What would you do if you thought a bike was being stolen before your very eyes?

[Manonabike]

I have a suspicion that most people would not know what to do in those circumstances and probably would do nothing to stop it unless there was a policeman near by....... My guess is that most people would report the incident but would not get involve.

 

[gaz]

HEY, HEY DICK FACE!

I'd approach them and ask them what they think they where up to, question them a bit and see how they react, i suspect a bike thief will just walk away if challenged.

 

[bricksmasher]

Honestly I don't know, I think what I think I'd do and what if actually do maybe different things

 

[funnymummy]

Depends... If I was alone, but in a public place I would probably challange the thief, if I had my children with me or was in an isolated spot I probably wouldn't...but my phone has a camera & in both cases I would take pictures

 

[Paulus]

I voted for Restrain the thief, but i can understand why many people may be unsure of what to do.

 

[bricksmasher]

I just think... I've had 2 bikes nicked recently and looks of it noone intervened, and at first I was gutted about, but then is someone's welfare worth mire than a bike, no.... So in this world we live in, many people would choose their safest option, to ignore

 

[Hip Priest]

This question is a bit close to home.

I actually saw someone nicking off with my own bike. I didn't fancy my chances in a fight with the thief, and was too stunned to think of any cunning distractions, so just got a good description and called the police.

The officer said I'd done the right thing ('It's not worth getting stabbed over a £200 bike') but the feeling of cowardice lingers.

 

[Mozzy]

Did it this afternoon. "OI!!!! is that your bike?"

"F*ck off grandad and mind yer own!" was the reply!

"Go on then son, do you feel lucky .... Punk?" (I know I know...it just was all I could think of at that given moment in time)

"Oh it's wan*ers like you that make thieving harder by the day!" Said he under his breath. Nowt wrong with my hearing thought I. See young to55er wander off; presumably to the next target.

I kid you not.

Mozzy

(edited for swelling mistakes)

 

[Ticktockmy]

Hard one this, it depends if you can be sure its being nicked. if the guy or girl is equipt with the tools to cut or bust the lock or cable (bottle jack, hacksaw etc) the chances are that the person is trying to nick the bike or is the owner having been home to get the tools.

personally I would approach them and ask directions to somewhere near, then comment about the bike, and how annoying it is to lose the key to the lock etc. which might if they are attempting to nick the bike, unsettle them enough for them to decide it would be better to leave, after all you would be able to ID them. If they are the owner they would not be bothered by me chatting to them.
Just my thoughts.

 

[superbadger]

Good on you Mozzy...

Saw two lads obviously trying to nick a bike about 5 month ago and i didn't fancy a rumble being outnumbered so i went over as cool as you like and said 'Watch out lads,there's two coppers walking this way round that corner'... They legged it thanking me 4 the warning... 5 mins later i did see a cop and told him what had happened. He thanked me too....

 

[Manonabike]

Good on you Mozzy...

Saw two lads obviously trying to nick a bike about 5 month ago and i didn't fancy a rumble being outnumbered so i went over as cool as you like and said 'Watch out lads,there's two coppers walking this way round that corner'... They legged it thanking me 4 the warning... 5 mins later i did see a cop and told him what had happened. He thanked me too....

I like that


What do you think about this ?

After watching this other video I lost hope.

 

[superbadger]

I like that


What do you think about this ?

After watching this other video I lost hope.

Just watched em.... Only in America eh? Nope! Its everywhere unfortunatly...

 

[Mrbez]

I watched someone snap the lock off my Felt mountain bike 2 years ago, 3 days after I bought it.

I was working on the doors in the gay village in Manchester, I'd cycled to work and locked it up to a post on canal street. 1 hour into my shift a guy bent down at my bike, watched him take bolt cutters out and snap it clean off. Lucky really, as I didn't have my D lock, but my bike was 15 ft away.

I was waiting for him to get on before I would have gone over and knocked him off, luckily he walked to the canal and dropped the cutters over the side. Walking back to my bike, I put him on his behind and locked his arms and pinned him. Another lad from a club 2 doors down came and helped, and with it being a saturday night, we had police walking up and down regularly. 2 minutes later they nicked him.

It took 18 months to go through, but I receive £1 a month now for the next 30 months for the lock. Haha. :-/

My head would be to go all out if I saw it happen again to my own bike, but my heart says to leave it. Nowadays you never know who is carrying what.

 

[2PedalsTez]

This question is a bit close to home.

I actually saw someone nicking off with my own bike. I didn't fancy my chances in a fight with the thief, and was too stunned to think of any cunning distractions, so just got a good description and called the police.

The officer said I'd done the right thing ('It's not worth getting stabbed over a £200 bike') but the feeling of cowardice lingers.

Slightly off topic, but kinda relevant to your thoughts..
I once apprehended a shoplifter (for stealing a £30 games controller). I instinctively grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back into the shop. The resulting 'scuffle' involved 4 people holding him down as, frothing at the mouth, he spat and bit at us. When the police came to search him, he had drugs paraphernalia including needles along with a screwdriver. "Would you have grabbed him if you knew he had those things on him?" was the question from the policeman... "These people won't think twice about stabbing a police officer" he added.

You say "cowardice", I say sensible.

 

[Bicycle]

This is an interesting question. One simply doesn't know.

It's happened to me only once (I've had many bikes stolen, but only one in my presence).

I was much younger than I am now.

I grabbed the thief and he made an absurd excuse about being drunk, which he clearly wasn't.

I'm afraid I set about him and didn't stop until pulled back by two witnesses.

I believe he was injured, but I left him and went home. He was curled up in the gutter, regretting his actions.

The bicycle he was trying to steal was a £40 Brick Lane special, but for some reason I snappped.

I'd split my eyebrow while butting him before he fell, so my t-shirt was 50/50 red and white. My then housemate believes to this day that I was mugged and the attempted bike theft was a cover story.

I saw the thief months later at a very good LBS, selling a bike for cash. I said nothing, but never returned to the LBS. It was very good and very cheap, but I had the impression after that that the owner was also a fence.