Stolen Bike

[tomscholfield.livejournal.com]

My Red Diamondback Sorrento Mountain Bike was stolen from my back yard sometime yesterday. If everyone could keep an eye out that would great.

Please keep your bikes in a safe place. I had just started riding my bike to work and was really loving it. I guess it's back to the T for a while.

Comments

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

My buddy liver in winter hill and his was ganked sometime between sunday evenin and wednesday morning.

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

*lives, not liver.

[fumblerette1.livejournal.com]

damn. I was really hoping to keep mine outside locked up, since I love on the second floor. I guess I'll haul it up and down. better than being stolen...

[fumblerette1.livejournal.com]

*live, not love. damn.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Don't fret - we all know that you love on the third floor.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

Was your bike locked in your backyard, or are thieves now breaking locks?

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Now? As if they didn't before?

Bike locks are relatively easy to defeat. If you lock your bike someplace out of sight (like a back yard), it's simple to pull out a pair of bolt cutters and go to town - while that might look suspicious in a public bike rack area, it won't attract attention if you're in a private spot.

Out Of Sight?

[derekp.livejournal.com]

It hardly has to be out of site for a thief to nab it with bolt cutters or even an angle grinder. Most people are happy enough to just walk right on by. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TNTq3nhuh0

Your best defense is to make your bike less of a target than those around it by locking it properly and with more than a cheap cable lock. Preferably a cable and U-Lock. Time for my favorite Sheldon Brown link: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

Good luck to the OP. I'll keep an eye out.

[ron_newman]

What kind of lock did you use, and what was it locked to? Did the thief leave the lock behind?

call it in

[by-lime.livejournal.com]

This may seem like a pointless exercise, but I would call the theft into the police. I base this suggestion on my experience in college (ages ago) in the midwest where by bike was stolen 3 times, and 2/3 times it was returned to me by a friendly officer. The first time, a neighbor of the bike thief phoned the police when he noticed the guy spray painting a bunch of hot bike frames in his backyard. My bike was delivered in several pieces and in a horrid pea green color. The best part is that the guy was court ordered to pay restitution for me to repaint the bike! Like hell, I did. The second time it was stolen off the front porch and then deemed unworthy of theft. It was tossed into the driveway of some poor elderly woman who almost ran over it the next morning. She called the police, naturally, and I got my bike back for the second time. The last time it was taken from my back porch I decided that it really wasn't meant to be, but I'll bet if I had called, I'd have that same used, pea green $50 bike here with me today!