I hoped I would never have to post in this section... Alasa, my 06' Trek SU200 was stolen last night and when I woke up to go cycle off to a Thanksgiving Event, my bike wasn't there. I think I did a half ass job of locking it up, because my big U-Lock wasn't around.
By sgtjonson
By sgtjonson
Some things to add, this bike has an Old Man Mountain Bike Rack on the back, fenders, a wobbly front wheel with Bontrager tires, rear wheel with Panasonic Tires, the crank is silver as are the brake levers, the right brake lever is half missing, all the bolts are stainless steel (not chrome) there is paint missing around the crank area, the front derailleur is pretty rusty, it may have a bike sticker from Bike Line of Newark Delaware
So yeah...
There is also paint missing beneath the Trek medallion , it has a a bell on it, a light mount on the front bars, two on the seat and one on the bike rack . Oh, the bell is also a compass. The rear wheel also has silver and black spokes. (I put in silver spokes so I could get a better idea where spokes were braking)
where and how was it locked?
Right behind the old hardware store by Crazy Mocha. I can't say for sure (because it is gone now) but I thought I locked it up to this big metal pipe with a kind horizontal metal V at the top. I'm guessing the person lifted the bike and got it around the V. In hindsight...
I kind of have an obsessive compulsive personality, so am still thinking of the bike and have been looking around at other stolen bike threads.
People always ask "how was it locked?" Obviously not very well, but now that the bike has been stolen, what difference does that make? It's like asking rape victims what they were wearing.
Okay, that might be taking it a bit far, but yeah, I personally don't find it helpful, in my own search, or in other threads. I guess I'm at day 3. I'm currently outside of town, but will be coming back later today, and will start my recovery effort in earnest.
I'll deliver fliers to bike shops around town, might talk to metal scrappers because my bike has an aluminum frame, might be worth something, but I'm not sure how savvy my thief is.
My bike of three years was not named, but now I have named it Su, pronounced "Sue." WHATEVER MAY OCCUR, I WILL FIND YOU!
I used to ask people "how was it locked" for educational purposes so that I, or others don't use the same lock they used when their bike was stolen.By asking how their bike was locked, I switched over from a cable lock to a "U" lock last year.
"How was it locked?" allows the rest of us to know if the theft was a crime of opportunity, or if your bike was targeted as being a given value by more serious bicycle thieves.
As it stands, it doesn't appear we have any professional bicycle thieves in Pittsburgh yet, as every theft that has been reported on here has been some variation of leaving the bike unlocked for just a minute, locking it with a junk lock, not having it locked at all for long periods of time, or improper locking technique.
I hope you can understand why we ask these things... I'd find it good to know if bikes that were properly locked in my neighborhood were being targeted and the locks breached.
Much like break-ins. If there was a rash of them in your neighborhood you may be concerned about your dwelling, until you heard that the only people who were stolen from had left their front door wide open when they left for work. Still sucks, but my personal concern would be much less.
SgtJonson: BradQ did a good job explaining the reason why I asked you how your bike was locked. I wasn't trying to be a jerk.
And yes, your rape comment was inappropriate on this message board. People tend to be more sensitive.
It sounds like you're doing everything you need to help get your bike back - best of luck.
Sorry, I kind of alluded to it, but did not exactly specify when I said "I think I did a half ass job of locking it up, because my big U-Lock wasn't around."
Personally, my theft wasn't due to a lack of education, it was due to a lapse in security and complacency on my part.
I would consider these more than "crimes of opportunity." The last posting in this section was a about a guy who had two bikes on a car rack, locked with a (admittedly weak) cable lock. That's not just like walking up to it and walking off, it requires a few minutes of work.
I've now found out several bikes have been stolen or attempted to be stolen from where my bike was. Somebody apparently tried to cut a banister to get a bike. If I locked my bike like I thought I did then even if somebody was able to slip off my U-Lock over what I had it locked to, it still would have required lifting my bike up about four feet off the ground and really moving it in all the right places to slide the U-Lock off of what it was locked up to. And my bike was pretty heavy. So in my opinion, these are people (or person) targeting bikes and putting a fair amount of effort into stealing them.
A fair amount of effort, yes, but it doesn't sound like people are targeting specific bikes nor using the tools necessary to get around a U-lock, which would be a cause of real concern.
Crimes of opportunity suck and it'd be great if we could get rid of them, but it's comforting to know that we can deny Pittsburgh bike thieves opportunities and be more-or-less OK.
