Bike valet sounds awesome! I'd invest in this 100% We have an issue in my city where they steal bikes just for the metal and turn them over to chop shops. They butcher the bikes and send them off to the scrap yard so quickly that the local cops say all the evidence is gone by the time they have a warrant to raid the place; they've raided a specific chop shop in my city multiple times trying to catch the bike thieves with no luck. Not only have two bicycles been stolen from me so far but the bicycle thieves have also walked into my yard threatening to assault me because I was standing between them and my bicycle. Luckily I was holding a heavy shovel and they thought better of it. I'd love to be able to just go out for a bike ride and not have to worry anymore. Great video!
I'm a fan of the loaner locks at bars and restaurants, and here's why. While I always bring my U-lock when I ride for transportation, I never bring it when I do road rides for exercise, and I don't know many roadies who bring theirs, either. However, it's very common for roadies to stop in for a beer, coffee, or lunch, and that means we need to find a place with a good patio so we can watch our bikes. But here in Seattle, sitting on the patio isn't always a pleasant experience depending on weather, and it also means we pass on certain restaurants that don't have patios. If we can borrow a handful of decent locks and then daisy chain the bikes together, then we're more likely to stop at that restaurant, and its more secure than just not locking the bikes at all while we sit near a window and *sort of* keep an eye on them.
The safest thing is to bring the bike indoors. If there was space in a cafe, a shop, etc where I could leave my bike while I'm in the building, then that to me would feel safest, as opposed to leaving it outside. The easiest example of this is bringing my bike into our offices at work. It's 100% safe, like bringing it into my house. Not only is the bike safe, but so are all of it's attachments like lights, phone holder, pannier, even stuff inside the basket, etc. I don't have to detach this stuff or even lock my bike.
The idea is that most citizens hop into cycling. It's not possible for everyone to leave their bikes in a café or shop. That just works when we are the outliers. I also prefer to have it indoors of course, and there are many parking solutions for it
Nice! I use the BikeFinder GPS tracker, not so much because I think it will give me my stolen bike back, but because it includes a good insurance for expensive bikes. Using hefty, quality locks is helpful, and the extra weight doesn't matter if it's an ebike. If the bike is visibly worn and dirty that can also help. I'm also lucky enough to live in a place with rentable city ebikes, so if I'm going to out on a pub run or something, then riding a city bike means zero theft risk for me.
A high end folding bike is my answer. I don't commute or ride around doing errands anymore, but has never been turned away from any establishment with it. Got my Brompton for public transportation and Verge X11 for everything else. I leave my nice bikes for trail riding/mountain climb when they basically never leave my butt.
First, Tom, thank you so much for covering this topic. It's troubling how much fear of theft discourages mode shift, so it's important to help folks understand how to manage the risk of theft. I do think there is likely some empirical evidence to address your question about GPS deterrence as a function of ubiquity. All of the Stromer line of e-bikes have GPS tracking as a standard feature, so it should be possible to compare rates of theft for their bikes with bikes that have the Bosch Smart System (where some bikes will have GPS tracking and some will not). Second, it might be worth mentioning the role that theft-deterrent nuts (like Hexlox) can play in deterring bike theft. Very often, bike racks are designed in a way that makes it difficult to lock the bike to the rack through the frame. In these cases, it's super nice to have something like Hexlox on the front wheel so that locking the bike by the front wheel does the trick. There are also similar nuts to discourage theft of seats and other attachments. And there are also many motion-sensing alarms that can be attached to acoustic bikes by various means, making it a bit more difficult to cut the lock without detection. Of course, some thieves are so brazen that they don't care about alarms, but I would guess that those thieves are a minority. Finally, I note that there are also relatively inexpensive sensors that can be mounted to any door that will sound an alarm (on a linked phone and/or soundbox) when the door is opened at a defined time of day (or night). I mention this because many bikes are stolen from garages or backyards, where the thief breaks through a pedestrian door or a side gate to access the bike. Combining these Bluetooth door alarms with motion-sensing lights at the exterior door can increase deterrence.
i think many of these are society-size solutions and if we're looking at that scale we have to understand that theft comes from need (aka poverty) and we have to address poverty directly. that discussion was lacking, especially from a criminal justice proffesor
Yeah I would’ve liked to see mention that to truly solve bike theft, or any theft, we need to address poverty. This includes housing, education, healthcare, and employment opportunities for all.
This is absolutely true, and I said basically this at the end of the video. And this wasn’t intended to be a full examination of the issue, rather a discussion of these new ideas around bike theft prevention.
You're right, we really do need to be focusing on those root societal causes, but that's not going to happen overnight. In the meantime, I think it's worth considering the steps we can take as individuals and communities to somewhat mitigate the risk of bike theft. We need a multi-pronged approach to the issue, incorporating both short-term and long-term responses.
One bike shop in my area has a "Bike Sherrif". Don't call the cops, call the shop. Buddy has retrieved six stolen bikes this year, one within the hour. GPS helps. If you dont have a group of buddies who would throw down for you, having a bike shop with a guy who will is huge. The guest host seems focused on crimes of opportunity. That doesn't help the rash of targeted bike thefts our of sheds, garages, and homes. Part resellers and taking the bike to another jurisdiction are the real problem. DON'T call the cops. I did once, and it is a huge mistake. All they do is put it on record forbidding you from engaging the thief and getting your bike back. You can literally call in a bike theft in progress and they won't dispatch a cruiser. They tell you they did, but they are lying to you. They tell you not to engage and if you do, you will be charged with assault. The real problem is that cops don't treat property crime like a real crime, and Justin Trudeau hates hard-working people and keeps putting criminals out on bail.
I'd love to hear you and Maddy return to these questions of crime and discuss the issue of assault on cyclists. In London (UK), there are increasing numbers of news stories of gangs switching to bike mugging. I suspect that perception of crime is much greater than actuality in this case -- but I've only been assaulted twice in my adult life and both cases were when I was on my bike... It would be great to have a look at what the actuality of violent crime against cyclists is and how this varies internationally...
My 2 favorite ways: - lock integrated into frame and wheel (like DOTT or dutch bikes)- means that someone with a power grinder probably needs to damage the frame or they can't ride off. This can be combined with a larger lock - video surveillance areas (a lower cost bike valet) with a face covering rule.
I think an easy step authorities can take is to make registering bikes with project 529 (or similar service) mandatory at retailer points of sale, and also require repair shops to check every bike that comes in against the bike registry. Seems like this step would all but eliminate bike thefts.
I have been saying for years that by far and away, the greatest improvement in rider encouragement and theft deterrence is indoor, weather-protected, staffed bicycle parking, and that more companies should understand the benefits to their bottom lines of allowing people to bring bicycles right into their buildings and park them in a corral. When you rely on a bicycle for transportation and shopping, you are going to be OK with riding in the rain, but getting your possessions wet is not an option, so you can't load and unload your waterproof bicycle luggage without a roof over your head, unless you want everything you own and everything you buy to get soaked.
Sadly, Velosurance isn't available in Canada. And I agree, bike theft is a deterrent to cycling in cities. For the most part, if we are using our bikes for errands, one of us stays with the bikes while the other pops into the store. If we leave our bikes, we have multiple locks: we take the controller with us, use a cafe style lock combined with an Abus chain lock as well as a Bordo lock to lock the bikes together. When we lock the bikes in the bike room of our condo building (with 3 locked external doors + fob entry) we add a heavier gauge Abus chain lock and take the batteries with us. It's a lot of deterrence and so far we've been fortunate. We also take pictures proving how many locks we use - just in case. It all seems a bit ridiculous that we have to use so many levels of deterrence. Our daughter had her locked e-bike stolen from the locked bike room in her condo building; it got returned about 4 months later because of Project 529. An eagle-eyed cop thought the rider didn't match the bike and was able to prove it because the bike was registered with 529 and reported stolen so we are fans of Project 529.
Got my bike stolen and was able to track it to an apartment complex. Blanketed the building with posters offering a cash reward for its return. The police helped me recover it shortly after. Yes AirTags have shortcomings, but worst is having no clue where your bike is at all!
Good video on showing something new for this problem. For now I have to solutions. For expensive bicycle - only use it for home room(garage) to work locker(desk) and back. Most effective solution - do not buy expensive one. My dream is Cinelli steel frame bicycle. But instead I have 200 euro French one from 1991. I went on it 1/3 of the Belgium two weeks ago and even if it get stolen - no drama. But it is not desirable by the way it looks, yet it is very strong and durable bicycle. Old steel is real, but stealing it, not so much.
@@Shifter_Cycling Various types of miscreants in Stockton-on Tees,high street will steal anything not nailed down to the floor. I had my cycling jacket stolen while I was sat on the chair of a local greasy spoon/cafe.
A couple of thoughts on this excellent video, Tom: I’m in Hamilton, Ontario so my observations might not apply everywhere. First of all, I do have a GPS tracker hidden on my bike so I’m glad to see this option discussed. I always wonder if the police would be willing to assist in this matter and, unfortunately, given my own lack cluster experience with having a car stolen years ago, I’ve always questioned whether or not there would be any point in asking. Having heard the feedback here, I won’t hesitate to at least try if the situation arises. Having good bike racks that a lock can be attached to is at least as important as having a solid lock for one’s bike. Sadly, here in Hamilton, bike racks are few and far between and rarely in a location that makes them either safe or useful. Sometimes when I see the locations of bike racks in shopping malls locally, it makes me want to start a business stealing bikes myself. It would just be so easy!😈 The last thing I want to comment on is your panniers. I have similar saddlebags on my own bike as well as lights and an odometer/speedometer. I feel like, if I want to take my bike anywhere where I will be getting off and leaving it, I need to strip the bike down before the bad guys do it for me. All through your video I watched your bike behind you half expecting to see somebody sneak into the background for a photo bomb and take your bike instead. Maybe I have some trust issues but, much as I love to ride, I don’t tend to use my bike for errands or basic transportation simply because I’m working on the assumption that I may only have transportation in one direction, if I do take it somewhere.
There are few places in the UK that have bookable bike hangars. You book you time on a phone app which gives you a code to open the hangar then you put your bike in. You're supposed to use your own locks then shut the hangar which locks automatically. Later you get the code to open the hangar when you want to retrieve it and your time is up. The rest of the countries have regular long term hangars to store bikes on street level that you access with your own key. It's a shared bike garage.
I think it’s forgotten that folding bikes can prevent theft. I bring my brompton inside with me where I go. It’s very hard to steal my bike because it is always on my person
Me, too - though the issue is where I'm going somewhere I can't take it in. It's fine for commuting, and with folding bikes, there are a lot of places where you can check it into a cloakroom but some places, like most cinemas in my city, don't have that facility leaving me with the option of hoping that my very nickable bike is still there at the end of the film, or having to use some other mode of transport.
Agree to the multi-pronged approach. If im leaving my eBike for an extended time, I remove the battery & quick release controller plus lock it with a quality U-bolt.
Law enforcement is data driven. If stolen bikes keep disappearing in the same places, go to the same places, and appear later some place else, the police have something to lead them to the individuals that may be involved in other crimes. That data gives law enforcement probable cause.
You left out one, what I consider important, which is the bike motion alarm. I have one and it is passable though I wish it was a whole lot louder. I have thought of building my own to increase the alarm volume by an order of magnitude. I have registered my rides (trikes) with Project 529 with tags and I use a beefy Abus U-Lock.
I carry 3 locks to lock up my cargo bike. Litelock X1, X3 and some cheapo Stranley. Never lock to bike racks made of pipes, or pipes in general. They can be cut super stealth and fast with a pipe cutter. I also try to lock my bike to multiple spots at once.
Maybe have a beater bike for locking up outside for errands and use your pricey bike when it's going to be with you all the time? (Let's hear it for beater bikes!)
I had pricy e-bike for the times I was not able to use car (Belgium is odd on expats) and now I also have not exactly beater, but low cost (because it is old) bicycle if I want to have freedom of moving, parking and not to be worried.
Fear of bike theft is also why I'm afraid to get a small motorcycle. Even though I would love a grom because they get over 100mpg, you could pretty easily lift it into the back of a truck or a van. Like one dude. My best friend had a kawasaki ninja parked in his driveway and it got stolen in the middle of the night, and they're like almost twice the weight (175kg)
I bring my good lock only when planning to use it like at a shop or doctor's appointment. Since it's so large and unwieldy I wouldn't have it with me on a normal ride, which means I can't stop if I see a neat sign or want to pickup something to eat and that's where these lock shares or valets would help. When I do lock up my bike, more often than on a rack I lock it to the guardrail around a power transformer that's behind signage or trees as these tend to be hidden as eyesores, therefore making my bike not very visible. The other issue with street-side racks is they are often inches from where cars park so what happens if my bike falls over in the wind onto that spot or the side of a car?
8:22 i think public locking bike racks is a good idea but i don't think app based system is good. i would much rather prefer some sort of card based system or like rfid fob maybe. like you buy a card and then you tap that card to the rack and it opens and you lock it and when you get back you tap it again and it opens.
I worry that that would be vulnerable to attacks (RFID can be secure, but the way it is implemented, it almost never is fully secure). Whereas, with an app based system, you can have something like rotating QR or numerical codes which effectively prevent bruteforcing. I mean, really, this is similar to lockers, just with a clear high-value target that is locked up
Agreed, there is absolutely ZERO chance I will be downloading an app to lock and worse UNLOCK my bike. I almost trust the thieves more than I trust tech bro apps.
GPS tracking would do well if it were pervasive. People that may or may not be thinking straight might not know that your bike has GPS tracking, but if they keep hearing about bikes being recovered because they were tracked they would know about the possibility.
How about making your bike look less appealing /making it look ugly or in a state of disrepair. Wrap duct tape around some parts, maybe add some superficial rust somehow. Make your bike look older and crappier and maybe a theif will steal the nicer looking bike next to yours?
GPS integration: I've had only one bike stolen, a rental. The police know who stole it, a repeat offender, but they need evidence, so the prosecutor can prosecute, and the judge can convict. The police know where the criminal lives. In Florida, USA, GPS counts as evidence. Hey you e-bike riders, my local police told me that e-bikes are now the criminals' getaway vehicle of choice because cops can't catch 'em. Not bike theft, I mean ALL crimes. GPS would help your local police a lot in arresting known criminals and providing evidence to your local prosecutor. "At the scene of the crime..." etc. Similar to bank robbers getting away in a car with stolen license plates -- but GPS is evidence.
If people did to thieves what should be done to thieves ... there would be no thieves to steal your bike. But it seems the thieves are smarter than you, and that's why you have the problem instead of a solution.
Best way to protect your $5000 bike is leave it at home, and park your $50 cromoly hybrid next to someone else's $5000 bike with a worse lock than yours.
BiKeep doesn’t seem to do anything to protect the rear wheel, and as soon as that’s removed, it’s just a matter of waiting. Better than nothing, but still not great.
@@Shifter_Cycling it just feels like an incomplete concept. If I am bringing my own lock anyways then I can just strap it to a pole that doesn’t have a potential software weakness. I also worry about the idea of having maybe a dozen bikes all in one place and protected by the same piece of software. A hacker with a van, while highly unlikely, could get them all in a matter of minutes. Like I said, it’s better than nothing. It will stop the lazy thieves.
@@unnamedracer9757 Front wheels are much cheaper than rear, plus I use pitlock. These bikeeps have been where I live for 10 years. They are super good enough for shopping.
