The Chainlink

"With all the stolen bike posts lately (and no one thinking "I wonder if there's something under Useful Links for this."), I think it's well past time to make a sticky about the Stolen Bike Registry"

 - Tank-Ridin' Ryan

 

Well said Ryan.

 

 

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/

 

Done and done.

 

And sticky too.

 

 

Cheers - Lee Diamond

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this was posted on my FB page:

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I had an expensive (to me) bicycle returned, thanks to Stolen Bike Registry.  The guy at the pawn shop who rescued the bike told me that he checks the registry before accepting a bike for purchase/pawn.  Especially an unusual bike.

Take (and keep) photos of your bike; record the serial number; keep receipts for the bike itself and accessories that you buy; file a police report if the bike is stolen.  You will need this stuff for an insurance claim.

Maybe this post doesn't belong here, but...

Our son has been borrowing my old Schwinn three-speed (maybe 70s vintage?). I only used it for noodling around Evanston, most often just to shorten the trip to the Metra. It is (was) a lamentable bike, the least of my many steeds. It had rusty steel rims, the chain had rusted over the winter (freed up with WD-40 - couldn't be bothered to replace it). Only one gear of three worked reliably. In short, it is (was) the perfect bike to not have to worry too much about.

Joe has been taking it into city the past few weeks, tossing it on a CTA bus for the ride down Western Ave to wherever he was going. Alas, like many people, he was locking it with a cable lock. I knew it was only a matter of time before it was stolen. This happened in the past couple days.

So, what was the great attraction to a bike which barely worked? It didn't have a Brooks saddle. It sported rust everywhere you looked. The one thing it had was heft. My wife is convinced it was metal scrappers. I must admit she has a point. Here in Evanston, I see way more bikes on the backs of scrappers' trucks than seems reasonable. The only value of the bike was in its scrap value. They cut the cable and took it as well. I can't imagine the bike would be attractive to anybody else.

Have other people wondered about metal scrappers and their apparent fondness for crappy bikes?

Scrap value of steel bikes is pennies per pound. It has far more value as a functioning bike.

To you and me, sure. I don't think that's the equation a metal scrapper uses...

Scrappers are far more aware of the market value than you or I. They know that a barely functioning bike sold for $20-25 yields more revenue than taking it to a scrap metal yard.

Could the guy who stole it have sold it for $20?  Probably within a few minutes, to a passerby in some back alley. 

Almost completely zero risk, a minute or two of "work," and then $20+ of free money?

You do the math.   

Do that a once or twice a day and you can buy a lot of 40oz beers, fifths of gin, or a rock of crack...

Why take a snipped cable lock?

Because leaving it on the ground makes it really obvious to anyone that is nearby that you are stealing the bike, rather than just having "unlocked" it.  

With even a cheesy tool, it doesn't take much longer to snip a "bike floss" cable lock than it does to unlock it, especially as a lot of folks never oil their locks and sometimes I've seen folks at bike racks wrestle with their own locks for a minute or so trying to get them unlocked legitimately.  

To the casual passer-by a dude hunched over a lock working on it might as well be working his key or the combination.   But the minute a dude throws a cut cable on the ground and leaves it there as he (or she) rides/pushes the bike away it's a dead-giveaway what is going on.  If the cable lock (or U-lock for that matter) is placed in a bag and taken with the bike it looks just like the guy owns the bike and is simply unlocking and riding away. 


They can throw the lock away later a few blocks away, acting casually like it is just some random garbage they are tossing out. 

I sit in front of my keyboard before you a chastened man. I took a small detour yesterday to stop at a friend's place to pick up a water bottle cage and some clamps. After chatting awhile, I was on my way. I turned off Milwaukee onto California. Off to the right, I saw what looked vaguely like my bike. I thought, "Nah, that can't be it," but as I drew closer it looked more like it. I turned around and approached. Sure enough, there was my crappy old Schwinn, cable locked to a parking meter:

My airhead son simply couldn't remember where he'd left it. When I first heard of the "theft" I had this little voice in the back of my head... But I ignored it and took Joe's words at face value. As you can see, it's not at all properly locked. Hopefully Joe gets his butt over there before it really disappears...

My apologies to folks here, and to all the true and honest metal scrappers all over our fair city. With egg on my face, I remain...

Skip

Where is our sunshine?!  It's July.  Oh well, I guess we can make the most of it.

Hey friends,

2 stolen bikes this AM to look out for. Both are 2013 Cannondale Synapse 5s - 54cm, one women's (matte gray and blue) and one men's (silver, red, black). Thief was able to gain entry to our enclosed back porch by a window about 8' off the ground at some point overnight.

CSBR for each here: http://chicago.stolenbike.org/node/196625 and http://chicago.stolenbike.org/node/196627

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