bolted with 3 bolts, then the sign itself is bolted to the base with only one bolt. So someone could easily remove that one bolt and take the sign out. The sign is pretty wobbly too.

I was late and couldn't find a spot and locked to it , but later went and moved it to a rack spot.

Permalink Reply by steve rulz on June 2, 2011 at 10:53am
They are nick named sucker poles for a reason.

iggi said:
there's a bunch of signs like that at milwaukee/damen/north - but no bolt

Chris B said:

Yeah the sign in front of my building is bolted to the sidewalk, but only the base is bolted with 3 bolts, then the sign itself is bolted to the base with only one bolt. So someone could easily remove that one bolt and take the sign out. The sign is pretty wobbly too.

I was late and couldn't find a spot and locked to it , but later went and moved it to a rack spot.

Permalink Reply by Moc Artsy on June 2, 2011 at 12:30pm

Yikes. What's next, sawing the bike frame in half to get the parts? Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that.

 

Permalink Reply by Bradford Smith on June 2, 2011 at 1:03pm
Saw this some time back on N California Ave.
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 2, 2011 at 1:55pm

Here are a couple of pictures from the Winchester site. To my eye, this doesn't strike me as a particularly secure place to lock my bike. Looks to be a sign mounted with a posthole digger and possibly a bag of concrete. Not impossible it was done by the City, but not a very professional job (if it was mounted in concrete, there would be vestiges of concrete on the pole, and there's only vestiges of dirt). As a former dues-paying, card-carrying member of the Laborer's Union Local #1 in the City of Chicago, I deem this to be a non-union job. As a semi-professional member of the Bicycle Recovery Collective, I deem this to be a bad place to lock your bike. This was a sign that's mounted in a grass parkway.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 2, 2011 at 2:08pm
The bikes are back in the possession of the victims.

H3N3 said:

Thanks for the footwork.

Agree, poorly mounted sign.  I'll admit to locking to signs stuck in the grass depending on the location-- e.g. on hospital grounds in sight of the entrance/security booth.  But you can bet I'll test them first.

I suppose if these folks made the effort to dump the sign back out there we can assume the bikes are back in the possession of the almost-victim . . .

 

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 2, 2011 at 2:55pm

The signs that ARE in the sidewalk have one bolt and nut and most times have washers hammered in between the post and base to replace the missing.

  But still you think you locked your bike to a pole which can be lifted up, replaced and you bike is gone.

 

So to surmise lock the frame to the back wheel, cable lock to the front wheel, take the seat off.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 3, 2011 at 12:43am
I see stripped frames laying around in alleys all the time.  Usually they are devoid of any parts that could be even halfway valuable.  Often the frames are in good shape with good paint but are nothing special. This doesn't surprise me in the least.  Not the fact that they are willing to destroy the frame to get the rest of the bike nor the fact that the thief was too spatially "gifted" to understand what he was doing when he picked a spot to cut.   A cheap tubing cutter from a dollar store would cut a frame tube in about 20 seconds if there wasn't any cable in the way (which is probably why this thief picked this spot to cut.)

Bradford Smith said:
Saw this some time back on N California Ave.

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