The 2013 Chicago Bike Theft Year in Review

So it looks like there are still bike thieves in the City of Chicago and that bike owners are still determined to make it easy for them. We had a modest increase (5%) in reports to the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry in 2013 after a whopping 42% increase from 2011 to 2012. The spreadsheet for the period of 2010 through 2013 is attached, but the numbers that stick out for me:

59% of thefts reported to the CSBR last year were of bikes which either weren’t locked (26.5%) or were locked with only some form of cable lock (32.6%).

Another 27.6% of reports to the CSBR were of bikes with a locking method identified as “Other.” The “Other” category has been a topic of discussion in past threads because this is sometimes an option selected by the victim and sometimes an option selected by the CSBR admins. Victims are asked to select "Other" when no lock was cut or broken to steal the bike, and admittedly, this fact is sometimes difficult to ascertain with any degree of certainty. The admin protocol is to make the change when the narrative makes it clear that a lock wasn't defeated to steal the bike. "Other" includes by way of example, bikes which were only locked to themselves (regardless of lock type); bikes which are locked only through the front wheel (regardless of lock type) and the bike is stolen by leaving the wheel locked to the rack and taking the rest; bikes which were locked (regardless of lock type) to a sucker pole, wooden or iron fence, and the object which it was locked to was obviously broken or defeated.

Only 4.4% of reports to the CSBR were of bikes locked to a bike rack with a newer U-Lock. It’s that easy to minimize your risk of being a theft victim.

Register your bike. Write down your serial number. Take a picture of your bike. Don’t lock your bike and leave it in a common area that other people can access. Don’t lock your bike with some form of cable lock as your only security device. Don’t lock your bike to a fence or a sucker pole. Don’t leave your unlocked bike in front of a store, on your back porch, in a garage or in a yard. Bike thieves can and do climb fences and stairs.

CSBR%202010-2013%20FINAL%201%2027%2014.pdf

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on January 31, 2014 at 10:47am

This poster is an effective, simple diagram of what to do, published by BART, the "CTA" of San Francisco.  The only thing I'd add: is to include the bike rack inside Lock #2, along with the frame and wheel, so that the bike is attached at two points and can't be swung up as a giant lever, to break a single lock attached to a rack.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on January 31, 2014 at 11:54am

Yep, better to have two well-locked bikes placed parallel to the rack than 4 half-locked bikes perpendicular to the rack, as shown, though some cyclists consider this selfish.
 
h' 1.0 said:

And make sure your bike is perpendicular to the rack just like in the picture :-)

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on January 31, 2014 at 11:56am

This picture shows lock one attaching the rear wheel and frame to the rack, lock two only locking the wheel to frame.  I'm suggesting that an improvement over this is to make sure lock two also locks to the rack, like lock one, even if it means turning the bike 90 degrees.
 
Cameron 7.5 mi said:

Is lock #2 not attached to the rack, or has MC Escher taken up cycling?
Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on January 31, 2014 at 12:24pm

Okaaaayyyy--so maybe this isn't such a great illustration if it's that confusing.  Any graphic designers among the Chainlink ranks who can create the official Chainlink "good locking practices" poster, showing two U-locks locking frame, wheels and rack at two points?  I still like the little cable snippers warning at the bottom.
 
h' 1.0 said:

Holy cow.... I stared at this for a stupid long time and could not see that the front lock was not actually attached to the rack.  It appeared to defy physics hence the MC Escher comment.

 

Edit-- or Tom cleverly substituted a different image since we last looked...
 

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on January 31, 2014 at 12:43pm

Thankfully, these wave racks aren't as popular in Chicago as simple inverted-U "staple racks", so taking up multiple spaces to double-lock your bike isn't much of an issue.  With the municipal staple racks, just lock each wheel and the frame to each side of the inverted U and no one will complain that you're taking up too much of the rack.

Permalink Reply by Barry Aldridge on January 31, 2014 at 4:24pm

This is crude, but should eliminate the graphic error in the BART poster.

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Permalink Reply by El Dorado on January 31, 2014 at 5:44pm

I still feel "uglifying" your bike may reduce the risk of theft. Bikes with ugly paint, masking tape, stickers ect... make the bike less appealing to pawn shops and the infamous Ashland Swap O Rama. Although if the bike is high end ($1,000 plus) then I could see this tactic not working. The bike thieves would be able to chop up the expensive bike parts. Harbor Freight just had a sale for a cordless angle grinder for like $50 bucks. That is pretty scary. And I have seen, what I believe to be, professional bike thieves roaming around downtown in white vans.

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on January 31, 2014 at 6:46pm

Jeff, I think you could take a chainsaw and saw a U-lock on a bike downtown on a weekday at 10AM and don't think people would even call 911.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on January 31, 2014 at 6:47pm

Nice effort, Barry--thanks!  Of course, this gets us back to the MC Escher-style impossibly bendable frame...
 
Barry Aldridge said:

This is crude, but should eliminate the graphic error in the BART poster.

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on February 1, 2014 at 3:36am

why didnt you call the police or confront him or tell him to stop?

Jeff Schneider said:

I've seen a little guy walking along the LFP in the summer, stopping wherever there were bikes locked up.  He had a couple of tools, maybe a crescent wrench and an allen wrench, and he would just take off whatever parts he could.  He didn't care at all how many people saw him doing this.  I hope someone very large, with a very bad temper, eventually caught him messing with their bike...

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on February 1, 2014 at 3:38am

We have had this discussion before. You don't need two u locks to secure your bike. This is too much work for people (and weight to carry).

If you feel like you need to lock both wheels bring a cable lock. It is very unusual for thieves to take a wheel that is cable locked. Parts stealing is a low $ business and basically a crime of opportunity.  Serious bike thieves aren't going to risk getting caught over a wheel than can get them $15.
h' 1.0 said:

And make sure your bike is perpendicular to the rack just like in the picture :-)
 
Thunder Snow said:

This poster is an effective, simple diagram of what to do, published by BART, the "CTA" of San Francisco.  The only thing I'd add: is to include the bike rack inside Lock #2, along with the frame and wheel, so that the bike is attached at two points and can't be swung up as a giant lever, to break a single lock attached to a rack.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on February 1, 2014 at 10:19am

You're confusing "best practices" (two U-locks) with "possibly adequate."  You might lock your bike frame or wheel with a cable and never have it stolen, but that gets down to luck rather than anything you're doing.  Yes, two locks weigh more than one and that's the trade-off for more security.

This isn't a one-size-fits-all, it's a continuum of your personal sense of security vs. effort.  Some folks aren't at all bothered by losing a bike or wheel or saddle, others are.  I posted this, as it seems some folks hadn't even considered using two locks, and getting that idea out as a possible method seems useful.  Whether anyone chooses to use the information is up to them. 

I see far too many stolen bikes on the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry that weren't locked at all: either "I just ran into the store for a minute" or it was sitting in a garage or back porch or yard, ripe for the taking.  I'm horrified at the bikes I see sitting in racks with a tiny cable around the frame or, even worse, a cable through the wheel spokes and nothing else.  Getting those folks to at least always use one U-lock properly would be a huge step forward. 

But this post wasn't for them, it's aimed at REALLY locking your bike down, for those of us who've taken the first step.   I've never heard of a bike locked at two points with two U-locks ever getting stolen.  Has anyone else? 

Personally, I vary from "best practice" by using a U-lock and heavy chain lock.  The chain is slightly less secure than a second U-lock, though more secure than a cable, but I gain a lot of flexibility when the only thing to lock to is a fat street light post or tree trunk.  But whenever possible, I try to lock to a rack at two points with my two locks, while going through the frame triangle and wheel rim.
 
jolondon30 said:

We have had this discussion before. You don't need two u locks to secure your bike. This is too much work for people (and weight to carry).

If you feel like you need to lock both wheels bring a cable lock. It is very unusual for thieves to take a wheel that is cable locked. Parts stealing is a low $ business and basically a crime of opportunity.  Serious bike thieves aren't going to risk getting caught over a wheel than can get them $15.

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