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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2018 23:22:38 GMT
I went out for dinner tonight near Shoreditch High Street station and locked my bike against a proper bike parking stand opposite the station. When I came out of dinner around 10.30pm I saw someone had stolen the handle bar and cut the cables. It’s an old hybrid so I wasn’t too upset but I was quite shocked given how busy Shoreditch high street is on a Friday night. I’m now a bit nervous about locking bikes around London... time for a Brompton I think. Do people find it’s largely night time that this sort of things happen? I’m due to meet a friend for breakfast on Wednesday at Waterloo station. I now have to take my winter bike. Feeling a bit nervous about locking it at the station.  |
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Post by Kathryn Elizabeth Innes on Mar 17, 2018 7:27:41 GMT
I went out for dinner tonight near Shoreditch High Street station and locked my bike against a proper bike parking stand opposite the station. When I came out of dinner around 10.30pm I saw someone had stolen the handle bar and cut the cables. It’s an old hybrid so I wasn’t too upset but I was quite shocked given how busy Shoreditch high street is on a Friday night. I’m now a bit nervous about locking bikes around London... time for a Brompton I think. Do people find it’s largely night time that this sort of things happen? I’m due to meet a friend for breakfast on Wednesday at Waterloo station. I now have to take my winter bike. Feeling a bit nervous about locking it at the station. Yep Waterloo is dodge too, I locked my bike for about two hours whilst in the pub and someone took the hydraulic breaks. So they took off the handlebar grips, removed the break levers and cables and disc brake mech. Total pain trying to get a bike home with no brakes. We bought another set from chain reaction for about £50, then had the pain of fitting then. Seems crazy for the money they'd get for them versus the effort to remove and steal it all. Bike was quite visible in the street the whole time! |
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Post by Martin Headon on Mar 17, 2018 7:45:16 GMT
Thanks for the warning - I'm starting work in Shoreditch next week so I'll either make sure there's bike space in the office or just take the train...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2018 8:08:00 GMT
Thanks for the warning - I'm starting work in Shoreditch next week so I'll either make sure there's bike space in the office or just take the train... I would. When I locked mine, the bike on the other side had a missing handlebar and seat post. I thought it was amusing but assumed it must had been left there for a while ... I’ve left this bike in Brixton in the evenings countless times and never had an issue. Like Kathryn says it’s crazy the effort they would go to to steal something that is worth so little. My wheels were both locked I guess they couldn’t be bothered to cut the lock and cable. |
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Post by rogercrouch on Mar 17, 2018 8:48:30 GMT
that's rotten luck. it all sounds so very wrong
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Post by Jon Puleston-Jones on Mar 17, 2018 8:49:11 GMT
I've had a similar thing when I locked my bike outside on London Wall, cables cut and handle bars stolen.
On a positive note I got a call from the police about 6 months later to say the person had been caught (this was one of a few hundred crimes to be taken into consideration).
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Post by Sara Barman on Mar 20, 2018 22:21:30 GMT
Do they nick bars so you have to leave bike behind and then they can steal the rest later...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2018 20:41:32 GMT
Do they nick bars so you have to leave bike behind and then they can steal the rest later... Sara, I think that’s the definitely the plan. Happened to me on Stoke Newington High St one Sat am at about 10am. Busy morning, loads of people around. Thankfully I was sitting in the window of a cafe nearby and actually saw it happen so he only got as far as cutting the cables! Pretty brazen though. |
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Post by Pete Owen on May 21, 2018 13:47:50 GMT
We're seeing this happen increasingly often - around Shoreditch, but also Brixton and London Bridge. Also often when the bike is only left unattended for a few hours - thieves cut the cables (and sometimes the brake hoses), undo the stem bolts and leave the bike "headless". I guess with entry-level STIs costing upwards of £100 new (and being hard to trace if stolen), it's a fairly lucrative steal. We also wondered if thieves hoped that because it left the bike in a state that would be a hassle to take home, and looking like it's been abandoned, many people would then leave their bikes in place to come back to another day, which gives the thieves more time to return and strip more parts off the bike. There aren't many ways to prevent it, although Pinhead do a coded-key locking top cap, which will stop thieves stealing the stem - pinheadlocks.com/store/en/frame-and-headset-locks/15-headset-lock.html#/key-without_key - we normally have those in stock. But that doesn't prevent thieves undoing the stem faceplate bolts, unfortunately - you can only hope that the top cap lock will deter them, because removing the faceplate takes longer. (I mean, there are ways to hammer or epoxy ball bearings into the heads of the stem bolts, but that will also prevent you or anyone else adjusting the bolts in future!) |
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Post by david emery on May 21, 2018 13:56:49 GMT
Bless the Brompton (under your desk or pub table)
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2018 13:57:05 GMT
We're seeing this happen increasingly often - around Shoreditch, but also Brixton and London Bridge. Also often when the bike is only left unattended for a few hours - thieves cut the cables (and sometimes the brake hoses), undo the stem bolts and leave the bike "headless". I guess with entry-level STIs costing upwards of £100 new (and being hard to trace if stolen), it's a fairly lucrative steal. We also wondered if thieves hoped that because it left the bike in a state that would be a hassle to take home, and looking like it's been abandoned, many people would then leave their bikes in place to come back to another day, which gives the thieves more time to return and strip more parts off the bike. There aren't many ways to prevent it, although Pinhead do a coded-key locking top cap, which will stop thieves stealing the stem - pinheadlocks.com/store/en/frame-and-headset-locks/15-headset-lock.html#/key-without_key - we normally have those in stock. But that doesn't prevent thieves undoing the stem faceplate bolts, unfortunately - you can only hope that the top cap lock will deter them, because removing the faceplate takes longer. (I mean, there are ways to hammer or epoxy ball bearings into the heads of the stem bolts, but that will also prevent you or anyone else adjusting the bolts in future!) Pete, if you can design and build a thief proof commuter bike I’ll put in an order in now... |
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2018 13:57:46 GMT
Bless the Brompton (under your desk or pub table) I’ve borrowed one to try. I really can’t get used to the tiny wheels and the heavy weight. |
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Post by andrewdowden on May 21, 2018 15:44:15 GMT
Well I can not help with the small wheels but if you want something a bit lighter ( 6.9kg ) you could go for one of these; hummingbirdbike.com/product/hummingbird/ Saying that £4k for a commuter seems a bit steep! |
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Post by hectorkidds on May 21, 2018 17:40:43 GMT
You can get security bolts in just about any size, ya know pin in the centre of the Allen/Torx head/triangular hole etc, so it would be possible to make a bike pretty inconvenient to strip. I’d personally avoid too cheap to be true amazon stuff, a failed bolt could ruin your day, but stuff from a reputable fixing specialist should be fine.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2018 12:14:02 GMT
There's a bike outside tulse hill station where the thieves appear to have sawn through the top tube and bottom tube and made off with all the parts to the rear so I guess that that will happen more often if components get more secure.
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