Bicycle Theft Puns

Hi, I’m working on a research project exploring the bicycle theft problem.

Could you please tell me how do you deal with the fear of losing your bike?
What precautions are you using to protect your bike from theft?
Also would like to know the bicycle theft stories from your own experience.

I will appreciate any thoughts about this topic!

Seems like almost a guarantee way to catch a thief in an incredibly short time. Just lock an expensive bait E-bike with a flimsy lock and watch and wait 15minutes. Bam, move in and arrest. Repeat everyday at random locations.

Why don't they do this?

Hi folks- I'm really curious about the rate and type of bicycle thefts in our metro area. I've seen several bike thefts being talked about, usually left in some storage facility or some public bike rack in an apartment complex, etc. What sorts of locks do you use, and do you prioritize the "Sold Secure Gold" levels of bike locks? Or is Silver adequate for our area? I am partial towards folding bike locks (like the Foldylock, etc). Those don't appear to be easy to cut with bolt cutters or chisel/hammer combos, but not sure how many people have these locks and have had your bikes stolen anyway. I know cable locks are just asking for trouble, but what about the next level up like these folding locks? Thanks!

Is there any bicycle (not motorbike or car) insurance in the UK that covers theft in their policy while doing any form of courier work (like Deliveroo)? I know the other things are somewhat covered automatically while doing Deliveroo (public liability, accident) but I couldn't find any info on thefts.

Just saw a video, where the dude tracked a motorcycle thief just by an air tag. That seemed pretty dang cool. I was wondering if bicycle theft would reduce if everyone just put an air tag on their bike.

529 Garage is a bicycle registration company that you can use to register your bike. The idea is to kind of replace the city police bicycle registration into something that is more centralized across the country/continent, such that stolen bicycles are found easier.

There are 6 cities in Ontario who currently partner with 529 Garage (Guelph, Peterborough, Oakville, London, Ottawa, St. Thomas).

Users can register bikes for free, providing information such as serial number, photos, details, etc. You can also pay to buy a tamper-proof sticker with a unique barcode that you can put on your bike, linking it to the online registration. If someone is buying a bike with this sticker/barcode, they can then search the database to see if it was reported stolen.

If your bike gets stolen, you can then report it as stolen and also check for 'found bikes' that the community posts, with filters to match the description of your bike. (I searched for Specialized Rockhopper and saw 800 had been reported stolen).

The idea is that when enough people know about, and use the 529 Garage website, it will act as a big deterrent for bicycle theft, since potential buyers will check the site to see if the bike is stolen, etc.

British Columbia has over 30 city police departments registered with 529 Garage, and This article from CBC back in 2017 shows that the city of Vancouver saw a 30% decline in bike thefts in the two years after adopting 529 Garage as their registration system.

As indicated in the article, I also heard that CycleTO was trying to get Toronto Police on board, but it failed.

With the current situation around bike scarcity and bike theft in the city, I purchased the sticker and registered by bike in the off-chance that it gets stolen and somehow, someone sees the sticker and reports it. I think it's a great idea and it's kind of sad that we have to take this stuff into our own hands, since as per the previously linked CBC article, only One Percent of stolen bicycles in the City of Toronto are recovered. My concern is that to add insult to injury, if your bike gets stolen this year, you likely won't even be able to replace it until the season is over.

Maybe this is also more of a PSA, to be on the lookout for those stickers. Either way I thought this was

Hi there,

We are a startup trying to figure out how to create tech to fight bicycle theft. We need your insight to help us shape our innovation. If you are a regular commuter, would you please help us with a 15-20 minutes online interview chat? We will give you £20 Wiggle voucher to thank you for your help. If you are interested, please give us your information with this form:

https://forms.gle/v7EwUYzQYXE8ERQK8

Thanks

(Sorry if this post is inappropriate here. Please let me know and I will remove it)

Josh

I'm a LEO in California and it is shocking how few people are able to provide a serial number for their $3,000+ bikes. If you report your bike stolen, we can enter the serial number into a database for stolen property. Without the serial number our chances of returning your bike to you are negligible.

So after unwrapping your new mtb, make sure to write down the serial number before hitting the trails. Happy holidays!

My bike lock was broken in the night several days ago and my beautiful Giant ATX 990 in yellow and blue was stolen from my porch. If anyone in the area has seen it or has any info it would be much appreciated if you’d let me know. Cheers to all.

I'm planning to buy a 6ku...It's around 300 dollars...No one is going to steal that, right? Or do I seriously need to get a real piece of shit bike that nobody wants to steal?