Redundant Array of Inexpensive Bikes [RAIB]

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Musing out loud here.

When relying as bikes as transport, it's useful to have more than one, because bikes break and it can take a few days sometimes to get spares etc..
They also, tragically, get stolen.

I've nearly always had a bike that's good enough for daily riding in inclement weather but doesn't look 'hot' or 'cool' as not to appeal to thieves. I've often had at least one. Sometimes several.

90s rigid MTBs and early MTB derived hybrids always looked like a good bet because they nicely straddled that precious middle ground between not being made of cheese and not having thief magnets.

Sadly, they seem to be getting scarce now unless you've got the time to rennovate one and replace knackered parts. There are some cropping up on fleabay but most seem to involve jaunts of more than a couple of hours to pick them up. And the retro-MTB scene has picked the prices up a bit. And I suspect the thefts too.

What is the currently cheapest, least desirable yet functional bike that is still readily available?
I was thinking about something with an open frame or a staggered frame. Are those uncool enough to deter thieves?

 

[wiggydiggy]

New? I'm was always going to say a Carrera Subway, the model range though just checking has grown a lot since I last looked so I'll still go with with 'A Carrera'.

Second hand I've got a Genesis Mantle 20 from around 2009, it's in pieces right now but I would say that if you can find one.
Pre Mike Ashley the Pinnacle range from Evans Cycles I think is also very good, apparently the Genesis bike designer went to work for them so there are some very similar bikes.

Bottom end I've noticed some charity shops are now stocking bikes, they'd need a service I think from someone that knows what their doing but the prices seemed very cheap.

 

[Punkawallah]

Anything steel?

 

[Dogtrousers]

Now I'm not a bicycle thief, so I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect uncoolness is a pretty poor theft deterrent. You need a mahoosive lock for that

I don't think any bike thief worth their salt is going to see a poorly secured and nickable bike and say "oh, that's not cool, it's fom Halfords for goodness sake. I won't bother nicking that." I think the policy is probably "nick first, evaluate later".

Maybe if there were two equally unprotected bikes then they'd go for the snazzier of the two. Then come back for the other one.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Bottom end I've noticed some charity shops are now stocking bikes, they'd need a service I think from someone that knows what their doing but the prices seemed very cheap.

Probably stolen.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Probably stolen.

Wheres the value in that to the thief? Charity shops don't pay for donations and I doubt someone is lifting bikes just to give them away.

 

[biggs682]

At the moment loads of sub 10 yr old road bikes are fetching almost peanuts

 

[Dogtrousers]

Wheres the value in that to the thief? Charity shops don't pay for donations and I doubt someone is lifting bikes just to give them away.

Good point. I just saw "very cheap" and that was my immediate reaction.

Maybe the thieves have been making the mistake of stealing uncool bikes that are then rejected by Big John the Fence, so out of the goodness of their rough diamond hearts they take them to the charity shop.

 

[Punkawallah]

Wheres the value in that to the thief? Charity shops don't pay for donations and I doubt someone is lifting bikes just to give them away.

Humour?

 

[Salad Dodger]

Perhaps thieves have now begun nicking "unattractive" or "disguised" bikes, but when those bikes turn out, on closer inspection, to have come from Halfords, they hand then over to charity shops, as nobody else would be interested in them!

P.S. for avoidance of doubt, I am joking......

 

[Punkawallah]

Perhaps thieves have now begun nicking "unattractive" or "disguised" bikes, but when those bikes turn out, on closer inspection, to have come from Halfords, they hand then over to charity shops, as nobody else would be interested in them!

P.S. for avoidance of doubt, I am joking......

Let’s just hope no one was offended - you could be down for a ‘non-crime hate incident’ :-)

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Now I'm not a bicycle thief, so I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect uncoolness is a pretty poor theft deterrent. You need a mahoosive lock for that

I don't think any bike thief worth their salt is going to see a poorly secured and nickable bike and say "oh, that's not cool, it's fom Halfords for goodness sake. I won't bother nicking that." I think the policy is probably "nick first, evaluate later".

Maybe if there were two equally unprotected bikes then they'd go for the snazzier of the two. Then come back for the other one.

I've had four bikes nicked and three of the four were definitely 'cool'. And the fourth was cool to the untrained eye - it was a mountain bike after all. That last one was an opportunistic theft - it was left unlocked in a back garden and the thief must have hoiked it up over the fence. And that was odd, because they'd have had to jump the neighbours fence and thus hoik it over two fences.

Bike thieves, like cyclists, I suspect fall into different categories - ranging from knowledgeable and organised through to opportunistic and disorganised.

When I'm leaving a bike at a train station or outside a hotel, not only would I rather it looked uncool, but it gets two locks. One decent and one half decent - usually more discretely placed as overly securing something can betray the uncool appearance.

I had a Cannondale M500 which I'd crowbarred mudguards and a rack too. The downtube was wrapped in black tape and several other parts of the frame were stickered. It was then scuffed up a bit. That was never nicked, despite being left at Manchester Picaddily station for sometimes a week at a time. At that time, the station was a bit of a hotspot.

I've just acquired a second hand Riverside 120 trekking bike. It needs a proper going through and possibly a new front rim/wheel and chain. Possibly a cassette too. It set me back £20. It is decidedly uncool and I don't think any would-be thief would bother with it providing it's secured with a decent lock.

 

[Punkawallah]

The nice boys at Cade Media have just done another You Tube on bike locks - the ones that take the longest to defeat are the ‘antI-angle grinder’ type, but not necessarily the most expensive.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

The nice boys at Cade Media have just done another You Tube on bike locks - the ones that take the longest to defeat are the ‘antI-angle grinder’ type, but not necessarily the most expensive.

Thanks.
I saw that. The Squire D16 @ £130 seemed to offer the most resistance to the decimal £.

The current version of the Kryptonite D-lock I currently have did surprisingly well, holding out at over 4 minutes. I've been using that and an Abus D-lock which I think was enough to make the Ridgeback look like it's not worth the effort. It will probably be that Squire lock and the Kryptonite lock in future though.