The Chainlink

The CSBR interrupts your regularly scheduled threads about helmets, head injuries, reckless cyclists, reckless drivers, and the physics thereof, to bring you the following announcement.

As of noon on May 9th, the CSBR has received 29 stolen bike reports for the month of May. More than half of them (16) were "locked" with some form of cable (cable w/padlock, combination cable, or keyed cable). The most recent report was for a $5000 bike locked to a bike rack in the Loop with a combination cable lock.

Nobody on the chainlink still thinks it's OK to lock their bike with a cable lock, do they?

Carry on...

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I only work here and don't ride here often. I would guess it is not as much of a problem. Many of the bikes I see in the area are only locked with a cable lock. I don't think I've ever seen both wheels on a bike locked.

I agree that greater security is needed as you get closer to Chicago or other high density areas.

As Bez pointed out, there is still too much confidence in simple locking methods. I live by Oak Park and am amazed at how many bikes there are only locked with a cable lock or only the frame with a u-lock. Bike theft is definitely a problem there, I have been a victim of it (yes, I should have known better).



Alex Z said:

Is it possible that, in Schaumburg, a cable lock is more likely to be sufficient?

 

I don't know anything about Schaumburg, but I would believe that there is less bike theft due to the lower density.

 

Such a sad sight to see. One U lock is not enough. Both wheels and the frame need to be secured. Of course, that would not explain the loss of the headset.  I suspect this bike, in a very public location in front of the State of Illinois Building, may have been there for a while. 

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Sad, true, but I view it as a ringing endorsement for the value of locking your bike to a rack with a u-lock.

David Barish said:

Such a sad sight to see. One U lock is not enough. Both wheels and the frame need to be secured. Of course, that would not explain the loss of the headset.  I suspect this bike, in a very public location in front of the State of Illinois Building, may have been there for a while. 

I think that it is likely a stolen bike that has been left there when it was not as valuable as hoped....

I think it is very unlikely that a thief would abandon something for which (s)he could still get $25-$50 or waste the value of a u-lock when they decided their return on investment was inadequate. 

Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:

I think that it is likely a stolen bike that has been left there when it was not as valuable as hoped....

I lived for years in Grosse Pointe Park, MI where a cable lock really was just fine. Even in the city of Detroit, where I spent lots of time and rode all over, a cable lock served me fine for years and years (though cycling has grown massively there in the last 5 years and I wouldn't use one there any more.) Sleepy suburbs like GPP have tons of money, lots of police and no serious crime, and in suburbs like that cable locks are often fine. I'd consider Metra stations to be a special case reagrdless of suburb, though. The Colorado mountain town my sister lived in for years was even better - the kind of place where you could just leave the bikes unsecured out back and when you rode to the store just leave it unsecured outside while you shopped.

Last night I parked my bike in front of a store in Lincoln ave. while visiting a friend. I secured the bike and took off my lights, bag and computer. Later, I was getting everything out of my bag in anticipation of riding home and could not find my Nightrider 350. I figured I had left it on the ground near my bike and was very mad at myself. I returned to the bike and found the light sitting on the handlebar on top of the computer mount. I had taken it out of the light mount and had it sitting there while I packed up and must have had a brain cramp and forgotten about it. I am amazed nobody walked away with it. I consider myself stupid but lucky. I had been nervous about my bike all day after snapping and posting the picture at the State building. I was convinced I had cursed myself. I then tried to get my light stolen and fortunately failed.

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