Tony_G

For those of you who have had a bike stolen, I am curious as to the circumstances.

I really stress out at the thought of having my not yet month old bike stolen.

At home, in the garage, my bike is behind locked doors, with multiple motion alarms, motion detection LED exterior lights, burglar bars on the windows, highly reinforced door frame, steel entry door, upgraded door locks and deadbolts, and two cameras (one interior and one exterior).

When I'm out riding, I only let the bike out of my sight to use MUP facility restrooms. But I don't lock it then as I don't yet have a lock.

Also, the MUP that I use is in a decent area, and I've yet to see even one person lock their bike at the bathrooms (although more than half have riding partners, so for them locks are moot). I ride alone, no partner.

So I am wondering, has anyone here had a bike stolen while taking a quick leak?

Under what circumstances was your bike stolen? In a public place, at a store, at work, at home maybe out of your garage, off a porch, or other?

Was your stolen bike recovered?

Last, I plan to buy a lock. I'd appreciate suggestions for a good, light weight bike lock for use on rides. I'd prefer a good bang for the buck lock. Preferably under $50. Are the midrange Kryptonite u-locks good enough? Has anyone here actually collected on their theft guarantee?

CliffordK

I suppose I've had two bikes stolen. One as a teenager from school. The bike was locked in front of the school during the day, but I lost my keys the same day and presumably dropped them near the bike.

I was reimbursed by my parent's homeowner's insurance for that bike (minus deductible). Serial number was recorded, reported, and it was eventually recovered a couple of years later, mostly stripped and rebuilt with cheaper parts. By that time I had already replaced the bike, and we left it for the insurance company.

The second one was a cheap used MTB that was parked in my back yard, but visible from the street. A junker showed up on my front walkway the same day

For stopping at a restroom, if the restroom is big enough for your bike,take it inside with you. If it is a plastic box, lean the bike up against the building, and hopefully you could hear if someone moves it.

Locks depend on how you're using the bike, and how and where it is being locked. Also, what the bike is. In many places, just about anything might work for 2 minutes inside a restroom including simple wheel locks.

I have been mostly using a Kryptonite NY lock lately as my bikes could potentially be a target.

manapua_man

Only two bikes stolen.

1- someone cut the bolts holding the rack to the sidewalk and stole the entire rack and whatever was on it.

2- chained bike to tree, someone cut the tree down.


Fortunately both were kinda low end hardtails.

wphamilton

I'd also lock the bike itself to something. seriously. A neighbor here walked into his house to get something, came back out and his pride and joy was gone, never recovered. Nobody is perfect.

For your question, I had a Huffy mtb stolen from behind my apartment. I'd left it leaned up against a tree behind my apartment hoping someone would take it - disgusted with keeping it ride-able. It took two weeks to finally disappear.

sail

My was stolen mid day after they opened a fence gate and entered the garage thru a closed but unlocked service door. It happened right after a ride, someone was watching.

Fastfingaz

Funny how you made it out of your lbs with a brand new bike and no lock what so ever,,, I say better hurry up and buy one before you don't need it,,,,,

Secret Squirrel

I had one stolen from a locked garage. Perp must have watched me roll into the garage. I now lock all the bikes in every occasion. Inside or out. Never let it out of my sight. I make sure that people are not watching when the bike is in a comprised security situation. Situational awareness is important.

indyfabz

My partner and I accidentally left our door unlocked a week before Christmas. Someone came around checking doors later that night while were awake in bed watching the news. He took my customer Robert Beckman racks and the Surly LHT they were attached to.

lemongrass

Luckily I've only had two bikes stolen and they were two of the worst I've ever owned....a completely destroyed Raleigh MTB from 2009 and rusted out vintage department store mixte with everything wrong with it. The Raleigh was cut off a rack surprisingly and the other one was stolen from inside my apartment during a party in college...guy who stole it must reallllly needed to get somewhere.

I keep my nice bikes under a super watchful eye and never lock them up outside (bring them into stores with me when I can). So far so good (and I'm not hosting any more drunken parties).

Hardrock23

I always bring the bike into the bathroom with me...whether its a porta potty, gas station, or even a Rec center bathroom.
But I don't have a lock and never leave my bike out of sight, rarely out of reach even.

Haven't had a bike stolen myself, but my brother has numerous times. They always broke into the house.

Cougrrcj

Only one of mine was stolen - my first '74 Fuji Special Tourer barely three months old. Locked to the bike rack at the High School. I came out to find the remains of the lock/chain on the ground, bolt cutter marks on the chain. Police report filed. Never recovered. Parents' homeowner's insurance covered it. Replaced with the exact same make/model/color.

CroMo Mike 

My son's bike was stolen off a bike rack on a college campus during daytime classes. The lock and chain were taken as well, so no clue how it was cut/jimmied/broken. He found it several weeks later on the same campus locked to a light pole. Campus police cut it free, held it several days (the new "owner" never complained to the cops) and returned it to my son.

Jon T

Only one I ever had stolen was my first 10 speed, an "Orly" Tour de France. Stolen from my high school back in '71. It was only 3 months old. Mom and Dad's home owners covered it.
Jon

Barabaika

Get a vintage Japanese $150 bike from Craigslist and stop worrying.
Many thieves steal expensive parts even if you lock your bike.

Some parts that are less attractive to thieves:
* 27" wheels
* mixte frames
* 1" quill stems
* small-speed drivetrains especially non-indexed

coominya

I left it unsecured outside a coffee shop for 3 hours late at night and came back to find it gone, Thank God! With the insurance payout I got to buy a much better one

locolobo13 

Oct 2010 - My Raleigh Mtn bike was stolen while I was taking night classes at the local community college. Locked at the bike rack with a cheap cable lock. No problems from Aug until that night in Oct.

College security told me I should use a U-lock. They said so far nobody had stolen a bike with a U-lock. The security guard pulled up the video. The bike was there until sundown. Their cameras couldn't see much after that. Needless to say I got a U-lock & Cable lock with my next bike and had no problems the rest of the school year.

Feb 2014 - My Trek Hybrid was stolen while I was inside a convenience store. I was inside for less than 2 min. I had U-lock but had been getting lazy. I locked the bike to a lamp post with just the cable lock. Security footage? Hah!

A couple of months later I saw the bike on CL. With the help of the local police the bike was recovered. In the meantime I had bought a Trek 3700 Mtn bike.

Dec 2016 - The 3700 was stolen outside of McDs while eating breakfast. This McDs didn't have a good place to lock up so I locked it up to a lamp post in the parking lot in view of the dining room. The U-lock wouldn't fit around the post so the cable lock attached the bike to the post. The U-lock locked the rear wheel to the frame. I like to read a breakfast so I wasn't paying enuff attention. Occasionally I would look up and see the bike. But when I left it was gone. The thief took the U-lock & bike. I've given up looking for the 3700. For more info about this theft see these threads.

https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus...olen-bike.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/southwest/...-mtn-bike.html

jgwilliams

Fortunately I've never had a bike stolen. When we moved to our current house it didn't have a garage (not that uncommon in the UK) and I had more bikes than I could easily store in a shed. So I built a big storage box in front of the house and installed a heavy duty ground anchor so that not only were the bikes out of sight but also securely locked to something solid. The box is built from floorboard grade pine so it wouldn't be that hard to break into, but so far nobody has tried.

crankythunder

bout 20 years ago,

My apartment had storage cages that were community access while each one was individually locked. I had it chained around the steel overhead floor joists with a heavy 3/4 inch tow chain and a monster padlock.

Thief busted the door of the storage cage, and cut through two joists in the rafters to steel bike and chain.

While I was out a good sum for the bike and chain, the apartment complex had to spend thousands for building repair.
Apartment came after me for the damages but dropped their claim after I hired an attorney. Police thought that it must have been a fellow renter within the building but never did find the thief. small pool of potential suspects but I do not think that they put much effort in it.

Regards,
Crankster

Reynolds 

2 bikes stolen.
First one, about 40yrs ago, I lived in a small apartment, 2nd floor, no elevator. I used to leave my bike unlocked in the corridor just outside my door. One morning the bike wasn't there. There had been a party next door that night, I suspect some drunk took it to get back home. Never recovered.
2nd one, about 30yrs ago, I "forgot" my bike at the street overnight, locked to a post with a flimsy cable. Wasn't there next morning, never recovered. This was a fairly good bike.
A 3rd bike was technically stolen some years ago, but I found it later abandoned a few blocks away. It was an ugly beater bike.

LabRat55

I had a bike stolen right out from under me when I was in 7th grade. Rode it to school and back in nice weather and had to pass a junior high school. One of the JH thugs stopped me one day and took my bike! That was a life lesson and the reason I am now very careful everywhere I go. I might be borderline paranoid but I always size people up and always have an escape route planned in public. I also have a pistol unless I'm in a restricted zone. Never had to fire it and only drew it once.

ce111917

I had a $50 Craigslist MTB stolen from the rack at the nearby light rail transit center. I left it chained up overnight for some reason and in the morning there was nothing but the broken chain left lying on the ground. Granted, I'd used that bike instead of a decent one that day because I didn't have much faith that it'd still be there in the morning - but I was heartily impressed by the efficiency with which it disappeared.

Kip

I had my venerable 2002 Trek 520 stolen from work in December 2009. It was unlocked and parked in the hallway about 20 paces from my desk. Someone grabbed it an ran out the back door with it. In retrospect, parking it by the back door was not wise. After a couple of weeks of fruitless searching for it, I contacted my insurance company and they paid for two-thirds of the cost of replacing it with a 2009 520.
Three months later I was riding home on my new bike and saw a young man riding my old bike. I stopped him and knew he was not the thief as we had a description of the man who had taken my bike. The rider said he got it "from a friend" and was on his way to his job as a dishwasher at Sizzler. I made the case that it was my bike. I had the receipt with the serial number and had reported the theft to the police. He surrendered it to me. I did contact my insurance company and reported the recovery of the stolen bike. I paid them $200 for it and kept the newer 520 as well. I keep one at our vacation home and have put quite a few miles on each of them since 2010.

drlogik 

Back in 1969 when I was 11 years old I had a blue 2-speed Schwinn Stingray with chrome fenders, the fancy banana seat and slicks. Man was it cool!

My younger sister's bike was too small for her and she asked if she could ride my baby to the library. I VERY reluctantly had to say yes because it was in front of my mom and dad.

I told her she HAD to lock the bike to the bike rack.

She didn't lock the bike to the bike rack...


-

700

I had modified my first bike to be just what I wanted. It was a light stingray style with a small chainring so I could spin it up faster than my friends off the line - then I was the leader on narrow trails. I carelessly left it in the front yard in a "safe" neighborhood. Never saw it again, but guessed it was at the bottom of "Lighthouse Lake." I'd heard that they had drained the lake at one time and dozens of bike carcasses were removed. I have since seen what happens to a bicycle left in a creek. They dissolve pretty fast!

Second theft was from the same house. Replacement stingray (used) was behind a gate in the side yard. Search found someone had thrown it in a nearby creek where it landed on concrete - tacoing the rear wheel. Recovered that one and replaced the wheel. Rode it until I outgrew it.

NO CARRIER

This is a great thread! I had my first mountain bike stolen as a kid, I always used my U-Lock in public. But at home I'd leave the bike behind my parent's house where it couldn't be seen from the street. Came out one evening and it was gone. They took the U-Lock too which wasn't even on the bike. I still have the keys. Never to be seen again.

From the thread it sounds like most stolen bikes were either using cable locks or it was unlocked in a 'secure' place, like our garage. Except for Crankythunder, that's just a impressive. I was thinking of using a tow chain and padlock for my bike too. A DIY lock.

+++ath0
NO CARRIER