Walking around Lakeview with an angle grinder

On Friday afternoon someone cut through my U-lock with an angle grinder!

In the middle of the afternoon!!  

 

Right after I got done warning someone about locking up with a cable lock.  

 

BYE BYE bike #2 to Chicago bike thieves. Great way to start the summer.

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Permalink Reply by igz on May 4, 2010 at 5:10am
ill be there...ill meet yall at the spot. ill have my car with a two-bike rack, in case anything is recovered. ill bring winston as 'intimidation' (if i can get him to look mean enough) as we walk through the swap meet.
Permalink Reply by Mark Kenseth on May 4, 2010 at 6:58am
i think the tv show "cops" should do a sting operation of bicycle thieves. write them a letter. i imagine a nice bike set up with cameras and cops watching.

or...what about planting a microchip in the bike and locating it via GPS? that would be cool.
Permalink Reply by Ron on May 4, 2010 at 7:08am
Love the photo. Hopefully we'll at least that many people.

Kevin Conway said:
Excellent. Can I suggest a photo for the event?

Dr. Doom said:
I added an event, so it will be up once approved.
Permalink Reply by Ron on May 4, 2010 at 4:23pm
My phone is web enabled. I've been to this market a ton of times and it really does not matter how early you we there. Stolen bikes are there from start to finish.
What we are doing is letting these shitheads know that we are aware, watching, and willing to reclaim OPS. If there are some who would like us to keep an eye out for a certain bike, please, feel free to let me know. (Photos helpful) I have done this before, and recovered bikes that I personally built for people. No thief wants attention. Lets bring it!

H3N3 said:
They did, more than once I think. In the one I've seen rerun several times they used a lojack type device and tracked the bike into a closet where they found a bunch of other stolen stuff.
That bike was locked to a lamp pole and several guys stood on top of each-other to hoist it all the way up and off the lamppost.

Mark Kenseth said:
i think the tv show "cops" should do a sting operation of bicycle thieves. write them a letter. i imagine a nice bike set up with cameras and cops watching.

or...what about planting a microchip in the bike and locating it via GPS? that would be cool.
Permalink Reply by Moc Artsy on May 4, 2010 at 5:59pm
Some company needs to design a glass encased u-lock that will shatter and spray glass fragments if cut with an angle grinder. Or one that releases a nerve toxin (I recommended this to an On Guard rep, but I'm not holding my breath.) The problem has moved beyond locks now, unless someone creates a new compound or alloy that cannot be cut with a grinder. So the solution has to be something other than locks. I think the thread about parking infrastructure for cyclists is interesting and necessary. Stopping the supply chain at Swap-o-rama will eventually just move it somewhere else. The smarter and more adventurous thieves already know to hold onto bikes for a while, or move them to other cities. I have helped people reclaim bikes from Swap-o-rama also, and sometimes it works. But the fact will remain that cyclists are still expected to leave their property vulnerable in the city if they wish to park a bike there, and that our supposedly "bike-friendly" city can't really be bothered with the comparatively minor crime of a bike theft. I confess that a part of me would like to see a few of the thieves come to a bad end or at least meet with some u-lock justice, but I'd much rather see Chicago take the problem of bike theft more seriously, both in prevention and in enforcement and recovery. Good luck, right?
Permalink Reply by Ron on May 4, 2010 at 9:50pm
There's no secret Howard. Being a shop owner, I hear about many more thefts than most. I'm just always on the lookout for bikes that people inform me of. It also does not matter that guys move on from one flea market to another. It's actually not that easy to float from market to market. If you're not a reserved seller with a designated space, you can't just set up anywhere. Many markets sell out of space during the summer months and sellers don't want to move from place to place.
That said, perhaps a ride to Maxwell market on a Sunday?

H3N3 said:
Ron,
Recovery stories are exceedingly rare-- it's pretty cool that you seem to have so many.
Would you be interested/willing to share them sometime? The knowledge could help us better understand and fight theft in general-- unless there's some specific reason for the need to be secretive.

Ron said:
My phone is web enabled. I've been to this market a ton of times and it really does not matter how early you we there. Stolen bikes are there from start to finish.
What we are doing is letting these shitheads know that we are aware, watching, and willing to reclaim OPS. If there are some who would like us to keep an eye out for a certain bike, please, feel free to let me know. (Photos helpful) I have done this before, and recovered bikes that I personally built for people. No thief wants attention. Lets bring it!

H3N3 said:
They did, more than once I think. In the one I've seen rerun several times they used a lojack type device and tracked the bike into a closet where they found a bunch of other stolen stuff.
That bike was locked to a lamp pole and several guys stood on top of each-other to hoist it all the way up and off the lamppost.

Mark Kenseth said:
i think the tv show "cops" should do a sting operation of bicycle thieves. write them a letter. i imagine a nice bike set up with cameras and cops watching.

or...what about planting a microchip in the bike and locating it via GPS? that would be cool.
Permalink Reply by KatieP on May 5, 2010 at 2:11am
En route to work this morning I had an idea which 1 - may or may not be in production and 2 - may be completely ridiculous.

You know in stores where they have the anti-left buttons they place on clothes, so that if the their tries to rip it off black ink sprays everywhere? What if bike locks had this inside, so people with the grinders would get sprayed?
Permalink Reply by Vilda on May 5, 2010 at 2:14am
Now make it Katie! Go get a patent, at least, so you get paid!
Permalink Reply by Kate on May 5, 2010 at 3:34am
http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/10/10/leave-thee-a-stain-on-thy-bik...

Katie Paffhouse said:
En route to work this morning I had an idea which 1 - may or may not be in production and 2 - may be completely ridiculous.

You know in stores where they have the anti-left buttons they place on clothes, so that if the their tries to rip it off black ink sprays everywhere? What if bike locks had this inside, so people with the grinders would get sprayed?
Permalink Reply by RyanG on May 5, 2010 at 4:15am
A better idea is to take a portable motion detection alarm and wrap it around the lock. Cut the circuit or move the lock and a blaring siren goes off. Granted there are times where I come out to my bike and it's been moved thanks to my fellow cyclists or pedestrians, but if someone is wailing on the lock this should draw attention.

http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Motion-Sensor-Notebook-Computer/dp/B...
Permalink Reply by Ryan on May 5, 2010 at 9:08am
"The thief then proceeds to appear to have wizzed his or her pants. The liquid also stains the surrounding area."

Excellent.

I was thinking about this same problem on the way to work today. First, I thought it'd be sweet to electrocute the thief, but then realized it's damn near impossible to do so without also electrocuting your fellow biker when they lock up next to you.

Definitely, the best (and easiest to implement) would be the audio alarm that uses a complete circuit (your lock) to keep itself quiet. You break that circuit (or the lock) and blaring sirens go off - could probably use a transducer similar to those found in a smoke detector. That'd be loud enough to get someone's attention.

Granted, the intruder doesn't look like he peed himself, so it's still not as good as the yankodesign lock. Hmmmm... more brainstorming!

Kate said:
http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/10/10/leave-thee-a-stain-on-thy-bik...

Katie Paffhouse said:
En route to work this morning I had an idea which 1 - may or may not be in production and 2 - may be completely ridiculous.

You know in stores where they have the anti-left buttons they place on clothes, so that if the their tries to rip it off black ink sprays everywhere? What if bike locks had this inside, so people with the grinders would get sprayed?
Permalink Reply by Ryan on May 5, 2010 at 9:27am
Problem with that is the fact that an antenna is usually not too fond of being stuffed inside of a metal cage (such as a steel / aluminum / titanium frame).... now, if you had a plastic bike - perfect.

Or if you could shove it in the seat gel....

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