why steal ???
Thread started by
FMontanez1974 at 08.3.09 - 11:45 pm
why steal just the bike seat and post ???
some p.o.s. stole my bike seat AND post while i was walking around the grove. ARGGHHH...they even took the top tube pad.
walked over to security..essentially there isn't sh*t they can do.
i'm really sick of theft. i pray for those that steal and get caught.
even on crank mob, both my bike lights and my friend's lights were ripped off our bikes. riding home in the dark also sucks.
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if you want, to secure your next seat post you can maybe solder a ball bearing into the hex socket of the seat post clamp. Um, make sure it's at the proper height.
there's probably a better solution
Gav08.4.09 - 12:52 am
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What we need is public floggings with a wet inner-tube.
bentstrider08.4.09 - 1:54 am
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I've heard you can also use a dab of Crazy Glue or Lock Tight?
HappyLand responding to a
comment by Gav
08.4.09 - 7:00 am
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Run a cable through the seat post rails.
The coolest seat retention I've seen lately is a piece of spare chain run through the rails and the rear of the frame, and then pinned back together, and then wrapped in inner tube / twine so the frame wouldn't get scratched.
JB08.4.09 - 7:18 am
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It's a pain, but you have to secure or remove anything that can be removed from your bike when you lock it up. Lights, seatbags, saddles and posts (if it has a quick rellease), etc. Bottom line is, if it can be quickly removed, some scumbag will do it eventually.
Cable through the rails, or remove the seatpost and run it through your extra long u-lock. I've seen that before.
Uh, did your bike have a quick release on the seat tube? Usually if it's bolted on its too much trouble to remove.
Creative Thing responding to a
comment by JB
08.4.09 - 7:59 am
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At the Bike Oven they have a big bag full of these kind of fugly black lycra one-size-fits-all elastic-banded seat covers. I bought one and I'm going to start putting it over my nice saddle when I lock up. I'm hoping the potential thief will be too lazy to look under it...(just like I'm too lazy to carry my seatpost/saddle around with me)
alicestrong08.4.09 - 2:45 pm
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+1
So effective, cheap, and retardedly easy to do. Someone recently told me about this idea and my mind was effectively blown for 15-20 seconds.
jonnyboy responding to a
comment by neverclever
08.4.09 - 2:54 pm
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wax is easy to pick out with an allen wrench. i know something that works better, and is almost impossible to remove (even if you need to adjust your seat post or whatever after putting it in), but i wont say what it is on this public forum because of the possibility of thieves reading this and looking for new ways to steal shit. so if you want to know what it is, email me or talk to me on a ride.
ruinedbyidiots responding to a
comment by jonnyboy
08.4.09 - 3:00 pm
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Bummer Felix.
Yeah, taking just the seat and post is pretty low. Lots of losers out there that will take anything if it's not bolted down.
Curious, was it secured with an quick-release or with an allen key?
0gravity08.4.09 - 3:01 pm
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The best theft detterent on any ride is keeping your bike by your side 24/7/365. No exceptions.
As far as leaving your bike locked up while away by yourself, lock both wheels and frame all together or seperately (your choice, either carry a bunch of locks or take the bike apart for one), lock the seat to the frame, and pray no one steals the post, as I don't think it should be stuck to the frame, because you may want to replace it or adjust it later.
BlAcKnYeLLoWfUji08.4.09 - 3:06 pm
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what about your handlebars, your stem, your pedals, your water bottle cage, your brakes, your brake levers, your chainrings, your chain, etc etc etc? how do you lock those?
ruinedbyidiots responding to a
comment by BlAcKnYeLLoWfUji
08.4.09 - 3:07 pm
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Man sorry to hear about your saddle and the lights from crank mob. It's gonna get back to them sooner or later.
digablesoul08.4.09 - 3:17 pm
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does your secret technique lock those too?
666 responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.4.09 - 3:21 pm
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Sadly... the world is indifferent... ask Woody Allen.
I still think the best solution for the seat is the attached pic. As others noted... you can also wrap the chain with an inner tube to protect the frame. I didnt because I didnt care for the frame too much... it was a beater bike i owned. As the pic shows... the bike was worth maybe $100. I could have put a bolt instead of the quick release.
The seatpost, well, if you have a long enough post, the couldnt steal the post if your chain is tight. They would first need to remove the seat (doing so is boring...and the allen key will be a little obstruct by the chain wrapped around the rails. after that they would still need to unbolt the seat post.
But thats a lot of work for a $5 seatpost.
More important question--why is your seatpost that is being locked up...worth stealing? Maybe you should just buy an inexpensive Kalloy post, and worry less. Doubt you'll notice a difference.
md2 responding to a
comment by digablesoul
08.4.09 - 3:26 pm
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yep, that is a legit method (just got the email)
nice little trick!
jonnyboy responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.4.09 - 3:27 pm
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True... but its was commuter/beater bike.
i think he/she should just post the method. Thieves will figure it out... at least we can advance solutions when the info is public.
Plus RBI already said his method would prevent adjusting the seatpost. That seems to be too much...
Why not just weld the post to the frame once you have the height set up?
md2 responding to a
comment by jonnyboy
08.4.09 - 3:33 pm
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i didnt say that it would prevent you adjusting your post or stem or whatever else, i just said that it would be hard to do.
ruinedbyidiots08.4.09 - 3:38 pm
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But that kind of defeats the purpose of having an adjustable seatpost, right?
I guess I would need to see what you did. I just think there are ways to prevent theft by making parts hard to remove, but the goal is to keep most of their features/functions in tact.
I could just put JB Weld on all the allen bolts on the bike and my handlebars and all else will be pretty secure. But you want something that will minimize your headache, but give thieves one.
Depends on the bike i suppose
md2 responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.4.09 - 3:46 pm
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my secret plan that isnt so secret anymore involves epoxy and ball bearings.
ruinedbyidiots responding to a
comment by md2
08.4.09 - 3:49 pm
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why put epoxy on your bike (unless youre riding a suicide hub and even then just use loctite)?
Id have to see... sorry...
md2 responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.4.09 - 3:52 pm
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All the thieving that occurs really sucks. I miss going into the city and riding around, locking your bike and doing whatever. Now unless my bike is where I can see it, I don't bother stopping. Unfortunately, that eliminates a lot of restaurants and shops.
sc_nomad08.4.09 - 3:53 pm
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what does a suicide hub have to do with any of this? are you a thief?
ruinedbyidiots responding to a
comment by md2
08.4.09 - 3:56 pm
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Doesnt a lot of the talk give weight to just riding a beater bike?
Maybe Im wrong but maybe many of you are trying to do everything on the bike you invested a grand into...
Why not ride a well-maintained older bike that is not worth stealing?
md2 responding to a
comment by sc_nomad
08.4.09 - 3:58 pm
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huh?
Im just saying the only possible scenario that i can imagine needing epoxy near you bike is a suicide hub...and not even necessary in that scenario.
I wish I were a thief... my bike fetish would be less expensive.
md2 responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.4.09 - 4:00 pm
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you can put wax into your allen screws, but the socal summer heat might melt that wax.
you can put krazy glue into your allen screws, but thats easily removed with a bic lighter (and all thieves have those because all thieves are drug addicts and you use lighters to smoke drugs).
ruinedbyidiots responding to a
comment by md2
08.4.09 - 4:02 pm
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Problem is even a beater bike has something that is worth stealing. People are just looking for parts.
sc_nomad responding to a
comment by md2
08.4.09 - 4:28 pm
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If you need to adjust your seatpost more than 5 times you're doing it wrong.
Who is constantly adjusting their seatpost / saddle? Even with a new bike I adjust it maybe two to three times and by then it's pretty much dialed in.
I could see seatpost adjustment being frequent for someone who likes to change their saddle from more of a sprint position (learning forward) and back to regular, but that even seems excessive to me.
jonnyboy08.4.09 - 4:35 pm
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red loctite....
but you're going to need a torch to heat it up, if you have to remove a nut or a bolt later...
adrian08.4.09 - 4:51 pm
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True.. and thats fine.. but i was only pointing out that you want security without making it harder for yourself to make adjustments or limiting the function and features.
Its your bike, do as you like... im not hating. What you eat dont make me shit.
Im not saying people WONT steal your bike.
Im saying, maybe an alternative to your nice bike, you can have a beater bike, which you can leave locked up and decrease the likelihood that it is stolen... and in the event it is stolen you dont have to count too many loses.
Im more or less referring to errands, riding to bars... places you need to lock up your bike for a while and rides that dont require a set of phil wood hubs and brooks saddle.
md2 responding to a
comment by jonnyboy
08.4.09 - 4:55 pm
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are you saying you shouldnt buy a nice bike/parts?
md2 responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.4.09 - 4:59 pm
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oh... i see.
in the bike world, you can buy/build a nice beater bike. Nice is relative in that respect.
You can see a ton of commuters on older 90's/80's fully rigid mtbs. Those arent worth a good deal, but theyre strong, and can last a long time with good maintenance.
Nice parts arent always as durable either. So again "nice" is relative... I just used it to refer to items that are desirable (i.e. that thieves want to go through the trouble to steal).
5pm... work is over.
thanks for talking... peace
md2 responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.4.09 - 5:07 pm
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buy twice but nice the second time.
_iJunes responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.4.09 - 5:07 pm
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i'd rather ride a nice bike, lock it up reasonably well, and run this risk of something getting stolen, than let the douchebags of the world instill fear into me to the point of riding something of lower quality that i don't enjoy as much.
slowrighthand08.4.09 - 5:21 pm
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RBI, are you just suggesting what I said but with epoxy and not solder?
Gav08.4.09 - 5:46 pm
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blashphemy
i enjoy my cheaper bike more than my expensive bike
_iJunes responding to a
comment by slowrighthand
08.4.09 - 5:52 pm
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I like wet tube beating!
also high speed spin of rear tire to forehead repeatively
madmelo responding to a
comment by bentstrider
08.4.09 - 5:53 pm
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no no no, high speed CRANK spinning on a fixed gear bike.
dont let me beat you to the bus today, i've got 4 new road rash patches.
_iJunes responding to a
comment by madmelo
08.4.09 - 5:58 pm
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As I understand it, you change the seat post frequently for MTBing (Descents, climbs, technical trails), hence the quick release.
I tend to use my MTB as my "beater" because I figure a MTB is less desirable to take than a (pink) road bike, so I'd like to keep the post adjustable.
I try to leave my bike locked in highly visible places and if there's security or someone around, I'll mention watching my bike. I mean, I dunno if they will or not, but they've done studies that show humans will be more likely to help look after something if asked to.
Of course, I am obsessively protective of my bicycles.
HappyLand responding to a
comment by jonnyboy
08.4.09 - 6:05 pm
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Well, riding bikes seems to have turned into a big thing maybe more than a trend and the more people it attracts, it'll attract thieves and since its a big thing, guess what? They are going to try to take all the "cool kids" stuff to sell for a profit and there are people out there that buy it. If you don't want your stuff stolen protect it, and just know you're most likely to get jacked riding your $300+ bike around. My bike is a POS and nobody's bothered taking anything from it so far because its not all that. :p
Father Time responding to a
comment by BlAcKnYeLLoWfUji
08.5.09 - 12:33 pm
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Some little shit just stole my cog and converse hanging from my seat on the TT ride. May you catch an STD and piss needles. No worries, I'll get another. I feel sorry for the motherfucker I see with these items hanging from their bike. Yes, that's a threat.
BlAcKnYeLLoWfUji responding to a
comment by Father Time
08.5.09 - 12:39 pm
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Man, that is so lame!
What a dumb thing to steal!!!
HappyLand responding to a
comment by BlAcKnYeLLoWfUji
08.5.09 - 12:43 pm
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i just expect my bike to get stolen sooner or later.
even while i was stradling my bike someone was able to jack it not too long ago.
if youre gonna ride around on a bicycle ,expect for it to get stolen eventually and expect to get into some accidents.
i dont know of many people that havent gotten a bike stolen or gotten in a bike accident
if you expect that ahead of time it will help you deal with your bad luck better.
mandingo08.5.09 - 1:35 pm
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I liked you better when you were posting drunken rambling messages.
I'm having a hard time getting used to this kung fu Confucius posts. :-(
User1 responding to a
comment by mandingo
08.5.09 - 1:42 pm
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hah...
That was actually a funny response to subject title.
md2 responding to a
comment by ruinedbyidiots
08.5.09 - 2:10 pm
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i only ride fixed in london,and sometimes new zealand
mandingo responding to a
comment by neverclever
08.5.09 - 2:22 pm
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I had an allen screw on the back. Yeah, it sucked walking out and your shit is gone.
it was a decent seat i got at LAB. I'm gonna do the chain thing. That looked the most secure out of all the methods
i ended up going to the new bikerowave for a seatpost and seat.
+1 for bikerobabes.
FMontanez197408.5.09 - 2:37 pm
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