Thefts at DePaul

Yesterday my Brooks B17N along with my seatpost (and tail light and clip on fender)
 was stolen from in front of the library on campus at DePaul. I also noticed a bike that seemed to have its rear wheel stolen at roughly the same time. 

Any idea where to track down stolen parts like this? I filed a police report, but I'm not optimistic about the police tracking down a bike seat. I've trolled through Craigslist and ebay, but I'm wondering if there's a local place where something like this might turn up.

Any help is appreciated. In the mean time, I guess I have to be thankful that the rest of my bike was still there.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 3, 2013 at 9:53am

Craigslist?

How was your seatpost attached to the seat tube? It looks like a clamp and allen bolt, not a quick release.

Permalink Reply by Michael Hulburt on October 3, 2013 at 9:56am

Allen bolt clamp. Thief apparently knew what he was looking for and what he was doing. Shocking part is both my front lights were still on my handlebars.

I'll be keeping an eye on Craigslist in the near future.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 3, 2013 at 10:07am

I'm sure the only thing he was interested in was the Brooks saddle.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on October 3, 2013 at 10:09am

I would estimate that fewer than 50% of riders in the City use front AND rear lights, but EVERYBODY needs a saddle.

College campuses are popular targets for thieves. Lots of people show up from out of town with their bike and the cable lock that was always good enough to keep their bike safe back home. UIC police actually do an orientation during new student week to increase awareness about campus theft.



Michael Hulburt said:

Allen bolt clamp. Thief apparently knew what he was looking for and what he was doing. Shocking part is both my front lights were still on my handlebars.

I'll be keeping an eye on Craigslist in the near future.

Permalink Reply by Michael Hulburt on October 3, 2013 at 10:24am
Me too.

Skip Montanaro 12mi said:

I'm sure the only thing he was interested in was the Brooks saddle.

Permalink Reply by Michael Hulburt on October 3, 2013 at 10:27am
Don't I know it. I can count more than a handful of friends' bikes stolen while I was in college. My U-locks did their job, but yesterday an Allen bolt clamp just didn't cut it.

Kevin C said:

I would estimate that fewer than 50% of riders in the City use front AND rear lights, but EVERYBODY needs a saddle.

College campuses are popular targets for thieves. Lots of people show up from out of town with their bike and the cable lock that was always good enough to keep their bike safe back home. UIC police actually do an orientation during new student week to increase awareness about campus theft.



Michael Hulburt said:

Allen bolt clamp. Thief apparently knew what he was looking for and what he was doing. Shocking part is both my front lights were still on my handlebars.

I'll be keeping an eye on Craigslist in the near future.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on October 3, 2013 at 10:37am

As we've mentioned before, thiefs carry tools a few allen wrenches and a crescent wrench will make short work of most bike parts.

A tip was posted a while back about putting clear Epoxy in the head of the bolt it can be popped out with a knife if you need to do repairs or replace.

I wrap most of my stuff in electrical tape too.

You can't stop them completely but you can slow them down.

Permalink Reply by Michael Hulburt on October 3, 2013 at 11:36am
I think my plan for my next seat will include some wax in the bolt in addition to a loop of bike chain wrapped in a tube.
Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 3, 2013 at 11:53am



Mike Zumwalt said:

You can't stop them completely but you can slow them down.

Correct. I suspect you don't have to make your bike completely theft-proof (not that that's really possible), just good enough to get the thief to move along to another bike.

You don't need to be the fastest antelope in the herd, just faster than the slowest.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 3, 2013 at 4:06pm

In case you feel that Chicago is special in this regard, not to worry. Quoting from the Team Judson mail I received this evening:

[A]t the World Championships in Florence...

Thieves were busy before the road race in Florence; both the Russian and
the Danish teams had bikes stolen.

Permalink Reply by Michael Hulburt on October 3, 2013 at 4:13pm

I didn't, but I appreciate the thought. Though I wouldn't wish that on anyone, at least I'm only out about $200 to replace everything instead of several thousand dollars of pro bikes.

I got all new everything today at Johnny Sprockets, and they did a nice job hooking me up and installing a chain loop for me with somebody's old chain and a busted tube. I didn't buy a new tail light yet because I'm holding out to see what Knog has going on at their Heritage Bikes popup tomorrow night (http://www.thechainlink.org/events/knog-pop-up-shop-heritage-genera...). I'll post a pic with my new setup soon. 

Skip Montanaro 12mi said:

In case you feel that Chicago is special in this regard, not to worry...

Permalink Reply by Julia 3.5/7.5 mi on October 3, 2013 at 4:20pm
Did you file a report with Public Safety on campus as well? I know they've been keeping tabs on what's been stolen. There are a lot of theft trends with bikes in Lincoln Park this quarter.

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