this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2025
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I really wish there was a better way to secure bicycles. Most of the time I choose to take the car or motorcycle is because I got a nice bicycle after my old cheapo got stolen from what I thought was a safe location.
I'm not even talking about lack of bicycle racks in many parking lots, but the fact that a $50 angle grinder goes through just about any chain/u-lock in about 30 seconds.
I know this because I had to cut off my own U-lock after assholes tried to drill through the lock on mine and ruined it. Also, nobody even looked twice at a guy using an incredibly loud grinder generating a ton of sparks in the middle of a retail parking lot.
Bike cages are great, but the haters would rather spend on a 100-car parking lot than a 100-bike cage.
Locks will only ever be a minor deterrent imo. The problem is that police in most places don't even try to go after bicycle thefts and the would be criminals know that.
If governments took bicycle theft as seriously as they did horse theft in the 19th century, then few criminals would even attempt to steal a bicycle if it had some basic protection like a cheap lock + a camera pointed at the bicycle rack.
What even happens to nice bikes that are stolen? They certainly don't show up on the second-hand market for cheap.
In my region, it seems that expensive stolen bikes mostly go to eastern Europe, Ukraine and Romania in particular.
Romanians can afford expensive bikes?
Not all of them, but some of them certainly can. It's like everywhere. The fact that some people don't make a lot of money doesn't stop others from making heaps.
On a personal level, get theft insurance on your bike. Costs me like 150 €/y for a 2000 € ebike, although some insurance companies do not cover street parking in some cities.
On a societal level, there are things law enforcement could do to make fencing less lucrative. Giving a shit about theft reports for one. For two, my city pays to get everyone's frame engraved with their national registration number, which will get my bike back to me if the cops find it and it makes the bike a bit less valuable because most people aren't looking to buy a clearly stolen bike.
The solution is bike lockers. It’s an important piece of public infrastructure that often gets overlooked.
I think this is Japan I'm thinking of, but they have these amazing underground automated parking spaces for bicycles. You load your bike into this elevator-type thing and get back a ticket, and the elevator takes the bike underground and deposits it in a sort of cubbyhole. Completely safe and takes up no space above-ground except for the little kiosk. Not a fucking chance in hell that a US city would ever invest in something like that.
Do they often have those in places other than subway/train transit hubs? I’ve never seen them anywhere else here (US southwest). And honestly I didn’t even know they were a thing before I moved here, public infrastructure in the US is so fucked.
They are usually near major train and bus hubs. There’s plenty around Vancouver and I’ve seen them in a couple places around LA, too. That said, outside of major progressive cities, they are practically non-existent, especially in the US.
I've never even heard of anything like this. I don't think I've ever even seen a bike rack that is under cover. And we always have these bike racks that are made to look like bikes, which is cute but not very useful.
I used to live in center city Philadelphia. One day I was walking down the street and I noticed a big guy on the other side with big loose shorts on walk up to a bicycle that was chained up to a signpost. In one smooth motion he whipped a big pair of bolt cutters out of his shorts, snipped through the chain, hopped on the bike and rode off down a side street. Like, I didn't even have time to think about doing anything or even yelling. Plus it's Philly - he might have ripped my fucking eyeballs out (Phillystines have a thing about the phrase "I'll rip yer fucken eyeballs out" although you see surprisingly few eyeball-less people walking around here).
There are angle grinder resistant u-locks which can last up to 5 min and waste several disks. They aren't cheap though and the thieves also could just cut through the rack.
https://thebestbikelock.com/security/angle-grinder-proof-bike-lock/
You're just incentivizing bike thieves to carry plasma cutters around.
Is there such a thing as a portable plasma cutter? Because the ones I've seen all require a big 2 foot cube with wheels on it in addition to a power outlet nearby.
'Twas but a joke.
Bike thieves move fast, and a lot of time they are in cars, it's not always some random guy on the street. I saw a brand new Lexus pull up to a bike at a red light in a fancy neighborhood, guy was actively in the road and parked blocking the lane, and stole the bike in literally 40seconds and was gone. No license plates. I called it in but I doubt they did anything about it. And I'll never risk my life for a bike lol.
I keep around a few beater bikes. If one gets stolen then oh well I'm out $75, which is less than 1 tank of gas.
Where do you live that $75 is a tank of gas?
In Europe, our cars don't need huge tanks, because they don't burn 25 litres to move to the next block.
I thinks that's about right for the UK, but at least one of my bikes is considerably cheaper.
Begs the question, why th efuck does anyone drive anywhere in this cuntry? A lot of severe mobility disabilities I think.
I know the UK is expensive, but $75 a tank is close to $10 more than my dad pays to fill his big ass truck from near empty
My f150 is 80 from bone dry at $3.50.
Yeah, I'll have to find a new wife if I try to put a few beater bikes in the garage. It'll get expensive fast.
Get rid of the car and you'll have plenty of room in the garage.
We have a kid in a wheelchair. Car is not optional.
Not gonna lie, I wouldn't know how to manage seeing a guy use a grinder on some bikes.
I wanted a folding bike for this purpose but it would only be good for going to work and back. I can't just walk around a mall or something carrying a folding bike :/
I have a folding bike and that thing is fucking heavy. I can't imagine actually trying to carry it any great distance.
Just make sure his grinder/ knife/bullet hits you in the foam+plastic bike helmet. you'll be golden.
While it doesn't really help with the stolen part, it helps with the recovery: put a tracker on it.
Without cops, you're fighting a bunch of junkies to get your bike back. Cops looked at me like I was an idiot when I tried to file a report for my stolen bike.
But what would you recommend? I have a bunch of PebbleBee trackers on my stuff, but I can't think of any way to hide any of those on the bike.
Accept it and buy insurance. Make sure it includes public parking. Yes, this sucks.
Molotov
It all depends on the country where you report it. Germany is at least in my experience serious about it.
I would recommend something like peeblebee, but modified in a way that It recharges from the bike generator. Depending what kind of front lamp you've got, it might be possible to hide in there with some tinkering.