Eric F 

If I'm spending $5k+ on a brand new bike, the first significant scratch or chip is going to irk me. I bypassed that by buying bikes a couple of years old. Not only are they a lot more tolerable for my budget, but they came pre-scratched. It doesn't change how much I enjoy looking at them, and riding them.

indyfabz

He likes to do that, and it’s a bush league device.

Milton Keynes

It kind of does. In that sometimes thieves will destroy a lock to steal even a beater bike, so it likely won't make any difference if you deface your good bike to look like a beater.

Maelochs

Right? The evidence shows that thieves will remove/defeat even a good lock (and you have no idea what a "good" lock even means---it could have been a gym locker lock and a cable) to steal an average bike, and will steal any bike. Unless the first bike could be resold for a grand or more (which means a $2500 bike) then this proves that common thieves will steal anything, an ordinary bike or even a cheap beater bike ...
Whatever.

This is all moot. You wanted opinions but are unhappy with almost all the opinions ... if you Really care, go do the test. Paint your bike however, and lock it up wherever.

You have been on this site for quite a while .... none of this is new to you. None of what you have posted is accidental.

rsbob 

I never lock my bike, never. I take it with me into the bank, the optometrist, the dentist, the convenience store BUT I always ask first if it is permissible. If a store owner says NO, I thank them and go to another that does. My bike lives in a locked garage. When I didn’t have a garage, it lived in the house. If I am riding with someone, one of us stays with the bikes while the other goes in and vice versa. I will even carry my bike up two flights of stairs or put it in the elevator to take it with me. Never had anyone complain.

One guy asked me how much my bike cost and when I told them, they said the would do the same thing. Yes more booger flinging since I didn’t directly answer your question, but that is my solution to bike theft.

deast

Once a guy broke my lock with a brick

Joe Bikerider

I’ve done that. Remember those cylindrical locks where it was so easy to open them by just feeling for the click. This was back when I was living in the dorm at UCSD. I would always return the bike after using it. Not always at the same place on the rack though.

rsbob 

“My job is the false interpretation to manipulate the words in their favorable explanation to make sure someone has been provided my job. Not”

Koyote

I do this regularly without asking permission. I just wheel in my bike as if it's the most normal thing in the world. No one ever says a word.

SpeedyBlueBiker

Yep, that's pretty much what I do as well. I keep the bike locked in the house and not out in the garage. That's the only difference.

70sSanO

This does explain a lot.

I’ve worked with engineers for many years and have a similar tendencies.

I don’t think I’d deface a bike, but part of the logic behind this is doing something no one (possibly in their right mind) would think to do.

I’m guessing if the bike doesn’t get stolen it is a success regardless of whether there was any deterrent. And if it gets stolen, then a step was missed.

Where I differ is not locking the bike and doing what rsbob does. If I can’t take the bike with me, I won’t go in, or I’ll drive.

John

rsbob 

. would think it would be the other way around.

SpeedyBlueBiker

I mean, the bike doesn't ever stay in the garage. It's only stored in the house.

smasha

Sure, thieves will break a dollar-store lock to steal a crappy bike; I've previously stated that.

Will they break a good lock (properly used) to steal a beater-bike? Anecdotally, I don't know of that happening.

So the real question remains unanswered.

smasha

As I pointed out from the beginning: Thieves will break crappy locks to steal crappy bikes, and they'll break good locks to steal good bikes.

The question that remains unanswered, is what's the sweet spot of "ugly" where they won't break a good lock, to steal a bike?

smasha

That's not booger-flinging, that's just a different solution to a different problem.

Milton Keynes

It's obvious that those thieves targeted that bike, regardless of the lock. It's not like most locks are hard to get through in a few minutes anyway, I'm sure they wouldn't have been deterred had the beater bike been locked with a heavy duty lock.

indyfabz

As I mentioned above, the only bike of mine that was ever stolen was stolen from inside my house while I was home and awake. We accidentally left the front door unlocked after coming home from a night of shopping and dining a week before Christmas, 2010 (Fortunately, the two custom IFs were left behind.)

I would bet most of the US population does not have a garage. I don’t. I secure my super fly, custom ti Engin road bike when I go on tour in case the cat sitter accidentally leaves a door unlocked.

smasha

In a target rich environment full of good bikes that are poorly locked, why are you "sure they wouldn't have been deterred had the beater bike been locked with a heavy duty lock"?

When better bikes with crappy locks are parked in the area, why would anyone spend more time and effort fighting with a better lock, to steal a worse bike???

It seems "obvious" to me that they saw a crappy lock, and they recognised it as opportunity, without any consideration of the bike.

Milton Keynes

Never mind, just go on arguing for the sake of arguing.

Koyote

Yup. smasha is so busy arguing that he won't be able to actually ride his bike anywhere. Problem solved!

Gear_Admiral 

Theft is a function of bike value and ease of defeating the lock and also bikes nearby.

I spray painted mine to look loke crud. Black all over, then reddish brown near joints to look like rust. This keeps actual rust at bay and makes the bike look bad to most, despite having good or new parts at any given time. (Except I do not bother with the chain.)

I have decent locks and park next to bikes that are more expensive and/or more poorly locked if gone for a few hours. My bike is never the best looking or most easily stolen bike in that area.

It is like that joke about two people walking in the woods who encounter a bear. One puts on his sneakers. The other says, "Man cannot outrun a bear." The first one replies, "I don't need to outrun the bear; I just need to outrun you."

No locking system can prevent thieves with tools and time from dismantking every pedal and crankshaft. But, you can make it so that your bike is the last to be targeted and that can buy you 6 hours perhaps in even a high-crime area.

rsbob 

How about stuffing some batteries down the seat tube and adding some simple wiring thus electrifying the bike so that anyone who touches gets a very unpleasant jolt - not enough to kill but to prevent them from touching it again. It could be controlled remotely or maybe with a switch hidden under the seat. No need to deface the bike unless they return with thick rubber gloves.

Or there is the highly controversial bike mine: https://bikerumor.com/bike-mine-thef...e-off-thieves/

indyfabz

That’s what 🧌 🧌 do.

rsbob 

I HAVE JOINED THE MILTON FAN CLUB - MAKES A LOT OF SENSE AND FUNNY TOO. Way to go Milton!