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Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on January 12, 2012 at 7:18pm

Interesting article, thanks for posting this, A.K.A Paul!  A couple of highlights for me:

"Certainly the king of bike thieves has been found. In 2008, a quirky Toronto bike-shop owner named Igor Kenk turned out to have 2,865 stolen bikes squirreled away in his store and various warehouses. Kenk, considered the most prolific bike thief in the world, is a messy, dyspeptic Slovenian intellectual who before he was caught lived in a fancy house and associated with the classical music scene. Yet his method was brutally mundane: Kenk was finally caught pointing out bikes he wanted stolen to a mentally ill person, whom he paid with drugs. He served just over a year in jail and is already back out."

and

"The purpose of stealing a bike, after all, is to sell it. SFPD’s McCloskey estimated that 90 percent of bike thieves are drug addicts. In America’s rough streets, there are four forms of currency—cash, sex, drugs, and bicycles. Of those, only one is routinely left outside unattended."

and

"The day after arriving in town I spotted a trio of dubious bike salesmen in the Southeast neighborhood. A line of 20 battered bikes and things like dishwashers and toaster ovens were for sale in front of their house. A transvestite with heavy face glitter sat on the curb, hawking the goods while knocking back malt liquor at 11:15 A.M. The shop assistant was shirtless, and the boss was a disabled man strapped into a wheelchair, plucking bike parts from buckets of spares arrayed around him—crates of grimy handlebars, dozens of cables, rows of wheels stripped from other rides.  To help conceal their identities, stolen bicycles are often converted into Frankenbikes—quick, haphazard rebuilds—which was likely what was going on here."

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Permalink Reply by Barclor on January 13, 2012 at 4:51am

I read this the other day. Very entertaining but a bit anticlimactic in the end. Definitely worth reading though.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on January 13, 2012 at 5:01am

Enjoyed the read. I think it supports and reinforces the point I've been trying to make in my posts; i.e. you aren't going to reduce bike theft by trying to catch thieves. You need to prevent it before your bike is stolen by locking properly with one or more quality lock(s).

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Permalink Reply by dan brown on January 13, 2012 at 5:10am

great article Paul. Thanks for sharing.

 

Dan

 

interesting (and sad) that bikes are one of the "street currencies"

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Permalink Reply by DanGer 8.2mi on January 13, 2012 at 6:23am

I had a bike stolen at Daley College. The thief was cought by security. They had a tape of the thief in action. The police arrested him. The colege security guard and I went to court twice. The thief never showed. The judge issued a bench warrant for his re-arrest. That was twenty years ago and I never heard another word. My eyes were opened to the reality of laws and justice. =D

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Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on January 13, 2012 at 7:21am

Most of the info in here was new to me, so it was very eye opening.  I had no idea bike theft was so lucrative or that drugs were such a huge part of it.  "Cash, sex, drugs, money, and bikes."

When I was going to school in the loop years ago I rode my Trek to the blue line on Damen and locked it up with, in hindsight, the most ridiculous cable lock you'll ever see.  I just didn't know any better.  I think I had maybe one or two classes at the most that day, and when I returned an hour or two later it was gone daddy gone.  Really a chilling feeling.

Nice to see the great David Byrne agree with me on the skewer replacements, though.  Bike theft seems to be more about deterring theft than eliminating it.  Pit rods just make it harder for thieves, and the idea is that they'll move on to something easier.  Pit rods in combination with a good u-lock, and a kryptonite cable lock to help prevent bike accessory theft, are the way to go as I see it.  This still keeps you relatively light, and if you have a rack/basket/backpack like I think most everyone should, then you can carry the stuff around with ease.  

Before I get on my bike everyday I grab my mace and my locks, and the pit rods are my little Ron Popeil "set it and forget" devices.  If my ride does happen to get jacked I'll feel a lot better knowing I gave it my best shot.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Maskell on January 13, 2012 at 5:27pm

I agree. A salutory expose of what you're up against. As well, it's a bit of a moot point if the bike just gets stripped while waiting to be stolen. Eventually the tracker is the most valuable part left.

Barclor said:

I read this the other day. Very entertaining but a bit anticlimactic in the end. Definitely worth reading though.

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