Okay, we are going to start this two-post series with the negative. Sorry, not sorry. My main deterrent from cycling is bike theft. I don’t care about the lack of infrastructure, bike lanes, distance, or hills. I’ve been riding for a long time and have decent bike handling skills. I know when to ride offensively or defensively. I’m in decent shape. I live in the oldest capital city in America. I live in the second poorest state in America. I know the challenges of building out a bike infrastructure here. Bike theft is something that could be addressed but isn’t. This is not entirely due to law enforcement, not by a long shot.
However, for the most part, the police don’t care. It’s that simple.
Global Cycling Network, based in the United Kingdom, did a two-part film series on bike theft. The first episode can be found here. The film at the top of this post is the second film in the series and the one I want to address. In the United States alone, over 175,000 bikes per year are stolen, and those are just the ones being reported. The profits from stolen bikes are a billion-dollar a year industry. One of the main reasons this continues is the network system allowing people to sell stolen bikes. If you needed another reason to despise Meta look no further. This story is mindblowing. Was happy to see the local Bay Area cop do what he could, but the most terrifying aspect of the story is what came from Meta. “We created a monster, but we can’t control it.” Meta has done so much damage to the world and continues to do so, regardless of whether or not the Zuck is in is longish hair, necklace guru stage. If you are still using this network, please do us all a favor and delete your account.
Comments 13
In the police department where I worked, we had a bike registration program, followed up on theft cases, and assisted our local bike shop with better security due to a burglary. The problem is often caseloads, where physical crimes against victims take precedence over property crimes. Bike theft investigation can be time intensive and multi-jurisdictional, and that falls to detectives already juggling heavy caseloads. Uniformed officers must respond to calls for service, accidents, initial reports, etc, thus most detective work and follow-up goes to detectives. We only had money for two detectives in our department. Kudos to the SF cop (in the video) who followed up on the case. I think rather than bolding “the police don’t care” I’d bold the primary issue, Meta’s proliferation of the problem.
Author
I bolded that based on my personal experience in California before we moved. Police in two different cities, both low crime “safe” beach cities, told me to my face, “We don’t care about this issue.” We knew the two locations where bikes were being stolen and we knew the approximate times they were being stolen. They told me they were not incentivized to solve bike theft but they were being incentivized to solve other crimes and to write tickets. Both locations, one store, one library, also said “Not our problem.” I also attended the ONE city council meeting that attempted to address this problem and watched as the rich, gated community living board spent less than fifteen seconds on addressing the issue. I noticed some consistencies. Neither the police I spoke with nor the city council members rode bikes. In fact, they hinted at bikes being more of a nuisance. Bikes were okay on the boardwalk or bike paths but people should avoid using them on the streets. Eventually, while they were taking down a homeless encampment, they found someone with 7,000 stolen bikes.
Dan knows that this is a topic I could write a book about….so I won’t. My main bike is worth $7k, and I have my eye on two more worth $5 and $8k respectively. And I don’t own a lock.
All articles are about post-theft. Nobody talks about the bike that didn’t get stolen. There are ways, but it certainly removes so much of the utility and fun.
Author
Marshall, in a perfect world…sure. Say I want to ride into Santa Fe and buy groceries. Explain, without a wingman to sit and watch the bikes, how is that possible without risk of my bike being stolen? And remember, the stores have shown no interest in moving bike lock areas from low vis to high vis positions. The only places to lock your bike are around the backside of the building completely out of view of customers or staff.
Here in Copenhagen, one of the bike capitals of the world about 20,000 bicycles are stolen per year in inner Copenhagen, population 750,000. It is a huuuge problem and so depressing, and the problem is escalating especially now with very valuable e-bikes, e-cargobikes etc. It is basically a free crime here, the chances of getting caught are close to zero, so thieves will target a train station, pull up in daylight with a van and within minutes cut the locks with battery powered angle grinders (these things are insane, watch the Cade Media video about how almost every bike lock is cut in under a minute), load the bikes and away they go to another country. By law all bikes here must have a unique serial number etched into the frame, so potential buyers of a used bike can check in an online service provided by the Police if the bike has been reported stolen. But again, doesn’t help when it’s whisked off to another country and thieves have now started to ‘pre-sell’ bikes so they take a picture of a bike they see parked outside a train station every day, put it up for sale on say FB Marketplace, people check the serial, it’s fine, and only when it’s sold, then they steal it. Insane, it is so organized, and so depressing.
Author
That’s not good. Meta doing their part to capture part of that sales then denying they can do anything. Police busy with other crime. There is a reason why so many criminal elements go this route.
I think I left a comment that is easy to misconstrue. The reason I don’t own a lock is that my bikes are never left anywhere at all. Those are bikes that I use as a sportif cyclist, not a commuter.
I used to have a commuter bike, rode it year round in Toronto for a decade, and used a lock. It had a secret: it was actually a beautiful handmade bike, but of some vintage and all quite old componentry. I made sure it looked like shit, only the trained eye might notice what it really was. I took everything quick release off of it, it had a rack on it that was held together by zip ties. My theory is that it looked like junk so it was never stolen. The reason that I no longer have it was that the chainstay rusted through from riding winters in Toronto, and it went to the scrap heap. But that was a decade ago, and if I was to lock it up somewhere now, a junkie would steal it quite quickly. Fentanyl has made no bike safe.
The $5k bike I mention is the same $5k bike that Dan is also planning to buy — the Brompton that is due to come out this year. That won’t ever be locked either, but will be used for rides around town, grocery shopping, meeting friends for drinks. Bromptons are great because you fold them up and take them with you.
I don’t have an answer for the loss of everyone’s commuter bike, but certainly going after those who profit (ie Meta) would be a great start.
Author
Yes, you can’t leave them. Even with the Brompton, at least here in the US, you get the “You can’t take that in here,” from security guards or civilians who are always trying to control others. When asked why they often have no response.
Even the people that claim they have the answer to the problem are really dealing in post theft recovery. Better than nothing, but that wasn’t the question.
I spent $250 on a bike lock that was supposed to be grinder proof and hooked up my ebike and was gone for no longer than 20 minutes and the fucking bike was gone. Yes, I have insurance, but it’s depressing as all get out. I kept fantasizing about catching that fucker as he was grinding my lock away for months. Now, if I ride my bike, I take it only where it will never be outside of my reach, so using it to get to places where I can lock it up and wander with my camera are nonexistent.
Author
That’s the same problem many of us face. I ride my Salsa into town but can’t leave it even for a few minutes. The Brompton however…I can take in with me. Until someone decides that should be banned which is entirely possible.
The key to every bike lock: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-18V-5-0Ah-LXT-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-4-1-2-5-in-Cut-Off-Angle-Grinder-Kit-XAG04T/301986714
Author
You can cut off a lock in front of a hundred people and nobody bats an eye.