Thieves in Richmond

[Marc Brett]

A plod and a community service plod politely knocked on my door this
evening and handed out leaflets detailing how to theft-proof a bike.
Seems there are footpads in Richmond-upon-Thames who are over-actively
engaged in bike theft.

What with Kingston-u-T being the county's most prolific den of thieves,
and now Richmond hotting up, I'm sorry I bought decent bikes for my
nearest and dearest. BSOs have their uses.

[Daniel Barlow]

Marc Brett wrote:
> What with Kingston-u-T being the county's most prolific den of thieves,
> and now Richmond hotting up, I'm sorry I bought decent bikes for my
> nearest and dearest. BSOs have their uses.

I was idly pondering this earlier today, having just finished fitting a
bunch of shiny new bits to my steed: what kinds of bikes are most
nickable? Are the thieves going for stuff that _looks_ expensive
(dual-suspended BSOs with fat tyres) or the stuff that actually _is_?

Granted you're considerably less out of pocket if your bikes were £100
BOGOF, but perhaps something without big springs and oversize tubes is
less likely to go walkies in the first place.


-dan

[elyob]

"Daniel Barlow" > wrote in message
...
> Marc Brett wrote:
>> What with Kingston-u-T being the county's most prolific den of thieves,
>> and now Richmond hotting up, I'm sorry I bought decent bikes for my
>> nearest and dearest. BSOs have their uses.
>
> I was idly pondering this earlier today, having just finished fitting a
> bunch of shiny new bits to my steed: what kinds of bikes are most
> nickable? Are the thieves going for stuff that _looks_ expensive
> (dual-suspended BSOs with fat tyres) or the stuff that actually _is_?
>
> Granted you're considerably less out of pocket if your bikes were £100
> BOGOF, but perhaps something without big springs and oversize tubes is
> less likely to go walkies in the first place.

I got myself an "old man bike" for leaving and using in Kingston. I was
taught this by my mechanic when living in Cheltenham.

If it looks stealable, it is. I'm slightly concerned about buying a
Tricross, even if it is black. It's stealable. My road bike never gets left
in town, my mountainbike had £100's worth of locks, my old man bike has very
little security.

If it looks stealable, it is. Better locks just buy you time. If they can't
steal it, they'll break it.

Around Surbiton they've put up a lot of signs about bike thievery ... not
sure that'll help encourage the locals ...

[Rob Morley]

In article >, Marc Brett
says...
> A plod and a community service plod politely knocked on my door this
> evening and handed out leaflets detailing how to theft-proof a bike.
> Seems there are footpads in Richmond-upon-Thames who are over-actively
> engaged in bike theft.
>
> What with Kingston-u-T being the county's most prolific den of thieves,
> and now Richmond hotting up, I'm sorry I bought decent bikes for my
> nearest and dearest. BSOs have their uses.
>
>
Paint frame with vinyl/acrylic emulsion (this should scrub off with hot
soapy water and some effort, or a pressure washer), spray shiny bits,
spokes, rims and tyre sidewalls with a sticky lube and sprinkle with
dirt (be sure to clean the braking surfaces afterwards), put some gaffer
tape on the saddle (and bars if they're taped), fit some naff
accessories like a rusty rack, loud plastic bits, extra wheel reflectors
(all grubbed up, some hanging off), if there are QR levers rub them down
with abrasive and stick them in salty water until they go a nice shade
of orange ...

:-)

[Stephen Patterson]

On Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:16:38 +0100, Rob Morley wrote:

if there are QR levers rub them down
> with abrasive and stick them in salty water until they go a nice shade
> of orange ...

Or you could replace them with non-QR skewers, such as
http://tinyurl.com/2dgjxw which are waiting for me in the office, of
course they came a month a month ago just after I'd twisted done my knee
in falling off a bike[0] so it'll be a while before I can pick them up ...
of course the bike they're for is also at the office somewhere.

[0] Riding the good MTB, leading the knackered little folder (bent
chainring) by the stem. The 2 came together and I had a close encounter
with the tarmac :/

--
Stephen Patterson :: :: http://patter.mine.nu/
GPG: B416F0DE :: Jabber:
"Don't be silly, Minnie. Who'd be walking round these cliffs with a gas oven?"

[Chris Malcolm]

Rob Morley > wrote:
> In article >, Marc Brett
> says...
>> A plod and a community service plod politely knocked on my door this
>> evening and handed out leaflets detailing how to theft-proof a bike.
>> Seems there are footpads in Richmond-upon-Thames who are over-actively
>> engaged in bike theft.
>>
>> What with Kingston-u-T being the county's most prolific den of thieves,
>> and now Richmond hotting up, I'm sorry I bought decent bikes for my
>> nearest and dearest. BSOs have their uses.

> Paint frame with vinyl/acrylic emulsion (this should scrub off with hot
> soapy water and some effort, or a pressure washer), spray shiny bits,
> spokes, rims and tyre sidewalls with a sticky lube and sprinkle with
> dirt (be sure to clean the braking surfaces afterwards), put some gaffer
> tape on the saddle (and bars if they're taped), fit some naff
> accessories like a rusty rack, loud plastic bits, extra wheel reflectors
> (all grubbed up, some hanging off), if there are QR levers rub them down
> with abrasive and stick them in salty water until they go a nice shade
> of orange ...

Much easier than that, just paint pink hearts on it. Bike thieves
would rather die than be seen with a girlie bicycle.

--
Chris Malcolm DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]