Surprised by the amount of unlocked Bikes in town.

[johnnyb47]

Hi to all.
Whilst walking through town today I was shocked to see how many bikes where left unattended and not locked up. I must of counted at least 20 and some of them looked quite expensive. You can understand why so many bikes get stolen. If I was a no good thief It would of been so easy, to of made off with one of these. People out shopping would not of looked twice if someone jumped on a bike and rode off into the sunset because they would of naturally thought it was the riders anyway. My bike is of low value but I would never leave it unlocked. Bike theft is one of the easiest crimes to commit as well as selling them on. I know they can be data tagged ect but I bet most low end bikes are not and can easily be sold to some poor unsuspecting soul out of the area it was stolen. It's crazy to think that for the sake of a cheap lock people would prefer to leave there bikes unlocked. Granted cheap locks don't offer much protection but if a thief is trying to break it open when the bike is in a public place he will no doubt draw attention to himself.

 

[steveindenmark]

House insurance which includes bikes is a wonderful thing. You cannot see it on the street.

 

[Drago]

Yep, if we didn't have lazy owners we wouldn't have thieves.

 

[johnnyb47]

It's an awful thing to say but for argument's sake ,if I was a would be bike thief I would only have to hang around the town centre and watch a cyclist leave his bike and see where he goes on his business and then walk back to his bike and take it. Once home it would be stored out of sight for a few weeks before it's either broken up and the parts are sold or It would be sold on in another part of the country. A bike thief could make a small fortune on his crime spree. I bet alot of cheap bikes that get stolen probably don't even get reported to the police either, because the owner can not be bothered and the chance of getting it back is non existent. All for the sake of a cheap Wilkos lock.
I bet bike crime is probably a bigger problem than what we are led to believe because a lot of thefts go unreported .
I would imagine people in large city centres are more vigilant about bike security than people who live in less populated areas.
A sad society we live in unfortunately but some owners are really asking for trouble just leaving there bikes unlocked.

 

[ColinJ]

House insurance which includes bikes is a wonderful thing. You cannot see it on the street.

Most insurance companies would not pay up for a stolen bike unless it had been locked to an immovable object, and often with a certified lock.

 

[MickyMickster]

Could be a police sting all these bikes so 'easy' to steal.

 

[User33236]

On a similar vein I used to walk commute to work and was amazed, during winter months, at the number of cars on the street left running to warm them up, doors slightly ajar, and owner nowhere in sight. Apart from being an offence under the road traffic act it's also stupid!

Where it seemed obvious (at least I hope so! ) I used to turn off the ignition, lock the car up ,and post the keys back through the letterbox.

 

[mjr]

Could be a police sting all these bikes so 'easy' to steal.

Yep, bait bikes are used. People aren't asking to have their unlocked bikes nicked any more than people without armoured cars are asking to be shot. And might as well not bother locking as use a cheap Wilko or Half-odds lock that falls apart with a sharp pull.

 

[glenn forger]

Outside T K Maxx in Norwich:

 

[steveindenmark]

Most insurance companies would not pay up for a stolen bike unless it had been locked to an immovable object, and often with a certified lock.

But they all Colin.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Outside T K Maxx in Norwich:

NFN?

 

[User33236]

Outside T K Maxx in Norwich:

I guess they are working on the fact that the rear wheel will still be locked if lifted over the post but its still dubious.

Last time I left a bike unlocked / poorly locked / out of sight was when i was a kid*!

* as a kid I was given, foc, three bikes and, assumed, life was safer then.

 

[Pale Rider]

I was surprised at the number of bikes left unlocked at the Barnard Castle control of London-Edinburgh-London.

My volunteering was overnight, and about half of the bikes were not locked even though we provided plenty of crowd control barriers as tethering points.

I suppose not many local people knew there were lots of bikes parked at the rear of their local comprehensive school, but all the riders cycled through the town so it wouldn't have taken long for the n'er do wells to work out what was afoot.

 

[ColinJ]

But they all Colin.

Never mind bike stealing, somebody has nicked your verb!

 

[mjr]

Never mind bike stealing, somebody has nicked your verb!

I was wondering what "to Colin" means...