Timeline for Evidence on "Uglify Your Bike: Effective Theft Deterrent?"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
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| Apr 3, 2016 at 21:20 | history | edited | Móż | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
list numbers not bullets since he talks about the numbers
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| Mar 27, 2012 at 13:35 | comment | added | Dan Rosenstark | Thanks @JohnDoucette, great point. Of course, removing the front wheel is kind of different from disengaging the chain: in one, it's obviously not ridable, and in the other scenario, thief would have to break lock and get on bike before noticing... | |
| Mar 26, 2012 at 16:32 | comment | added | John Doucette | Categories 1 and 2 (and to a lesser extent 3) fall into what I've heard called the "Junkie stole my bike" domain. An interesting deterrent for these is to make your bike hard for an ordinary person to ride. Attach SPD pedals. Take the front wheel or seat indoors with you. Disengage the chain from the chain rings. De-tension calliper breaks if you have a lever for that purpose. Essentially, anything that will make it hard to just 'ride off' with your bike can act as a deterrent. | |
| Mar 26, 2012 at 15:42 | comment | added | Daniel R Hicks | @Yar -- Like I said, to the "pro" thief the calculus would be about how easily the bike can be cleaned up and sold. And this probably depends in part on how he fences his goods and what the fence's business model is -- sell to shady shops (need clean bikes/parts), or sell to the garage sale retailers (if it'll turn a buck it's worth stealing). | |
| Mar 26, 2012 at 15:12 | comment | added | Dan Rosenstark | Wow Daniel, great analysis both of the lack of evidence and the field. @Kohi Good points. I'm not 100% convinced for the fourth category. A Canondale that has everything down to the "Made in USA" still written on it is actually worth more and can be resold for more than a bike that really has been defaced (albeit on purpose). | |
| Mar 26, 2012 at 3:37 | comment | added | Kohi | 2 and 4 are both "does it work" thieves - if the bike can be ridden it's worth taking, the only question is whether it's effectively locked. IME that's the big question for the low-end thieves, as they're likely to sell the bike for $100 or less based on "you can ride it". It's the pros who will know what exactly they're selling, and unless you (eg) replace your nice hydro disks with kmart cable ones, they'll look at that sort of thing and decide your bike is worth taking. | |
| Mar 26, 2012 at 0:52 | history | answered | Daniel R Hicks | CC BY-SA 3.0 |