Your bike in front of...

[Time Waster]

I wonder if it's possible to start one of these threads to get people to post photographs of their bike in front of their house with identifiable features?

Not suggesting anyone do it but with all the "bike in front of" threads my curious mind started thinking about this. It would have to be a clever wording I think because people on here aren't daft. It would need to have everything a thief would want such as image to identify the bike / value, location, etc.

Sorry about my off kilter musings. I'm on a train and bored.

 

[vickster]

I wonder if it's possible to start one of these threads to get people to post photographs of their bike in front of their house with identifiable features?

Not suggesting anyone do it but with all the "bike in front of" threads my curious mind started thinking about this. It would have to be a clever wording I think because people on here aren't daft. It would need to have everything a thief would want such as image to identify the bike / value, location, etc.

Sorry about my off kilter musings. I'm on a train and bored.

Huh? Why would anyone do that? 🤷‍♀️

 

[PeteXXX]

Well.. It's possible to start such a thread but I doubt anyone would be silly enough to do it 😜

 

[roadrash]

or have i seriously miss understood....... again

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good evening

If I am understanding correctly.....

A collection of such threads on multiple sites by the Bike Thieves Are Us co-op could easily create a shop window nationally for fellow members around the country to make new "purchases".

It would be a bit like malicious executables, viruses, ransomware, etc. individuals are rarely targeted it is just a numbers game.

The OP has posted without the subject as the wording requires more thought, but even Your bike in front of your nearest blue phone box could be a useful hint.

Sure the rider could have been 100 miles from home, but park a car with a couple of mobile phones running cameras taking 1 photo every couple of seconds around that area and you have some useful info if there are 10 pictures for a particular box.

I have no idea if this would be a useful way to collect such information though.

But even Your bike in front of your local on Sunday may have value.

There is a pub in my local town centre that despite being covered by CCTV cameras operated by the council became a favourite site for bike thefts for a while. When the landlady spoke to the police she was told to tell the customers to use better locks. In other words it seems to be a relatively low risk offence if you can walk off with £2k-£5k plus bikes.

Okay, there is theoretical risk that the "bad man" posting the thread could be traced, but posted from a mobile on a PAYG plan, who is going to try tracing that down after a couple of years. Then how do you prove anything? Unless you catch them with bikes there can't be many options other than conspiracy or something similar.

There has been a show us your watch thread here for quite a while, you could argue that this is a hint that certain members are worth robbing.

Bye

Ian

 

[steveindenmark]

Time Waster...great name for this thread.

 

[Specialeyes]

Alex Dowsett's bike was stolen in 2018 after he was targetted via Strava and photos of it leaning up against his fence* so not as daft as it seems.

*(as in wooden boundary protection, not receiver of stolen goods!)

 

[alchurch]

So you suggest I do not label the photo " Available from an unlocked garage at....."

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Here you go in front of my house

 

[biggs682]

Here you go in front of my house

View attachment 622982

oi that's my aunties house

 

[Ming the Merciless]

oi that's my aunties house

Didn't know she was a cleaner at our house

 

[Time Waster]

Just imagine all those threads with identifiable locations and an interesting/valuable bike dotted around the owner's area. Is there not a way of writing an algorithm to estimate the approximate location of the owner n posting the photographs? Just a thought as to whether it's possible to make things easier.

Near me there was a cycle chain store that was good but closed after a certain guy bought it. The manager was really good and the local scene was partly linked through the store promoting events. As such the manager knew a keen local cyclist who used to post rides on strata without enough privacy. Apparently the thinking was that his £10k road bike was stolen as a result of what the thieves could see on his strata. The details of the theft was they got in through the felt, flat roof. Once in they cut through the sold secure gold chain and got the door open from the inside and got clean away. Turns out the chain was attached to a silver rated ground anchor they attacked. The guy's insurance failed to pay out because of the silver anchor. He checked with the insurance the details before getting the cover but didn't get told the anchor had to be gold too. That's why no payout.

I sometimes think we need to be cautious with the details of what we produce online.

All this is a curiosity and random train journey based thoughts.

 

[alex_cycles]

I sometimes think we need to be cautious with the details of what we produce online.

Definitely. I get laughed at by other riders for locking my bike at cafes on group rides. It's only a flimsy little lock, but in my opinion thieves are lazy by definition. They can't be bothered to work for their money so they steal someone else's work.

So. It's much more highly probable that they will steal someone else's unlocked bike than mine. Because it will be easier and quicker. Good enough! See if they're still laughing then! (Also my bike is generally not the most valuable in the group.)

As regards StraVa - there are appropriate privacy settings. You can set privacy zones which can be quite large.

As regards the insurance policy. If you're not covered even when the bike is inside a locked building, the policy is worthless.

 

[alchurch]

Here you go in front of my house

View attachment 622982

I live in the servants quarters

 

[Time Waster]

Just got home and or

Definitely. I get laughed at by other riders for locking my bike at cafes on group rides. It's only a flimsy little lock, but in my opinion thieves are lazy by definition. They can't be bothered to work for their money so they steal someone else's work.

So. It's much more highly probable that they will steal someone else's unlocked bike than mine. Because it will be easier and quicker. Good enough! See if they're still laughing then! (Also my bike is generally not the most valuable in the group.)

As regards StraVa - there are appropriate privacy settings. You can set privacy zones which can be quite large.

As regards the insurance policy. If you're not covered even when the bike is inside a locked building, the policy is worthless.

Policies may have requirements in the very small print. Such requirements may specify level of security rating and locking your bike to a suitable anchor (ground or solid wall) inside a suitably locked and secure garage or shed. Such anchor and chain may have a sold secure rating depending on the value of your bike. Failure to have that rated security system invalidates your insurance wrt that bike. Or it may depending on loss adjuster or insurance company decision. The insurance isn't worthless but failing to meet the minimum security requirements is worthless. You are responsible for meeting any restrictions or requirements of your insurer, also responsible for understanding them.