# Disguise your bike ?



## Chess (11 Jan 2017)

Anyone done this ? If so, how and what did you do ?
Hi all,
As bike theft is on the up I was wondering if this is a viable option to deter thieves.
I use my bike for commuting / shopping etc but constantly worry whether it will be there when I walk out of the shop.
Yes, I lock it but will making it look old, tatty, a pile of rubbish not worth nicking help to deter theft ?
If anyone has done this please let me know what and how. Pics, links and advice and your thoughts much appreciated. 
And thanks in advance.


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## Bimble (11 Jan 2017)

I've heard if this, and know that people do do it, but it's not something I've ever considered. I tend not to clean my bikes very regularly though, so they possibly look more tatty than they might otherwise, but I can understand why people might think it's a good idea; it's blood-boiling annoying having your bike nicked, especially when you've taken time to invest in locks / security and make the effort to lock it up, and damned inconvenient if it happens away from home.


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## welsh dragon (11 Jan 2017)

I have disguised my bike as a clothes horse in my bedroom.


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## mjr (11 Jan 2017)

Chess said:


> Yes, I lock it but will making it look old, tatty, a pile of rubbish not worth nicking help to deter theft ?


I suspect unless your bike is something famously resellable like a Specialized Allez or expensive like a Pinarello Dogma, it's not going to matter. Most people don't know what they're looking at with bikes - I've had compliments paid to my clanky, rusty made-in-Poland gas pipe roadster.

So I concentrate on locks (one chunky D, one alarmed cable) and parking locations: preferring ones with CCTV, good lighting, passing traffic; avoiding leaving it long in cycle parks that show up hot on the stolen-bikes maps. I'd worry more about leaving any well-known nickable components like Brooks saddles uncovered when parked.


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## ianrauk (11 Jan 2017)

If a thief see's an easy target, disguised or not they will have it away. 2 very good locks is what you need not a disguise.


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## steveindenmark (11 Jan 2017)

A friend of mine has a perfectly good TREK road bike which came in red. She then had it stripped and painted pink with flowers. It never seems to go missing.


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## Salty seadog (11 Jan 2017)

A trick I see in London is to cover the frame in many looking tape of various sorts. It would be a Bugger to get off and clean up I reckon.


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## Sharky (11 Jan 2017)

Tried to get planning permission for our bathroom update, but got turned down.
Don't know why not - seems a good design to me?


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## vickster (11 Jan 2017)

Good locks and insurance


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## I like Skol (11 Jan 2017)

mjr said:


> .....avoiding leaving it long in cycle parks that show up hot on the stolen-bikes maps.


Where can I find this theft hotspot data? Would like to check out my local area and regular haunts to see if I am risking being hit. I kind of suspect the crime hotspots coincide with common sense, i.e if you lock your bike in that dingy alleyway at the side of the benefits office on signing on day then you are saying goodbye to your pride and joy!


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## jefmcg (11 Jan 2017)

I like Skol said:


> Where can I find this theft hotspot data? Would like to check out my local area and regular haunts to see if I am risking being hit. I kind of suspect the crime hotspots coincide with common sense, i.e if you lock your bike in that dingy alleyway at the side of the benefits office on signing on day then you are saying goodbye to your pride and joy!


I don't think it works like that. For instance, this open and well trafficked rack is a hotspot in my neighbourhood, as are most station car parks.

Oh, having cleaned a river, I can attest to the fact that people steel shitty bikes too. They just dump them in a waterway when they are done with them, if they can't sell them.


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## Gravity Aided (11 Jan 2017)

When I take my bicycle downtown, I usually park it and lock it up within sight of a sidewalk cafe. No one is going to apply a grinder in front of a group of people, I suspect.


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## Gravity Aided (11 Jan 2017)

jefmcg said:


> I don't think it works like that. For instance, this open and well trafficked rack is a hotspot in my neighbourhood, as are most station car parks.
> 
> Oh, having cleaned a river, I can attest to the fact that people steel shitty bikes too. They just dump them in a waterway when they are done with them, if they can't sell them.


They do that in the States, too. How odd. Must be the same set of motivations and thought processes.


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## Bimble (11 Jan 2017)

Gravity Aided said:


> When I take my bicycle downtown, I usually park it and lock it up within sight of a sidewalk cafe. *No one is going to apply a grinder in front of a group of people, I suspect.*


You would think that, but ...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dz0Za5-wOM


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## mjr (11 Jan 2017)

I like Skol said:


> Where can I find this theft hotspot data?


http://www.stolen-bikes.co.uk/mapping/ and - unless you're in a particularly theft-prone postcode - scroll down for the "all thefts in England and Wales in 2014" map too.



jefmcg said:


> I don't think it works like that. For instance, this open and well trafficked rack is a hotspot in my neighbourhood, as are most station car parks


Indeed - that parking is near a train station. The other hotspots tend to be parking near gyms, swimming pools and cinemas if they haven't got good lighting, CCTV and/or staff - basically places where a thief has a reasonable chance of a bike being unattended for an hour or more. Quite a lot of bikes get nicked from residential back gardens, industrial back yards or being left locked to nothing or to themselves outside corner shops, but that tends to be too scattered to show up as a hotspot in its own right. There's also a surge in August and September as bikes get carted off to university cities to be flogged cheap to unsuspecting freshers.


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## Gravity Aided (11 Jan 2017)

Bimble said:


> You would think that, but ...
> 
> View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dz0Za5-wOM



Yeah (or Jah,) but I live in the Midwest, where nobody minds his own business.


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## Jody (11 Jan 2017)

A downside with MTB's is they are so easy to distinguish between cheap and expensive even for people who don't know too much about them.


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## fossyant (11 Jan 2017)

I like Skol said:


> Where can I find this theft hotspot data? Would like to check out my local area and regular haunts to see if I am risking being hit. I kind of suspect the crime hotspots coincide with common sense, i.e if you lock your bike in that dingy alleyway at the side of the benefits office on signing on day then you are saying goodbye to your pride and joy!



Yup common sense. Lots of bike thefts in my area but it's from poorly secured sheds. A little padlock is not going to stop a thief with a bolt cropper.


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## CanucksTraveller (11 Jan 2017)

Salty seadog said:


> A trick I see in London is to cover the frame in many looking tape of various sorts. It would be a Bugger to get off and clean up I reckon.



Indeed. I was looking at a lot of bikes around UCL yesterday and another trick I noticed is a poorly done respray, often in matte black or an offputting colour like brown. You see some clearly decent bikes disguised with flat paint, dirt and electrical tape. Shabby or tatty seems to be the urban camouflage of many city cyclists.


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## Jody (11 Jan 2017)

CanucksTraveller said:


> Indeed. I was looking at a lot of bikes around UCL yesterday and another trick I noticed is a poorly done respray, often in matte black or an offputting colour like brown. You see some clearly decent bikes disguised with flat paint, dirt and electrical tape. Shabby or tatty seems to be the urban camouflage of many city cyclists.



What about using Plastidip? Matt ruberised paint that can be peeled off without damaging the paintwork underneath. Saves going to the extremes of putting a sh*t paintjob on a nice frame.


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## Drago (11 Jan 2017)

I disguise my bike as Jeremy Corbyn when I leave it locked up. That way I can be assured that no one will take the slightest bit of notice.


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## further (11 Jan 2017)

"http://stolen-bikes.co.uk/mapping/?postcode="
5 bikes in 6 months within 1 mile of me.


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## mjr (11 Jan 2017)

further said:


> "http://stolen-bikes.co.uk/mapping/?postcode="
> 5 bikes in 6 months within 1 mile of me.


1. remember it's only _reported_ thefts and according to that page 75% of people don't bother (often because they think the police won't get the bike back);
2. check the postcode of where you park it, as well as your own. My home is similar quiet, but dozens are nicked from town in September.


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## jefmcg (11 Jan 2017)

further said:


> "http://stolen-bikes.co.uk/mapping/?postcode="
> 5 bikes in 6 months within 1 mile of me.


Where do you live? In narnia? Over 100 near me, apparently


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## bruce1530 (11 Jan 2017)

mjr said:


> http://www.stolen-bikes.co.uk/mapping/



Fantastic. It appears that not only do I live in an exceedingly safe area (no recorded thefts), but my work address (Glasgow city centre) also has no recorded thefts... 

... or maybe that’s because it’s england and wales stats only.... Is there anything similar for north of the border?


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## mjr (11 Jan 2017)

jefmcg said:


> Where do you live? In narnia? Over 100 near me, apparently


You have seen the hills around Glastonbury, I take it? 

Also, you're near That London, which is a wretched hive of scum and villainy.


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## greekonabike (11 Jan 2017)

I've seen a couple of bikes locally that are covered in black gaffa tape. I assume this is an attempt to conceal the brand. It's not like the area I live in has especially high crime rate either. 

GOAB


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## I like Skol (11 Jan 2017)

greekonabike said:


> I've seen a couple of bikes locally that are covered in black gaffa tape. I assume this is an attempt to conceal the brand. It's not like the area I live in has especially high crime rate either.
> 
> GOAB


Maybe stolen bikes that have been clumsily disguised to throw the owners off the scent?


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## greekonabike (11 Jan 2017)

Possibly. I've not yet got to the stage of covering my bike in masking tape. I did get an urban camouflage saddle though, you know, so it blends in when it's leaning against walls. 

GOAB


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## fatblokish (11 Jan 2017)

https://www.bikeregister.com/


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## raleighnut (11 Jan 2017)

The owner of this S-Works Venge seems to have done a good job,


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## mjr (12 Jan 2017)

fatblokish said:


> https://www.bikeregister.com/


Isn't that likely to end up as a "burglar's shopping list" like immobilise did? Don't upload your bikes before they're nicked IMO.


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## vickster (12 Jan 2017)

further said:


> "http://stolen-bikes.co.uk/mapping/?postcode="
> 5 bikes in 6 months within 1 mile of me.


25 here, but Sutton has low cyclist numbers compared to other boroughs such as Kingston and Richmond


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## Jody (12 Jan 2017)

Where does that site get its data from because I have put a few postcodes from the town next to me and it says no bikes have been stolen. But I know there are a few high end bikes that have been nicked in the last 6 months.


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## mjr (12 Jan 2017)

Jody said:


> Where does that site get its data from because I have put a few postcodes from the town next to me and it says no bikes have been stolen. But I know there are a few high end bikes that have been nicked in the last 6 months.


Probably the http://police.uk crime map service. Were the high end bikes you know reported to the police?


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## I like Skol (12 Jan 2017)

mjr said:


> Probably the http://police.uk crime map service. Were the high end bikes you know reported to the police?


This reminded me of some 'advice' I was given some decades ago when new to driving. Someone told me that should my car ever be stolen from outside the house don't report it as the site of the theft but choose somewhere else suitable/plausible that is nearby but preferably in a different postcode.
The reasoning for this is that the theft incident will be tagged onto the address and it will then have a blackmark against it which will be considered by all insurers when quoting for an insurance premium. Also by choosing a different postcode you are not impacting the insurance rates for yourself and the immediate area.
The fact that this was lies didn't apparently matter as they were unlikely to recover the vehicle and if they did they were even less likely to apprehend the culprits and even in the unlikely event that they were caught the chance was that the thieving scumbags insistence he didn't take the car from where you said it was stolen would be considered to be a weak attempt to avoid the rap.
I wonder if this is happening with expensive bikes too? You need to claim for the theft of your £5k bike but you also want to be able to insure the replacement next year. To ensure this isn't prohibitively expensive you could claim the bike was stolen while suitably locked up outside the nearby newsagent where you had stopped to buy a lottery ticket. Your renewal quote isn't loaded and you are only the cost of a broken window or door lock out of pocket.

This may be why the stats don't seem to reflect reality?


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## Jody (12 Jan 2017)

mjr said:


> Probably the http://police.uk crime map service. Were the high end bikes you know reported to the police?



Not sure. You would hope so due to the cost and publicity they garnered on local Facebook pages.


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## mjr (12 Jan 2017)

I like Skol said:


> I wonder if this is happening with expensive bikes too? You need to claim for the theft of your £5k bike but you also want to be able to insure the replacement next year. To ensure this isn't prohibitively expensive you could claim the bike was stolen while suitably locked up outside the nearby newsagent where you had stopped to buy a lottery ticket. Your renewal quote isn't loaded and you are only the cost of a broken window or door lock out of pocket.
> 
> This may be why the stats don't seem to reflect reality?


Possible, but I think most insurance policies I've seen for expensive bikes (not my bikes - purely academic reading when online discussions mentioned them!) give you a much lower excess for thefts from home because they specify higher security at home (ground anchors and stuff). Also, they usually want a police incident number so they'd be reported and I'd expect the false nearby location to be within a mile of home, so still show up for you in the total on the postcode search.

Intuitively, the only theft hotspots I know that surprised me was one in a shopping centre that I thought had good CCTV but actually doesn't (and the cycle parking is slowly being removed, controversially, instead of improving CCTV) and a cycle park that has those streetpods which the police recommended as being secure but I dislike because only one of my bikes fits in only half of their spaces.


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## vickster (12 Jan 2017)

raleighnut said:


> The owner of this S-Works Venge seems to have done a good job,
> 
> 
> View attachment 157464


Looks much better than a Venge


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## vickster (12 Jan 2017)

I like Skol said:


> This reminded me of some 'advice' I was given some decades ago when new to driving. Someone told me that should my car ever be stolen from outside the house don't report it as the site of the theft but choose somewhere else suitable/plausible that is nearby but preferably in a different postcode.
> The reasoning for this is that the theft incident will be tagged onto the address and it will then have a blackmark against it which will be considered by all insurers when quoting for an insurance premium. Also by choosing a different postcode you are not impacting the insurance rates for yourself and the immediate area.
> The fact that this was lies didn't apparently matter as they were unlikely to recover the vehicle and if they did they were even less likely to apprehend the culprits and even in the unlikely event that they were caught the chance was that the thieving scumbags insistence he didn't take the car from where you said it was stolen would be considered to be a weak attempt to avoid the rap.
> I wonder if this is happening with expensive bikes too? You need to claim for the theft of your £5k bike but you also want to be able to insure the replacement next year. To ensure this isn't prohibitively expensive you could claim the bike was stolen while suitably locked up outside the nearby newsagent where you had stopped to buy a lottery ticket. Your renewal quote isn't loaded and you are only the cost of a broken window or door lock out of pocket.
> ...



This sounds pretty fraudulent to me. My car was stolen from my drive at night a few years ago  If I had reported the theft at a different postcode, I would potentially not have been insured, as my car is insured to be on my drive at night. Lying to an insurance company in such as situation does sound like a pretty stupid thing to do if you expect the claim to be settled and to be able to get insurance later (and potentially not be prosecuted for fraud)

Interestingly, and it may be a coincidence, the insurance company (same as for the car) at my home insurance renewal stipulated that I had to have a burglar alarm fitted (I hadn't been burgled for the keys, the scumbags somehow lifted the car). I just moved my home insurance elsewhere, no need to disclose motor claims (insurers I believe can access all the info anyhow through their databases)


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## Jody (12 Jan 2017)

vickster said:


> This sounds pretty fraudulent to me. )



I'd be pretty wary of lying to an insurance company also. Their whole job is about reducing or avoiding payouts so would rather not give them the opportunity. They don't pay investigators for nothing.


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## I like Skol (12 Jan 2017)

vickster said:


> This sounds pretty fraudulent to me. My car was stolen from my drive at night a few years ago  If I had reported the theft at a different postcode, I would potentially not have been insured, as my car is insured to be on my drive at night. Lying to an insurance company in such as situation does sound like a pretty stupid thing to do if you expect the claim to be settled and to be able to get insurance later (and potentially not be prosecuted for fraud)
> 
> Interestingly, and it may be a coincidence, the insurance company (same as for the car) at my home insurance renewal stipulated that I had to have a burglar alarm fitted (I hadn't been burgled for the keys, the scumbags somehow lifted the car). I just moved my home insurance elsewhere, no need to disclose motor claims (insurers I believe can access all the info anyhow through their databases)


I'm not saying I have done this, would do this or condone it in any way, but I'm sure it does happen.
As for being prosecuted for insurance fraud, don't make me laugh! Motor vehicle insurance companies practically encourage you to lie. Their standard T&Cs usually include something to the effect of 'under no circumstances admit fault or accept liability for any accident or claim arising from any incident covered by this insurance policy'. There is very little consequence for lying about an insurance claim. When my wife was heavily pregnant with our first child a driver pulled out of a parking spot as my wife drove along the road and collided with the side of my wife's car. They apologised and accepted full blame at the scene, but when the paperwork was submitted they had moved the location of the accident a few hundred yards up the road to a junction where they could make the damage match a scenario where my wife had pulled out of a side street in front of them. It looked as though they were going to get away with it too as it was their word against ours, but luckily we managed to track down a witness (a contractor who had been working in the nearby bus station at the time and had come across to check my wife was ok after the accident). Even with the proof that they were making fraudulent claims the culprit was still not penalised in any way and had their own damage repaired by their own insurance, therefore losing any NCD just the same as if they had accepted liability in the first place. The insurance company has no interest in taking action because if the client lies and it works, they pay out in less instances.
I know property insurance is not quite the same but insurance fraud is rife and we are all paying inflated premiums as a result.


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## Jody (12 Jan 2017)

I like Skol said:


> Motor vehicle insurance companies practically encourage you to lie. Their standard T&Cs usually include something to the effect of 'under no circumstances admit fault or accept liability for any accident or claim arising from any incident covered by this insurance policy'. .



Not admiting liability is not the same as lying


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## jefmcg (12 Jan 2017)

Jody said:


> Not admiting liability is not the same as lying


Yes. In my only at-fault collision I said "I am not admitting liability, but the facts are that your car was stopped a red light and I drove my car into the back of it." It was hard not to add "sorry" at the end.

Oh, and by the way, good karma is sometimes returned. Though they were perfectly entitled to make a claim on me, but their car already had a number of dents and I never heard from them.


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## I like Skol (12 Jan 2017)

Jody said:


> Not admiting liability is not the same as lying


True, but it would seem many people make it a personal aim to never accept any liability and also inflate any claims to benefit by as much as possible. Until insurance companies start to publically hurt these people, it will continue.


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## Blue Hills (12 Jan 2017)

jefmcg said:


> Yes. In my only at-fault collision I said "I am not admitting liability, but the facts are that your car was stopped a red light and I drove my car into the back of it." It was hard not to add "sorry" at the end.
> 
> Oh, and by the way, good karma is sometimes returned. Though they were perfectly entitled to make a claim on me, but their car already had a number of dents and I never heard from them.


At the risk of sending the thread off thread (but continuing a theme) I once ran into the back of someone at a roundabout one night (too much faith in German ABS) - it wasn't terribly hard but I would have thought would have left some sort of mark - to my surprise the car I had hit drove maybe 200 metres up the road, someone got out, looked at the back of the car, got back in and drove off without saying a word to me. I never even saw their face. Puzzled me no end. Mentioned it to someone and they reckoned that perhaps the "injured party" shouldn't have been where they were/was having an affair or something.


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## Blue Hills (12 Jan 2017)

CanucksTraveller said:


> Indeed. I was looking at a lot of bikes around UCL yesterday and another trick I noticed is a poorly done respray, often in matte black or an offputting colour like brown. You see some clearly decent bikes disguised with flat paint, dirt and electrical tape. Shabby or tatty seems to be the urban camouflage of many city cyclists.


Well Is suppose anyone who knicked it would have to do a more persuasive sell to the buyer, or trust they were in the know about quality bikes, but to tell the truth whenever I see bikes that parked in London I take a closer look - it pretty much advertises that the bike is a valued brand.


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## Jody (12 Jan 2017)

I like Skol said:


> Until insurance companies start to publically hurt these people, it will continue.



Difficult one. Until insurance companies recognise how much the people who are not at fault are left out of pocket, then trying to maximise the claim cost will continue. You get paid less than the car is worth, even when buying like for like and also left with the hassle of travelling to look at numerous motors, using both time and money. Completely agree with stamping out fraud but a lot of ordinary folk are encouraged through being screwed because of a companies profit margins.


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## ColinJ (12 Jan 2017)

I like Skol said:


> Where can I find this theft hotspot data? Would like to check out my local area and regular haunts to see if I am risking being hit. I kind of suspect the crime hotspots coincide with common sense, i.e if you lock your bike in that dingy alleyway at the side of the benefits office on signing on day then you are saying goodbye to your pride and joy!


Somebody had a bike stolen from a farmhouse cafe that we went to on a forum ride. It was off the beaten track and used by lots of cyclists. Some toerag in cycling kit apparently just walked up to an expensive looking bike, got on, and rode off on it. I have also heard of expensive bikes being nicked from several other remote cycling cafes so the thieves obviously know where cyclists tend to go.

I heard of a family who were on holiday in the Highlands. They were in the middle of nowhere, miles from the nearest town and had driven down a long farm track to get to their accommodation. They got up in the morning and found that the whole family's bikes had been taken from the rack on the back of the car!

It does make sense to avoid leaving your bike in dark alleyways etc., but I wouldn't assume that anywhere is safe unless you or someone else in your group is actually with the bike at all times.


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## ColinJ (12 Jan 2017)

mjr said:


> There's also a surge in August and September as bikes get carted off to university cities to be flogged cheap to unsuspecting freshers.


Or stolen _from_ them!

I went with my stepdaughter to her interview at Sheffield university. While she was being interviewed I walked around the campus and spotted some bike racks. There were locked front wheels with bikes missing, locked bikes with front wheels missing, broken locks (with entire bikes missing!) and securely-locked bikes which had been vandalised.

My mate's son was going to Sheffield uni the following year. I heard that his mum was going to buy him a bike to get around the city so I suggested that it would be a good idea for him to ride something cheap, and effectively disposable. The advice went unheeded and he got an expensive mountain bike. It was stolen in his first couple of weeks there ...


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## mjr (12 Jan 2017)

ColinJ said:


> Or stolen _from_ them!


Oh sure, but I don't live near a university city, so that doesn't inflate my nearest town's figures. The new building of the local college has quite a big cycle park, but it's another design of those plastic things that only lightweight racers will fit in - not the trade bikes, old Pashleys and new Somersbys that are fairly popular here. Blooming daft designers who don't cycle


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## reppans (12 Jan 2017)

Chess said:


> ...As bike theft is on the up I was wondering if this is a viable option to deter thieves.
> I use my bike for commuting / shopping etc but constantly worry whether it will be there when I walk out of the shop..



A Brompton has eliminated my theft concerns... also makes a decent utility shopping cart and touring luggage trolley.


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## Bimble (13 Jan 2017)

reppans said:


> ... also makes a decent utility *shopping cart* and touring luggage trolley.


Expensive shopping cart!


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## reppans (13 Jan 2017)

Bimble said:


> Expensive shopping cart!



Yeah but, it'll beat the store-provided one's in the aisle races.


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## Will Spin (13 Jan 2017)

Probably still got wobbly wheels though!


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## Mb49 (16 Jan 2017)

Gold rated locks , don't make it easy for them,


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## Grant Fondo (16 Jan 2017)

Chess said:


> Anyone done this ? If so, how and what did you do ?
> Hi all,
> As bike theft is on the up I was wondering if this is a viable option to deter thieves.
> I use my bike for commuting / shopping etc but constantly worry whether it will be there when I walk out of the shop.
> ...


No need to constantly worry just lock it up and chill


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## mjr (17 Jan 2017)

Mb49 said:


> Gold rated locks , don't make it easy for them,


Fixed that for you.  Does Gold rated mean they use the common power tools on them yet? Also, rating isn't enough: you still need to lock the bike up properly, which plenty of people seem to fail at, securing only a wheel, or leaving tons of room to attack the lock with a tool.


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## Blue Hills (17 Jan 2017)

mjr said:


> Fixed that for you.  Does Gold rated mean they use the common power tools on them yet? Also, rating isn't enough: you still need to lock the bike up properly, which plenty of people seem to fail at, securing only a wheel, or leaving tons of room to attack the lock with a tool.


best/worst thing I ever saw was someone using a passably decent D lock to link the cable with a loop at each end that's meant to provide additional security for a wheel. The cable may have passed through both wheels but the D lock very definitely didn't go through the frame at all. Had to have a few looks to believe that anyone had done anything so barmy. In London - not sure how long it stayed there - maybe no thieves noticed/could believe their luck.


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## Mb49 (9 Feb 2017)

mjr said:


> Fixed that for you.  Does Gold rated mean they use the common power tools on them yet? Also, rating isn't enough: you still need to lock the bike up properly, which plenty of people seem to fail at, securing only a wheel, or leaving tons of room to attack the lock with a tool.


How do gold rated locks make it easy for them? Their gold rated by the insurance companies.


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## mjr (9 Feb 2017)

Mb49 said:


> How do gold rated locks make it easy for them? Their gold rated by the insurance companies.


They're gold rated by a brand licensing company owned by a locksmiths association. Not cyclists. The licensing requirements are known to manufacturers, are rather too centred on the lock rather than overall security and there have been a couple of examples of gold rated locks that were shoot over the years. By all means get a gold branded lock if your insurer foolishly only cares about that, but I'd put more weight on cyclist reviews including attack tests.


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## Mb49 (17 Feb 2017)

mjr said:


> They're gold rated by a brand licensing company owned by a locksmiths association. Not cyclists. The licensing requirements are known to manufacturers, are rather too centred on the lock rather than overall security and there have been a couple of examples of gold rated locks that were shoot over the years. By all means get a gold branded lock if your insurer foolishly only cares about that, but I'd put more weight on cyclist reviews including attack tests.


All well and good , but if the insurance company says gold rated locks for bikes over x amount, what you gonna do?


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## mjr (17 Feb 2017)

Mb49 said:


> All well and good , but if the insurance company says gold rated locks for bikes over x amount, what you gonna do?


Find a better insurer. It'll probably be cheaper because they won't be paying out for so many expensive bikes stolen while locked with stuff that's main distinguishing feature is the manufacturer paying locksmiths for a licence to use the "sold secure" trademark.


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## ufkacbln (21 Feb 2017)

Become well known!

I had a friend who was fascinated by the recumbents so lent him one for a ride round the locality

He was stopped twice and I had a phone call telling me they had seen someone on on of my trikes


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## User16625 (25 Feb 2017)

mjr said:


> They're gold rated by a brand licensing company owned by a locksmiths association. Not cyclists. The licensing requirements are known to manufacturers, are rather too centred on the lock rather than overall security and there have been a couple of examples of gold rated locks that were shoot over the years. By all means get a gold branded lock if your insurer foolishly only cares about that, but I'd put more weight on cyclist reviews including attack tests.



What lock(s) would you recommend for a high end bike?


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## mjr (25 Feb 2017)

RideLikeTheStig said:


> What lock(s) would you recommend for a high end bike?


A really high end bike I wouldn't lock on the streets! Only in a locked room or locker with two locks from the LFGSS list, ideally to a wall or ground anchor with some sort of motion alarm watching it. I may be paranoid but I've not had a bike stolen yet and the only one gone at my household was locked with someone else's flipping recommended lock.


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