The Chainlink


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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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.
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.
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?
Now make it Katie! Go get a patent, at least, so you get paid!
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?
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...
"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?
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....
Here is a cable lock with an alarm. I would use it with a u-lock. I would worry about minor jostling setting it off however.
Laura:

Sorry to hear about this. This event, along with other recent thefts I've heard about, have certainly got me thinking about how to protect my bike. Thanks for posting the photo of your chopped up u-lock. While ALL locks can be cut, there are locks out there that will take a thief with an angle grinder several minutes, rather than a few seconds, to cut. Here is a review of several high end locks I found. One of them, the OnGuard Beast 5016L chain, took 25 minutes to cut through with power tools. Unfortunately, it costs almost $200. While the theft of your bike was certainly not your fault, your lock was at the low end of the u-lock spectrum. Sadly, I guess those of us who lock up outside will need to spend more money to protect our bikes from theft.

Brendan.
I really question that review because I refuse to believe that a decent angle grinder would take 13 minutes to cut any lock.

I bet with a good cordless grinder and the proper abrasive even the cains or NYC could be cut easily in about 5 minutes; or less.

Chicago Bicycle Advocate said:
Laura:

Sorry to hear about this. This event, along with other recent thefts I've heard about, have certainly got me thinking about how to protect my bike. Thanks for posting the photo of your chopped up u-lock. While ALL locks can be cut, there are locks out there that will take a thief with an angle grinder several minutes, rather than a few seconds, to cut. Here is a review of several high end locks I found. One of them, the OnGuard Beast 5016L chain, took 25 minutes to cut through with power tools. Unfortunately, it costs almost $200. While the theft of your bike was certainly not your fault, your lock was at the low end of the u-lock spectrum. Sadly, I guess those of us who lock up outside will need to spend more money to protect our bikes from theft.

Brendan.
less than 30 sec

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