CityLab article about U-locks; serial bike thief

[PotomacCyclist]

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/10/your-u-lock-is-basically-worthless-but-dont-worry/381818/

Your U-Lock Is Basically Worthless, but Don’t Worry
Thieves can quickly pop open the lock with a car jack or pipe, but there are ways to protect yourself.

The article mentions serial San Francisco bike thief Shawn Sixta. He has been arrested 20 to 30 times for bike theft and convicted on at least some of the charges. His latest arrest was in June. Not sure why they keep letting this guy out. Each time he is arrested, he is still on probation for the previous theft. Isn’t bike theft a violation of probation for… the previous bike theft? Locking up serial offenders for lengthy terms would go a long way toward improving the problem of bike theft.

http://abc7news.com/news/prolific-bike-thief-arrested-again-in-san-francisco/99162/
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/police-arrest-san-franciscos-most-wanted-bike-thef/nbcZ7/

Topic

[baiskeli]

A couple of new and interesting designs in bike locks. Both are essentially big chains. I wonder if they are harder to defeat using the methods mentioned. I would think both would make using a jack harder at least. Comments (about the locks, not me).

http://www.cocoweb.com/sport/sport/jointlock-four-section-foldable-bicycle-lock-black.html?gclid=CMeyh5iozcECFWcF7AodsU0ADA#.VE568BbYc9Q
http://www.modernbike.com/abus-bordo-combo-foldable-lock-black-75mm

[rcannon100]

Dont dispute this article ~ just remember that professional bike thieves are not the only people you are securing your bike from. Some people you are securing your bike from include amateur thieves, jerks, teenagers, people who think the bike is theirs… whatever. As the article well states, your goal is to make it difficult enough to mess with your bike that the would-be-whatever moves on to the next bike.

[PotomacCyclist]

I agree. But I’d still like to see the serial offenders get locked up for lengthy terms. How does a guy who has been arrested 20 to 30 times not go to prison for a long time?

[jrenaut]

Sounds like that guy needs a shrink, not a jail. I mean, he should definitely be off the street so he can’t steal any more bikes, but at some point it starts to sound like a mental health issue, not a theft issue.

[dplasters]

Knog Bouncer

Smallest U lock I could find. Love it to death. Would be VERY hard to find enough room to do a leverage attack against it. Also, sometimes very hard to find something to lock it up to… Life is full of give and take.

[Raymo853]

@rcannon100 97956 wrote:

Dont dispute this article ~ just remember that professional bike thieves are not the only people you are securing your bike from. Some people you are securing your bike from include amateur thieves, jerks, teenagers, people who think the bike is theirs… whatever. As the article well states, your goal is to make it difficult enough to mess with your bike that the would-be-whatever moves on to the next bike.

Very correct. And remember there is no way you can make your bike totally immune from being stolen. All you can do is hope to foil the less determined and less skilled thieves.

[PotomacCyclist]

That’s why I don’t like leaving a personal bike out on the street and rely on CaBi instead. (There are downsides to that solution too, primarily the full stations in the mornings and the empty stations in the evenings in downtown DC on weekdays.) I don’t use my personal bikes for commuting or errands too often. I think I’ve only used a lock twice this year and zero times last year.

[Phatboing]

@dplasters 98016 wrote:

Knog Bouncer

Smallest U lock I could find. Love it to death. Would be VERY hard to find enough room to do a leverage attack against it. Also, sometimes very hard to find something to lock it up to… Life is full of give and take.

How do you secure your wheels? Cable?

[dplasters]

@Phatboing 98031 wrote:

How do you secure your wheels? Cable?

I go Sheldon Brown on the back tire and assume they aren’t willing to cut the bike tire in half just to get a basic steel frame (they would be losing my internal hub and the carbon drive! How dare they!). You could go chic and get two bouncers. One for the front wheel to the frame and the other to Sheldon Brown the back wheel.

The Knog Strongman is a “bigger” version that is I believe just a bit bigger than the Mini evo 5 if you want the back tire and the seat post locked up. Honestly I see more bikes just sitting on sidewalks using their kickstands out here than locked up.

My bike is stored inside when at home and in the parking deck when at work and my errands aren’t exactly in places where I’m overly concerned so I don’t strap the seat down or anything like that.

[creadinger]

@jrenaut 97992 wrote:

Sounds like that guy needs a shrink, not a jail. I mean, he should definitely be off the street so he can’t steal any more bikes, but at some point it starts to sound like a mental health issue, not a theft issue.

How about a U-lock to the head? That would solve this problem too. Who does he think he is? Some sort of counter-culture warrior out to beat the cops? He’s just an asshole.

[mstone]

@creadinger 98043 wrote:

How about a U-lock to the head? That would solve this problem too. Who does he think he is? Some sort of counter-culture warrior out to beat the cops? He’s just an asshole.

I would assume drug addict.

[PotomacCyclist]

If Sixta knows right from wrong, then he belongs in jail. They can provide counseling to him there, if he has some sort of disorder. But someone who commits this many crimes needs to be locked up. He’s not a kid who made a foolish decision once by going along with his buddies. He’s old enough and he keeps doing this over and over again. He has a huge negative impact on society, both on those who lose their bikes and many others who won’t bike because they are concerned about losing their bikes to people like him. (If not for CaBi in this area, I’m not sure if I would bike commute much at all, unless I could manage to bring my bike inside with me.)

[Phatboing]

@dplasters 98038 wrote:

I go Sheldon Brown on the back tire and assume they aren’t willing to cut the bike tire in half just to get a basic steel frame (they would be losing my internal hub and the carbon drive! How dare they!).

This made me realize that I’ve been Sheldon-locking my bike wrong-ish. I’ve been locking the rear wheel + chainstay/seatstay/seattube, and have spent much time cursing at racks and such that have prevented me from doing this.

[Author]

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